2*2) ...burns himself on the cross hanging around her neck... WHY DO CROSSES/HOLY WATER BURN VAMPS?: "'Joss says there is 'bad blood' between the demons and the Christians' (StGermain, Apr 8 09:49 1999). Crosses and holy water work against vampires; doesn't that imply the truth of Catholicism? 'Well, let's try this on for size: What if vampires are allergic, in effect, to the shape of a cross? That's why the faith of the bearer...doesn't change its effectiveness...[the vampire version of Willow in Doppelgangland, for example, was afraid of the cross, even though she was Jewish, as a human]. Similarly, either by accident or intention, Catholic priests discovered a spell that makes water poisonous to vampires, and incorporated the ritual into their practices. So a lot of Christian and/or Catholic practices and symbols originated as anti-vampire techniques, and have been kept alive through tradition. (And I know that Spike seems to accept that the Crucifixion was an actual historical event, but that doesn't say anything pro or con the Resurrection)' (Mr. EverDawn, Dec 14 18:03 1998). 'I'd say that the cross focuses some sort of energy in a way that is harmful to vampires and causes them pain--and since it seems to work for anybody and on any demon--whether in a Christian or Jewish body--I'd say it has to do with the cross itself, rather than the person brandishing the cross or the vampire' (Dianne, Dec 14 19:30 1998). 'I'm betting it's something more along the lines of 'Somewhere back in the past, some form of Big Anti-Vampire Juju was binded to the image of the crucifix by some Christian Magus/Cleric/Monk/High Priest,' instead of 'Divine Power' (Some Psycho Named Sam, Feb 22 19:24 2000)."--complied by Masquerade, "Religion in the Buffyverse" from http://www.atpotbtvs.com
2A) "And, contrary to popular mythology, it did not begin as a paradise." (00:02:21) FROM THE MOUTH OF THE ALMIGHTY JOSS: "That's pretty much a dig on Christianity, saying that there is more going on than people know about, and I thought people would object to that...but we never really offended too many people, at least not right away."--Joss Whedon, DVD Commentary
2B) DEGREDATION MOST HOLY: This is another example of the show's inversion of normal religion. "The creation story that Giles tells Buffy is a inversion of the Biblical story we know. Earth was not a paradise in the beginning, but a hell."--Rahael, Sat, 04/13/02 at 10:28:15 See 1AA, 1BBB, 2C, 2Z, 2NN, 7V, 7XX, 15L, and 25BBB.
2C) DEGRADATION MOST HOLY--THE SEQUEL: The creation story of "popular mythology" is from the Old Testament of the Bible, in the first book, Genesis.--Paraphrased by Rob from a post by Fresne, Tues, 03/26/02 at 10:06:34
2D) "All that remains of the Old Ones are vestiges..." (00:02:43) BUFFYVERSE MYTHOLOGY: "Buffyverse mythology traces the origin of demons back to a time before recorded human history, when the world was not controlled by human beings, but by the 'Old Ones'--super-powerful and bloodthirsty beings (relative to us, anyway). We are not told exactly how they lost their claim to the Earthly reality, but humans are clearly in charge of it now...In BtVS, demons are often depicted as wanting to take back the present world of animals and humans for themselves, or to bring Earth and/or humans into the demon dimensions..."--Masquerade, "The Harvest" Analysis at http://www.atpobtvs.com
2E) "So vampires are demons?" (00:03:22) BUFFYVERSE MYTHOLOGY, FROM THE ORIGINAL SHOOTING SCRIPT: "The books tell that the last Demon to leave this reality fed off a human, mixed their blood. He was a human form possessed--infected--by the Demon's soul. He bit another, and another...and so they walk the earth, feeding. Killing some, mixing their blood with others to make more of their kind. Waiting for the animals to die out, and the Old Ones to return."--"The Harvest" by Joss Whedon, available from Pocket Books, Inc. as Buffy the Vampire Slayer: The Script Book, Season One, Volume 1
2F) "Jesse's my responsibility. I let him get taken." (00:05:49) SLAYAGE: "[This is]...Buffy's first articulation of her understanding of the Slayer's duty. She struggles with this in later episodes, notably...[What's My Line,] Prophecy Girl, and The Gift." This also deals with the concept that Buffy feels guilty when she finds herself unable to save somebody. Note how Xander and Willow quickly reassure her that it was not her fault, and if it hadn't been for her, they would all be dead.--Sophist, Wed, 03/27/02 at 09:15:19
2G) "They'd only show up with guns." (00:06:22) BUFFYVERSE MYTHOLOGY: Here is where we learn conclusively that vamps cannot be killed by guns. In the seventh episode, Angel, however, we learn that guns can hurt them, but more as a painful nuisance than an actual threat (see 7SS and 7TT). This line also establishes that vampires and demons cannot be dealt with in the same manner that evil humans are dealt with, namely courts, the justice system, etc., and that is why the Slayer is necessary. To see what can kill vampires, see 1ZZ.
2H) "They can drive." (00:06:28) FROM THE MOUTH OF THE ALMIGHTY JOSS: "We picked and chose our vampire lore based on lots of different myths--Dracula, The Lost Boys--everything we'd seen. We sort of took whatever we wanted. We kept the idea that a vampire couldn't come in unless they were invited, and that's made things very difficult for us, but has give us some very interesting plot things to work with. "--Joss Whedon, DVD Commentary
2I) "You've just been upgraded to bait." (00:07:50) FROM THE MOUTH OF THE ALMIGHTY JOSS: "This scene contains what feels like a very TV convention, the idea they're going to use Jesse as bait, rather than kill him. Inevitably, in a horro show, you get into the problem of, 'Why don't they just kill them?'...They talk about using Jesse as bait, which appears to be our way around it. And later on, of course, we see that they have, in fact, killed him, and used him as bait, anyway." [This is, of course, yet another example of turning a horror movie cliche on its head, and defying the audience's expectations.] --Joss Whedon, DVD Commentary
2J) "So all the city plans are just open to the public?" (00:08:06) FROM THE MOUTH OF THE ALMIGHTY JOSS: "The computer! Our lover, our demon, our nemesis, our biggest doofy plot thing...We use it all the time to access things that could never be found on a computer back then, let alone now. It's the element of cheese we can't get around, because it just makes life so much easier...Some shows, X-Files, for example...[are] very much into the realism, the science behind whatever the horror is--explaining it, really justifying it in the world. We are so much more about the emotion resulting from this. Not why there might actually be vampires, but how you might actually feel in high school if you had to fight them, and, as a result, we tend to gloss over the really intense details about how we might go through a procedure, how we might find something, how we might kill something, how something might exist. We tend to say, 'It's on the computer, and it's 'cause we're on the Hellmouth,' and just get away with it. But that doesn't make us bad."--Joss Whedon, DVD Commentary
2K) "Someone's been naughty." (00:08:20) WILLOW: "Willow quickly put her brains and computer ability towards helping her new best friend save the world...From then on, when Buffy needed information, Willow found ways to get it, cracking encrypted files, reading coroner's reports, getting city plans. I always felt that Willow's hacking was a rebellion against her innocent exterior." It's also interesting to see how in control, in charnge, and proud Willow is while she's surfing the net here. You can see how excited she is that other people actually need her help for something other than math homework. These rather unethical actions on her part, as means to an end, also foreshadow the times in later seasons when she calls on dark forces, in an attempt to "fix" unpleasant situations.--Isabel, Thurs, 6/21/01 at 21:35:35, with some additions by Rob
2L) "God, I'm so mentally challenged!" (00:08:57) BUFFY: Or not. Despite the self-depracating statement, Buffy doesn't notice the fact that she was the only one able to put two and two together, or at least the first to do so. It is not clear whether this is part of her Slayer powers or not, but this is the first of many times on the show that Buffy is able to figure things out before anybody else. She may not be book-smart, but she is definitely not the dumb blonde from the movie. Buffy is certainly far too hard on herself in this scene, which Giles states as well, but it is understandable that she feels guilty for having ignored her duties. Whether it is true or not, she feels that she may have been able to protect her new friends better had she not avoided her Slayerness for so long.
2M) "I'm the Slayer, and you're not." (00:09:04) SLAYAGE: This sentence sums up how slayage has been handled since the beginning. The Slayer is solitary, alone in her quest against the dark forces. She has very few, if any friends, because such sentimental attachments could make her weaker, and certainly never involves them in the actual slayage. Buffy will come to learn, however, by the end of this episode, that friends and family can be a huge advantage, and it is from these bonds where she will eventually draw her greatest strength. Perhaps this is why she has survived when other Slayers have died, and lasted longer than most others. Although she is alone and different and will never be exactly the same as her friends, she is not alone.
2N) "I'm less than a man." (00:09:13) XANDER AS "ZEPPO": In this line lies some of the essence of how Xander feels as a person, and the Buffy/Xander relationship, in general. As a person, Xander, many times, feels like he's less helpful than his friends, in defeating the evil. Even from the start, Willow has the computer skills to help, and Giles has his books, and Buffy has her powers. Even from the start, he feels a little inadequate when compared with them, and Xander is in a constant struggle with himself regarding his own worth as a human being. This, no doubt, is also a result of his unhappy home life, and verbally abusive parents. Regarding his relationship with Buffy, she remains completely oblivious to his crush on her, and the idea that she almost doesn't count him as a male, and certainly not as a possible boyfriend choice, is a sore point with him. Xander's feelings of helplessness are dealt with in length in the third season's The Zeppo. See 2R.
2O) "I do want to help. I need to." (00:09:23) WILLOW: From the start, we see that Willow cannot remain silently by, just as Xander can't. She sees something is wrong, and even though she is meek and shy, and even though she has no superpowers, she wants to help. Her determination to help Buffy probably reinforces Xander's desires, as well.
2P) "...you can wrest some information from that dread machine." (00:09:35) GILES: This is the first reference to Giles' hatred of computers. We learn more about this animosity in I Robot...You Jane.
2Q) "And where do we think we're going?" (00:10:17) FROM THE MOUTH OF THE ALMIGHTY JOSS: "This was...another scene designed to reiterate the idea that Buffy wants to fit in, and inevitably is going to get in trouble if she actually does the right thing. That she's going to come up against authority no matter what."--Joss Whedon, DVD Commentary
2R) "I don't want you getting hurt." (00:11:47) XANDER AS "ZEPPO": Xander's line, " And I meanwhile will help by standing around like an idiot," reinforces the earlier idea of "Xander as Zeppo." Willow's line is the first time we hear one of the Scoobies articulating that Xander needs to be kept out of danger, because they worry about him. On a subtextual note, notice how Willow's voice drops to a quieter level when she says "I don't want you getting hurt" as opposed to when she said "Buffy doesn't want you getting hurt." Willow loves him so much, it aches. See 2N and 3F.
2S) "Angel. It's a pretty name." (00:13:55) FROM THE MOUTH OF THE ALMIGHTY JOSS: "This chemistry between them was clear pretty much from this point...They have an energy together that's hard to define, but it's very clear, and it's very tangible, and very gratifying."--Joss Whedon, DVD Commentary
Act Two
2T) "Besides, it's this or Chem class." (00:16:47) JOSEPH CAMPBELL & THE HERO'S JOURNEY: These witty one-liners display why "Xander, especially, embodies a common archetype in literature--the Trickster. The Trickster usually appears as a comic sidekick, and often as a permanently immature boy who refuses to grow up. He represents the funny, playful side of the Hero and reminds us never to take any calling too seriously."--Rattletrap, Tues, 12/11/01 at 09:21:16 See 1Q, 1S, 1Y, 1JJ, 1TT, 2RR, 3FF, 11GGG, 12LLL, 27CCC, 35XXX, and Appendix A.
2U) "What did she do?" (00:18:42) FROM THE ORIGINAL SHOOTING SCRIPT: "[Willow sits]...next to them, but in her own world. She is bringing things up on the Net, typing intently, scrolling, searching..."--"The Harvest" by Joss Whedon, available from Pocket Books, Inc. as Buffy the Vampire Slayer: The Script Book, Season One, Volume 1
2V) "She's not a psycho. You don't even know her." (00:19:28) FROM THE MOUTH OF THE ALMIGHTY JOSS: "...to me...[this scene] is very important, just because it's the beginning of Willow's real empowerment. The experience she's gone through--almost being killed by a vampire--gives her just a little bit of an edge, and she actually speaks out against Cordelia. Over the years, Willow's character has blossomed considerably, and she's much more self-assured than she was at this point, and to see the beginnings of that, to see already the effect that her friendship with Buffy is having on her, is very sweet."--Joss Whedon, DVD Commentary
2W) "Why? Because you're boring." (00:19:40) FROM THE MOUTH OF THE ALMIGHTY JOSS: "...[That] is...another thing from my life, only, actually, I'm the person that said it. I thought it was really funny at the time, but the person I said it to was really upset. That said...the thing that's very important about this show is that we are all Willow and all Cordelia and Buffy and Xander. Cordelia, obviously, stops being the evil one...[later]...and becomes a part of the group. That was very deliberate, because...one of the things I wanted to say with this high school show is we don't have categories like 'the nerd,' 'the cool guy,' 'the popular guy.' Everything is fluid. Everything changes. Alliances change. We're all cruel, we're all heroic, we're all everything."--Joss Whedon, DVD Commentary See 26V.