Teaser

1A) Darla and the boy break into the science room. (00:01:05) SUNNYDALE SYMBOLISM: This first shot is a very interesting one, since the breaking into the science room is perhaps symbolic of the bewitched world of vampires and demons breaking into our "rational, scientific one."--Sophist, Wed, 03/27/02 at 09:15:19

1B) Darla shows her vamp face to the helpless boy. (0:02:22) FROM THE MOUTH OF THE ALMIGHTY JOSS: "The first thing I ever thought of when I thought of "Buffy: The Movie" was the little...blonde girl who goes into a dark alley and gets killed, in every horror movie. The idea of "Buffy" was to subvert that idea, that image, and create someone who was a hero where she had always been a victim. That element of surprise...[and] genre-busting is very much at the heart of both the movie and the series. The sequence here is also part of that mission....The helpless blonde girl...who, at the end of this scene, turns out to be something a little more than we expected. "--Joss Whedon, DVD Commentary See 1FF.

Opening Credits

1C) (00:02:31) FROM THE MOUTH OF THE ALMIGHTY JOSS: "In the credits, where it starts out with this scary organ, and then devolves instantly into rock n' roll, which is basically trying to tell people exactly what the show is, in the credits, which is, here's a girl who has no patience for a horror movie, who is not willing to be the victim...She's gonna bring her own sort of youth and rockin' attitude to it."--Joss Whedon, DVD Commentary

Act One

1D) Buffy's nightmares. (0:03:31) DREAM A LITTLE DREAM: "When we first see Buffy she is sleeping and having restless dreams. A couple of things about the dream...[I]t's interesting to me that the first thing we see Buffy doing is dreaming, wrestling with her subconscious. It suggests that those images she sees, which will be the images of Season One, are really bubbling up from her subconscious, they are her issues, her desires, her fears. Now the dream shows a couple of interesting things. One is particularly interesting because it does not explicitly appear in Season One, nor so far as we know, any reference to it. And that is Shiva’s Dance of Life. Certainly one aspect of Shiva’s dance of life is the relationship between the mortal and the eternal, the life that lives in the world of forms, and eternal force that animates and is beyond all forms. These are symbolized by the drum in one of Shiva’s right hands, which is the beating of time in the world of space, time and forms as we experience it, and by the flame in one of Shiva’s left hands, a flame that spreads into the circle of fire that frames the whole statue, which is the flame of eternal life that outlives mortality. We all have an eternal flame animating us that will outlive the mortality of our bodies. You might call it consciousness, perhaps a soul. But this statue immediately suggests to us that we are not the sum total of our lives. There is more to it. Perhaps this will be true of our sleeping heroine as well.

Also, Shiva is the Hindu deity that is the ultimate goal of the practice of Kundalini Yoga. The feminine creative serpent power inherent in all, known as Sakti, seeks its union with Shiva, by progressively activating a series of spiritual centers known as chakras, until at the last one, the seventh, Sakti dissolves into Shiva in pure love. But the first task in Kundalini, is to awaken that feminine power, Sakti, and start it on its journey of spiritual enrichment. And here is Buffy, like Sakti, sleeping and dreaming of Shiva, in the very first moments of the series. Interestingly enough, the first trip into the subterranean church that will become the home of the Master, begins with Luke repeating a particular line. 'The Sleeper shall wake. The Sleeper shall wake. The Sleeper shall wake (see 1AA).' Clearly a reference to the Master, but also pretty clearly a metaphorical reference to Buffy, our sleeping heroine. Buffy must awaken spiritually. I believe I have also read that 'Buddha' is from a Sanskrit word that means 'to awake' or 'the awakened one'. Buffy must wake up to her spiritual life."--manwitch, Mon, 06/16/03 at 21:03:38 See 1*2, 3C, 3E, and Appendix B.

FORESHADOWY GOODNESS: All of the visions in Buffy's prophetic dream are clips from later episodes from this season, most notably from this episode, and Prophecy Girl, the season finale. Throughout the seasons on the show, Buffy's dreams are often show to have prophetic weight, an idea that was also used in the original Buffy movie.

1E) Sunnydale High. (00:04:22) FROM THE MOUTH OF THE ALMIGHTY JOSS: "What makes the show popular is the central myth of high school as horrific...The humiliation, the alienation...the confusion of high school is taken to such great proportions that they become demonic...I don't think you ever get over high school.--Joss Whedon, DVD Interview

1F) "Coming through...Coming through..." (00:05:10) FROM THE ORIGINAL SHOOTING SCRIPT: "[Xander]...is bright, funny, and will one day be suave and handsome. Till that day arrives, he'll do the best he can with bright and funny."--"Welcome to the Hellmouth" by Joss Whedon, available from Pocket Books, Inc. as Buffy the Vampire Slayer: The Script Book, Season One, Volume 1

1G) "Willow! You're so very much the person I wanted to see." (00:05:25) FROM THE ORIGINAL SHOOTING SCRIPT: "[Willow]...is shy, bookish, and very possibly dressed by her mother. The intelligence in her eyes and the sweetness of her smile belie a genuine charm that is lost on the unsubtle high school mind. It's certainly lost on Xander, though he brightens considerably to see her...[Willow's] excitement at the sentiment [that Xander's so happy to see her] is sweetly pathetic, and typically unnoticed."-- "Welcome to the Hellmouth" by Joss Whedon, available from Pocket Books, Inc. as Buffy the Vampire Slayer: The Script Book, Season One, Volume 1

1H)"Jesse! What's what?" (00:05:50) FROM THE ORIGINAL SHOOTING SCRIPT: "[Jesse]...is a little more awkward than Xander, a little less likely to become a lady killer in later years." This statement is, of course, a case of ironic foreshadowing, considering what happens to Jesse when he is vamped (see 2HH).--"Welcome to the Hellmouth" by Joss Whedon, available from Pocket Books, Inc. as Buffy the Vampire Slayer: The Script Book, Season One, Volume 1, with additional statements by Rob

1I) "Buffy Summers...Quite a career." (00:06:15) FROM THE ORIGINAL SHOOTING SCRIPT: "[Principal Flutie]...is middle aged, a tad officious. Caught between the school of strict thought and the new school of sensitivity."-- "Welcome to the Hellmouth" by Joss Whedon, available from Pocket Books, Inc. as Buffy the Vampire Slayer: The Script Book, Season One, Volume 1

1J) "You burned down the gym." (00:06:54) MEMORIES: It's helpful to go back to the movie version of Buffy the Vampire Slayer to fill in some of the back story. There are some differences, but, for the most part, we are to assume that what happened to the character of Buffy in the film version, is what happened to our Buffy: "15-year old Buffy Summers of Hemery High in Los Angeles was called to be the next Slayer, but when the Watcher Merrick found her, she had no inkling of what she was or the power that she had...Buffy led a normal...life until the day this news was sprung on her. Merrick took this Prom Princess/Fiesta Queen/cheerleader out to the graveyard where she encountered and killed her first vampire. Her power forced her to reluctantly admit to the truth of her calling, and Merrick began her training. But Buffy still resisted the meaningful and self-sacrificing life of a slayer. Then one night during a patrol, the local master vampire, Lothos, set his hypno-eyes on Buffy and killed Merrick. Lothos then set out to kill Buffy at the school dance. When his vampire minions broke into the gym, Buffy defended the shallow classmates who had begun to shun her and staked Lothos." Although this does not occur in the movie, we are meant to assume that this is when the gym was burned down, thus causing her expulsion, and her Mom's desire to move. Another marked difference between the two Buffys is that, the Buffy of the movie's parents were already separated at the start, while it is implied that our Buffy's parents, Joyce and Hank, were having marital difficulties around that time. Later information we receive should probably also lead us to assume that the timeframe of our Buffy's experiences was longer than that of the movie Buffy.--Masquerade, "Welcome to the Hellmouth" Analysis at http://www.atpobtvs.com, with some additional statements by Rob See 33Rx5.

1K) "Xander. Is me." (00:07:57) FROM THE MOUTH OF THE ALMIGHTY JOSS: "This is the classic first meeting of the boy and the girl, where the boy makes an idiot of himself, obviously based very much on my life. Xander I've always identifed as the figure that I most was like, because he did have that inability to...talk to the girl and come through in the big moment, and he does make an idiot of himself a lot."--Joss Whedon, DVD Commentary

1L) "But the fun part of the Black Plague is that it originated in Europe where?" (00:08:43) SUNNYDALE SYMBOLISM: The reference to the Black Death foreshadows the Harvest, in which the Master would attempt to free himself from his mystical prison, open the Hellmouth, and destroy all humanity on Earth. While we can see this as a reference to the Harvest as being a plague, the vampires also have a point of view. They see humans as the plague.--Sophist, Wed, 03/27/02 at 09:15:19, with additional statements by Rob See 1BBB.

1*1) "Hi! I'm Cordelia." WHAT'S IN A NAME?: See 30AAA.

1M) "I would kill to live in L.A." (00:09:23) CORDELIA CONTINUITY: This statement is, of course, filled with foreshadowy goodness, since in a few short years, Cordelia will be moving to L.A. on Angel.--Fresne, Tuesday, 03/26/02 at 10:06:34

1N) "Willow! Nice dress." (00:10:05) FROM THE MOUTH OF THE ALMIGHTY JOSS: "Cordelia...is the classic evil high school bitch... The idea here was to set up that she would see Buffy as someone she identified with. In the movie, Buffy started out, basically, as Cordelia...the idea that Cordelia, the popular, mean, superficial one would...latch on to her makes perfect sense. And we wanted to sort of introduce Cordelia as somebody you thought might be nice, a little scatty maybe, but kind of endearing, and then turn it around and have her just lay into...Willow so that you realize, 'Oh, she's not exactly what I thought she was, either.' And set up our sympathy for Willow, and also for Buffy, when Buffy gravitates towards Willow, clearly because she's upset that Willow has been attacked."--Joss Whedon, DVD Commentary See 11P and 33Qx4.

1O) "Good to know you've seen the softer side of Sears." (00:10:10) POP CULTURE TIME: "Cordelia's comment about the softer side of Sears is...[of course] a reference to...[the famous] ad campaign by Sears."-- Fresne, Tuesday, 03/26/02 at 10:06:34

1P) "About half a block from the good part of town." (00:10:45) OTHERNESS AS SPECIALNESS: "At first sight, the demons appear to be the 'other'. But very quickly, Mutant Enemy (does even their name remark upon this idea?) undercut it. Who really are the 'Other'? Even in Welcome to the Hellmouth, as Darla quickly turns out to be predator rather than prey, we are specifically warned that outward appearance deceives. Don't trust the surface picture, ME tells us--look underneath the surface. As if to ram this point home the very first glance we have of the demon world is when the camera simply keeps moving downward, past the ground and into the underground caverns of Sunnydale. The 'bad' parts of Sunnydale aren't very far away from the 'good' parts of Sunnydale (Didn't Cordelia remark that they were only half a block away? Isn't this significant?) I would posit that the real Other are Buffy and the Scoobies. And that Otherness is a positive quality. To be honest, aren't the vast horde of demons really rather homogenous? They aren't even original. Both Spike and Angel, time and time again remark on the numerousness of rather dull witted and incompetent Vamps...The point is that the...['normal' and 'demon' worlds] are mirror images of each other. The truly original, quick witted and intelligent individuals stand out starkly from the rest of their peers, whether this be in Sunnydale High School or in the graveyards of Sunnydale. The crucial point, I feel, is that these worlds are not opposed but fundamentally the same. After all, who are the Vamps originally? They were the formerly living inhabitants of Sunnydale. These superficially 'Others' aren't Others at all! They are the same! From the moment that Cordelia insults Willow, from the moment we see that sad hurt look from her, we know who the real 'others' are. When Buffy makes a decision that she cares more about being a decent human being rather than being popular, we see the power structures of normal Sunnydale laid bare. Isn't this comparable to the Patriarchal power structure shown by the Master and his minions? Both worlds are ruled by the powerful.--Rahael, Fri, 04/12/02, at 08:10:39

1Q) The Library. (00:11: 02) JOSEPH CAMPBELL & THE HERO'S JOURNEY: "Joseph Campbell's 1949 book, 'The Hero with a Thousand Faces,' identifies common strains in the mythology of all world religions and cultures. Campbell concludes that all are different and varied manifestations of one 'monomyth,' a universal story with roots in the universal human experience. One key component of Campbell's analysis is the recurring hero's journey that appears at the heart of most stories. The hero always passes through several phases in his quest; regular stages that Campbell identifies and defines." The first stage is when the hero is separated from the ordinary world, or Common Day, and is given a Call to Adventure. In Buffy's case, the Common Day is Sunnydale High. The Library represents her first separation from this outer world, since her arrival there, recently. The Library is silent, sacred "terrain, on the edge of the ordinary world."--Rattletrap, Tuesday, 12/11/01 at 09:21:16, with some additions by Rob See 1S, 1Y, 1JJ, 1TT, 2T, 2RR, 3FF, 11GGG, 12LLL, 27CCC, 35XXX, and Appendix A.

1R) "I'm Mr. Giles." (00:11:45) GILES: While one might expect a character such as Giles to be a one-dimensional, stuffy sort of figure, appearances, as usual on "Buffy," are deceiving. Yes, the stuffiness is there, but, at the same time, Giles has a very youthful energy, and excitement about his new role as Watcher. Note the excitement in his eyes, and his gleeful smile when he first takes out the "Vampyr" book. He might be the adult, in relation to Buffy, but he is trying to figure out his own life, just as she is.

WHAT'S IN A NAME?: "'Rupert' is a form of 'Robert' and means 'bright and shining with fame.' We certainly do know that Giles is bright...'Giles' has two possible origins: the Old French 'Gilles,' meaning 'young; downy-bearded one' and the Latin 'Egidus,' meaning 'shield bearer.' It's interesting that Giles, the oldest and most mature regular character on the show, has a name that reflects his youth and highlights his qualities as protector and defender."--Rhys, Tues, 02/11/03 at 01:37:41

1S) "That's not what I'm looking for." (00:12:02) JOSEPH CAMPBELL & THE HERO'S JOURNEY: "...Giles...will function as...[Buffy's] Mentor figure for most of her journey. In this instance Giles also functions as a herald..." Campbell classifies the herald as the being or entity which first gives the hero the Call to Adventure. In some cases, such as this one, the herald is the same figure as the mentor, but not always. A good example is in Star Wars, when R2-D2, as herald, runs away from Luke, causing him to chase after him, and eventually meet Ben Kenobi, his mentor. Back to Buffy, "...[o]ur heroine, weighed down by her expulsion from one school and the loss of her friends and her social status, bluntly refuses." This is also a common occurence in most mythologies: the first time the hero is called, he ignores the call. Buffy's case is even more unusual, since she has been a hero in the past, and is now refusing to return to her calling. Her past experiences have left her with "cynicism and battle scars, and with no desire to set out along the road again."--Rattletrap, Tuesday, 12/11/01 at 09:21:16, with some additions by Rob See 1Q, 1Y, 1JJ, 1TT, 2T, 2RR, 3FF, 11GGG, 12LLL, 27CCC, 35XXX, and Appendix A.

1T) "Hey, Aphrodesia." (00:12:25) DOUBLE STANDARDS: Isn't it interesting that a girl with such an "absurdly unusual name" as Aphrodesia finds the name "Buffy" odd? This scene also displays the way over-the-top Southern California-parody dialogue that was steered clear from for the rest of the show's run, due to how false it sounded.--Sophist, Wed, 03/27/02 at 09:15:19, with additional statements by Rob

Act Two

1U) "Why? I mean Hi." (12:58) WILLOW: Willow is so endearingly shy and vulnerable here. She has probably never been approached by a "popular" girl before, in a friendly manner. The impression isn't given that she's used to being made fun of, although there's probably a little of that...That "Why?" implies that she has no idea why anyone like Buffy would find her even remotely significant enough to talk to. She is about to find out here, however, again, that Jossian mission statement that appearances are deceiving. Buffy looks like a popular girl, but has rejected that along with her Slayerly past. She is doing the unthinkable here--starting her first day at school, making friends with the so-called "losers." This scene not only shows what a good person Buffy is, but speaks volumes about Willow, as a character, in this point in time.

1V) "To make you a vampire, they have to suck your blood and then you have to suck their blood. It's a whole big sucking thing." (00:17:25) BUFFYVERSE MYTHOLOGY: In the Buffyverse, this is how a vampire is created, or sired. Another important factor is that the victim is drained to the point of death, at which point the vampire lets the victim drink of his (the vamp's) blood. See 33N.

"Are vampires really dead? The dialogue on the show confuses this issue. Vampires are called 'dead', but they must also be 'killed'. We are obviously dealing with two different definitions of the word 'dead' here. Xander makes this distinction in The Zeppo: '...walking around and drinking with your buddies dead', vs. 'little bits being swept up by a janitor dead.' Vampires may be 'dead' if one's definition is 'without living human physiological function'. But vampires walk, talk, think, and feel, no matter what's going on in the bodies they inhabit.

What is going on in vamp bodies? When someone in the Buffyverse is vamped, they die of blood loss and their human soul leaves the body. So in that sense, the person is dead. However, since they drank from the blood of the attacking vampire before their death, the body develops a demon physiology shortly after death..With this new physiology, the body is essentially alive again--it doesn't rot like a dead body does; it takes on most of the normal physiological characteristics of a human, with some differences:

1W) "Because you are the Slayer." (00:17:40) BUFFYVERSE MYTHOLOGY: "For as long as there have been vampires, there have been vampire slayers. Vampire slayers are young human girls (15 or 16 is a typical age to be called) who are endowed by the Powers That Be with supernatural strength and fighting skills. There can be only one slayer at any given time, and a new slayer is only "called" (her powers made manifest) when the old slayer dies. The Slayer's duty is to protect humanity from vampires and other demons who stalk the Earth. Buffy is the latest of the slayers, called in 1996."--Masquerade, "Welcome to the Hellmouth" Analysis at http://www.atpobtvs.com

WHAT IS THE SLAYER?: See 9FF.

1X) "Watches?" (00:18:55) BUFFYVERSE MYTHOLOGY: "Watchers are adults who train and prepare a slayer for her duties. Typically, there is a single watcher assigned to a slayer. Early on, the watchers formed a Council for governing their activities, and by extension, the activities of the Slayer. It is not clear when slayers began having Watchers, although it has been noted that the first slayer did not have one. Nor is it clear who appointed watchers to help slayers."--Masquerade, "Welcome to the Hellmouth" Analysis at http://www.atpobtvs.com

1Y) "Go ahead. Prepare me." (00:19:17) JOSEPH CAMPBELL & THE HERO'S JOURNEY: "The discovery of the dead body later in the day prompts Buffy to return to the library, where Giles issues a second Call, which Buffy again refuses."--Rattletrap, Tuesday, 12/11/01 at 09:21:16 See 1Q, 1S, 1JJ, 1TT, 2T, 2RR, 3FF, 11GGG, 12LLL, 27CCC, and Appendix A.

1Z) "Because now is the time my mom moved here." (00:19:46) SUNNYDALE CONSPIRACY THEORIES: This is an issue that has been debated ad nauseum among Buffy fans--why did Joyce decide to move to Sunnydale? When Giles says that there was a reason Buffy moved there at that time, it has lead some people to assume that the Watchers' Council, a very powerful organization with ties...everywhere, pulled strings to get her accepted to that school. Another theory is that the Mayor, aware of the threat of the Master, allowed Buffy into the Sunnydale school system in order to eliminate the problem, getting in the way of his eventual Ascendance. That way, the demons to which he must pay tribute wouldn't see him outwardly attacking the Master. He could have seen the Slayer as the way to let the problem take care of itself, in a manner of speaking. Then, a third theory, of course, could be predestiny. Buffy was destined to come to Sunnydale, drawn there by the mystical forces of the Hellmouth. All three are valid theories. None of them will probably ever be proven conclusively, as it would take away the mystery and myth of the tale.--Partly paraphrased from d'Herblay, Fri, 09/28/01 at 14:33:11 See 6II, 9T, 15Lx4, 31PP, 31QQ, 34LLL, 42XX and 42YY.

1*2) The camera moves around the lair as Luke chants and eventually comes to rest on him. WHAT'S IN A NAME?: "...[I]t's hard to believe the naming of the chief vampire minion as Luke is accidental. Luke is, of course, one of the Gospels, and I believe is unique among the Gospels for its detailed description of the early years of Christ, particularly the passage where a twelve year old Jesus books on his parents and is found at the temple conversing with priests and doctors. When asked what the hell he thought he was doing running away like that, Jesus tells his parents, 'Don’t you know? I must be about my father’s business.' I believe that appears only in Luke. And in that passage Jesus is acknowledging his father as God, and his business as pursuing his spiritual life, rather than the worldy intepretation of his father as Joseph and his father’s business as carpentry. Now if we see the Master as Luke’s father figure, which is reasonable, than certainly Luke is attempting to go about his father’s business. But when we consider the parallel that seems to be suggested between Buffy and the Master, and when we think of the Master as part of Buffy’s bubbling subconscious, than perhaps Luke is really a reminder to Buffy that she must tend to her spiritual life. Just a thought."--manwitch, Mon, 06/16/03 at 21:03:38 See 1D, 3C, 3E, and Appendix B.

1AA) "The sleeper will wake." (00:21:14) DEGREDATION MOST HOLY: Throughout the show's history, there have been many cases where Christian symbols were turned on their heads, or perverted by evil. Many of them occur in the show's first two episodes. The first case we see of this is in this episode. "The Master is trapped in a ruined Church, sunk underground....[All of these religious inversions] point...to the fact that the real meaning of Sunnydale is 'Boca del Infierno' - the Hell Mouth, and adds to the surreality and the nightmarishness of the seemingly ordinary place that Buffy has come to."--Rahael, Sat, 04/13/02, at 10:28:15, with additional statements by Rob. See 1BBB, 2B, 2C, 2Z, 2NN, 7V, 7XX, 15L, and 25BBB.

Part Two