The Never Ending Discussion Thread...

[Veverka]

Starting off with Welcome to the Hellmouth...
To me, it's ten out ten... not coz it's perfect, but coz it sets everything up wonderfully, opens the whole storyline by the Darla=apparent damsel=evil subversion, and goes from there...
Please discuss!!! (Should I mention that I stole this from the forum formerly known as BWFs...???!!!

[RockWild]

For a first episode it was actually really strong and introduced the concept of the series very well. From the start you got a sense of the story, the mythology and the characters, which is hard to do in just 45 minutes.

There are very few brand new series that hook me with the first episode. Most series take at least a season to really get me interested enough to say that I'm a fan. Buffy had me right from the start and since that time I think only Lost has got me hooked as quickly. That says a lot about how good the pilot was.

[Cinderela]

High on my list, too! I was immediately drawn to the whole "girl power" vibe in that show. I'd say 10 also, just because I couldn't stop watching!

Hooked me right from the start and kept me hooked all the way to the bitter end!

[LRae12]

for a series premiere, it was pretty good. Of course, Alias tops my list for series premieres, but I'd give it a 7/10. I loved/hated Cordy right off the bat with her snippy 'Willow, good to know you've seen the softer side of Sears' remark...

[omri]

For a first episode it's really good. But i didn't like how angel was acting. kinda bugs me. the way they put the whole season in buffy's dream was really cool...
7/10.

[tangent]

ooh love this thread missed it sooo much.

Welcome to the helmouth is a nice solid if unspectacular ep. It's a little heavy on the exposition which is a necessary evil but the characters are all introduced well and we get a good understanding of who everybody is.

The only real bug bear for me is, as has been said, Angel. He just isn't angel in these first eps. He's too light, too humorous but of course we know this will change.

overall 7/10

[redrevo]

WTTH was certainly better than about half of the rest of the season, introducing the characters well and starting out with an actual plot. I liked Giles as the stuffy guy who always liked making his little speeches, and Buffy ignoring the whole thing and using common sense coupled with rampant humor.

Yes, Angel's little lead-in about Buffy being short was a bit too light for the dark and broody guy we later see, but the whole part where Buffy turns the cliche on its head by realizing Angel is following her and kicking him in the back of the head was great. In retrospect I also liked how we get to see some of the dark-and-broody with Angel's line ("I know what you want. To kill them. To kill them all.") and how Buffy doesn't fall for the aforementioned dark-and-broody guy - until later, groan - with the gem: "Sorry, that's incorrect, but you do get this lovely watch and a year's supply of turtle waxWhat I WANT is to be left alone!"

8/10

[bazza]

WTTH set up Btvs perfectly. Characters were introduced very well and straight away was I was able to see where each of the characters would end up. The explanation of the overall plot by Giles summed it up perfectly and was very easy to understand. I found the quotes to be amazing right from the first episode to the very last both the humorous (which were very creative and used very well) and the serious quotes.

Angel did seem to be very OOC compared to rest of the series but maybe Joss wasn't at the time sure how he'd fit into it later on.

Overall a great opening: 8.5/10

[LRae12]

Hmmm....well I think enough time has passed, we could move onto The Harvest?

I give it a 7/10. It really was a great counterpart to the series opening. I admit, that the first two episodes run together in my mind a lot, so I have a hard time remembering which parts were from WTTH and which were from The Harvest.

But as I vaguely recall, this was the episode with Xander & Buffy searching for Jesse in the sewers. I think it was also the episode where whe see Buffy leaping over the school fence in a single bound. Which must have been something they decided she wasn't going to do often, because I don't ever remember seeing her do that again in the series.

I really liked the ending of the episode, though, with Giles stating "The earth is doomed". It was a great lead off into the rest of the series.

[vampmogs]

Well Buffy jumped a great length in Lie To Me as well so it wasn't completely radical for her to do such a thing

I liked the Harvest, I thought we got a better insight into our characters and it really set up the Scooby dynamics, with Willow being the brains, Buffy being the brawn and Xander being the human who has no super powers to speak of. We also see the first signs of the Bangel romance and an understanding between the two, Buffy's first saving of the world, Xander's first acknowledgment that he hates vampires and a great deal more about the mythology of the show.

9/10

[Cinderela]

The Master was a little over the top for me in this episode. I wasn't too crazy about the whole "Harvest" plot, it seemed a little overdone, IMHO. It felt like Joss needed go really GRAB the target audience and this ep did a good job of that.

And, it did a great job of setting up all the characters in their roles, so

8/10

[freakybunny]

The Harvest was IMO one of those episodes that you could kind of forget after awhile but when you see it, your remember everything. David's acting was... how can I say this?... In it's early stages lol, but so were alot of the others.
I enjoyed the story very much and loved it when Xander went to the sewers with Buffy and she told him this story about this vamp and then he had that flashlight... I didn't like Luke though...

7.5/10

[LRae12]

hmmmm...........I think enough time has passed to move onto Witch

I give it a 5/10. Wasn't super horrible, but not one of my favorites. The funny Buffy cheering capades was memorable, and it's fun to go back and watch this episode and to see how cheesy the show was in the first season, to see Willow who was just so different from how she ended in the series. Fun, classic episode.

[Maria]

Oh yes I had so much fun watching Witch. To this day, I still laugh when Buffy throws that cheerleader up and away like a rag doll This is also where Amy was introduced as shy. Knowing the future now as we do it's a bit sad to also see these cheesy times. Who knew brownie-loving Amy would end up like her evil mother. Who knew too that Cordy the bully would someday become a higher being. Although I enjoyed her more in these early times. She was at least real. Now I must admit I cringe when Buffy sings Macho Macho Man. I loved the scene between Buffy and Joyce when Buffy asked her if she would like to be 16 again, and Joyce says no. I'd give this 7/10.

[Jenni Lou]

5/10. Completely mediocrity, which is more than I can say for most of s1. However, a cool part of the ep is the introduction to Amy and it's always neat when there are recurring characters perpetually on the periphery but never quite all that recurring. I love how she just sort of popped up here and there of the years, even for her literal two second cameo in Something Blue.

[basakbangel]

It's a great opening but not ten out of ten, IMO. Yes, It sets up everything in once and that's the thing that most of the writer can't so "Congrats" for that. Not ten but maybe 9 because of the story line and title.

[LRae12]

I guess Teacher's Pet is up next...

I give it a 4/10. The total cheesey-ness of it, the predictability of the teacher being a preying mantis was not very original. But it was funny seeing the horny teens go gaga over the teacher, even if it has been done soooo many times. Plus it's fun to go back and see how different SMG, AH, and NB looked in the early eps.

[Moscow Watcher]

Interestingly, David Greenwalt was immediately found perfect Cordelia voice. Her scene with crisis counselor is priceless.
I think Greenwalt has always been the best Cordy writer.
________
BUY SILVERSURFER VAPORIZER

[Pandora's_Box]

I'll say 1/10, I'm gonna use an honest scale and don't give 3 or 4 to crappy episodes. Here the storyline is dumb, the visual effects really bad like Ms French turning her head, Xander's reaction when Buffy warn him "You're jealous" the thing we've heard a hundred time in other TV shows, the fourch vampire, why is he here. I give one point because the whole virgin stuff is funny and because unlike some Buffy eps, not that boring.

[BlasterBoy]

Definitely time to move on! To Never Kill A Boy On The First Date....

First off, nice title Next off, it was okay, I guess. I think it had a very lame plot, though. the anointed one is one of the most idiotic characters, ever, and the plot of finding the evil guy was stupid. And, in the end, the anointed one does not do anything, really

I liked some of the dialog, a lot, and it had some very classic lines, such as, "If the apocalypse comes, beep me." Sometimes, you gotta love Buffy!

But, really, the plot drew me away and kept me annoyed and rolling my eyes the whole time. It wasn't terrible, but really did not impress me....

Never Kill A Boy On The First Date - 6.5/10