Discussion of 1.01 "Welcome To The Hellmouth" - Aired 3/10/1997 (WB-US)

[Ninjagirl2008]

Like many of you, I'm doing a new watch thru of the show with analysis. I'm posting my in-depth reviews at Problematic Faves My first episode post is here. I'm focusing on how much I still like the show 20 years later, and what parts of it I now find problematic.

 

[TheMaster666]

I'd forgotten how strange and kinda useless Angel was at first. I can't believe I didn't suss out that he was a vampire right away, but I didn't!

Really? I thought that was quite obvious from his manner and apparel. I always figured he was some kind of defecting vampire helping the slayer out. Who else could he be? I was more surprised that the reveal "He's a vampire, gasp!" actually was a surprise at all to the characters in the show.

Something interesting about the pilot episode is that the very first thing Cordelia says when we see her is, "I'd kill to live in L.A." and then she really does go to L.A. after high school. That's either extreme coincidence, or Whedon really did his homework combing through old scripts when determining who would best fit on Angel.

Going back from Season 7 to Season 1 it's so apparent just how much the quality improved over the years with better budgets and special effects, but even the writing later on is far more dense with a lot more going on in each episode. By contrast the pilot feels rather slow-paced. They seem to take the horror a bit more seriously, but looking back it's laughable and cute that just 1 or 2 measly vampires could be such trouble. How times change. I do like the witty/sarcastic lines she says when she kills the vamps, it was somewhat missed later on. In the first season it definitely feels a lot more 90s. The whole demon/hellmouth thing feels very DOOM, Diablo, and Quake-inspired. The Master lives in broken gothic castles with skulls and candlabra and pools of blood. Very 90s.

 

[Buffy Summers]

Like many of you, I'm doing a new watch thru of the show with analysis. I'm posting my in-depth reviews at Problematic Faves My first episode post is here. I'm focusing on how much I still like the show 20 years later, and what parts of it I now find problematic.

Please don't just link to what you want to say - if you expect people to respond to you, you need to actually post on the board.

 

[NoShip]

I thought it was a tad funny that the teacher referenced "the fun part of the Black Plague"

I do LOVE the teacher's sense of humor!!! 🤣

 

[AlphaFoxtrot]

Re: Useless Angel: If I had to guess;

• They didn't want Buffy (both Character and Series) to become defined by the relationship with Angel. They wanted Buffy to be a normal girl, not Urban Fantasy Tommy and Tuppence. Although that show sounds awesome.
• They realized early on that Angel was a much more interesting character than Buffy, had far more potential, and would take over the series if they let him. I mean, if you are going to do a feminist subversion of a traditional male focused action series, you probably shouldn't let it become a male focused action series, and the only solution to that, assuming Diana Rigg is too old by this point to play Buffy, is to keep focus off the male character you don't know how to write.