Buffy the Vampire Slayer

Welcome to the Hellmouth (1)

Season 1, Episode 1, Aired 3/10/97

Episode Summary

Buffy Summers is the Slayer, but after being expelled from her old high school for burning down the gym (it was full of vampires) she just wants to forget about her destiny and be a normal sixteen-year-old girl. She and her mother move from L.A. to Sunnydale, California. A new school, new friends, and a chance to start over.

But Sunnydale is on top of a Hellmouth -- a center of mystical convergence that draws evil and demonic forces -- and Buffy soon realizes that she will have to pick up her stakes and holy water in order to save her new friends.moreless

8.8

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Cast & Crew

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Sarah Michelle Gellar

Buffy Anne Summers
Nicholas Brendon

Alexander 'Xander' Harris
Alyson Hannigan

Willow Rosenberg

Fan Episode Reviews (126)

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Welcome to the Hellmouth

6.0

"Fair"

By joxerlives, Dec 28, 2011 Report Abuse

WTTH

The Good; Great opening scene, straight from every slasher flick ever but with a Joss twist. Brian Thompson is an excellent villain with a real sense of menace about him as anyone who saw him on the X-files can tell you. He plays a very similar role in the excellent Fright Night pt2. The Master is pretty OTT but like Darth Vaders first appearance in Star Wars you really get the sense this is the baddest guy in the universe and no mistake.

The bad; not much although it's early days yet. The one thing they could have improved upon is putting Eric Balfour in the opening titles, when you don't see him it's a big clue that Jesse isn't going to make it

Best lines; Instantly fell in love with Giles when he states that "You didn't hone". Also a good one from Xander when he recovers Buffy's stake "All I can think of is that you're building a really small fence"

Observations and questions; And here we have the REAL Willow although we'll never again see her so nerdy, from now on she dresses more like Cassandra from the movie. We also never see Buffy wear either her Jehovah Witness dress or her PVC number which is a shame on both counts. Nonetheless both Buffy and Cordy dress scandalously in these early eps, obviously going for the ratings. Darla is also lovely although she really does look too old to be a schoolgirl. But everyone looks SO young. SMG is a little more voluptuous and DB is a lot thinner and it suits both of them
We see Buffy's vamp sense again but it now seems more based on her fashion taste than cramps. Presumably Aura who has the dead guy in her locker is the same girl who calls Cordy in the Angel ep 'Rm w/a vu'? (Do the Cordettes stay constant or do they change over time?)
Cordy has a mobile phone! We won't see one of those again until season 1 of Angel and the Sunnydale Scoobies won't have them until season 7
Another point against Normal Again, Buffy doesn't want to be the Slayer and is trying to leave her past behind her. Presumably either the council or PTB arranged Joyce's job in Sunnydale? Buffy/Cordy fancy James Spader presumably for Pretty in Pink (although that's an 80s film when Cordy and Buffy would both have been toddlers). You wonder what they thought of him in S&M fest 'Secretary' although considering what both get up to in later seasons maybe that would be ok with them (or they'd like him MORE?). Still I guess Buffy is over her Christian Slater phase?
Who's John Tesch?
A strong opener that hints at great things to come but not overtly brilliant in itself, I'll give it 3/5
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The Pilot of the series introduces Buffy, Giles, Willow, Xander, and Cordy. While the pilot explains the premise of the show it leaves you a tad bored, until the end in which it ends with a cliff hanger.moreless

10

"Perfect"

By Peterb3291, Feb 09, 2011 Report Abuse

A good first episode certainly not the worst pilot in existance, Buffy starts out slow and somewhat builds up speed, the episode does a good job of explaining Buffy's birth right and destiny, and sets the foundation for the rest of the series, it also introduces the Scooby Gang and Angel (who will later leave and start his own show). The Master is possibly one of my favorite Big Bad's. Over all Welcome to the Hell Mouth is a pretty decent episode to kick off the series and will lead right into The Harvest, you can expect a lot of great episodes from this series.moreless

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Vampire Slayer Buffy Summers arrives with her mother to start afresh in Sunnydale, California, determined to keep out of trouble. But that's no easy task due to the horde of undead creatures lurking under the town. A terrific start to a terrific series...moreless

9.5

"Superb"

By Jay-Spacedust, Feb 05, 2011 Report Abuse

Just as in every generation there is a chosen one, every few years, a TV show comes along that really shakes things up and redefines thing. 'Buffy the Vampire Slayer' is one such example. It spawned many wannabes, clones and imitators, and probably contributed in no small part to the teen horror movie resurgence of the 2000s. But BTVS, the one that started it all, in many ways remains the best.

The series didn't start on terrestrial TV here in the UK until 1999, shown on BBC Two. Immediately I loved it. (Ironically, on this first episode, shown in original feature-length version with 'The Harvest' in a 9pm slot before the following series moved to it's regular 6:45pm Thursdays haunt, I was in a play the night it was shown, and accidentally only set my video recorder as we still used back then for an hour; I had to wait for the story to be released as a stand-alone VHS release, pre-box sets, to see the end of the story!!).

As much as I loved the series at the time, it's one I hadn't yet come back to, to watch again. Part of the reason of this is because of some of the later episodes (I'll dare to say it in particular, the terrible season 6!) which lacked the charm of the earlier ones, maybe made my interest wane a little; and they maybe turned up dial on the many "feel sorry for Buffy" storylines a little too high. At the start of the series, I loved how the main leads (Buffy, Xander and Willow) were basically nerds and misfits, but by the end of the series they'd become a little too "cool" for my liking.

But I've recently bought the complete DVD collection (after having Season 1 sitting on the shelf for years), so I've decided to re-live this, for the most part, excellent series.

'Welcome to the Hellmouth' sets the scene perfectly. Following on from the 1992 movie (a take-it-or-leave-it popcorn flick that probably would have been forgotten by now if not for it's connection to this series), there are a few vague references to that film, but for the most part, things stand on their own, and you don't need to have seen that movie to get into this series.

Sarah Michelle Geller is perfectly cast as the Slayer of the title. Her quips here are really funny - they did verge on being a bit grating in some later episodes. In fact, with the quips and aforementioned "feel sorry" storylines, I'll make a big confession if it was purely Buffy herself, I probably wouldn't have really got into this show; it's her oddball friends and associates that really give this series its appeal. (By the way, I hated when people in my local area started trying to talk like Buffy and her little sayings... but then, imitation of TV programmes is something that has gone on pretty much since the invention of TV way back in what, 1975 or something).

I instantly like Xander (Nicholas Brendon), back in the day I wanted to be like him. But the star for many is Willow; Alyson Hannigan brings the character to life incredibly. Again ,Willow is one of the characters who totally changed later on (again, falling slightly into the "cool" syndrome). Fellow Brit Anthony Steward Head, star of a hundred 1980s coffee adds, is likewise terrific as 'Watcher' Giles; and as Cordelia, Charisma Carpenter is delightfully catty about everyone and everything. Then there's David Boreanaz as Angel... another shock confession: I often hated this character! To my 20 year old mind back then, he loved himself way too much; I MUCH preferred Spike (introduced in Season 2). But in fairness, here in WTTH, he plays the mysterious card well, and hey, I'll admit it, back then I was probably a bit jealous of him!!

I'm surprised how many reviewers have decided they don't care for WTTH very much. Certainly its pace isn't as tight as the typical episodes it has a LOT to introduce and set up; and both it and the first season have a slightly different approach to much of the later series. But for a Pilot, I think it works incredibly well, finding it's footing from the off.

I should also mention the music. The main theme, by Nerf Holder is great (I didn't like when they re-recorded it for Season 3; this original version is far punchier). The series is also notable for eschewing the typical commercial tripe of the time, and instead featuring underground and up-and-coming bands, something which worked really well.

Watching WTTH on DVD this evening, I enjoyed it every bit as much as I did when I first saw it way back in 1999 (until my video timer cut off, of course... d'oh!). I was also presently surprised at how well the series has dated not bad considering it's 14 years old (wow, has it been that long?)!

All-in-all, I enjoy 'Welcome to the Hellmouth' enough to give it a high-ranking 9.5.

(Review continued in Part 2, 'The Harvest'...)moreless

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Start to this great series is equal parts clever and cheesy

6.0

"Fair"

By TheHappyHermit, Jan 30, 2011 Report Abuse

When I first saw this episode back in 1997 I really enjoyed it. It was smart, hip and fresh with great dialog and music. However, it doesn't seem to have aged too well. Rewatching it is painful at times. There are very clever moments and then there are cheesy moments. I still enjoy the characters, dialog and music, but the story seems pretty weak. However, it was still a good start to a great series, just don't watch it and expect the rest of the series to be more of the same. It gets much better.moreless

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The Start Of A Beautiful Friendship...

8.0

"Great"

By bitihal, Jan 30, 2011 Report Abuse

First episode, I can even remember that I watched it and was glad that another show had surfaced dealing with the supernatural. (even though these days that's pretty much "normal") Anyway, I loved the whole concept that a tiny white blond girl is the chosen one and is kicking some serious @ss while dealing with all the drama that is teenlife. I'm not sure what I've would have rated this show back in the day but now that I'm rewatching it, I thought it was a good basis for all the characters and some of the jokes still made me laugh. I am spoiled a little(or just a little older) becausenow the vampires look really ...well halloweenish to me and a lot less scarier than first but maybe that's also because it's the pilot. All in all a good episode with a great cliffhanger!moreless

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Trivia, Notes, Quotes and Allusions

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Trivia
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- In the first classroom scene when Buffy doesn't have her own textbook, she shares Cordelia's. The teacher asks them open to page 63, but Cordelia opens the book almost at the beginning. Edit
- Thomas is the first vampire that Buffy stakes in the series. Edit
- The bite marks Darla leaves on the boy's neck run horizontally (when standing) and due to the shape of the neck and the location of the wound, a bite like that should be impossible. A bite would have to be vertical up the neck or close to vertical, and the way Darla bit him would have produced close to vertical marks anyway. Edit
Notes
ADD NOTES
- Originally, the Master was supposed to rise from the pool of blood and be covered with blood for the entire episode. But it turned out to be too difficult to do so they had him arise completely clean. Edit
- Alyson Hannigan was convinced that she had been so terrible in her first scene at the Bronze, that she had ruined the entire show. That convinced Joss Whedon that she was insane since he thought she had been wonderful in it. Edit
- The scene where Giles talks to Buffy in the Bronze was used for Anthony Stewart Head's audition. Edit
Quotes
ADD QUOTES
- Angel: You're standing at the mouth of hell. And it's about to open. Edit
- Buffy: I'll be back in a minute. Willow: Oh, that's okay, you don't have to come back. Buffy: (smiles) I'll be back in a minute. Edit
- Buffy: Have you guys seen Willow? Did she come by here? Cordelia: Why? Do you need to attack her with a stick? Jeez! Edit
Allusions
ADD ALLUSIONS
- Buffy: It's carbon dated. Trust me, only someone who had lived underground for ten years would think that was still the look. Carbon Dating is a technique that is used to determine the age of organic matter. Buffy says this about the vampire's clothes because they are so out of style. Edit
- Buffy: (holds an outfit in front of herself) Hello, would you like a copy of The Watchtower? Buffy here refers to the prim and proper appearance of the dress and compares it to Jehovah's Witnesses. Witnesses are a Christian sect which relies heavily on door-to-door prosetylization. Church representatives dress very formally and often try to sell subscriptions to their church magazine which is called "The Watchtower." Edit
- Buffy: Live in the now, ok? You look like DeBarge. A reference to the 80's pop music group DeBarge. Made up of five siblings and with aspirations to be a new The Jackson 5, they only wound up with one hit, 1985's Rhythm of the Night. Edit