BBtv Discussion: Welcome to the Hellmouth & The Harvest

[Faith]

Another one in our Buffy's corner about why she alters over the seasons but we can pick up on that as we go. The beauty of doing something like this is that when we all first saw it we did not have the gift of foresight so to speak. Darla i'm guessing they probably never expected to have her play such a major part but I could be wrong. For instance looking back and what we know of Darla now to what we did then, I can't see Luke being able to order her about and be above her in the pecking order the way he did.

The one line that stood out now was in the Bronze where Jesse was asking Darla if she was 'from around here' when she said 'she had family here' we could take it she meant the Master or even Angel. Its been a while since I completely watched it all but am I right in thinking that it was the Master that turned her?

Its more and more the little things now, when you watch it you pick up on so much more and appreciate it.

 

[Sweetescape]

Seeing Darla was so weird the way she cowered i was like omg! I'd forgotten all about it. But the clothes they all wore...very....interesting. I agree Buffy did seem a lot chirpier and happy and Angels cheesetastic lines priceless!

 

[SpikedBuffy]

Yeah, the Master was the vamp that sired Darla. I never picked up on that, when she said "No, but I have family here". I just thought she was being coy, trying to lure Jesse in. But when you think about it, she definitely did have family there.

 

[Faith]

Yeah, the Master was the vamp that sired Darla. I never picked up on that, when she said "No, but I have family here". I just thought she was being coy, trying to lure Jesse in. But when you think about it, she definitely did have family there.

I guess the question is that at the time was it just a line to reel Jesse in or was it a loaded answer knowing full well what the background was. Normally I would say it was just an answer but considering this is Joss it could well be that he knew all along.

 

[Kean]

I guess the question is that at the time was it just a line to reel Jesse in or was it a loaded answer knowing full well what the background was. Normally I would say it was just an answer but considering this is Joss it could well be that he knew all along.

I think it was very much a loaded question that she answers very knowingly. 'You probably will'...she knew Jesse was going to be taken for the Master. I think it was Joss setting up centuries of backstory...in the first episode!

 

[Fake Shemp]

was this screening advertised... i aint been on BB much of any last week

is this like shps... cause wer onto season 2 in the buffy sync watching

 

[Kean]

was this screening advertised... i aint been on BB much of any last week

is this like shps... cause wer onto season 2 in the buffy sync watching

It was but only limitedly, that will change for the next one. It was all a bit rushed as we just had it set up.

 

[Fake Shemp]

LOL know that feeling.... shps wasnt set up until after the first sync... then there was the OMWF kafuffle where we did it on the boards...

 

[sk]

Expect me to join on some viewings in the future.
Will probably not chat that much though. My experience with these chats is that I just can't keep up. It takes me too long to put a sentence together in English to participate...
Can be fun to watch and read though 🙂

About Welcome to the Hellmouth and The Harvest, I agree with what many already has said.
It's great to see Buffy in these early episodes. Very different from later seasons when she has seen and done so much, and let's just say it isn't all funny stuff.

Always thought it as a bit cheap/easy to let Xander know by just overhearing Buffy and Giles talking.
They talk a lot about vampires and other stuff, often in public. Wonder how many others that have overheard them... 🙂

/SK

 

[DrusillaRox]

Just off topic for a sec -

I love this idea, I'll join whenever possible 😀

OKay back - I love these eps all though I was a little "They're having an apocalypse on the SECOND EPISODE?!!!"

 

[Crazy Flakes]

Am I the only one who liked Buffy a lot more in the first season than in the rest of them? I'm not really a big fan of season 1 in general and Welcome to the Hellmouth certainly isn't on my list of top episodes, but I really liked Buffy's carefree attitude and funny little quips...plus, we didn't have to listen to her moping as much as we did later on.

 

[Buffy Summers]

I definitely like her earlier seasons better BUT the later seasons do serve a purpose, even if they are heavier.

🙂

 

[Lily]

The thing I love about starting again from the beginning is that you get such a sense of how far the characters developed over the 7 (and more) years that the 'verse was around - and yet at no point are they unrecognisable from their 'Season 1 versions'. That's incredibly difficult to achieve considering Willow went from a techno-geek-wallflower to an almost-earth-destroying-witch.

On the Darla stuff - the way she did her little girl voice always irks me, I know it's mainly to be coy and cutesy to attract the stupid adolescent male - but she carries on with it for ages.
I still love that the first time I watched this episode I thought she was Buffy in the teaser and I was so confused! Extrememly happy that she did not turn out to be our much loved/tolerated Slayer 🙂 Julie does a much better job playing a baddie IMO

 

[Fake Shemp]

i love the mirroring between the end of the harvest to chosen. to the point in chosen that willow leaves buffy and xander, and then xander leaves buffy... much in the order they met in welcome to the hellmouth. really made it feel full circle from start to end getting the giles "earth is doomed line" at both ends.

 

[Perny]

I liked them as an intro to the show. It was nice to see that Buffy tried to put her slaying aside, and we met, and pated with a character I really liked:
Jesse. I would have loved to see of him. I feel like he had more potential as a friend on the show, than what he got

 

[Fake Shemp]

how about how so not bothered was willow at jesse's death... i mean "COME ON!"

 

[Perny]

^I know! Xander was really upset... Willow was kinda Cordelia-like...
I mean, can you say Cold fish?

 

[Fake Shemp]

no i cant.... at least xander reacted appropriately

 

[Perny]

^figures, when your best friend suddenly is playing the bloodsucker evilness game

 

[Lou]

I've always had issues with the beginning of Buffy. I will try and explain why in a short manner, but I can't promise much.

1.) They seem to elude to this "backstory" in the series that doesn't hold up when you watch the movie. It's annoying. It may hold true to what Joss WANTED the movie to be, but sadly, we can't see that. I went and bought the movie because I didn't remember her burning down the gym and sure enough, she doesn't.
Plus, her parents are NUTS in the movie. Sure, we needed Joyce to be a bit more "hands on" and less flighty for the show. But a short period of adjustment or explanation of the two extremes might have been nice.
2.) (and maybe this one is pure Spuffiness) I LIKE it when it's darker. With the exception of parts of Season 3 I like 4-7 MUCH better. I especially dislike Buffy's attitude in the first few seasons. I find it amazingly immature. Possibly because she WAS immature, but it still bugs me.
The whole I don't want to do this wishywashiness drives me nuts. Especially in these first two episodes where Willow and Xander seem ready and willing to leap right in without many reservations and Buffy, who has super powers, is acting very childish.
I DO give her SOME credit now after seeing "Normal Again" because it at least gives some reason for her to want out. But since they don't reference any of that, it makes it hard to remember or care when actually watching the earlier seasons.
And, although this has little do with Welcome or Harvest....when it comes to Angel, it always kinda irks me that she's always wishing she wasn't the Slayer and wants out but in love with a vampire. It's like wanting a life like Cordy's family when you grow up but insisting on dating the drug addict, auto shop loser and not realizing that the person you're so infatuated with is in direct opposition to what you claim you want in the future.

I WILL agree that Darla also bugs me in the earlier episodes because whenever I start over like this I want to SMACK her for being such a little miss "Walk Over Me and Order Me Around" wuss. I had the same feeling when I watched her on the first season of Dexter though.
In fact, since I watched Angel first, when I finally got to Welcome to the Hellmouth the first time I didn't really believe it was her. In fact, maybe it's not. Surely there is more than one cute little blonde vampire named Darla out there. Maybe hundreds. Surely Angel ran into a few in a couple hundred years....right?

Mostly the gist here is that I have no issue with characters that aren't well established. 98% of the cast I'm fine with.
But, Buffy, Darla and even Angel (in many cases) because of the later flashbacks and the movie make the beginning of the series like fingers on a chalkboard for me.
Although, watching Cordelia in season 1 is always like a hammer to the head for me. Sometimes it's hard to watch and realize just how MEAN she was. I do still laugh at the "softer side of Sears" comment.