Change one thing about season 1

[ILLYRIAN]

I hated that whole scene after Buffy had been in Flutie's office, That horrific hall scene. I counted so many continuity errors, at least 13. That scene was even worse than the pathetic shooting of Tara by Warren.

 

[Tome]

Even less Angel screentime. No, but seriously, a full season that would have helped flesh out more of the characters and that would have given us better resolutions for the uncharacteristic cliffhangers in episode 3, episode 4, and episode 11.

 

[WillowsFaith]

The anointing one was just random. Setup to be a big deal, then literally does nothing. And the kid they casted couldn’t act. So it was just a waste of screen time. His best scene was spike killing him😂
I also would have made episode 3 witch be more focused on Willow becoming intrigued by magic.
Other then that season 1 is fun tv

 

[BuffyBot22]

Get rid of The Pack episode. I hate that episode so much. Flutie could have easily been killed off another way.

 

[KaitKat]

I think overall Season One was perfect. I know that a lot of people would like to see more of Jesse or see how is death impacted Xander but I actually think that he did die at the right time. It set the tone that this wasn’t a game, people die and gave a good reason for Xander and Willow to become attached to Buffy and help her. I would like to see a character study at some point with flashbacks of Jesse that would allow us to understand Xander’s psychology and why he hates vampires so much but I don’t think Season One is the appropriate place for that episode. I do think that he could be mentioned when Willow and Xander are sharing childhood antidotes, it seems rather strange that he isn’t.

 

[Dogs of Winter]

Rewrite Darla and Angel. Neither of them are anything like the characters they become later. Darla is too submissive and needy, and Angel's overly mysterious act doesn't suit him - he looks like he is doing a bad Morrissey impression half the time.

Not really a change but i wish they did Out of Mind Out of Sight in season 2 or 3 when the writing had tightened up a bit. I love the concept of the episode but dont think they fully did it justice and would have liked to have seen what they did with it when the writing had improved

 

[TheMaster666]

No thanks, I love it as is!

Post automatically merged: Nov 18, 2021

I think overall Season One was perfect. I know that a lot of people would like to see more of Jesse or see how is death impacted Xander but I actually think that he did die at the right time. It set the tone that this wasn’t a game, people die and gave a good reason for Xander and Willow to become attached to Buffy and help her. I would like to see a character study at some point with flashbacks of Jesse that would allow us to understand Xander’s psychology and why he hates vampires so much but I don’t think Season One is the appropriate place for that episode. I do think that he could be mentioned when Willow and Xander are sharing childhood antidotes, it seems rather strange that he isn’t.

Plus, Xander is cool and funny. Keeping Jesse on would have been like keeping that Willow from the unaired pilot. Just not the same because I don’t think the actor would’ve been particularly enjoyable beyond a guest appearance.

 

[fauxindigo]

I'd add 10 more episodes to make it a full season.
Welcome to the Hellmouth
No New Friends (Vamp Jesse taunts and threatens Xander & Willow while they get to know Buffy and plan how to eliminate him)
The Harvest
Witch
Lessons from Hell (An insanely strict teacher has it out for Buffy and can't hide her demonic nature from the slayer)
Teachers Pet
Badboy (The scoobies investigate a high school bully who they believe to be possessed by something evil)
Never Kill a Boy on the First Date
The Pack
The Whirlwind (Flashbacks to Angel(us), Darla, Drusilla & Spike...current day Darla & Angel in Sunnydale, Darla fights Buffy)
Angel
Zombie Jock (The Football team turn into brain dead zombies, but still win the championship game)
I Robot, You Jane
The Day that Never Ends (Buffy, Willow, Xander & Cordelia must break out of a time loop where they are stuck in history class forever)
The Puppet Show
Playing the Victim (The competition between Cordelia and another popular girl for the lead role in the drama club play turns deadly)
Haunted Halls (The ghosts that haunt the halls of Sunnydale high mess with the living students and faculty, causing chaos and death)
Nightmares
Out of Sight Out of Mind
"Teachers Pet p2." (after the preying mantis eggs hatch in Sunnydale High and kill a student, Buffy must find the big nest in the outskirts of Sunnydale)
The Watcher (Giles leads the scoobies to Jennys rescue when she's attacked and captured by vampires from the Masters Order or Aurelius)
Prophecy Girl

 

[Cohen]

I would've had Jesse's death have a bigger impact. Show Xander and Willow have more grief over his death. Show that Xander coped with his guilt over killing Jesse by him taking the more extreme hatred of vampires that he showed. It wouldn't have to be a big thing, just a few small character moments that connected the dots to how Xander is portrayed.

Yes, I agree that I would have liked to see the thread of losing one of their best friends impact them through the season. It always struck me as odd that the ending scene of "The Harvest" has Willow and Xander and Buffy bantering about the night before, but no mention of the death of their best friend. They spent a good amount of time in the middle of the episode being sentimental about Jesse being lost, and then becoming a vampire, and after he's dust, he's out of their minds. And then he's literally never mentioned again. Their best friend since childhood. I know that he didn't factor into the story at large, but that HAD to have impacted Xander and Willow. Maybe more so Xander. I still think it's cheap AF that they did not include Xander in CWDP and incorporate Jesse into it. Even if they had to recast, that would be one person that the First could have used to manipulate Xander, and it may have actually worked. Even have Jesse recur as the First in the last season.

I also would have made episode 3 witch be more focused on Willow becoming intrigued by magic.

I don't think at the point of writing that they had fleshed out Willow's eventual witchiness. She was very techno-god in the first 2 seasons, and that was her focus. Had they planned for her to be a Witch early on, I think that this would have been a great idea. Maybe even have Amy recur more than just one-off appearances every season.


The biggest thing with Season 1 storytelling is that at the time, shows did not have a large cast of recurring characters. Today stories are more fleshed out and serialized. Back then, networks wanted Monster of the Week type stories (self-contained) because they thought we regular people too dumb to get into a show midway through a serialized story. In fact, the WB was super put off by Charmed's 4th season Source/Cole arc (which was still episodic but heavily serialized), so the fifth season went back to no story arc at all. Of course, this was 6 years after Buffy's first season was written, but still. Putting a 2021 perspective on the first season, it definitely needed more fleshing of the characters. But going back to 1996, when the series was written and filmed, they wrote the season largely episodic to introduce people to Buffy and Sunnydale, and hopefully score a renewal. They didn't know when they shot the show if it would even resonate with people. This season was entirely written and shot before the first episode aired in March 1997. It was what is called a "sleeper hit," where it was quietly introduced mid-season and then gradually exploded. This show put the WB on the map for teen television in the mid-90s.

 

[Mr Trick]

Rewrite Darla and Angel. Neither of them are anything like the characters they become later. Darla is too submissive and needy, and Angel's overly mysterious act doesn't suit him - he looks like he is doing a bad Morrissey impression half the time.

Not really a change but i wish they did Out of Mind Out of Sight in season 2 or 3 when the writing had tightened up a bit. I love the concept of the episode but dont think they fully did it justice and would have liked to have seen what they did with it when the writing had improved

I don't know I always think of Angel as broody in someway even in S5 of Angel. My guess is they played him as a man of mystery in S1 of Buffy because that's how Buffy sew him. Plus the writers wanted us to question if he was on the good side or the bad side. Darla being different stands out more for me on rewatches. It doesn't really bother me too much with Angel. I'm not a fan of him in S1 but it doesn't bother me too much because its more about the Scoobies anyway.

 

[Cohen]

I don't know I always think of Angel as broody in someway even in S5 of Angel. My guess is they played him as a man of mystery in S1 of Buffy because that's how Buffy sew him. Plus the writers wanted us to question if he was on the good side or the bad side. Darla being different stands out more for me on rewatches. It doesn't really bother me too much with Angel. I'm not a fan of him in S1 but it doesn't bother me too much because its more about the Scoobies anyway.

Omg She’s way out of character in the first episode. It’s so weird to compare the Darla of season 2 and beyond to the Darla of season 1. It’s almost 2 entirely different characters. Kind of like Anya in season 3 versus season 4+. It’s clear they didn’t know what They wanted with the character, but adored the actress.