Is season one treated unfairly by some fans?

[Chaos Bleeds]

I've noticed over the years that whenever someone mentions wanting to start Buffy the Vampire Slayer for the first time, there are always some fans who suggest skipping the first season entirely, or simply watching “Prophecy Girl” before moving straight on to season two.

I’ve always found this advice really bizarre. Don't get me wrong, season one certainly isn't the show's strongest season, but I still think there's so much to enjoy, including some genuinely great moments and important character development.

“Welcome to the Hellmouth” and “The Harvest” are, in my opinion, the perfect introduction to the series. They immediately establish the tone of the show and give you a good idea of what you're in for. And when you finish the series for the first time and eventually go back for a rewatch, you start to appreciate just how much groundwork that first season was laying.

I honestly can't imagine starting with season two. You'd miss the reveal that Angel is a vampire, all the early development involving Darla (which makes her eventual reappearance in Angel that much more compelling), Cordelia's gradual progression from mean girl to unlikely ally, and so much more. There's just too much important character development and setup to dismiss the season as skippable.

And that's not even mentioning some of the best quotes in the entire series! There are so many lines from season one that have stuck with me over the years, including “What is your childhood trauma?” and, of course, “If the apocalypse comes, beep me”, which has been on my PlayStation profile for years now!

Then there's the comedy, especially Cordelia, who is an absolute comedic goldmine during those early high school years. The scene where she casually talks about running someone over on their bike, and her reaction to the teacher's death when she's more concerned about the possibility of losing weight, are absolutely hilarious. It's exactly the kind of humour that perfectly captures her personality at that point in the series. I genuinely can't imagine missing out on moments like those.

I'm currently watching a YouTube reaction channel called Maplenuts React, and they've recently started the show. They've absolutely loved the first season and are already hooked, which has only reinforced my feelings about it.

I completely understand that season one has its weaknesses, and I wouldn't necessarily argue that it's the show's best season, but I really do think it deserves to be experienced in its entirety, especially by first time viewers.

Does anyone else feel the same way? I just think there's so much charm, character development and groundwork in that first season that skipping it would be doing yourself a disservice!

 

[November]

Yes, season 1 has that wonderful feel to it. It gets too much hate because its not as flashy looking. But the wit and the writing is all there. I love it and couldnt imagine really grasping the real feel of Buffy without watching s1!

 

[Ethan Reigns]

If the first season hadn't been so good, we might never have gotten a second season. I would rank the episodes roughly as follows:

Welcome to the Hellmouth / The Harvest - excellent
The Witch - fair
Teacher's Pet - fair
Never Kill a Boy on the First Date - fair
The Pack - excellent
Angel - excellent
I Robot You Jane - good
The Puppet Show - excellent
Nightmares - good
Out of Mind Out of Sight - excellent
Prophecy Girl - excellent

The vampire lore is explained in Season 1, so I don't get how you could understand the series without it. Later on in the series, the lore is shown to be somewhat variable or lacking, but you have to understand the first explanation Giles gives to Buffy or not much of the series makes sense. Season 1 was shorter than the others because it was a mid-season replacement for another show and that may be the only rational objection to it.

I watched the first episode of Riverdale and it had the same requirement to introduce characters but there was absolutely no wit in the writing. Buffy has spoiled me for all the other shows with no signs of intelligence.

 

[NotASlayer]

Season one suffers a bit from being short, but there is no guarantee they would have managed to successfully written enough episodes to make it longer. And the Master is a pretty good starter villain; better than some later in the series. especially in seasons six and seven.

 

[BuffyElevated]

I think people hate on Season 1 because it's a little cheesy compared to the rest of the show, but I love it. I do tend to warn first-time watchers that it had an extremely low budget, so the special effects are pretty bad in some scenes, but I do think it has some great episodes and I would never skip Season 1.

 

[NoShip]

I can't explain why people say S1 is bad.

The stories are generally good and one is phenomenal. Some of the acting could use some work. The special effects aren't great but they aren't bad. They are definately dated, but, the season was filmed in 1996. I love the horror ambiance and the score.

S1 laid the foundations of all that followed. And did a great job at being a funny and spooky and dramatic adventure while building some naturally realistic relationships within a believable world. Quite an accomplishment.

Post automatically merged: Yesterday at 5:22 PM

 

[DeepBlueJoy]

I've noticed over the years that whenever someone mentions wanting to start Buffy the Vampire Slayer for the first time, there are always some fans who suggest skipping the first season entirely, or simply watching “Prophecy Girl” before moving straight on to season two.

I’ve always found this advice really bizarre. Don't get me wrong, season one certainly isn't the show's strongest season, but I still think there's so much to enjoy, including some genuinely great moments and important character development.

“Welcome to the Hellmouth” and “The Harvest” are, in my opinion, the perfect introduction to the series. They immediately establish the tone of the show and give you a good idea of what you're in for. And when you finish the series for the first time and eventually go back for a rewatch, you start to appreciate just how much groundwork that first season was laying.

I honestly can't imagine starting with season two. You'd miss the reveal that Angel is a vampire, all the early development involving Darla (which makes her eventual reappearance in Angel that much more compelling), Cordelia's gradual progression from mean girl to unlikely ally, and so much more. There's just too much important character development and setup to dismiss the season as skippable.

And that's not even mentioning some of the best quotes in the entire series! There are so many lines from season one that have stuck with me over the years, including “What is your childhood trauma?” and, of course, “If the apocalypse comes, beep me”, which has been on my PlayStation profile for years now!

Then there's the comedy, especially Cordelia, who is an absolute comedic goldmine during those early high school years. The scene where she casually talks about running someone over on their bike, and her reaction to the teacher's death when she's more concerned about the possibility of losing weight, are absolutely hilarious. It's exactly the kind of humour that perfectly captures her personality at that point in the series. I genuinely can't imagine missing out on moments like those.

I'm currently watching a YouTube reaction channel called Maplenuts React, and they've recently started the show. They've absolutely loved the first season and are already hooked, which has only reinforced my feelings about it.

I completely understand that season one has its weaknesses, and I wouldn't necessarily argue that it's the show's best season, but I really do think it deserves to be experienced in its entirety, especially by first time viewers.

Does anyone else feel the same way? I just think there's so much charm, character development and groundwork in that first season that skipping it would be doing yourself a disservice!

YESSS! THIS!
i actually love season one, quirks and all.

A girl goes into a deserted school with a predator... And just when we are starting to get nervous for her... She eats him!

I was hooked from that moment on. The series turned the tables on every horror story I had ever seen (or avoided).

And the first dead body was future CSI NY actor Carmine Giovinazzo! This always amuses me.

The season had many great moments and a few clunky ones. It is actually one of my favourites. Better than 7 and 4, the worst written or 6, the best acted and most depressing with utter wastes of space, the trio. It was misery porn.

Season one Buffy (the character) is probably my favourite. She had heart, she had spunk, she had serious cojones. She made us laugh and cry and nothing was ever the same again for me. Buffy changed my life.

 

[Joan the Vampire Slayer]

Yeah, that's insane. I would never recommend a first time watcher to skip Season 1. There's way too much plot and character development to miss. I think fans who dislike this season probably don't get or enjoy camp. To them, it's "cheesy", to me it's funny.

Post automatically merged: Yesterday at 6:44 PM

Season one Buffy (the character) is probably my favourite. She had heart, she had spunk, she had serious cojones. She made us laugh and cry and nothing was ever the same again for me.

I was just thinking this yesterday when I was watching some episodes from S1. I think we love Buffy so much in this season because she is not hardened yet from what she has experienced. Everything that happens to her onward changes her, understandably. She doesn't become jaded, or bitter, but she does lose a bit of that confidence that she had when she was very young.

 

[garfan]

I can't explain why people say S1 is bad.

The stories are generally good and one is phenomenal. Some of the acting could use some work. The special effects aren't great but they aren't bad. They are definately dated, but, the season was filmed in 1996. I love the horror ambiance and the score.

S1 laid the foundations of all that followed. And did a great job at being a funny and spooky and dramatic adventure while building some naturally realistic relationships within a believable world. Quite an accomplishment.

Post automatically merged: Yesterday at 5:22 PM

I think the people who think season 1 is bad came in later, maybe not all the way in the streaming era but once the show was syndicated where you could watch a season quickly and decide they like the emotional gut punches of the later season and season 1 lacked that. If season 1 was written later they might have had Buffy find out the prophecy in episode 6 and spend the back half of the year dreading it or working to avoid it

 

[twoslayers]

I don't love Season 1, but I don't skip it either. I am kind of a completionist, when I watch Buffy or any of my favorite shows I like to start at the beginning and work my way through in order, and it takes a lot to make me skip even a single episode. I do tend to be forgiving of first seasons being a little sub-par, as the writers and actors and so on are still finding their feet, and more so with Buffy since it was a half season and had a smaller budget. But a lot of it does feel like waiting for the show to really begin.

I also think there are too many stand alone stories, not enough of an arc. And Cordelia has a more limited role for most of the season - this makes a lot of the meeting/research scenes more dull without her bringing the funny. But skipping it and starting with Season 2, whilst probably a good strategy for the less patient viewer, does mean your not in the right headspace, not having the background on for instance Buffy dying, the emerging Jenny/Giles relationship, where Buffy and Angel are at, a lot of the vampire mythology. At the end of the day, the first time I watched Buffy (on VHS), I clearly liked Season 1 enough to buy Season 2 so it can't be too terrible, but certainly its not great.

If I was going to rate the individual episodes:

Welcome to the Hellmouth / The Harvest - good
The Witch - good
Teacher's Pet - okay
Never Kill a Boy on the First Date - not so hot
The Pack - good
Angel - okay
I Robot You Jane - okay with some good elements
The Puppet Show - good
Nightmares - really poor, one of my least favorite episodes of the entire show in fact
Out of Mind Out of Sight - good
Prophecy Girl - very good

That doesn't sound too bad overall, but if I were to list my ratings of the other seasons they would generally (except for some of Season 6) be much higher.

 

[AlphaFoxtrot]

No. Most Season 1s are terrible, rewatching an entire series is a fairly difficult task. Watching a play list of greatest hits is fine for a series with filler and MOTW episodes.

But if you do that, you might miss DS9's "Duet."

 

[thrasherpix]

I loved season 1, though I'm fine with campy as long as I care about the characters.

People who wanted me to watch the series sometimes told me to skip 1 and start on 2. But it was season 1 that pulled me in with the very first episode, which would not have happened in season 2. Season 1 got me to care about the characters (and appreciate how some of them evolve), which is what got me through 2.

Had I instead sampled season 2 first (rented from the video store) I doubt I'd seen more than the first 4 eps (the first dvd) and would not have much needed context for s2e1 and only (because I hadn't gotten to love the characters already) liked School Hard. (But having seen s1 I cared about the characters and thus had a lot more patience for season 2.) So if I started with season 2 then I'd have said "it's okay but not for me." (Which I've done with most shows, and fully expected to do with Buffy.)


Still, though I love season 1, it's not my favorite. That would be 2 (once it gets good) and 3. And a lot of times when I do a rewatch of later seasons I will go back and pick out a season 1 ep to watch and I feel such nostalgia for how the characters started out.


On a more trivial note, I generally don't care for overpowered characters (as in superhero comic level, be it an innate power or magic), though it's much easier if (as in Buffy) the characters slowly build up to superhuman level. I liked seeing Buffy struggle a lot more as she did in season1, and seeing her grow and evolve (and become a lot more powerful) later in the series was a pleasure. I also liked watching the Scoobies handle things from a human level, like when Willow tricked Hyena Xander into revealing that he was still possessed and helped fix the situation as best she could, truly brave despite how she saw herself.