"I Robot, You Jane"

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Episode 8 Season 1

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"A society in which human interaction is all but obsolete? In which people can be completely manipulated by technology, well, well... Thank you, I'll pass."

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Original US airdate: April 28th, 1997

Re-watched: March 6th, 2021

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• Writer: Ashley Gable & Thomas A. Swyden 

• Director: Stephen Posey 

• Guests: Robia LaMorte, Chad Lindberg, Jamison Ryan 

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This episode seems a bit dated. It's the late 90s and personal computers are relatively new (or at least newly widespread). For example, I had computer classes starting in the 3rd grade (in 1997 I was, like Buffy, a sophomore) and my family had a computer at home starting around 1991. And of course, widespread use of the internet was really really new, and we accessed this new wonder via modem and it tied up our phone lines, leaving us out of reach while we surfed... How times have changed. Now I'm always connected via my smart phone and always available.

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Against this backdrop, a school project to scan books into a digital archive organized by Giles and Jenny Calendar, the computer teacher, and carried out by Willow, Dave and Fritz causes Moloch the destroyer, who has been trapped in a book since the Middle Ages, to be released on the internet. He uses love to gain a following and create himself a robot body. Willow falls in love through her chats with him, and Dave and Fritz are pulled into Moloch's cult following. After Dave saves Buffy from Fritz, Fritz kills Dave only for Fritz to be killed by Moloch. Buffy, Xander and Willow fight Robot Moloch while Jenny and Giles set up a on-line circle to bind Moloch. They are, of course, successful. 

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What seems dated, besides the tech, is the fear about meeting someone online and not knowing who they are. In the age of on-line dating and social media, we no longer seem to fear this or at least have come to terms with the risks inherent in this. However, I still think the overall message is a good one. The internet is a huge, scary place. These days, topics like data protection and news of data leaks (just look at all the information Moloch could access), cyber bullying, fake news, spreading conspiracy theories, and radicalization still show the internet is indeed a scary place. So, while online dating may no longer be an issue, questions of how much data we are allowing out (and what it's being used for), as well as issues of what information is reaching people are still very much concerns for all of us. The internet is still full of demons. 

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In addition, the episode is a warning about cults of personalities. Moloch gains the love of his followers by engaging with them, listening to them and giving them love. Of course, his ends are evil. He snaps Fritz's neck just for fun and has Dave murdered for acting and speaking against Buffy being killed. To Willow, he seems to offer a truer form of love, or at least he doesn't seem intent on killing her until she rejects him. So, this aspect represents a more general form of unhealthy love (like a stalker or manipulative relative). The overall message is that not all love is good. 

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Of course, another interesting theme is that of technology and magic. Jenny is a technopagan who is tech savvy and knowledgeable of the supernatural. She and Giles, before we learn she is a technopagan, seem to be on opposite sides of the spectrum. Jenny is 100% team tech and Giles is 100% team book. By the end of the episode, they realize they have more in common than they thought. Old and new is a central theme in this series. Buffy herself represents a new type of Slayer and over the course of the series, she will turn her back on the Council and completely remake what it means to be a Slayer. At other times, especially in season 4, the old vs. new seems to come down more clearly on the side of old (magic over science), although in this example, the wisdom of the old is completely disregarded by those abusing science for dubious ends. In contrast, through Jenny, the series shows an example of the new that is actually deemed good. Jenny doesn't reject the magic, but integrates the old and new. Willow will follow a similar path of integrating the mystical with technology. Therefore, I would argue that the series' overall stance isn't that the old (mystical) is good and the new (science or technology) is bad, but that both need to be questioned.

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In fun facts, this episode gives Buffy's birthday wrong twice - once as 10/24/80 and once as 05/06/79. We also see Willow's house and room for the first time. 

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"The Puppet Show"

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Episode 9 Season 1

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"Excuse me, can I have a little support here, please? I'm not just some crazy person, I'm the slayer."

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Original US airdate: May 5th, 1997

Re-watched: March 14th, 2021

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• Writer: Dean Batali & Rob Des Hotel 

• Director: Ellen S. Pressman 

• Guests: Kristine Sutherland, Richard Werner, Burke Roberts, Armin Shimerman

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This episode is one I've always enjoyed because it again focuses on the theme of things not always being what they seem. Sunnydale is putting on its annual talent show, which Giles has been chosen to direct by the new principal, Principal Snyder, and one of the cast is found dead with her heart removed. The Scooby Gang investigates and settles on Morgan, who has been exhibiting some strange behavior, as their prime suspect. However, Buffy soon becomes convinced it may not be Morgan, but the dummy he is using in his act. Principal Snyder's lurking also allows him to be considered by viewers as the possible bad guy. In the end, Morgan also falls victim, it turns out Sid the dummy is a demon hunter cursed to live as a dummy, and it is another student, Marc, who is in fact a demon harvesting organs to keep his human form. Sid and Buffy take him out on stage right before the show starts. 

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This the bait-and-switch plot is one way the theme is shown. Principal Snyder is scary (he doesn't like kids, or his job and lets everyone know it), but ultimately not a murderer or demon (although we will later learn he knows much more about the supernatural than the average person). Sid is not a scary dummy trying to harvest organs to become a real person, but rather someone not unlike Buffy. Morgan is not crazy, but an ally of Sid (and a tumor patient, which caused some of his odd behavior), and it is the goofily bad magician Marc who is actually the murderous demon. The other way this theme is shown is, as usual, through Buffy herself. Again, her instincts are underestimated by Giles and the Scoobies and, although her instinct was that Sid was animate and actually the killer, she was at least half right. Sid was alive, and hunting a demon. Buffy again and again fights to be taken seriously (see "The Pack" for another example of this) and even those who know she is the Slayer still do not always believe her. She is a smart, capable teenager who has to fight to be taken seriously, something I think many (young) women can relate to. And Buffy shows us again and again that being small, blonde, and into boys, make-up and clothes does not make her any less capable of being a powerful, smart Slayer.

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In fun facts, Cordelia sings "Learning to Love Yourself", which she will sing again on Angel, Willow's stage fright is mentioned, as is a 1930s Korean Slayer and freelance demon hunters.

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"Nightmares"

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Episode 10 Season 1

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"If I can face my fear, it cannot master me."

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Original US airdate: May 12th, 1997

Re-watched: March 20th, 2021

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• Writer: David Greenwalt & Joss Whedon 

• Director: Bruce Seth Green 

• Guests: Mark Metcalf, Kristine Sutherland, Jeremy Foley, Andrew J. Ferchland

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As the quote at the top and title suggest, this episode is about facing your fears. A young boy named Billy is beaten into a coma after his Kiddie League game and his astral body is roaming Sunnydale High School, bringing everyone's nightmares into the real world along with him. Xander ends up standing in front of class in only his underwear and later a clown attacks him, Willow is forced to sing in Madame Butterfly, Giles gets lost in the stacks and then loses the ability to read, Buffy takes a test she had no idea about, has her father tell her that the divorce was her fault, faces the Master and is killed, and comes back as a vampire.

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The key to this episode is not the nightmares (using slightly cheesy 90s special effects), but that the characters can overcome them by facing them. Xander confronts the clown and knocks him out, Buffy helps Billy face his fears despite her transformation into a vampire, and Billy is saved when he has the courage to uncover the true face of the "ugly man" who has been chasing him. The "ugly man" turns out to be his Kiddie League coach, who beat him with a bat for "losing" the game. Billy is able to confront him and have him arrested. 

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An interesting undertone to most nightmares presented in the episode is the fear of being revealed for who you really are or a broader fear of failure, and these are the nightmares that the characters are not able to confront in the episode. These are also the fears that will continue to shape the series. Giles, for example, has many fears revolving around not being able to find the answers or not being able to help Buffy which are unresolved and might, in part, be the underpinnings of his decision to leave Sunnydale in season 6 (and Giles' absence can be seen as one reason why Willow's use of magic was able to get out of hand). This directly ties in with Willow's unresolved issues presented here. While the overt fear is stage fright, the actual dream of being forced on stage into a production she didn't know she was in and then being afraid of singing in public is a bit deeper than mere stage fright, as it also encompasses feelings of inadequacy, and these unresolved feelings are one of the drivers in Willow's use of magic, which leads to her nearly ending the world in season 6. The fears that are not mastered can come back and bite you.

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Buffy, of course, is able to face her fears and help Billy face his. But she's the Slayer and can generally do anything. It's interesting to note that Xander is the other character able to face his fears in this episode, and this is one more indication of Xander's potential. Although it's easy to see Xander as a buffoon in the first seasons, the maturity he shows from around Season 5 onwards has, to a certain extent, been present in bits and pieces from the beginning and this is one episode that shows that. 

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So, the message of this episode can really be boiled down to the idea that facing our fears is a central aspect of growing up and maturing.

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Fun facts: The gravestone in this episode has 1981 as Buffy's birth year. This is the first episode where we see Buffy's father.

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"Out of Mind, Out of Sight"

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Episode 11 Season 1

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"Looking in the mirror every day and seeing nothing there, it's an overrated pleasure."

  

Original US airdate: May 19th, 1997

Re-watched: March 27th, 2021

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• Writer: Ashley Gable, Thomas A. Swyden & Joss Whedon 

• Director: Reza Badiyi 

• Guests: David Boreanaz, Clea Duvall, Armin Shimerman 

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A girl, Marcie Ross, becomes invisible after being ignored by the entire school and decides to get her revenge on Cordelia. The simple summary of the episode hides its message: in high school, we are all lonely in our own ways and no one truly understands us. This theme will crop up again in the season 3 episode "Earshot". In this episode, three girls' feelings of loneliness are looked at. First, there is Marcie, who only wanted to fit in but never found her place at Sunnydale High School, turned invisible and then insane. Second, there is Buffy, who was once popular (in this episode she mentions being the May Queen equivalent at her old school) but now no longer is and although she has two good friends in Willow and Xander, the length of Willow and Xander's friendship and the newness of Buffy's friendship with them leaves Buffy feeling left out at times. Third, there is Cordelia, who perhaps pities herself a bit too much, but does make the somewhat valid point that being popular doesn't mean you don't feel lonely and she doesn't feel like her friends really know or understand her, they just want to be part of her popularity. Cordelia works hard to be popular even though it doesn't fully fulfill her because the alternative, being lonely without any friends, is worse. So really, we're all alone in our own different ways and high school doesn't seem to be making anyone 100% happy. 

 

An interesting note about this episode is it also marks Cordelia's slow slide into becoming a member of the Scooby gang. This is the first time she comes to Buffy for help. Despite her taunting of Buffy and claiming that Buffy is a freak, Cordelia has actually recognized that Buffy has certain skills and competencies to protect others from weird stuff. Although her ultimate hope that Buffy can protect her because Buffy is in a gang misses the mark a bit, it does reflect the coping mechanisms mentioned in the 2nd episode. People will figure out a way to explain the supernatural in mundane terms and Cordelia's way of explaining the events at the Bronze in that episode was to assume Buffy was in a gang. Again, the idea that more people than Buffy realizes "see" what she is doing for them will come up again in the season 3 episode "The Prom" when Buffy receives the class protector award. So even though being the Slayer makes Buffy feel alone, she is not ignored.

 

Additionally, the ground is being set for the next episode of season 1, "Prophecy Girl", in which Buffy will face the Master. Angel pays Giles a visit (it is their first meeting) and asks whether Giles has read all the Slayer prophecies. Prophecies will continue to be important in the Buffyverse, but this is really their first mention, although we know Buffy has prophetic dreams. Giles mentions a Codex that is lost and Angel says he can get it. By the end of the episode, he has fulfilled his promise and brought Giles the book. 

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Finally, at the end of this episode, Marcie is taken away by two FBI agents for rehabilitation, which ends up being assassin training (by the CIA?). The government not being in the dark about the supernatural foreshadows season 4 to a certain extent. In that season, Buffy will learn that the military has also been fighting the supernatural. Just like more people know what Buffy does to protect them than Buffy suspects, it turns out the government knows more about the supernatural than they are willing to admit in public. 

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The episode's main message of loneliness is not the most uplifting, but the episode has always been one that resonated with me. It definitely reflects many of my own feelings at that age and I think it's a valuable message. No one is truly happy in high school. Somehow knowing that made it just a bit easier to get through four years. Adding in the government making an appearance and Angel and Giles talking prophecies, and there's a lot more to this episode than just an invisible girl.

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"Prophecy Girl"

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Episode 12 Season 1

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"I'm 16 years old, I don't wanna die."

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Original US airdate: June 2nd, 1997

Re-watched: April 3rd, 2021

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• Writer: Joss Whedon 

• Director: Joss Whedon 

• Guests: Mark Metcalf, David Boreanaz, Kristine Sutherland, Robia LaMorte, Andrew J. Ferchland 

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Season 1 is a bit of a mixed bag and fans generally do not consider it one of the best. However, the first two episodes and the season finale do lay the groundwork for the series and will always be some of my favorites. 

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This episode is jam-packed with firsts. We see Buffy's first earthquake in Sunnydale, Xander expresses his love for Buffy and the Scooby gang nearly falls apart for the first time, we find out the library is on top of the Hellmouth, we experience our first apocalypse, and Buffy dies for the first time. Plus, Willow is truly cemented into the fight against evil, Cordelia joins the fight again, bringing her closer to the Scoobies, and Jenny Calendar finds out Buffy is the Slayer.

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The theme of this episode is the virgin sacrifice and Buffy, dressed in her white Spring Fling formal wear, is the one who makes the sacrifices. Buffy learns that the prophecy says the Master will break free and kill her, causing her to decide to quit slaying. She tries to convince her mother to leave town, leading to a conversation with Joyce that only half reflects reality. Joyce can understand boy trouble, but does not yet understand Buffy's issues go much deeper. The turning point of the episode is when vampires come on campus and kill several students. Willow and Cordelia discover the bodies. When Buffy later comforts Willow, Willow's claim that she's not okay, that "it wasn't our world anymore. They made it theirs and had fun" causes Buffy to join the fight again. This is also a moment that cements the fight against evil for Willow. She now truly understands what is at stake. 

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Xander also joins the fray. Not willing to let Buffy face the master alone, he confronts Angel, expressing his dislike of the vampire, but also pointing out that they both need to help as they both love Buffy. If something happens to her, neither will be able to forgive themselves. They set out to help, coming too late. Buffy has faced the Master and died, led to the Master by a child, the Anointed One. However, Buffy did not die from lack of blood but from drowning, making is possible for Xander to do CPR. Angel claims he can't, as he has not breath, but later vampire antics such as smoking point to this possibly being a lie. Buffy, once revived, goes after the Master.

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She claims she feels strong and different after her death. She seems to have a connection to the Master. Perhaps her death, which we later learn calls another Slayer, does indeed change her. But the series is never really clear on how this may have changed Buffy. What is clear is that Buffy is able to confront the Master. The Hellmouth has opened in the library and the Master watches from the roof, only to be thrown to his death below, which closes the Hellmouth and thwarts the apocalypse. Only the Master's bones remain (again, a bit of an open question -why does he have bones and no other vampire does?)

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The central theme of this episode is the fallibility of prophecies, or perhaps the idea that we shape our own destiny. Although Buffy fulfills the prophecy - she faces the Master and dies, this is not the whole truth, as she is revived and kills the Master. This also underlines to a certain extent the importance of Buffy's friends. It is Xander and Angel's arrival that allows her to be revived to face the Master again. Without her friends, she may have truly died. Prophecies are indeed tricky things.

 

This episode is also full of symbols. The cross Angel gave Buffy is one. First, Buffy tears it off her neck and throws it on the floor to signal giving up slaying. When she leaves to face the Master, she puts it on again. Another symbol is her white dress. Usually a symbol of innocence, it can also be seen as that here. Buffy is a virgin at this point and she doesn't realize that her blood will free the Master. She allows herself to be willingly led to the slaughter by the Anointed One. Indeed, the fact that Willow, the Master and Angel all compliment her dress underlines the importance of it. However, it can be seen as deeper than just a symbol of innocence. It is a symbol of Buffy overcoming her innocence. She willingly goes with the Anointed One because she thinks not facing the Master will lead to more death. In this episode, Buffy accepts her death, but realizes saving the world is worth it. While Buffy will continue to struggle with being the Slayer, this episode reflects her acceptance of why the fight and her possible death is a price worth paying. In the end, she recognizes her need to make the world a better place. 

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As a side note, this episode also represents the first time the Scoobies nearly fall apart. Xander asks Buffy out and she declines. But since Willow has feelings for Xander, all three characters are left feeling a bit hurt.