Lorraine: We started ranking the episodes after season two, meaning we never got around to doing this little project for season 1. It was quickly decided that we would circle back to it after we finished the series. I’m sure when we made that decision, the end of Buffy seemed like a far-away, maybe one day prospect. The fact that we’re actually here? Well, you’ve already heard us say plenty about what Sweeney is calling our Buffy “graduation goggles.”
The thing is, I think if I had done this immediately after the season, instead of now in retrospect, this list would’ve been different. Or, I feel like maybe the ranking would’ve been very similar, but these, my sentiments about the season and the reasons why I liked which episodes are tainted by the six other seasons spent with these characters and built on this foundation.
I’ve said it in comments, but season 1 is the only season I am 100% sure I’ll revisit. It helps that it’s short, and fun and I’m curious to see how it all started now that I know how it all ends.
Reading back these recaps leaves me with several different impressions: 1- OUR RECAPS HAVE COME A LONG WAY. I mean, this isn’t me tooting our own horn. I read those old ones and it’s so obvious (to me at least) how much we’ve grown as people, writers, recappers and even gif masters. Reading old posts is WEIRD. 2- I really was not sold on this show for a good while. Basically, it took until I fell in love with the characters. I was saying it then and I still feel this way, but Buffy’s strength does not lie in mythology or in plots. It gets those things right, at times, but it excels in characters (even though it also gets that wrong, from time to time). 3- Any time Kirsti mentioned loving Spike is now my new favorite thing in the whole world.
All that said, my season 1 rankings:
- Prophecy Girl – No contest. None of the other episodes in this season have the weight of Prophecy Girl. Off the top of my head, I could probably list more moments from this episode than any other, from “Giles, I’m 16. I don’t want to die,” to “I may be dead, but I’m still pretty.” If Nightmares was when I truly felt like I liked the show, here is when I truly started rooting for Buffy. One of my favorite episodes of the whole series.
- Nightmares – THIS. This was the episode where I finally thought, “I like this show.” I think I’ve referenced it no less than 10 times in other recaps because it’s stuck with me. Looking at all of their Nightmares come to life was such a brilliant way to get insight into these characters.
- Angel – NOT SORRY. It was such a payoff in the first season, after we’d seen nothing but Angel lurking and brooding. Hearing the whole gypsy curse spiel for the first time gave me such an “a-HA!” moment that I remember liking this episode. Not many left that impression on me.
- Welcome to the Hellmouth – As far as pilots go, this is a good one. Right off the bat, we understand the world, we’re told the rules of the world, we get introductions to a set of likeable characters and mainly, we get a good feel for the voice and wit of the show. A little dated, a little campy, a little cheap looking, but still a good introduction.
- Out of Sight, Out of Mind – This episode stands above the other standalones that try to take on high school stereotype. It’s a more cohesive story and one that is certainly relatable.
- The Harvest – Though it gave us “the earth is doomed,” the lisping vampires and stupid Harvest ritual did not work in this episode’s favor.
- Never Kill a Boy on the First Date – Buffy trying to carve out a normal life is interesting here, though the series was still crawling along at this point.
- Witch – I close this recap saying I wasn’t a fan of the episode. It’s perhaps something more appreciated in retrospect (Xander trying to ask Buffy out, Amy!, Buffy trying to be normal, etc.,) though as a first time viewer, the plot and monster of the week felt bland.
- The Puppet Show – Huh. I’d almost forgotten this episode existed.
- The Pack – This episode tried to take on high school cliques in a very Buffy-like way, but ends up being unable to truly tell any sort of impacting story or draw any meaningful parallels. Plus, the hyena magic is vague, and it opens a door for some commentary on Xander that I don’t care for.
- Teacher’s Pet – The first time Xander attracts a demon gives us a superficial episode. Nothing outside of the she-mantis is memorable.
- I Robot… You Jane – Outdated, terrible demon of the week, slow pacing, and pretty boring to boot. Thought, there is a more recent comment on that recap defending the episode, and it’s pretty great. This episode? Not so much.
Sweeney: It’s funny that the other ladies are talking about how far our recaps have come. I have to agree because there’s a distinct lack of me in most of these recaps. Sorry. I had to. I’m mostly kidding.
It’s weird to rank this season now. There’s no other way to put it. I had it in my head that I would rewatch this season (so short!) before doing these rankings, but then life kept happening and I kept having better shit to do. So here we are.
Buffy is not one of those shows that came in so strong it peaked early, that’s for sure. This is not the best of its seasons, but it’s also not the worst. I mean, I’d sympathize with arguments that it is – super campy, low production values, shitty world-building. But those are also things that fed into the cult classic it became. I, for one, was hooked pretty quickly by all of that. Granted, I hadn’t slept in days when I first watched so my judgment may have been impaired, but I meant to watch one or two episodes and ended up watching the whole first season in one sitting before getting that much needed sleep. So I love this season and all of its campy absurdity.
- Prophecy Girl – I love this episode enough that it’ll be in series Best Of post. “I may be dead, but I’m still pretty.” is a top 5 Buffy-ism. Buffy crying as she tells Giles that she’s 16 and not ready to die? FEELINGS. All of it.
- Angel – The payoff was great. S1 Angel was also my favorite Angel.
- Nightmares – This is a gem. I still remember their nightmares quite well and the whole episode was just wonderfully done.
- Welcome to the Hellmouth – This is where it all begins! MEMORIES!
- Out of Sight Out of Mind – One of the more fantastic entries in the larger high-school-as-hell theme that made me love this show.
- The Puppet Show – My first recap! So campy. It’s a love it or hate it thing, I suppose. I fell on the side of loving it.
- Witch – Amy! I don’t know how one would rank this if you had only seen this season. I don’t get to ever re-know that, so I can only say that having seen it all, I like this.
- The Harvest – I don’t really remember this episode that well, making it the dividing line between stuff I liked and stuff I didn’t.
- Never Kill a Boy on the First Date – This one too. Divider, pt 2.
- I Robot… You Jane – Womp. That happened.
- Teacher’s Pet – Ew. Ew ew ew.
- The Pack – I think these bottom two would have been reversed if we’d done this nearly two years ago, but this one just grosses me out too much now.
Kirsti: I feel the need to start by saying that I can’t even begin to count the number of emails I’ve sent Lor and Sweeney in recent months that basically just say “Fuck, I really hate Past!Kirsti”. Because, yeah. I really hate that bitch and her indescribable naivety. As I said in the comments at one stage, season 6 was my Battle of Serenity Valley, and I can’t ever go back to looking at things the way I did before this project. As a result, these rankings are probably very different to the way they would have been if we’d done them as soon as we finished season 1. I’m not sure if that’s a good thing or a bad thing… Anyway, let’s rank some stuff.
- Prophecy Girl – An episode that Past!Kirsti found kind of boring and merely a stepping stone that led to School Hard, but an episode that Present!Kirsti thinks is absolutely brilliant. So many fabulously acted and scripted moments. Sarah Michelle Gellar knocked it out of the park.
- Angel – I know, I know. Team Heartless Cow ranking this episode this high? WHAT IS HAPPENING TO THE WORLD. But it’s such a nice set up for their relationship in season 2 and goes so far in explaining all the brooding. Plus, there’s that Budapest reference. Retroactive Avengers Shots!
- Welcome to the Hellmouth – As far as pilots go, this one is pretty great. We get a sense of how everything works without it feeling too info-dump-y. And the actors are just all so teeny and adorable.
- Nightmares – Past!Kirsti would focus on the creepy clown and be all “This episode is dumb”. But Giles’ fear that Buffy will die and Buffy’s fear about her dad (both of which proved accurate in the long run) are a stab to the feels.
- Witch – As Lor said, this is one that definitely improves on rewatch when you can make all the connections to other episodes where things from this one pop up down the track (see also: Oz staring at the cheerleading statue in season 2). Plus, I have an irrational soft spot for Buffy dancing around the kitchen singing “Macho Man”.
- Out of Sight, Out of Mind – This is one of those episodes that you watch and get all “Well, that was filler-tastic. MOVING ON”. But it’s an episode that sticks with you, because the more you think about it, the more relatable it is.
- The Harvest – Meh. It gave us some great Buffy puns, we learned that Angel has no friends, Xander killed his first vamp, and Giles said “The earth is doomed”. I’m sure there was something resembling a plot, but those little snippets were far more memorable.
- The Puppet Show – One that I mostly remember for the lecherous dummy, but one that was kind of fun if you were willing to look past the fact that it’s ten thousand kinds of contrivance. It also gave us Principal Snyder, so…there’s that.
- Never Kill a Boy on a First Date – Much like Giles, I found the whole “Oh, the world’s ending tonight? TOO BAD I HAVE A DATE” thing just as ridiculous here as in season 7. Although it was slightly more understandable from a teenager than a 22 year old… Also, this episode gave us The Anointed One. UGH.
- Teacher’s Pet – Insect people. INSECT PEOPLE. And a vampire with a gardening fork for a hand. I just…WHAT.
- The Pack – One of those episodes that’s kind of funny on the surface but really fucking disturbing when you start to think about it. I get squicky about cannibalism (which is part of why I despise anything featuring zombies), and when you add sexual assault in as well? NOPE.
- I Robot, You Jane – Indescribably dated and just plain dumb (I mean, it was pretty hard for librarians to avoid computers even in the early 90s, let alone the late 90s).
I'm a 30-something south Floridan who loves the beach but cannot swim. Such is my life, full of small contradictions and little trivialities. My main life goals are never to take life too seriously, but to do everything I attempt seriously well. After that, my life goals devolve into things like not wearing pants and eating all of the Zebra Cakes in the world. THE WORLD.
Nicole is the co-captain of Snark Squad and these days she spends most of her time editing podcasts. She spends too much time on Twitter and very occasionally vlogs and blogs. In her day job she's a producer, editor, director, and sometimes host of educational YouTube channels. She loves travel, maps, panda gifs, and semicolons. Writing biographies stresses her out; she crowd sourced this one years ago and has been using a version of it ever since. She would like to thank Twitter for their help.
I'm a 30-something librarian and I still live with my parents because I'm super broke. Leader of Team Heartless Cow. I have an inexplicable love for 90s television, eat too much chocolate, and read more than is good for me.