Welcome to the Hellmouth

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"Welcome to the Hellmouth" is the season premiere of the first season of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and the first episode overall. It was written by Joss Whedon and directed by Charles Martin Smith. It originally broadcasted on February 7, 1997.

Synopsis

Giles: “The influx of the undead, the... supernatural occurrences, it's been building for years. There's a reason why you're here and a reason why it's now!”

Buffy: “Because now is the time my mom moved here!”

— Giles and Buffy discuss timing

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Darla, the first vampire seen on Buffy.

A boy breaks a window at Sunnydale High School at night and crawls in, followed by a seemingly reluctant girl. The girl hears an unidentified sound and fears something is there. The boy calls out but gets no response. When the girl is satisfied they are alone, her face morphs into that of a vampire, and she bites the boy. The girl, we will later find out, is Darla.

Buffy has a nightmare the morning of her first day of school. Her mother drives her to the school and encourages her to think positive. Inside the building, Principal Flutie tells her she will start with a clean slate. He reconsiders that after realizing that Buffy burned down her previous school's gym because "it was full of vampi– …asbestos."

Xander picks up Buffy's stake.

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Willow and Buffy formally introduce themselves.

Willow Rosenberg.

Buffy exits the office and bumps into another student, spilling the contents of her purse over the floor. Xander sees that and helps Buffy, introducing himself. She leaves without her stake, which Xander pockets because he called out to her, but she had already walked away. In history class, Buffy is helped by Cordelia, who afterward tests her "coolness factor," allowing Buffy skipping the written as Buffy had just moved to Sunnydale, California from Los Angeles. To Buffy's horror, Cordelia humiliates an awkward Willow at the water fountain. Inside the library, Mr. Giles places a book titled Vampyr in front of Buffy after realizing who she was. A stunned Buffy makes a hasty exit.

Buffy, Willow, Jesse McNally, and Xander meet during a break, and Xander returns the stake. Buffy claims it's standard self-defense in Los Angeles. Cordelia appeared and told Buffy she won't get to meet Coach Foster because gym class was canceled "due to the extreme dead guy" in Aura's locker. Buffy asks whether there were marks on the body, freaking out Cordelia. Buffy forces her way into the locker room, examines the body, and finds the characteristic puncture wounds of a vampire on the neck.

Buffy returns to the library and confronts Giles, who informs her that he is her Watcher. Buffy refuses to accept her calling as a Slayer since it had gotten her expelled from her previous school and cost her social life. After they leave the library, Xander emerges from behind the shelves, having overheard the strange conversation.

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Angel gives Buffy a cross for protection.

That night, en route to her first visit to the Bronze, the cool hangout in Sunnydale, Buffy meets a mysterious, handsome stranger, who warns her that she is living on a Hellmouth which is about to open, and that "the Harvest" is coming. He also gives her a large silver cross. It isn't revealed until the next episode that the stranger's name is Angel.

In the Bronze, Buffy meets Willow and encourages her to seize the moment because tomorrow she might be dead. She finds Giles and tells him about Angel. Giles tells her to learn to hone her skills to sense vampires anywhere. Buffy uses her fashion sense to pick out a vampire in the club and is alarmed to see Willow leaves with him. She loses them and is surprised by Cordelia, nearly staking her. Cordelia immediately calls her friends to tell them about it. While Buffy looks for Willow, Jesse chats up Darla at the Bronze. Buffy is stopped by Xander, who doesn't believe in vampires and makes fun of her. In the end, she manages to convince him to help search for Willow.

Meanwhile, under the streets of Sunnydale, The Master is woken by lesser vampires from a long sleep to prepare for the Harvest. He sends Luke to fetch young blood.

Willow's new acquaintance takes her to a crypt in a cemetery, where they are joined by Darla and Jesse, whom she has bitten. Buffy and Xander arrive. Buffy kills Willow's vampire. Xander and Willow help Jesse, who has been weakened, flee. Luke takes Darla's place in the fight so she can help catch the kids. Luke throws Buffy in a stone coffin and is about to move in for the kill.

Continuity

• Buffy's prophetic dream features glimpses of several climatic events of the season, including her confrontation with the Master in "Prophecy Girl."

• Cordelia states she would like to live in Los Angeles; she moves there after graduation.

• Joyce drops Buffy off at school and tells her, "Try not to get kicked out." Buffy promises but eventually does get expelled.

• Buffy expresses that she "really didn't like" Angel though she later ended up falling in love with him and they started an on and off relationship.

• The girl who finds the dead boy in her locker is Cordelia's friend Aura. She recurs (offscreen) in "Rm w/a Vu," talking to Cordelia on the phone in the final scene.

Appearances

Individuals Angel Template:1st Aphrodesia Aura Chris Boal Cordelia Chase Template:1st Darla Template:1st Robert Flutie Template:1st Rupert Giles Template:1st Xander Harris Template:1st Luke Template:1st The Master Template:1st Jesse McNally Template:1st Willow Rosenberg Template:1st Buffy Summers Template:1st Joyce Summers Template:1st Thomas Unidentified Cordette Organizations and Titles Order of Aurelius Template:1st Cordettes Template:1st Scooby Gang Template:1st The Slayer Template:1st Sprung Monkey Watcher Template:1st Species Demon Template:1stMention Incubus Template:1stMention Succubus Template:1stMention Human Template:1st Vampire Template:1st Werewolf Template:1stMention Zombie Template:1stMention Events The Harvest Locations Sunnydale The Bronze The Church (Order of Aurelius) The Hellmouth Mausoleum (Order of Aurelius) Summers' residence Sunnydale High School Sunnydale High School library Weapons and Objects Cross Stake Vampyr book

Death Count

• Chris Boal, drained by Darla at Sunnydale High
• Thomas, staked by Buffy in a mausoleum

Behind the Scenes

Production

• The script for the episode was written on August 26, 1996. Six revisions were made following this, with the last being January 17, 1997.

• The scene with Buffy and Giles at the Bronze was Anthony Stewart Head's audition scene.

• The high school used for external and some internal scenes in the series is Torrance High, the same school used for the acclaimed series Beverly Hills 90210. The series would feature Buffy alumni Emma Caulfield as a recurring character.

• The Master's real name was never mentioned on screen but in the shooting script for the episode, he was named Heinrich Joseph Nest, and was also said to have been six hundred years old.

• When Buffy is in her room deciding what to wear to the Bronze, the Sprung Monkey's "Saturated" is played in the background. Incidentally, Sprung Monkey appears on stage at the Bronze. They first perform "Believe," followed by "Swirl" and "Things Are Changing." The original score is written by Walter Murphy.
• The Master's look originally featured a beard and long hair before actor Mark Metcalf suggested the bald look as a homage to Nosferatu.

• The Master was originally supposed to rise from a pool of blood and be covered with the blood for the entire episode; this was abandoned after being discovered to be too difficult to create.

• Certain scenes, such as the argument between Giles and Buffy in the library, and Buffy's first meeting with Angel, were re-shot eight months after the first episode was filmed. Joss Whedon decided to make Buffy less angry and more vulnerable, much to Sarah Michelle Gellar's dismay. Whedon jokingly teased her they were going to re-shoot the scenes a third time.

• The scene where Angel warns Buffy about the Harvest was David Boreanaz's audition scene. According to Boreanaz, it was shot at two in the morning in "some god awful street."

• Some of the clips used in Buffy's dream at the start of the episode are from future episodes such as "The Harvest," "The Puppet Show," "I Robot, You Jane," and "Prophecy Girl."

Broadcast

• Creator Joss Whedon hoped to include actor Eric Balfour in the title credits to shock viewers when his character dies. Unfortunately, the show could not afford the extra set of title credits at the time. However, Whedon's wish was granted in season six ("Seeing Red") with Amber Benson's character, Tara Maclay.

• On the original airing of this episode, the WB provided a teaser briefing the history of past Slayers. It revealed horrific events in towns that were halted when a particular woman arrived. This teaser, however, does not appear in syndication or on DVD.

• The episode received a Nielsen rating of 3.4 upon its original airing.

Deleted Scenes

• This exchange was cut because of length:

Mr. Flutie: - "Oh! Buffy! Uh, what do you want?"

Buffy: - "Um, is there a guy in there that's dead?"

Mr. Flutie: - "Where did you hear that? Okay. Yes. But he's not a student! Not currently."

Buffy: - "Do you know how he died?"

Mr. Flutie: - "What?"

Buffy: - "I mean - how could this have happened?"

Mr. Flutie: - "Well, that's for the police to determine when they get here. But this structure is safe, we have inspectors, and I think there's no grounds for a lawsuit."

Buffy: - "Was there a lot of blood? Was there any blood?"

Mr. Flutie: - "I would think you wouldn't want to involve yourself in this kind of thing."

Buffy: - "I don't. Could I just take a peek?"

Mr. Flutie: - "Unless you already are involved…"

Buffy: - "Never mind."

Mr. Flutie: - "Buffy, I understand this is confusing. You're probably feeling a lot right now. You should share those feelings. With someone else."

Pop Culture References

• Cordelia mentions James Spader, an American actor best known for his roles in Pretty in Pink, Sex, Lies and Videotape, Mannequin, Crash, and Stargate.

• Cordelia mocks Willow's outfit saying, "Good to know you've seen the softer side of Sears" in reference to the well-known commercial jingle. 

• John Tesh, an American television and radio presenter, and now a lifestyle guru, is also mentioned.

• Buffy speaks of DeBarge, a 1980s pop group; this is the first of two references to the singer, with the other being in the Angel episode "A Hole in the World," when Lorne mentions "Rhythm Of The Night," also sung by DeBarge.

• When storming the Bronze, Buffy references The Wild Bunch, a 1969 Western where all the remaining characters are killed in the final shootout.

• When meeting Angel for the first time, Buffy references Turtle Wax, a product commonly given away as a consolation prize on many TV game shows.

Goofs, Bloopers & Continuity Errors

• When Angel meets Buffy, he says that he thought she'd be taller, implying that he'd never seen her before. Later, in "Becoming, Part One," we see a flashback of Angel watching Buffy from afar, proving this wrong (or a deceitful statement). Angel also mentions the sighting to Buffy in "Helpless."

• In the first classroom scene where Buffy shares Cordelia's textbook, the teacher asks them to turn to page 63, but Cordelia turns to somewhere near the beginning of the book.

• In the scene where Buffy and Willow first talk, Buffy's hair moves back and forth behind and in front of her ear.

• The spines on the stack of books change from showing to not showing as Buffy and Giles hand them to each other in the library.

• When Buffy is talking to Joyce in her bedroom if you look behind Sarah Michelle Gellar you see a woman holding a piece of paper at the edge of the door frame.

Music

• Dave Aragon - "No Heroes" (Plays when Joyce drives Buffy to school.)
• Sprung Monkey - "Saturated" (Plays as Buffy tries to decide what to wear to the Bronze.)
• Sprung Monkey - "Believe" (Plays as Buffy arrives at the Bronze.)
• Sprung Monkey - "Swirl" (Plays while Jesse talks to Cordelia and then Darla at the Bronze.)
• Sprung Monkey - "Things Are Changing" (Plays while Buffy talks to Xander outside the Bronze while looking for Willow.)
• Mindtribe - "Losing Ground"
• Walter Murphy - original score

International Titles

• Finnish: Ystäviä ja paholaisia osa 1 (Friends and Demons Part 1)
• French: Bienvenue à Sunnydale, partie 1 (Welcome to Sunnydale, Part 1)
• German: Das Zentrum des Bösen (The Center of Evil)
• Icelandic: Velkomin til Vítismunnsins (Welcome to the Hellmouth)
• Italian: Benvenuti al College (Welcome to College)
• Portuguese: Bem Vinda à Boca do Inferno (Welcome to the Hellmouth)
• Spanish (Spain and Latin America): La Cosecha, Parte 1 (The Harvest, Part 1)

Other

• Brian Thompson, who plays the vampire Luke, returns to the series in season two as a different character, the Judge, in "Surprise" and "Innocence." 
• Each regular character is introduced in the order that they appear in the opening titles.
• The region 4 DVD case incorrectly titles this episode as "Welcome to Hellmouth."

Gallery

Photos

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Quotes

Cordelia: "It's in the bad side of town."

Buffy: "Where's that?"

Cordelia: "It's about half a block from the good side of town. We don't have a whole lot of town here."

Xander: "Well, uh, maybe I'll see you around. Maybe at school... since we... both... go there."

Buffy: "Great! It was nice to meet you."

Xander: "We both go to school. Very suave. Very not pathetic."

Buffy: "Uh, Hi! Willow, right?"

Willow: "Why? I-I mean, hi! Uh, did you want me to move?"

Buffy: "Why don't we start with, 'Hi, I'm Buffy,' and, uh, then let's segue directly into me asking you for a favor. It doesn't involve moving, but it does involve hanging out with me for a while."

Willow: "But aren't you hanging out with Cordelia?"

Buffy: "I can't do both?"

Willow: "Not legally."

Giles: "Dig a bit in the history of this place and you'll find a-a-a steady stream of fairly odd occurrences. I believe this whole area is the center of mystical energy, that things gravitate towards it that-that you might not find elsewhere."

Buffy: "Like vampires."

Giles: "Like zombies. Werewolves. Incubi, succubi... Everything you've ever dreaded was under your bed but told yourself couldn't be by the light of day. They're all real."

Buffy: "What? You, like, sent away for the Time Life series?"

Giles: "Uh, w-well, yes."

Buffy: "D'ya get the free phone?"

Giles: "Um, the calendar."

Buffy: "To make you a vampire they have to suck your blood, and then you have to suck their blood. It's like a whole big sucking thing. Mostly they're just gonna kill you."

Buffy: "Now we can do this the hard way or... Well, actually, there's just the hard way."

Darla: "That's fine with me."

Buffy: "Are you sure? Now this is not gonna be pretty. We're talking violence, strong language, adult content."

Xander: (To Buffy) "Can I have you? Duh... Can I help you?"

Cordelia: "Well, you'll be okay here. If you hang with me and mine, you'll be accepted in no time. Of course, we do have to test your coolness factor. You're from L.A., so you can skip the written, but let's see. Vamp nail polish?"

Buffy: "Um, over?"

Cordelia: "So over. James Spader?"

Buffy: "He needs to call me."

Cordelia: "Frappaccinos?"

Buffy: "Trendy, but tasty."

Cordelia: "John Tesh?"

Buffy: "The Devil."

Cordelia: "That was pretty much a gimme, but... You passed."