1.2 "The Harvest"

*** 1/2

Written by Joss Whedon

Directed by John T. Kretchmer

Air Date: March 10, 1997

"The Harvest" is the second of the two-part opening volley that began with "Welcome to the Hellmouth." While the pilot episode introduced us to the main players and the basic rules of the Buffy universe - specifically living on the Hellmouth - the second episode sets up the pattern of each ensuing Buffy season and, in what had to be unintentionally at the time, also sowed the seeds that would later blossom into the conflicts between Buffy and her gang.

The title of the episode refers to an ancient ritual that is about to be carried about by a gang of vampires, all in order to release a "super" vampire called "The Master" who has been locked at the core of the Hellmouth since an earthquake in the 1930s. The point of this is get a bunch of vampires to lock a bunch of teenagers in the local watering hole and kill of them, which sets up Sunnydale getting a glimpse of Buffy's special powers.

At the end of the pilot, we found Buffy apparently about to be killed by a particularly ruthless vampire inside a mortuary. Yet then, nothing happens. The second episode shows her escape and, in pivotal scene in the library, Xander and Willow learn about the purpose of Giles and Buffy's presence in Sunnydale.

Buffy and Giles devise a plan to stop the ominous harvest and to try and free Xander's best friend (played, strangely, by one of the recurring characters in "Six Feet Under). All of this sets up the conflict I referred to earlier.

What has set BTVS apart from most shows about teenagers - other than its supernatural genre - is its unwillingness to bow to convention of how adolescents interact with each other. Buffy is the new girl and, by default, her powers make her the leader of the pack. Yet Buffy wants to separate her powers from her friendships, and she learns that Willow and Xander are not content to stay on the sidelines.

Xander, wanting to free his friend Jesse, wants to go along with Buffy, who shoots him down. For practical purposes, she doesn't want to have to kill vamps and save Xander.

Xander, being Xander, just follows her, and he gets to kill his now-vamped best friend along the way. It should also be noted that Xander establishes himself early on as the audiences voice of disbelief. As Giles and Buffy tell him about the Hellmouth and vampires, Xander posits: "We are having a discussion about VAMPIRES!" Xander eases the audience into the much-necessary suspension of disbeleif. While shows like "Seinfeld" or "All in the Family" needed no such suspension, a show about a teenage girl who kills vampires is not likes to be met with a smile by literalists.

I say this is important simply because the dynamic - especially in the college years - of Buffy trying to keep everyone safe clashes with the egos of the lesser characters. I never liked Willow after the first season, yet her wallflower is given a practical use - that of computer geek who can hack computers and get information that would be otherwise impossible. Yet Xander, who has a crush on Buffy from pretty much beginning to end, displays early on that even though he's seen as the Jughead of the group, he won't easily bow to orders: not becuase he's a man, but because teenagers instinctively don't like to be told what to do.

Finally, the episode begins the explanation concerning teenagers in Sunnydale being murdered all the time, often in front of their peers, to little or no attetion. Simply put, it's post-traumatic stress.

The first two episodes, when viewed together, are a toot and a promising start to the series.