0:10 : The exterior of Sunnydale High is Torrance High School in Torrance, Los Angeles. It has appeared in dozens of films and television shows, including She’s All That (1999), filmed during Buffy’s second season, as well as Beverly Hills, 90210 (1990–2000) and its spin‑offs.

0:26 : The corridor seen at the start of the opening is a studio set. Some limited interior work was filmed at Torrance, but the majority of the high‑school interiors were constructed by Mutant Enemy at their Santa Monica warehouse base.

1:04 : Poor unfortunate victim number one! The unnamed teenage boy gets caught out in a reversal of the “blonde girl in a horror movie” trope. Carmine Giovinazzo, in his first TV role, plays Darla’s meal. He would later star as Danny Messer in CSI: NY (2004–2013) and appears in The Pitt in 2026.

Darla is played by Julie Benz, who also auditioned for the role of Buffy. Pittsburgh‑born Benz was already an established performer, a series regular on sitcom Hi Honey, I’m Home! (1991–1992) , and a guest star on Married… with Children, Diagnosis Murder, and Sliders (1995–2000). Darla was her first cult‑genre role, followed by Kathleen Topolsky in Roswell (1999–2002) and Rita Morgan in Dexter (2006–2013). Originally slated to die in part two of the premiere, Darla received a stay of execution until episode seven (Angel), where she was given a backstory as Angel’s sire and killed. Her story doesn’t end there…

2:22 : And there’s the reversal. Joss Whedon wanted a female protagonist who could run into an alley away from a monster — and instead of screaming and dying, she would kill the creature stalking her. In 1997, there were almost no primetime shows with a meaningful female hero. Buffy opened the door for many that followed: Dark Angel (2000–2002), Alias (2001–2006), Supergirl (2015–2021), and more.

Darla’s vampire make‑up differs in this season from all later appearances. Todd McIntosh’s team refined the prosthetics as the show progressed. Darla also appears paler in vamp face than in human form — a detail never used again.

2:33 : Ah, the opening theme that makes you want to drum along! Written by Nerf Herder as a sci‑fi‑inspired piece, it became Whedon’s instant choice after Alyson Hannigan and Anthony Stewart Head brought their albums to set.

This version of the theme is a one‑off, with an extra bar in the opening screech. No official explanation exists; it appears to be an isolated error. (See The Opening Title Sequences for more.)

The show’s logo is also different for the first two seasons. In season three, the series adopts its more recognisable logo and a heavier bass line in the theme.

The font used for the credits is known as “Slayer”. Whedon originally intended to shock viewers by placing guest star Eric Balfour in the opening credits to lull the audience into a false sense of security. The process proved too expensive and was abandoned. Whedon finally used this trick in Seeing Red with Amber Benson’s Tara — with mixed results.

The regular cast! Season one has five regulars. Sarah Michelle Gellar had been acting since childhood, appearing in commercials and soap operas, and had already won an Emmy for her role as Kendall Hart in All My Children. She was just 18 when she joined the cast, originally auditioning for Cordelia. When no suitable Buffy was found, she begged to audition again — and won the role.

Alyson Hannigan had also worked from a young age, notably with future Buffy co‑star Seth Green in My Stepmother Is an Alien (1988).

Nicholas Brendon had a few roles before Buffy, but this was his breakthrough. Charisma Carpenter’s Cordelia was not initially intended to be a regular but was added later, resulting in her absence from two episodes. Anthony Head receives a special credit bump featuring his character’s name. Kristine Sutherland was best known for Honey, I Shrunk the Kids (1989).

3:26 : The scenes in Buffy’s nightmares are not from the movie, despite rumours. They are clips from later season‑one episodes, all filmed and edited before the premiere.

5:04 : Joyce asks Buffy not to get expelled again. Buffy promises — but she’ll break that promise before finishing her second year, though admittedly not through any fault of her own.

5:08 : We never see Xander on his skateboard again. He clearly got tired of falling.

5:55 : Jesse, played by Eric Balfour, is an oddity in the Buffyverse. He is clearly intended as part of the inner circle, close to Xander and Willow. Yet after this episode, neither character ever mentions him again on‑screen.

6:09 : Principal Bob Flutie debuts, played by Ken Lerner, best known for Happy Days. He replaces Stephen Tobolowsky, who played the role in Whedon’s unaired presentation pilot.

6:10 : Buffy’s burning down of the Hemery High gymnasium is mentioned. While this doesn’t occur in the film, it does appear in Whedon’s original script, on which the series is based.

9:24 : Cordelia says she would “kill to live in L.A.” She’ll move there after season three.

10:12 : When Cordelia mocks Willow’s “Softer Side of Sears” look, note the Drama Club poster behind them. In Restless, Willow again appears in this outfit — her costume to hide who she really is — and she does so in a drama‑themed dream.

10:46 : Cordelia says the good part of town is half a block from the bad part. “We don’t have a whole of lot of town here.” Later episodes contradict this wildly: Sunnydale has a dockyard, train station, airport, beach, multiple mansions, a university campus, and eventually a crater the size of a small city. Definitely more than half a block!

11:58 : Giles thinks Buffy wants access to the VAMPYR book he places on the counter. Though never mentioned again, its importance to the Slayer line becomes crucial in the canonical Season Nine comics.

12:24 : Aura is played by Persia White, who later portrays Aggie, Lorne’s friend, in Angel’s Over the Rainbow. Cordelia references Aura again in Rm w/a Vu.

13:00 : Willow meets Buffy properly for the first time and instantly impresses Xander. The love triangle officially begins. Originally not cast as Willow, Hannigan replaced Riff Regan at the last moment.

17:26 : The first mention of vampire lore in the series comes from Buffy:

“To make you a vampire, they have to suck your blood. Then you have to suck their blood. It’s a whole big sucking thing. Mostly, they’re just going to kill you.”

Buffy also lists ways to kill vampires, including stakes and sunlight. Her line, “Why can’t you people just leave me alone?” references her first Watcher, Merrick, later seen in Becoming (Part 1), played by Richard Riehle.

17:40 : Buffy’s repeated line about being left alone again references Merrick.

18:40 : Buffy asks if Giles sent away for the Time‑Life series and whether he received the free phone. He says he got the calendar. Ironically, Jenny Calendar appears seven episodes later as Giles’s first love interest.

18:45 : One of the premiere’s most notable goofs: the spines on Giles’s books change direction as he stacks them in Buffy’s arms.

19:36 : Xander is holding a trigonometry textbook when he overhears Buffy and Giles discussing her role as the Slayer — a call back to his earlier request that Willow tutor him in Trig.

20:30 : The Master’s church, buried in the 1937 earthquake, has a mystical barrier trapping him due to his failed attempt to open the Hellmouth. The attending vampires, though unnamed here, are members of the Order of Aurelius.

20:40 : Brian Thompson, who plays Luke, has a long history in cult TV: The X‑Files, Star Trek, Hercules, Birds of Prey, and Alien Nation, to name a few. He later returns in season two as the Judge.

21:56 : Joyce mentions her art gallery — which we never see.

23:00 : Buffy’s address is 1630 Revello Drive. The real house, located in Torrance, was used for both interiors and exteriors in season one. For season two, the Summers home was recreated on a studio set, including the porch. The house itself is at 1313 Cota Avenue, three blocks from the real Torrance High School.

24:19 : Angel says he doesn’t bite. Liar.

24:39 : Angel also claims he thought Buffy would be taller. Another lie — he has already seen her in the flesh, as revealed in Becoming (Part 1), a full year before she moved to Sunnydale.

25:00 : Angel refers to them standing at “the Mouth of Hell,” the first hint at a Hellmouth beneath Sunnydale. A mystical gateway to a Hell dimension, the portal would normally remain sealed, but dark forces gravitate towards its energies, causing supernatural activity in the surrounding area. There’s another one in Cleveland.

25:44 : Angel gives Buffy her cross, which she’ll wear periodically throughout the series.

26:20 : The Bronze exterior is filmed outside the warehouses used by Mutant Enemy Studios.

The band playing in the Bronze in this episode is Sprung Monkey, performing their tunes “Believe,” “Saturated,” “Swirl,” and “Things Are Changing” from the album Swirl.

27:10 : The first hints at the past history between Xander and Willow appear here, along with Willow’s obvious crush on him. Her friendship and connection with Xander will shape her entire life.

29:39 : “I really didn’t like him.” Buffy, you doth protest too much…

30:07 : Giles mentions that Buffy hasn’t been having the nightmares. He’s referring to the notion that the Slayer dreams of past Slayers and their battles, and can also receive warnings of future events in cryptic dreams. Surprisingly, this happens very little.

31:08 : “It’s not as if I have fluffy bunny feelings for them…” Buffy really should stop talking about vampires here. She’s cutting off her own supply of future denial.

34:18 : Darla introduces herself by name to Jesse. Ironically, she doesn’t even know her own name, as established in Darla.

34:50 : Mark Metcalf, best known for his role in Animal House (1978), plays the Master, season one’s Big Bad, and he relishes the performance. Metcalf still maintains it’s his favourite role of his career. He will reappear as the Master as late as season seven, always delighting fans. The character even returns as a villain in the comics’ Season Eight.

35:35 : Early CGI work here — not just the barrier keeping the Master contained, but also the shot of him rising (dry, please note) from a pool of what appears to be blood.

36:20 : The graveyard Willow and Thomas walk through is a real cemetery. Early in the series’ run, filming in real cemeteries was common, but this was curtailed and a new fake cemetery was created in the Mutant Enemy parking lot, making shooting easier. Sarah Michelle Gellar is not a fan of cemeteries.

38:58 : Darla asks Buffy who she is. Doesn’t it seem odd that Darla, who’s been by the Master’s side since 1602, has no clue who the Slayer is?

39:21 : The early vampires, particularly in this episode, growl low from the back of their throats. All of them. It’s rather unsettling, and not used after the first season.

40:35 : Darla is scared of Buffy and Luke here. This again seems odd, but Darla’s backstory hadn’t been devised when the pilot was written. In fact, in the original script, Darla doesn’t even have a name at all — she’s “Unnamed Vamp Girl #1”.

41:40 : Luke snaps Buffy’s stake and throws her like she’s a rag doll. Sure, Buffy is unprepared and underestimates Luke, but is he really that strong? He seems stronger than the average vampire for some reason.

42:49 : And the episode freezes on Luke about to bite Buffy. The freeze‑frame effect, as well as the on‑screen “To Be Continued”, will never be used again. Originally, this episode aired with The Harvest as a two‑hour premiere, although it was separated into two episodes for repeat airings and streaming.

43:26 : The Mutant Enemy Inc. logo, scribbled in minutes by Whedon, appears at the end. The creature is voiced by Whedon.