"Welcome to the Hellmouth" is the series premiere of the American supernatural drama television series Buffy the Vampire Slayer. It originally aired on The WB on March 10, 1997 in a two-hour premiere along with the following episode, "The Harvest". The episode was written by the series creator and executive producer Joss Whedon and directed by Charles Martin Smith. "Welcome to the Hellmouth" received a Nielsen rating of 3.4 upon its original airing and received largely positive reviews from critics.
Buffy Summers and her mom move to Sunnydale, California, for a fresh start, unaware of the evil lurking in this quiet suburb. Somewhat reluctant in her role as the Slayer, Buffy quickly makes friends and enemies at her new school. While also meeting her new "Watcher," Giles, the mercurial school librarian, her newly assembled team encounters the ever-abundant unearthly creatures in Sunnydale.
Joss Whedon developed Buffy the Vampire Slayer to invert the Hollywood formula of "the little blonde girl who goes into a dark alley and gets killed in every horror movie." The series was created after the 1992 film of the same name, in an attempt by Whedon to stay truer to his original ideas. Whedon wrote and directed a 25-minute unaired pilot in 1996, some of the dialogue and story of which was reused in the episode. Many scenes were filmed on location in Los Angeles, California. The high school used for external and some internal scenes in the series is Torrance High School, the same school used for the series Beverly Hills, 90210.
Plot At night, a boy named Chris Boal (Carmine Giovinazzo) breaks into Sunnydale High School with a girl, Darla (Julie Benz). Although she appears nervous, Chris reassures her that they are alone. Suddenly, Darla reveals her true vampire face and kills him.
Buffy Summers (Sarah Michelle Gellar) wakes from a nightmare on the morning of her first day at Sunnydale High School. Her mother, Joyce (Kristine Sutherland), drives her to school and encourages her to stay positive. In his office, Principal Bob Flutie (Ken Lerner) reviews Buffy's permanent record, noting she burned down her previous school's gym. When asked about the incident, Buffy nearly reveals it involved vampires but quickly attributes it to "asbestos."
After leaving the principal's office, Buffy bumps into another student, spilling the contents of her purse onto the floor. Xander Harris (Nicholas Brendon) helps her gather her belongings and introduces himself. Buffy unknowingly leaves behind her stake, which Xander tries to return, but she has already walked away.
In class, Buffy is befriended by popular student Cordelia Chase (Charisma Carpenter), who quizzes her on fashion and social trends after learning she is from Los Angeles. Buffy becomes uncomfortable when Cordelia publicly mocks Willow Rosenberg (Alyson Hannigan) at the water fountain. Inside the library, Buffy meets the new librarian, Rupert Giles (Anthony Head), who presents her with a book titled Vampyr. Realizing he knows her true identity, Buffy quickly leaves.
During a break, Buffy meets with Willow, Jesse McNally (Eric Balfour), and Xander, who returns her stake. Buffy explains it is a common self-defense weapon in Los Angeles. Cordelia informs Buffy that gym class has been canceled due to an "extreme dead guy" found in a student's locker. When Buffy asks if there were any marks on the body, Cordelia becomes alarmed. Buffy forces her way into the locker room, examines the body, and finds the characteristic puncture wounds of a vampire on his neck. She returns to the library and confronts Giles, who informs her that he is her new Watcher. Buffy refuses to accept her calling as the Slayer, blaming it for her expulsion and troubled social life. After they leave, a confused Xander emerges from behind the shelves, having overheard their conversation.
That night Buffy goes to The Bronze, Sunnydale's popular hangout, where she meets a mysterious stranger named Angel (David Boreanaz). He warns Buffy that she lives on a Hellmouth about to open and that "the Harvest" is coming. He also gives her a large silver cross pendant. Inside The Bronze, Buffy reunites with Willow and urges her to seize the moment. Buffy then finds Giles and tells him about Angel. Giles advises her to hone her ability to sense when vampires are nearby. Using her understanding of fashion trends rather than her Slayer instincts, Buffy positively identifies a vampire (J. Patrick Lawlor) in the club, (to Giles' mild frustration,) and becomes alarmed when Willow leaves with him. She loses sight of them and is startled by Cordelia, whom she nearly stakes before scaring her off. Meanwhile, Jesse chats with Darla on the dance floor. While searching for Willow, Buffy encounters Xander and convinces him to help.
Beneath the streets of Sunnydale, the Master (Mark Metcalf), an ancient and powerful vampire, is awakened by his followers to prepare for the Harvest. He sends Luke (Brian Thompson) to gather fresh victims. The vampire lures Willow to a cemetery and traps her inside a crypt, where they are joined by Darla and a weakened Jesse, who has already been bitten. Buffy and Xander arrive, and Buffy kills the vampire attacking Willow. As Darla and Buffy fight, Xander helps Jesse and Willow escape. Luke arrives and overpowers Buffy, throwing her into a wall. During the ensuing fight, Darla flees the crypt. Luke then traps Buffy in a stone coffin and moves in to bite her.
Production
Background and writing Writer Joss Whedon says that "Rhonda the Immortal Waitress" was really the first incarnation of the Buffy concept, "just the idea of some woman who seems to be completely insignificant who turns out to be extraordinary". This early, unproduced idea evolved into Buffy, an inversion of the Hollywood formula of "the little blonde girl who goes into a dark alley and gets killed in every horror movie".Billson, pp. 24–25 Whedon wanted "to subvert that idea and create someone who was a hero". He explained, "The very first mission statement of the show was the joy of female power: having it, using it, sharing it".Gottlieb, Allie (26 September 2002). "Buffy's Angels". Metroactive. Retrieved 29 May 2012.
The idea was first visited through Whedon's script for the 1992 movie Buffy the Vampire Slayer, which featured Kristy Swanson in the title role. The director, Fran Rubel Kuzui, saw it as a "pop culture comedy about what people think about vampires".Havens, p. 51Golden and Holder, pp. 247–248. Whedon disagreed: "I had written this scary film about an empowered woman, and they turned it into a broad comedy. It was crushing."Havens, p. 23
Several years later, Gail Berman, a Fox executive, approached Whedon to develop his Buffy concept into a television series.Golden and Holder, pp. 249–250 Whedon explained that "They said, 'Do you want to do a show?' And I thought, 'High school as a horror movie'. And so the metaphor became the central concept behind Buffy, and that's how I sold it." The supernatural elements in the series stood as metaphors for personal anxieties associated with adolescence and young adulthood.Wilcox, et al, p. xix Early in its development, the series was going to be simply titled Slayer. Whedon went on to write and partly fund a 25-minute non-broadcast pilot that was shown to networks and eventually sold to the WB Network.Topping, p. 7 Buffy the Vampire Slayer first aired on March 10, 1997, as a mid season replacement for the show Savannah on The WB network, and played a key role in the growth of the Warner Bros. television network in its early years.Edwards, p. 134 Whedon has declared in June 2003 that the non-broadcast pilot would not be included with DVDs of the series "while there is strength in these bones," stating that it "sucks on ass."
Music The episode, being the series premiere, features the first usage of the theme song by pop punk band Nerf Herder. Parry Gripp, the band's songwriter, guitarist, and admitted fan of the show explained that the band created the theme song after "fancy pants Hollywood" failed to write a theme song that the producers approved. Eventually, "they [the producers] asked a bunch of local, small time bands who they could pay very little money to come up with some ideas and they liked our idea and they used it." Several songs by the band Sprung Monkey play during the episode. When Buffy is deciding what to wear, the song "Saturated" is playing faintly in the background. At The Bronze, the band plays their songs "Believe", "Swirl", and "Things are Changing". All of the songs featured in the episode can be found on their 1995 album Swirl. The score for the episode, as well as all first season entries, was created by Walter Murphy.
Casting and filming
Whedon explained that several of the characters that appeared in the series were based on real-life individuals. Cordelia, for instance, was modeled after a girl with whom Whedon's wife attended high school. Xander was based on Whedon himself.Stafford, p. 126 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 the season 6 episode "Seeing Red", with the character Tara Maclay (Amber Benson). Brian Thompson, who plays the vampire Luke, returns to the series in season 2 as a different character, the Judge, in "Surprise" and "Innocence".
In the original, non-broadcast pilot, Willow was portrayed by Riff Regan. However, network executives requested that Regan be replaced. Willow's character demanded that she be shy and unsure of herself, and the casting department encountered some difficulty finding actresses who could portray this effectively and still be likable.Buffy the Vampire Slayer: The Complete Fifth Season; "Casting Buffy" Featurette. (2008) [DVD]. 20th Century Fox. After seven auditions, Alyson Hannigan was eventually chosen for the role.Bonka, Larry (January 12, 1998). Buffymania Sweeps the Land as Ultra-cool Kids Conquer the Un-dead", The Virginian-Pilot and The Ledger-Star, (Norfolk, VA), p. E1 She was chosen for being able to spin the character's lines with a self-effacing optimism; she stated, "I didn't want to do Willow as someone who's feeling sorry for herself. Especially in the first season, she couldn't talk to guys, and nobody liked her. I was like, 'I don't want to play somebody who's down on herself.Cox, Ted (May 11, 1999). "Hannigan's Willow becomes a favorite of 'Buffy' fans", Chicago Daily Herald, p. 3. Whedon conceived the character as introverted, saying, "I wanted Willow to have that kind of insanely colorful interior life that truly shy people have. And Alyson has that. She definitely has a loopiness I found creeping into the way Willow talked, which was great. To an extent, all the actors conform to the way I write the character, but it really stands out in Willow's case."Stafford, Nikki (2007). Bite Me! The Unofficial Guide to Buffy the Vampire Slayer, ECW Press.
Nicholas Brendon, who had recently been fired from his job as a waiter and was struggling financially, was attracted to the pilot script for Buffy because of how much he had hated high school. Brendon recognized that Xander was based on Joss Whedon when he had attended high school, accounting for why Xander "gets all the good lines"."Former Buffy star Brendon enters rehab". Whedon.info. April 30, 2004