Hellmouth Podcast

Archive for the ‘Oaktree’ Category

Being that this is Buffy’s premiere anniversary month, my last post was about my introduction to the show. So I decided to ask a few of my more Buffy dedicated/obsessed friends how they were first introduced to the Buffyverse. Scoobies, meet my friend Sarah:

“So my relationship with Buffy started a little something like this, as you may may recall. For years I mocked my friends for watching a stupid show about a vampire slayer. I love judging things without knowing anything about them and refuse to stop! Then I started dating this girl. She was super awesome, but I couldn’t call her on Tuesday nights. (That was the night that the show was originally broadcast) We moved in together, and she worked a hundred hours a week. Since she happened to own Buffy on DVD, I started to watch.

It was the best show ever. Now I spend my life trying to convince people that Buffy is totally awesome and that Joss is a genius.I also enjoy long walks on the beach,”

Sarah

I can personally testify to the gentle mocking Sarah gave to Buffy fans fellow Scoobies, as I was on the receiving end more than once. All in good fun of course.

Till next time fellow Scoobies! Cheers, Peg

Thirteen years ago this week I was siting down to watch the first episode of Buffy the Vampire Slayer. I was familiar with it’s strange title because I had rented it a few times. Not because of it’s cinematic brilliance, but because of Paul Rubens hysterically long death scene. Please, make your day better, and check it out on Youtube.
Now before the days of Youtube, I would gather friends around the television and pretty much force them to watch Paul’s death scene (Not the rest of the film though, friendship can only accomplish so much).
Now there was a television show! What might that be like? Right before the show started I asked my roommate if she wanted to watch. She gave me a look that questioned my sanity and ability to operate heavy machinery so I settled in to watch alone.
I loved it. Funny, well acted, and the writing was brilliant. By the end of the episode even those who had mocked had come around. My roommate who had been in the kitchen the entire time to avoid the show had been listening. I found this out near the end of the show when Xander’s character says,”The dead rose,there should at least have been an assembly!”, and I heard her break up laughing in the kitchen. Another convert made.

Happy Anniversary everyone!

Since discovering the Hellmouth Podcast and re-watching Buffy from the beginning, I’ve decided to start taking notes on what has always stood out for me and the questions that I’d always had. So I thought I would share them here. Let’s start, as they say, at the beginning.

Buffy Notes and Quotes from Welcome to the Hellmouth

1) In the opening scene where Darla and her “date” (or late night snack if you prefer) break into the school is a great way to start the series. They just hit the ground running with the horror, action and humor and as a viewer I was pulled in right away. No matter how many times I see Darla vamp out, it’s still great.

2) After the opening credits, Buffy has a prophecy dream that should have warned her about Cordelia. What I find most interesting about the early interactions between Buffy and Cordy is that most times, Buffy seems to be suffering more at the hands of Cordelia than she is by any particular monster she is facing. Buffy can take most physical trauma that is thrown at her, her weakness (if you want to call it that) is her feelings. This continues well into the show. Angelus knew that, his attacks were mostly emotional.

3) As Buffy walks up to the steps of the school, Xander sees her for the first time, and he and his skateboard make quite the impression on a railing. Nice stunt work, Nick Brendon.

4) In the library when Giles and Buffy were discussing her Slayer destiny for the first time, Sarah Michelle Gellar does a tremendous job jumping from the cheerful “I’m a vampire slayer, retired” to the hurt and anger of the “go ahead and prepare me” speech.

5) I always thought that the Master’s church lair/prison was one of the best sets in the series. It’s a shame more time wasn’t spent there to see it in more detail. Having said that, at the beginning of the series I know their budget was roughly six dollars, so a lot of the vamps in the lair were not in makeup and I thought it took away from the creepiness of some of the scenes. There’s an older gentleman sitting on a rock who looks like he’s waiting for a bus.

6) Okay, Buffy is the slayer, but her mother does not know this. Why would she let her daughter walk alone at night in a new town? A bad parenting point goes to Joyce.

7) On her way to the Bronze, Buffy meets Angel for the first time. I have to say, his character never really did much for me. Too much with the moping. For me, the only time his character is interesting is when he becomes Angelus.

“When I’m with a boy I like, it’s hard for me to say something cool, or witty, or at all. I can usually make a few vowel sounds, and then I have to go away.” Willow at the Bronze, with my favorite line of the episode.

9) Darla’s and Buffy’s fight in the crypt didn’t impress me very much, but the fight with Luke was much better. Much more painful looking and convincing.

Okay, this was the opening episode of my favorite series of all time. On a ratings scale of 1 – 10, it’s a 10 all the way.

Until next time Scoobies – Cheers, Oaktree

From Bryan:

“Hello everyone, I am very excited to introduce one of the new crew members of the Hellmouth Podcast, Oaktree. Oaktree has been a frequent email contributor to the show and has answered the call to help keep the HMPC Blog updated with news, articles, etc. If any of you are interested in being a blog contributor please email me at hellmouthpodcast@gmail.com. All total I would like to have 2-3 additional blog contributors so that we can keep a constant stream of new articles and ideas everyday. Enough about the podcast, everyone say ‘hello’ to Oaktree and without further ado here is Oaktree’s first blog update…”

Why I Love Buffy the Vampire Slayer

1.The name itself. I’ve had to defend it’s honor against charges of stupidity with a defense so long, detailed and some might say mind numbing, that most walk away rubbing their foreheads mumbling under their breath. Read the rest of this entry »