Buffy, the Vampire Slayer: Episode List (Seasons 1, 2, 3 and 4)

1- "Welcome to the Hellmouth"
Airdate: March 10, 1997

The series premiere begins at Sunnydale High School, where a boy (played by Carmine Giovinazzo) breaks into the school during the night with a seemingly reluctant girl (Julie Benz), promising her mischief and therefore fun. Nervous and on edge, the girl says she thinks she heard something and fears someone is in the school, other than the two of them. The boy calls out but gets no response, leading him to say "it's nothing" to the girl and assure her that they "are alone". The girl says "okay, that's good", after which she turns to face the boy, revealing her facial morph into her true identity: a vampire. She then bites the boy's neck. She is later revealed to be Darla.

Buffy Summers (Sarah Michelle Gellar) has a nightmare the morning of her first day at school. Her mother, Joyce (Kristine Sutherland), drives her to the school and encourages her to think positive. Inside the building, Principal Bob Flutie (Ken Lerner) tells her she will start with a clean slate. He reconsiders that after realizing that Buffy burned down her previous school's gym. Buffy starts to explain that she did so because "it was full of vampi..." but she rapidly changes the end of her statement to "asbestos."

Buffy exits the office and bumps into a female student, spilling the contents of her handbag on the floor. Xander Harris (Nicholas Brendon) sees this and helps Buffy repack, mainly to introduce himself to her, as it was earlier suggested that he is attracted to her. 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 popular girl Cordelia Chase (Charisma Carpenter), who afterwards tests her "coolness factor", skipping the written as Buffy had just moved to Sunnydale, California from Los Angeles. To Buffy's horror, Cordelia humiliates an awkward Willow Rosenberg (Alyson Hannigan) at the water fountain. Inside the library, Rupert Giles (Anthony Stewart Head) places a book titled Vampyr in front of Buffy after recognizing who she is. A stunned Buffy makes a hasty exit.

Buffy, Willow, Jesse McNally (Eric Balfour), and Xander meet during a break, and Xander returns the stake. Buffy claims it is standard self-defense in Los Angeles. Cordelia appears and tells Buffy that gym is cancelled due to the "extreme dead guy" in one student's gym 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 kicked out of her previous school and robbed her of a social life. After they leave the library, Xander emerges from behind the shelves, having overheard the strange conversation.

That night, en route to her first visit to The Bronze, the cool hangout in Sunnydale, Buffy meets a mysterious, handsome stranger (David Boreanaz), who warns her that she is living on a Hellmouth that is about to open, and that "The Harvest" is coming. He also gives her a large silver cross pendant. In The Bronze, Buffy meets Willow and encourages her to seize the moment: "Because tomorrow you might be dead." She finds Giles and tells him about the stranger. Giles tells her to learn to hone her skills to sense vampires anywhere. Buffy uses her fashion sense to pick out a vampire (J. Patrick Lawlor) in the club and is alarmed to see Willow leave 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, whom she convinces to help search for Willow.

Meanwhile, under the streets of Sunnydale, The Master (Mark Metcalf), an ancient and powerful vampire king, is woken by lesser vampires from a long sleep to prepare for the Harvest. He sends Luke (Brian Thompson) 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 the weakened Jesse to 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.