1.05 Never Kill a Boy on a First Date

[Clare]

1.05 Never Kill a Boy on a First Date - Episode #005
Buffy takes her date... to a crematorium

Review (also post a score out of 10) and discuss this episode.

[cyclica]

This is one of my favourite episodes of season one, but I'm not really sure why. I loved all scenes with buffy and cordy fighting over owen, especially in the bronze when cordy meets angel for the first time and tries to approach him, but he ignored her and goes straight for buffy just like owen did. Also loved buffy and the gang's pathetic attempts at keeping owen from knowing about vampires, even while patroling. I think this is the first ep with the annointed kid too, although I have no idea why a kid was chosen to be the annointed, and what kind of powers he is supposed to have.

I gave this ep an 8 out of 10.

[partcynic]

1x05 “Never Kill a Boy on the First Date”

Episode Rating = 6

One of the show’s first proper character development episodes, “Never Kill a Boy on the First Date” is an effective exploration of the ramifications of being a Slayer, and also takes the time to progress the ongoing plot with the Master. The two elements meet organically as Buffy’s first attempt at dating in Sunnydale coincides with a new vampire scheme, and there’s a good amount of humour thrown into the mix too. While the ep could probably have done with a minor recast for Owen and a few moments of tightening, it’s still a success, and another compelling addition to the S1 stable.

What I Liked about “Never Kill a Boy on the First Date”:

- Besides the oddness with the ring (see the ‘dislike’ section), most of the early scenes are excellent. The interaction between Buffy and Giles is wonderful, and her responses to Owen’s appearance (and indication of his interest in her) are funny and very believable. Her sudden interest in Emily Dickinson after learning Owen enjoyed her poetry felt like the kind of response a real teenager would have, and there was some touching emotion as their failed first date attempt ended with Buffy finding Owen and Cordy together.

- The duelling, tit-for-tat between Buffy and Cordy makes for a fun rivalry, and there’s always pleasure to be had in seeing Cordy’s hypocrisy and narcissism blow up in her face (such as when she lusts after Angel, only to realise he’s also there for Buffy).

- On re-watching season one, I’m gaining a newfound appreciation for the Master. He’s not a fantastic villain, but he looks cool, is a little scary, and has some great lines on occasion (re-wording the prophecy, grabbing the “bug”). He’s also used in the right quantity, appearing often enough to feel like an ever-present menace, but avoiding becoming over saturated. In fact, I’d go so far as to say he’s the third best Big Bad on the series (after Angelus and the Mayor).

- You won’t be hearing me say this post-S1, but Xander’s jealousy over Buffy’s romantic entanglements continues to be funny. His numerous attempts at throwing a spanner in the works (encouraging Buffy to go out in an overcoat and ski cap; informing Owen that she doesn’t like to be kissed, or touched, or looked at…) are all amusing, and I loved the visual contrast between Owen’s classic style watch and Xander’s Tweety Bird one.

- As in “Teacher’s Pet”, Angel has now settled into his character, and he’s much more watchable than he was before. The hint of unease he displays when seeing Buffy with Owen is very telling, and the cocky way he squares up to him (and the cut to his reaction after Buffy says “bite me”) are quite humorous.

- The final school scene is my very favourite in the episode, encapsulating its theme and nicely developing Buffy’s character. At its core, this is a story about a young woman coming to terms with what being different means – and in this case, it was reflected by Buffy’s newfound maturity in realising that she’d gotten her priorities mixed up. In addition, her decision to put her feelings aside and turn Owen’s second date request down was a moving moment, as she figured out that a) he was more interested in danger than her and b) that his attitude would get him very dead, very quickly if they stayed together. Sarah Michelle Gellar does a lovely job acting-wise, and the subsequent Giles/Buffy chat is successful in being both heart-warming and softening the previously rigid boundaries between the two characters.

What I found to be a mixed bag about “Never Kill a Boy on the First Date”:

- Owen was a passable character, but he didn’t possess much in the way of memorable or interesting personality traits (besides looks, I don’t really get what Cordy would see in him, making the competition between she and Buffy somewhat contrived). I suppose that it’s neat how the episode establishes Buffy’s fondness for broody guys, but it doesn’t change the fact that Owen is basically Angel without the vampirism – and is dishwater dull as a result.

- The episode is front-loaded in terms of pacing and dialogue – everything moves at a good clip until the characters arrive at the funeral home, at which point the story becomes drab before rebounding in the last couple of scenes. Considering how witty the first half is, I can’t help but feel disappointed in the majority of the second one.

- The twist ending with the reveal that the Anointed One is actually a child is fun, but I can’t say I’m enthusiastic about the prospect of subsequent scenes with him.

What I Disliked about “Never Kill a Boy on the First Date”:

- In the early library scene, Buffy picks up the Order of Aurelius ring and states that she’s seen it before. Since this is a fairly significant plot moment, it would have been good if the audience had seen the rings too, back in the season opener. It’s also problematic that none of the Order members are seen wearing these rings at any later point in the series (or even this episode), nor in the flashbacks we’d be shown later in the show’s run.

- Giles manages to ward off the two vampires very easily (just by brandishing a cross), and his escape via concealment is unbelievable. If the vamps were hunting for him, couldn’t they either have sniffed him out, or at least seen his bag of stuff on the mortuary table and deduced that he was still there? It’s not like he could have fled through the bar-covered window.

- In a related point, it’s weird that many of the internal doors at the funeral home appear to have been locked, yet no-one bothered to seal up the main entrance (as all of the characters just walk right in). I hope the place didn’t have CCTV cameras in operation; else the gang might have had some explaining to do.

- Why would the mortuary workers have left the crazy guy’s body in the observation room? Why not just store it in one of the many available ‘lockers’ in the main crematory area?

- I had a hard time finding the crazy-guy vampire intimidating or scary. Something about the actor’s delivery failed for me (or it may have just been the dialogue – it’s impossible to be threatening when you’re spouting gibberish about pork and beans).

- Did anyone not know how the vampire was going to die the instant they saw Giles’ hand strike the furnace switch and activate the flames?

Do I like this episode more or less than the last time I watched it?

Overall, my feelings are similar, though I both like the positives and dislike the negatives more. Owen was too dull for me to emotionally invest in most of the story, but the change/development in Buffy herself was excellent, and all of the other characters are solid. In addition, the development occurred within the context of a decent plot, with the story moving at a reasonable pace. Therefore, I’m keeping my rating as a six out of ten.

[cyclica]

Still one of my fav s1 eps, I stand by my '8' rating.

There were lots of good scenes; aside from those I already mentioned, I really loved xander's line "How did the slaying go last night... I mean, how did the laying go... no I don't mean that either". And I liked the reveal at the end, where it turns out it was the kid, and not the religious nutter, who was annointed.

There's not much to nitpick about in this episode. Aside from the fact that the vampire's ring somehow survives when he's dusted (why do clothes and jewellery turn to dust anyway?), the only problem I have is with owen. He seems like a bit of an unbeleivable character, a friendless bookworm with no social life, whom all the girls are interested in. And his watch is an antique pocket watch?

Still, these are all minor nitpicks that can be easily overlooked. I'm not sure how to really describe why I like this episode so much, I guess the simple 'balance a dating life with a slaying life' story is 'classic' in a way, it doesn't rely on a gimmicky bad guy like a giant mantis or computer demon or talking puppet, it's just a simple vampire story. If I was trying to get someone to watch the show, I'd tell them to watch welcome to the hellmouth/the harvest (so they know whats going on), then tell them to watch this episode.