In the middle of a late-night sparring session at the cemetery, Buffy and Giles discover a ring with a mysterious engraving in it. The scene shifts to the Master Vampire's lair, where the Master explains that the Anointed One — the Master's greatest warrior and the Slayer's greatest foe is due to rise from the ashes of five dead. The next day, Buffy is asked out by a handsome, poetry-loving classmate named Owen who she is smitten with. Buffy's good mood is spoiled by Giles, who's connected the engraving in the ring to a violent prophecy which is about to be fulfilled... that night. Buffy very reluctantly joins Giles at the cemetery, but nothing happens there. Meanwhile, an airport van crashes and although the five passengers — including a burly, tattooed man who's been ranting incoherently — survive the wreck, they die when the van is overtaken by vampires.
The next day, Owen and Buffy decide to try again, much to Giles' (and a very jealous Xander's) chagrin.
As Buffy prepares for her date, Giles comes over with the news: five people were killed the night before, just as the prophecy described, and one of them — the tattooed man — was Andrew Borba, wanted for murder. This leads Giles to believe that he is the Anointed One. Buffy insists on going on to the Bronze with Owen, but Willow and Xander agree to go along with Giles to the Sunnydale Funeral Home so he can check the bodies for clues. Giles is greeted by vampires, and though Willow and Xander try to help him, they realize this is Buffy's domain. They run off to the Bronze to fetch her, but she's already hooked up with Owen. Unable to blurt out their news, they merrily suggest to Buffy a jaunt to the funeral home.
Once they get there, they're shocked to find Owen has followed them. As Buffy looks around for clues, the tattooed man — now a vampire — arises from a gurney and tears the place apart. Buffy kicks him, knocking him on a gurney, which hits the cremation oven and slides him right in. The next day, Owen is pumped up about the previous night's adventures and can't wait for the next date. Realizing she almost got him killed, Buffy reluctantly gives him the "let's be friends" speech. Giles commends her on her maturity, and reminds her that she did prevent a disaster. But all is not resolved. We see the Master in his lair, welcoming the Anointed One: it is an eight-year-old boy from the van accident, who smiles to reveal a mouth full of fangs
- Continuity: At the conclusion of episode #1.5, "Never Kill a Boy on the First Date", Owen is trying to set up another date with Buffy. In the background a woman in a red and black jacket carrying a red bag walks up the stairs. Seconds later, in the next shot of Owen, the same woman is walking up the stairs without the bag. Seconds after that, in the next shot of Buffy, the same woman with the same red bag on her shoulder is walking by at ground level.
- Giles says that he doesn't have an instruction manual, but in the second season episode "What's My Line, Part Two," Kendra mentions the Slayer Handbook, which Giles thought would be useless in Buffy's case. Either it doesn't have actual "instructions" in it, or Giles didn't know about it at this point, or the writers hadn't thought of it yet.
Episode Notes/Trivia
- This episode was released on 20th Century Fox Home Video on September 15, 1998, as part of the first Buffy the Vampire Slayer Box Set.
-Giles' California license plate is 2GPU947.
- Giles is at least a third generation Watcher, as his father and his paternal grandmother were Watchers before him. Giles' father told him he was destined to be a Watcher when he was ten, ruining young Rupert's plans to become either a fighter pilot or a grocer.
- Throughout the entire series, Buffy has a habit of beginning episodes fighting vampires in a graveyard. The trend borders on classic. This episode features the first of that type of opening sequence.
Mod Commentary
This is one of my favorite episodes of the first season. It brings a little bit of levity and shows off Joss and the writer's humor. I think it really sets the stage for what the viewers can expect out of this show - it's not all vampires and supernatural stuff. It has comedy and life lessons and painful irony and lots of lovely stuff.