The Harvest (10 Mar. 1997)

Buffy and her friends encounter a powerful vampire bent on opening a portal to a dimension inhabited by demons.

Director:

John T. Kretchmer

Writers:

Joss Whedon (creator), Joss Whedon

Stars:

Sarah Michelle Gellar, Nicholas Brendon, Alyson Hannigan

Cast

Episode cast overview, first billed only:
Sarah Michelle Gellar	...	Buffy Summers
Nicholas Brendon	...	Xander Harris
Alyson Hannigan	...	Willow Rosenberg
Charisma Carpenter	...	Cordelia Chase
Anthony Head	...	Rupert Giles (as Anthony Stewart Head)
Mark Metcalf	...	The Master
Brian Thompson	...	Luke
David Boreanaz	...	Angel
Ken Lerner	...	Principal Bob Flutie
Kristine Sutherland	...	Joyce Summers
Julie Benz	...	Darla
Eric Balfour	...	Jesse
Mercedes McNab	...	Harmony
Jeffrey Steven Smith	...	Guy in Comp. Class
Teddy Lane Jr.	...	Bouncer

Storyline

At night in the cemetery, Buffy saves Xander and Willow from vampires, later Giles explains their race descends from primeval demons. Meanwhile the vampires bring Jesse as offering to their master as the hell-mouth, before his ascension and 'harvest', but hearing about a slayer he rather keeps Jesse alive as chained bait for her. Buffy realizes the mausoleum must be the entry, and meets Angel again there; she enters alone- but Xander catches up, determined to help his mate. Giles reads up on the harvest. Jesse turns out to be a vampire already, but the heroes escape into safe sunlight. The master anoints vampire Luke as his killing, soul-devouring vessel. Xander guesses right Jesse will still go to the Bronze, the town's single cool club, like normal school-kids, and so does the whole vampire gang before Buffy's...

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Plot Keywords:

library | heroine | female protagonist

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Genres:

Action | Drama | Fantasy

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Certificate:

TV-PG

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

10 March 1997 (USA)

Filming Locations:

1800 Stewart St., Santa Monica, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Mutant Enemy, Kuzui Enterprises, Sandollar Television

Technical Specs

Runtime:

45 min

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

During the credits, Giles describes the origins of vampires to Buffy, Xander, and Willow. He states, "...waiting for their animals to die out, and the old ones to return." In Season Seven, the old ones, the primordial vampires, return.

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Goofs

Cordelia says they're going to The Bronze that night because there's no cover, yet the bouncer is counting a handful of cash when the vamps show up.

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Quotes

Xander: This is just too much. I mean, yesterday my life's like, "Uh-oh, pop quiz." Today, it's "rain of toads."

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Connections

References The Wild Bunch (1969)

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Soundtracks

"Buffy the Vampire Slayer Theme"
Written by Nerf Herder
Performed by Brandon K. Verrett

User Reviews

Great Second-Half of the Pilot Episode

The Harvest picks up right where Welcome to the Hellmouth left off, and it is just as good and just as promising as the first part. We've already been introduced to the main characters, so this episode just continues on from that. Already, their quirks are becoming clearer and the dialogue is sharpening, showing hints of the greatness that is to come. Xander's growing crush on the Slayer is becoming all too clear, while Willow's crush on Xander goes unnoticed by him but obvious to the viewers. The fight scene in the Bronze is kind of cheesy, true, but it shows us more of Buffy's fighting style. She quips the whole way through, and her "There's something you forgot about too - sunlight" trick is fantastic. My favourite scene in this episode is the ending, where as Buffy, Willow and Xander walk away, Giles turns and says "The earth is doomed." It is fantastic if you are a huge fan of the show and know that this scene will be repeated in the very final episode of season seven. Having watched the series already and knowing everything that is to come between now and that scene in season seven... honestly the amount of tears, drama, laughs, action and everything else that is still yet to be revealed, is staggering. My only negative is that I find Darla so immensely irritating. Her voice, the way she speaks - she is so annoying. Thank goodness she gets killed off later in the season. Overall - The Harvest is a great second half of the pilot episode. Greatness is being created before your very eyes.