The Harvest
4V02
Follows on from Welcome to the Hellmouth.
As Luke tries to bite Buffy in the neck, he burns his hand on her cross, giving her a chance to escape. She finds her friends struggling with several vampires. Buffy impales one and the others flee. Meanwhile, Jesse has been taken to the Master, who hears about Buffy. By her strength, he can tell that she's the Slayer. The Master knows that Buffy will come looking for Jesse, and then she will be his.
Giles enlists Willow to check the internet for more information about the Harvest, while Buffy decides to go look for Jesse. At the mausoleum, she runs into the stranger again, whose name is Angel. He warns that the Harvest will be that night. Then Buffy is shocked to find Xander has followed her. They find Jesse, who tries to lead them out, until he turns to face them and they discover he's become a vampire. More vampires surround and chase them, but they manage to escape to the street through a grating. The Master is furious that the Slayer has escaped. But he allows Luke to feed from him as a way of gaining strength for himself. He dabs some of his blood on Luke's forehead and paints a three-pointed star.
Willow's research explains that on the night of the Harvest, the Master Vampire can draw power from one of his minions while it feeds and then can break through from their reality to ours. The minion is called the Vessel, and bears the symbol we saw painted on Luke.
Xander guesses the vampires will converge on the Bronze, since it's always filled with young people. That night, a newly confident Jesse strides into the Bronze and hits on Cordelia, who actually allows the former loser to dance with her. Soon, a gang of vampires takes over the club, with Luke at the helm. By the time Buffy, Giles, Xander and Willow get there, the suckfest is in full swing, with the Master gaining strength from each victim. Buffy manages to kill a few other vampires, then Jesse winds up impaling himself on a stake a frightened Xander was holding. Buffy breaks a large window, trying to make Luke think the streetlight is daylight, which will destroy him. He buys it for a second, and she takes advantage of his confusion by driving a stake through his back. Now the Master is too weak to break through to the other side, and Sunnydale has been spared. This time.
More Information
This episode continues on from Welcome to the Hellmouth (the first two 45 minute episodes were shown together when the series premiered in the US). With the introductions out of the way, things begin to settle down, and this is much more like a typical episode in structure, carefully balancing a well-developed plot with rich character development.
The Harvest has more time to breathe, giving writer Whedon room for his witty Clueless-like patois and for interesting set-pieces, like the scene where Willow and Xander catch themselves discussing vampires as casually as they might once have debated that day's lunch menu.
This episode also steps up a gear, with the show's first proper fight scene, when Luke and Buffy tangle. These beautifully choreographed stunt sequences are always exciting, and, if shot properly, the visceral payoff to many episodes. It's hard not to love a show where one of the undead is decapitated by a cymbal thrown like a Frisbee. It's obvious that the series is still developing at this stage, but the characters are already well-sketched. Giles, struggling with the concept that Buffy and her entourage might be humanity's last line of defence against the forces of darkness, sighs that "The Earth is doomed!"
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