"The Freshman"
Air Date: October 5, 1999

I think I'll start with a little personal message. If you're not Joss Whedon, please avert your eyes and skip down a bit. This is a private moment.

Okay, Joss, they're gone. I just wanted to say... it's okay, man. It happens to everybody.

Still there, folks? Good. Thanks for waiting. Now on the to the review.

As far as season premieres go, I've learned not to expect a lot from Buffy. After all, my first experience with Buffy premieres was the third season's "Anne", and well... we all know how that turned out. (It was one of the worst episodes of the series, not just the season, for those of you who haven't been paying attention.) Luckily "The Freshman" doesn't stoop to "Anne"'s level; it's somewhere between "Anne" and "When She Was Bad" (the second season premiere). It's hovering in limbo. It's... not bad, but not good either. Mostly I'd say that it was boring.

This premiere, which brought Buffy to the world of confusion that is college, was actually a good effort. It did deal with those early freshman jitters, and Buffy's being totally lost all of the sudden was quite believable. My main problem with the episode comes in the form of a new villain.

The monster of the week, if you will, was a vampire named Sunday and her little crew of college rejects. Sunday and her gang (yeah, even the braindead surfer type) were pretty fun, actually, but they were also unexplainably gifted with some strange, strange powers. For instance... they entered Buffy's dorm room and stole all her stuff. Wouldn't they need an invitation? But that's just a technicality. The truly annoying aspect of the episode was the first showdown between Buffy and Sunday. Buffy gets her ass spanked by a girl who, by vampire standards, is just a cub.

So that's where I'm unable to suspend my disbelief. I'll buy vampires. I'll buy werewolves and magic and I'll buy the crazy idea that anyone can look at Spike and not have an immediate urge to shag him to death. But I'm not buying that Buffy's so easily defeated. Yes, her support system has suddenly abandoned her (Willow and Oz are into the college groove, Xander's off discovering himself, and Giles has suddenly acquired a life) and she's probably feeling pretty weak. But this is the Slayer who's defeated such bad-asses as The Master, Spike, Angelus, and even Mayor Wilkins in his giant snake incarnation. And she's consistently getting her ass kicked by a vamp who doesn't even have a century's worth of mayhem under her belt? Come on, Joss, give our girl a little credit!

Overall, the episode sticks to that low standard. Giles has a girlfriend -- a welcome addition -- and blows Buffy off uncharacteristically (though he redeems himself in an adorable way at the end), Willow's practically non-existant throughout, and Oz is just... well, he's Oz. Once again he doesn't do much. A real high point comes in the form of Xander, who returns from a summer of short-range travel and stripping for cash (now, that would've been more interesting to see...), and Buffy's white knight rides to the rescue once again. [Read our Nicholas Brendon feature for more commentary on Xander's role in the Buffy premiere.] The new character of Riley is introduced, though he's pretty pointless and unimpressive so far. Buffy moves into the UC Sunnydale dorms, where her roommate is clearly being set up as Satanic; the other girl's first order of business upon moving in is to tack up her Celine Dion poster. Somewhat disappointingly, there's little mention made of Angel and Cordelia, who have departed the Angel spinoff, but we're granted a clever crossover when Angel picks up the phone and dials back in to Sunnydale.

Of course, one dragging episode is nothing compared to the many, many wonderful stories brought to us by the Buffy crew for the past three years. From here, the season only stands to improve, and there's already a crossover with Angel filmed (Oz and Spike will go from Sunnydale to LA in both series third episodes, to air October 19). I see only good things in the season's future. Okay, and bad things too. Very bad, bleached, leather-wearing British things, actually.... And that's good.

Buffy the Vampire Slayer airs Tuesday nights on the WB at 8pm EST

-- Lisa Kohles