Episode Report Card Ace: A+ | 20 USERS: A YOU GRADE IT The Harvest (2)
By Ace | Season 1 | Episode 2 | Aired on 03.09.1997
Willow is flipping pages in the library as Buffy and Xander dejectedly enter. Willow hopefully asks if they found Jesse, and Xander's glum response causes her to ask if he was dead. "Worse," replies Buffy. She tells Willow that they were too late. Xander kicks a trashcan, and the resulting loud crash startles Buffy and Willow. "I don't like vampires," says Xander. "I'm going to take a stand and say they're not good." That's a classic all-time-great Xander quote. Buffy asks Giles if he has "anything that could make this day worse." "How about the end of the world?" offers Giles. "I knew I could count on you," snits Buffy. Giles explains all about the Hellmouth and the Harvest, which we already know all about, so let's just wait for the Scooby Gang to catch up. Okay, so Xander opines that the Harvest is going to be held at the Bronze, and the gang heads out. Buffy says that she has to make a stop for supplies.
To heighten the suspense or pad the run time, I'm not sure which, we get a dramatic shot of the sun low on the horizon.
In her room, Buffy is gathering some things together when her mom comes in to talk to her. Joyce says that the principal called her because of the classes that Buffy skipped, and tells her daughter that she can't go out; Buffy tries to impress the importance of this evening on her mother. "I know," says Joyce, "If you don't go out it will be the end of the world. Everything is life or death when you're a sixteen-year-old girl." Ha. Ha. Ha. Not. Joyce goes downstairs to make dinner and Buffy digs a trunk out of the closet. Under a false top of girly kitsch, we see a woefully understocked weapons chest. She grabs some stakes, holy water, a crucifix, and an especially sharp stake, which she tucks in her sleeve. After checking the door, she climbs out the window.
Over at the Bronze, Cordelia is lecturing her posse on the dating. She recommends seniors because they have "mystery" and "cars." The band starts in with a song that Cordelia likes, and she leads the herd to go graze on the dance floor. From the edge of the dance area, Jesse is eyeing her intently. When the song ends she turns around and almost walks into him. She demands to know what he wants, and instead of answering he wordlessly leads her back onto the dance floor for a twirl, never taking her eyes off of her. She starts to protest, but he tells her to cram it.
Outside, the bouncer is looking down counting bills when Darla and her gang, all in game faces, stroll into view. She has a spring in her step and that indicates her excitement about the events to come. They all file past him, and the bouncer, still not looking up, tells them that he needs to see ID. They don't listen, and Luke growls into the bouncer's startled face and orders him inside.