With the opening two-parter laying the groundwork for much of this season, introducing the characters, the setting, the basic premise, the Big Bad(s), this episode takes the effort to introduce us to the final main element of the show as it was originally conceived – the Monster as metaphor for a Relatable Teenage Experience. The final scene of The Harvest promises a cornucopia of villains (“Not just vampires.”) from the show, but this is the first time we see it in action, with our Witchcraft-powered villain. In a way, this episode can be seen as the third part of a three-part premiere, for how much it solidifies the character dynamics and main interests of the show.
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Listen To Me – You Are Not Looking At Your Friend (The Harvest)
We need to talk about Jesse.
As a character, he ostensibly exists because of Joss Whedon’s long-standing obsession with killing off a character in the opening credits. According to David Fury:
“”Joss has bandied about, ‘I love the idea of putting a character in the main credits as one of the stars of the show and then kill him right off the bat.’” [1]
This quote is in reference to what happened with Doyle on Angel, but it was apparently also the plan in this episode, to have Eric Balfour in the opening credits before abruptly killing him. It’s a trick Whedon attempts to pull over and over again – with Jesse, with Doyle, arguably with Dobson (the 10th character brought aboard Serenity in the Firefly pilot) and Tara, when Amber Benson is added to the title sequence for Seeing Red. It’s a ploy that makes sense on the surface – subverting the audience’s expectations by introducing us to a group of characters in the pilot that we assume are all going to be main characters, and then killing one of them. It’s a stunt, but one that makes sense if you’re wanting to grab an idle viewer’s attention. Game of Thrones gained worldwide attention and acclaim partially thanks to this stunt in their first season.
There’s just one problem. Jesse sucks.
I’m Not Done Baking (Welcome to the Hellmouth)
This is the story of a girl
This is the story of a young blonde woman with supernatural strength. Who subverts our expectations by refusing to be the victim, and instead of being chased in an alley, turns round and kills them. This is the story of a woman who shapes the world with her actions. A charismatic, smart, and powerful woman, whose name is said in admiration and fear. A woman who sacrifices herself, who dies and is reborn twice over.
I am talking, of course, about Darla.
Insect Reflection 