The first season of the American supernatural drama television series Buffy the Vampire Slayer originally aired between March 10 and June 2, 1997 on The WB. Conceived as a mid-season replacement, the season consists of twelve episodes, each running approximately 45 minutes in length, and originally aired on Mondays at 9:00 pm ET. Plot Teenager Buffy Summers is the Slayer, a lone young woman chosen in each generation to be bestowed with mystical powers to fight demons, beings descended from the "Old Ones", the evil inhabitants of Earth before humans, who hope to rule Earth once more. Prior to the events of the season, Buffy’s Slayer responsibilities caused her to lose her friends and be kicked out of her old school for having burned down the gym, leading her and her mother Joyce to move to Sunnydale, where Buffy hopes to have a fresh start free of the Slayer role. Her plans are complicated by Rupert Giles, Sunnydale High's librarian and her new Watcher, the Slayer's guardian and mentor, who reminds her of the inescapable presence of evil in the world that only she has the ability to fight. Unbeknownst to Buffy, Sunnydale is built atop a Hellmouth, a portal to demon dimensions that attracts supernatural phenomena to the area. Buffy meets two schoolmates, Xander Harris and Willow Rosenberg, who resolve to help her in her Slayer responsibilities. Together with Giles, they form the "Scooby Gang", and decide to take a combined approach to fighting demons, rather than the Slayer acting alone as is traditional. The Scoobies also receive help from Angel, a vampire cursed with a soul, whose motives are not entirely clear at first. There is romantic tension between the group due to Buffy's burgeoning attraction to Angel, Xander's unrequited crush on Buffy, and Xander's own obliviousness of Willow's affection for him. The Scoobies distrust Angel at first but warm to him as the season progresses, while Giles comes to genuinely care for the other Scoobies and realizes that he must take an active presence in fighting demons and cannot simply rely on books and theoretical knowledge. The Scoobies often clash with popular student Cordelia Chase, who attempted to befriend Buffy on her first day, but Buffy objected to her treatment of the other Scoobies. Over the season, Cordelia becomes aware of the supernatural world around her and becomes a reluctant ally to the Scoobies, revealing a more