Season 1

Season 1, largely written by series creator Tim Ballew, introduces us to the world of Solomon and its teenaged heroes as they discover the hidden world of vampires and demons that lies around them. Themes include trust, the sometimes blurry line between good and evil, and the ever-present alcohol awareness messages.

Opening Credits

1.1 A Gathering of Slayers
Written and directed by Tim Ballew.
The original screenplay for this episode is available online.
DVD bonus footage: The second hour, never aired on TV.
The events of this episode take place on the evening of Friday, November 23, 1990.
Heartsdale arrives in Solomon looking for the current Watcher and Slayer, only to discover that they've gone missing. On a late-night walk, Sam stumbles across a body in High Acre cemetery and is attacked by a vampire. Just as she's about to be defeated, she gets a sudden surge of strength and throws it off a cliff. Meanwhile, outside the Sacred Grounds, Graham, Alex and Tori are also taking some air when something large falls out of the sky, lands on Tori, and disintegrates. Moments later, it's followed by a young woman and two vampires. With the cast members ineffectually trying to assist her, the young woman beheads the vamps with an impressively large sword and flees down the street. Shortly thereafter, Sam shows up and tells the others about the body in the cemetery. Heartsdale tries to take control, but the others ignore him and head up the hill to investigate the body. The body turns out to be Vivian, a young girl who used to hang out at the Sacred Grounds. The vampire returns and is again driven away by Sam with some not very helpful help from the guys. After calling the police and turning the body over the the officials, they disperse for the evening.

Back at the coffeeshop, Heartsdale convinces Moira that they need to find Mr. Preuter. They arm themselves from the stores in the shop's basement and search the most likely locations, but without success. They decide to hole up for the night at Moira's. The others split into two groups. Alex, Graham, and Tori go off to Alex's place to get drunk. More cautious, Sam, Drew, and Erik decide to walk each other home. They find themselves followed by a mysterious young woman in a demonic Hello Kitty T-shirt. She pumps them for information and tries to seduce Drew and Erik, but Sam intervenes. Finding yet another young woman staking out Erik's house, they decide to head over to Sam's to arm themselves with her dad's shotgun and then go look for the others. Alex, Graham, and Tori found the woman with the sword hanging outside Alex's house and take her with them to share some scotch in the family's carriage house. Sam and company show up and quickly notice that sword girl casts no reflection. Alex and Graham look for weapons while Drew tries to distract sword girl by asking her about vampires while Tori stands obliviously next to her. Sword girl explains about vampires and how they reproduce, then gets jumped by Alex and Graham, while Drew tries to get between her and Tori and Sam covers her with the shotgun. Sword girl throws Alex, Graham, and Tori across the room and takes Drew hostage. She then warns Sam not to trust the Watchers who will "betray you when you need them most" and identifies herself as Britta Kessler, before releasing Drew -- ballistically -- and disappearing into the night.

1.2 Silent Screams
Written and directed by Tim Ballew.
The original screenplay for this episode is available online.
The events of this episode take place on Saturday, November 24, 1990.
A friend of Tori's calls and asks if she can get tickets to that night's premiere of Silent Screams at the newly renovated Paradise Theater. Meanwhile, two acquaintances of Kevin's trick him into helping them summon a demon in the basement of the Martense College library. The demon escapes to a nearby athletic building where it possesses SCA member Russell Barrows while he's sparring with Anne. Erik arrives, in search of crossbows, and the three of them subdue Russell and then head off to the Sacred Grounds to get Hartsdale's help in banishing the demon. Meanwhile, at the coffee shop, Drew refuses to reveal Sam's identity to Hartsdale. Trying to convince him, Hartsdale explains the Slayer to him and shows him the training area. Drew gets interested in the crossbows but refuses to talk. The group from the college arrives, followed shortly by Sam. Hartsdale hurriedly explains her destiny to her. She, Drew, and Erik, fearful for Alex's safety, head for the hospital. Hartsdale stays behind with Moira to help Kevin and Anne banish the demon.

At the hospital, vampires kill Alex's roommate and attack him. He escapes out the window, but one of the vamps follows and kills him. Sam, Drew, and Erik arrive moments too late and kill three of the four vamps. Hartsdale, Kevin, and Anne return to campus and banish the demon. Moira learns of strange goings on at the movie premiere and warns Hartsdale. At the movie, Tori gets bad vibes from director Erich Sahr and calls Sam for help. Upstairs, Joshua is rummaging around looking to liberate some old stage magic props, but is discovered and pinned down by Britta's Satanic Kittens. Answering Tori's call, the others arrive and dispatch some vampire goons guarding the door. Looking into the theater, they see that the picture is a silent film depicting the killings of Britta and her Watcher. Hartsdale, Sam, and Drew head upstairs where they find Britta in the projection room with Sahr. They let her go, then Sam stakes Sahr and Hartsdale destroys the movie. Meanwhile, Kevin, Anne, and Tori go down the basement where they meet Joshua and, eavesdropping on the conversation of some of Sahr's goons, learn that showing the movie is part of a ritual to release a powerful demon. They pin down the remaining vamps until Sam can arrive to stake them. Hartsdale destroys the remaining reels of the film and the ritual is thwarted.

1.3 All A-buzz About Christmas
Story by Paul Chapman. Adapted and directed by Tim Ballew.
The events of this episode take place on Friday, and Saturday, December 21-22, 1990.
Moira dreams of ancient Norse explorers being attacked by a flying monster. When she awakens it is on the spot of her dream, on Solomon Heights. Meanwhile, Sam and Hartsdale thwart two vampires trying to attack a blood delivery to Solomon General Hospital. After a short fight, the Vampires -- Blaire and Frederick -- flee. Sam elects to stay and protect the blood, rather than give chase. The next morning, a biology field exam is interrupted when Joshua and Erik find the professor dead in the bushes on Solomon Heights with a giant puncture wound in the back of his neck. That afternoon, Erik celebrates his 16th birthday by passing his driver's test and getting a new truck from his grandfather. Meanwhile, Tori is at the mall shmoozing for votes from the local merchants for the Snow Queen contest at tomorrow's Winter Carnival...although her friend Marcy Lee is the clear favorite to win. Tori is just being interviewed by the local TV station, when the mall Santa is found dead. Sam, Drew, and Joshua see the mall attack on the news and rush over to investigate. After determining that Santa was killed in the same manner as the biology teacher, they take a few minutes to do some last minute Christmas shopping before returning to the Sacred Grounds and exchanging gifts.

Later that night, there is another attack outside the bar where Sam's father hangs out. Sam, Drew, Erik, and Joshua investigate but come up empty. Meanwhile, Moira learns of an ancient Native American legend about a giant insect that attacks every fifty years. Hartsdale identifies it as a Vermuscus Demon, which drains its victims' spinal fluid and can identified by a flashing red light on its abdomen. The gang notes that all the attacks have been near flashing red lights and include that the demon is defending its territory against perceived threats. While trying to come up with a plan to find it, the demon flies over and drops Blaire into the back alley. In exchange for her life, she offers to lead them to where she was attacked and tells them the location of the lair she shares with Frederick, the vampire who killed Alex. They go to the Heights, but find nothing more threatening than a Wiccan Solstice ritual. Despite some magical help from Kevin's parents, they are unable to locate the demon. The next afternoon, while Tori continues to lobby the town's merchants to make her Snow Queen, the gang returns to the Heights in daylight, slays Frederick, and finds the demon's lair. It escapes an attempt to corner them and flies off to attack the aircraft warning light atop the ferris wheel at the Winter Carnival. The group manages to catch it with a grappling hook and use Erik's new truck to pull it to the ground, where Sam cuts off its wing and Tori and Joshua dismember it with chainsaws, while Drew and Hartsdale poke it ineffectually with ice picks. Hartsdale finally casts his vote and an ichor-splattered Tori is crowned Snow Queen.

1.4 The Dark Druid
Story by Timothy S. Brannan. Adapted and directed by Tim Ballew.
The events of this episode take place on Friday and Saturday, January 11-12, 1991.
Drew, Erik, and Joshua walk home from the Sacred Grounds speculating on their chances of getting asked to the Sadie Hawkins dance (slim to none). They spot a leather sleeve in a sewer grate and Drew picks it up, triggering a vision of Irish construction workers bulldozing a fairy mound to build a shopping mall. Before Drew can even recount the vision, they are distracted by the sounds of fighting from an alley where they find Satanic Kitten #2 (the blonde) and a vampiric Vivian attacking a woman. After a brief fight, Sam shows up and both vampires and victim flee. Erik leaves, but the others join Sam on patrol where they encounter Britta fighting a large armored man. They drive Britta off and, finding that they can't speak to the man, take him back to the Sacred Grounds in the hopes that Hartsdale can translate. The barbarian greets Hartsdale as an old friend but he doesn't speak the language either, although he does recognize it as Irish Gaelic, which Moira is studying. She is able to learn that the man is Fionn Mac Cumhail, a totally hot ancient Irish folk hero. Hartsdale, it appears, looks exactly like his king. Upstairs, meanwhile, Tori's father is showing an interest in her activities by having her and Graham (who Mr. Clark is encouraging his daughter to ask to the dance) show him the Sacred Grounds. Mr. Clark finds the odd activities cause for concern but, on the plus side for Tori, Graham's winning displays of personality convince him that Graham may not be the man for his daughter, after all. Just as well, since all the girls (except Sam) are drooling over Finn. Moira selflessly offers to take the the studly Irish warrior priest home with her and the others disperse for the night.

At school the next day, Russell tries to implicate Kevin and Anne in "cult activities," but their quick thinking turns the tables on him. Later, at the Sacred Grounds, Kevin (with the permission of his parents) casts a language spell on Finn, so that he can understand modern English. They spend the afternoon training, with Finn helping the girls with their swordplay. Erik, who was acting oddly in school, goes missing. Joshua, Kevin, and Anne go looking for him, while the others patrol for more clues as to where Finn came from. After going to Banana Republic get Finn some more appropriate clothes, they find a bunch of primitive vamps and chase them into a sewer. The two groups reunite and follow, but come across magical wards and are forced to turn back. Kevin calls his parents for advice on a counterspell, Joshua shoplifts the necessary ingredients from the magic shop, and they return and dispel the wards. Beyond, they find three female vampires conducting some sort of rite with Erik, Moira's friend Jonathan Winslow, and another boy as human sacrifices. Directing all this is an ancient druid who had been imprisoned in the fairy mound for over 2,000 years and is a little annoyed. The druid and Kevin get into a magical duel, while the others dispatch the vamps and free the prisoners. Sam manages to restrain the druid, who can only be hurt by cold iron, and Hartsdale runs him through with a piece of iron ripped out of the wall. Kevin and Hartsdale are unable to find a spell to return Finn to his own time, and Moira selflessly offers to take the stunningly buff ancient hero to back to Ireland to see if they have better luck there. Sam asks Drew to the Sadie Hawkins dance.

Interlude: The Sadie Hawkins Dance
Written by Jodi Roosenraad and Greg Pearson.
The events of this story take place on Friday and Saturday, January 18-19, 1991.
Wherein Sam and Drew go on their first date, Gwen gives Sam a cryptic warning, and Sam tries to tell her father about her new hobby.

1.5 Mice
Written and directed by Greg Pearson.
The events of this episode take place on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday, February 8-10, 1991.
While on patrol, Sam encounters four vampires who she dispatches with an assist from Britta. The two Slayers exchange some wary small talk before going their separate ways. The next day at school, the group learns of the demise of fellow student and soccer star Robert Parelli, who apparently froze to death after getting drunk at a college party and passing out on his way home. A memorial assembly for Robert turns out to be an excuse for an alcohol awareness lecture by Mr. Teatart, who that the administration will be watching for further signs of an alcohol problem among the students, especially the soccer team. After school, Sam tells of her encounter with Britta, which incites a debate over whether or not Britta and the Kittens are good or evil. Erik and Drew are in the "maybe they're good," and even Hartsdale concedes that it's possible that their Slayer natures have allowed them some measure of control over their inner demon. Sam, however, is not convinced. Erik and Drew are also convinced that Robert's death is the work of some sort of "Freeze Demon." Hartsdale suspects a mundane explanation, but reluctantly investigates an investigation. After killing some time at an ice cream parlor, Sam and Drew sneak into the morgue and find that Robert's neck has several bite marks and his arms, legs, and torso are covered with shallow scratches, some fresh, some mostly healed. Meanwhile, Erik, Tori, and Joshua decide to investigate the college party scene. Joshua invites Cora Hicks to join them. They find a loud party in an old house in the fraternity district. Tori ditches Erik to dance with a crowed of college boys, while Joshua and Cora get wasted. Erik's eye is caught by a woman in a little black dress and spiked gloves. She leaves with a hunky college guy just before Sam and Drew arrive and take everybody home.

Hartsdale spends the next day researching demons that might leave marks like the ones found on Robert's body but comes up empty. The rest of the gang heads for the park, where the soccer team is taking advantage of the unseasonably warm weather to have a pick-up game. Pretending to be writing a memorial for the yearbook, they quiz various soccer players and learn that Robert had spent most of the last much with a new college girlfriend, who he partied with till all hours of the night and talked about incessantly. However, none of his friends had ever met her. Sam, Kevin, and Tori head for Robert's house, where they use the yearbook ruse to interview his father and learn that his girlfriend's name was Christine Blackwolf. While the girls distract Mr. Parelli, Kevin searches Robert's room and find a pair of women's underwear which he takes to use as the basis of a locator spell. Joshua, Erik, and Drew check out the party house and find it apparently deserted. Creeped out, they leave and resolve to return later with Sam. Back at the Sacred Grounds, the group searches the phone book and student records for information on Blackwolf but come up empty. Kevin casts his locator spell, which leads the group back to the party house. They take their time breaking in, though, and Blackwolf escapes. They search the house, but find only one apartment occupied. They stake out the place until the party starts. Once the hunky college guy arrives, Erik and Tori go in to scope things out, but find neither the guy nor Blackwolf with the rest of the partyers in the basement. They go back outside to get Sam and Drew and the four head for the occupied top floor apartment to look for Blackwolf, while the others stay outside to make sure Blackwolf doesn't escape again. Joshua notes that, if Blackwolf is still there, she has to be the stupidest demon alive. Hartsdale and Kevin see more people showing up for the party, but they're worried about people getting out, not people going in, and do nothing. Upstairs, Sam and her friends find a vampiric Blackwolf feeding on the college guy. Drew and Erik make sure that the couch won't be a threat, while Sam and Blackwolf exchange blows. Blackwolf proves to be a tough opponent, but Sam seems to be gaining the upper hand until Britta and the Kittens show up, grab Tori, and force an end to the fight. Blackwolf is revealed as another Kitten, the two sides declare a draw, and Sam and her friends are allowed to leave. Listening at the window, Joshua overhears Britta berating Blackwolf for attracting the Slayer's attention. Back at the Sacred Grounds, Joshua calls the cops and tips them off about underage drinking at the party house, ending Blackwolf's career as a hostess.

1.6 The Seal of Solomon
Written and directed by Tim Ballew.
The events of this episode take place on Saturday and Sunday, February 23-24, 1991.
At the Solomon High talent show, Joshua and Tori astound the audience with feats of prestidigitation. Meanwhile, at the school loading dock, Sam and Hartsdale overhear someone discussing an exchange of artifacts with a pair of vampires. Sam takes out the vamps with the help of a mysterious stranger, but eventually are forced to flee inside when more vamps show up. Back at the talent show, Russell prepares his mesmerism act and sends a mind controlled Mr. Teatart into the audience to procure some "volunteers." Kevin escapes outside before he can be chosen, but Drew is dragged on stage along with Juanita and Marcy. Russell releases a djinn who mind controls the volunteers. Drew is forced to dress in a toga and recite a butchered version of Julius Caeser while the girls, also in togas, fawn over him. Sam and mystery man arrive and mystery man puts an end to the show by projecting an illusion of someone shouting "fire" in the back of the auditorium. Joshua breaks the spell, freeing Drew and the girls. The others try to capture Russell, but he escapes. They return to the Sacred Grounds, where mystery man introduces himself as Michael Saiyer, aka Dodger, an online friend of Anne's, and says he's come to Solomon to recover a djinn smuggled out of Iraq just before the start of the war. He tells of a book which has djinn binding spells and Sam, Drew, and Kevin head to the college library to see if they have it. The library does indeed have a copy, but it's been stolen. Meanwhile, Joshua, Tori, and Michael go to the magic shop to "borrow" some spell components in anticipation of the book being found. Hartsdale remains at the Sacred Grounds to research djinn in his own library. Meanwhile, Anne wakes up bound to a chair in a magical laboratory. She escapes only to be cornered by a cultist. The cultist claims to be a member of the Order of St. Germain and demands the return of a stolen artifact. Before Anne can figure out what's going on, he is killed by a mysterious fire. Sneaking upstairs, Anne finds Russell's father supervising the removal of the bodies of more cultists. She flees back downstairs where she meets Russell who has the djinn imprison her. She uses telekinesis to take the bottle from him and gains control over the djinn, allowing her to escape. She heads for the Sacred Grounds and the group turns the djinn over to Michael. Unfortunately, it's not the djinn he's looking for. The one he's after is much more powerful.

Sam and Joshua go to hide the djinn in her father's garage. Kevin and Michael go to Juanita's, where Michael uses his magic to send Juanita a message wherein he claims to be a djinn held prisoner by Russell and offers her power in exchange for his release. The others go back to the school to see if the artifact imprisoning the second djinn was dropped by any of the vampires Sam and Michael staked. As they arrive, they see Britta and Gwen fighting a group of vampires in the cemetery across the street and head over to try to get some prisoners. Once in the cemetery, they are surrounded by mist and attacked by skeletons. Drew and Tori leave Hartsdale and Anne to fight the skeletons and try to intercept the vampires. Britta and Gwen threaten them, but Drew explains the situation and the two vampires head back to the school to help. The others regroup in the parking lot only to find an army of skeletons closing in. With no sign of the artifact, they retreat into the school to look for clues. Michael holds off the skeletons while the others follow the sounds of combat to the library. Their way is blocked by two scorpion demons and both Sam and Drew are injured disposing of them. The others continue to the library where they find a vampire casting a spell to release the djinn while Britta and Gwen battle his minions. Hartsdale shoots him, but not before he can finish the spell. Britta and Gwen dispose of the minions, but the djinn begins to materialize. Hartsdale finds that the vampire sorcerer was using the missing book of spells. As the only one who can read Arabic, he pages through the book and finds the binding spell only to learn that it requires a Seal of Solomon to imprison the djinn in. Joshua runs to the gym and returns with a Solomon Seals basketball championship banner and Hartsdale casts the spell. The two imprisoned djinn are given to Michael, who vows to take them to a place of safety.

1.7 The Cave of Spirits
Written and directed by Tim Ballew.
The events of this episode take place on the night of Saturday, March 15, 1991.
Drew's sixteenth birthday party at LazerLand is crashed by a group of high school students with glowing red eyes, bad breath, and a taste for mayhem. Sam, Drew, and the gang fight a series of one-on-one battles in the cavernous and dimly lit arena only to find that, no matter how many times you hit these things, they just keep getting back up. Fortunately, Britta and the Kittens show up with heavier weaponry. While the others fight, Gwen takes Drew aside and gives him a book. She says that it will describe a threat to Sam, gives him a phone number to contact her at when he's read it, and warns him to keep Hartsdale from learning that he has it. When he questions her, she says that she's tried to warn Sam, but that she's too much under the Watchers' influence and won't take her seriously. Meanwhile, Sam has captured one of the red-eyed zombies and learns that he was recently drinking at the newly opened Old Salem Brew Pub and that the owner, "a gnome-like guy," suggested that he come down here and beat up a few nerds. As the battle begins to go against the zombies, a voice comes over the PA system and tells them to evacuate. The gang leaves the Kittens to mop up and heads for the Sacred Grounds. On the way over, Drew shows Erik the book, which is in German. Erik identifies it as a diary belonging to Britta's Watcher, but says he'll need some time to translate it. Drew says that he fears this is some plan of the Kittens' to sow dissension within the group and asks Erik not to mention it to anyone until they can determine what it says and if it's even real.

Meanwhile, Moira returns to the Sacred Grounds after her trip to Ireland only to find another group of zombies trashing the place. Having heard about something like this in Ireland, she tries throwing salt on them, which injures them and they flee. She and the staff are still cleaning up the damage when the rest of the group arrives. They run into Blaire outside. She tells them that she's used Sahr's money to set up a demon bar, Blaire's, which has been trashed by zombies and asks for the group's help. She also lets slip that Solomon sits on a confluence of ley lines, making it particularly attractive to demons. They tell her about the salt trick and she heads back to her place. Meanwhile, the group arms itself and heads for the brew pub. They see lots of zombies in the parking lot, as well as a number of potential customers, including Sam's father. While she talks him and his friends out of going into the bar, the others go inside and find the gnome-like guy serving drinks. Joshua smashes a number of bottles with his baseball bat and throws a lighter into the spilled alcohol, setting the bar on fire and earning the ire of the zombies. While the group fights, the gnome flees downstairs. Drew dispatches several using a SuperSoaker filled with salt water, while Moira goes for the more direct method of throwing salt in their faces. Kevin is badly beaten up by another group of zombies, but eventually he and Joshua manage to dispatch them after a spectacular hand-to-hand fight. Sam, Tori, Drew, and Moira pursue the gnome, while Kevin, Joshua, and Erik fight the fire. Downstairs, they find huge vats of evil beer, among which the gnome hides and snipes at them with a staff that shoots bolts of green energy. After a fierce battle among the catwalks between the vats, Sam breaks the staff and decapitates the gnome, which breaks the spell freeing those who had consumed it. At the other end of the basement, they find a locked and warded door but, lacking the key, have no way to pass it. The fire is extinguished and the group drains the evil beer into the sewer. Hopefully, there are no alligators.

1.8 Little Green Men
Written and directed by Jodi Roosenraad.
Script Notes for this episode are available online.
The events of this episode take place on Monday and Tuesday, April 1-2, 1991.
An odd day at school begins with Sam not showing up to class and continues with the discovery of a rash of thefts, everything from microscope lenses missing from the biology classroom to tools taken from autoshop. Tori skips her afternoon classes to go looking for Sam, but is unable to find her either at home or at the garage. Back at school, everyone who had a class where there was a theft gets detention, but the teachers get nowhere in trying to find the thief. Drew, who avoided detention, calls around but is unable to locate Sam. Nobody's seen her since he went on patrol with her Friday night. Once the others get out of detention, Kevin tries a locator spell. While he works on that in the basement of the Sacred Grounds, Tori goes upstairs where she is stunned by a hideously dressed man who introduces himself as Christopher Astin, a visiting professor. Meanwhile, Kevin casts his spell, and the group follows the glowing ball of light it creates as it rises through the ceiling to the coffee shop's second floor and disappears into a bookcase. Just as it does, Drew sees some kind of short gremlin-like creature jump into the bookcase after it. The group runs outside to try to see where the ball of light came out, tripping over Professor Astin in the process, but are unable to locate it. They do see three garden gnomes sitting on the steps in front of Harris's Hardware, which vanish when they look away. Professor Astin follows them and pulls out a device he claims can track the gnomes, but the group proves more interested in taking him back to the Sacred Grounds and trying to get him to answer some questions. Astin is very evasive, but they eventually get the idea that he's claiming to be a time traveler from the future. The conversation abruptly ends when Drew spots another of the gremlins and shoots it, but this serves only to provoke it into attacking him. It proves equally unfazed by Erik's sword and dives into another bookcase and disappears. Astin claims his instruments detect a dimensional portal in the bookcase. Believing this might be their only chance to find Sam, Drew dives through it and the others reluctantly follow. On the other side, they find a world of mysterious machinery tended by the gremlins. Astin uses one of his futuristic scanning devices and detects the presence of another human nearby. He leads them off after it, while Joshua tries to pilfer other items of advanced technology from his pockets. Tori notices that everybody's watch has stopped and fears that time runs differently here. The other human is indeed Sam, who the gremlins recruited to fix one of their broken machines after seeing an ad for Kessler's Auto Repair on the local cable station. With the help of Professor Astin, who turns out to be adept at weird science, she fixes the machine and the gremlins, after promising not to "borrow" any more equipment from Solomon, return them home.

As Tori had feared, time did run differently in the gremlins' dimension and it's the next morning when they get back. Between classes, Erik fills Drew on what he's learned from the diary. Apparently, Lichtermann survived the battle with Sahr, only to be captured by Britta. The last entry in the diary details a spell he was going to try to use to escape, but it's in a language Erik doesn't recognize. They decide to copy the passage and see if Kevin recognizes it. After school, Sam has to head to the garage, where there's a huge backlog of cars needing to be fixed. While walking over to the Sacred Grounds, the others witness an electronics store being trashed by gnomes. Moments later, Mr. Teatart's car breaks down while driving by. Realizing that all the effected businesses recently had ads on the local cable channel, they head out to the studio to see what they can learn. On the way, they run into Professor Astin, who invites himself along. The station is closed, but Joshua helpfully breaks in and the group splits up to search. In the basement, Erik and Graham run into James Silver, a station employee who knows all about the supernatural thanks to his granny, who "had the Sight." He confirms that there are gnomes who live out in the woods behind the station, but says that they don't usually bother people. Upstairs, Kevin, Tori, and Professor Astin find Mr. Nimbus, the station owner. Astin shoots him with a tranquilizer gun and Kevin ties him up. Astin examines Mr. Nimbus's camera and becomes magically fascinated with it, forcing Kevin to take his trank gun away from him and shoot him with it. The others arrive and Joshua tries to pick Astin's pockets, which triggers a flash-powder booby trap with wakes both of the unconscious men. Before they can question him, Nimbus escapes his bonds, grabs the camera, and escapes, with the group in pursuit. Nimbus flees into the woods, where the group is attacked by gnomes, except for Kevin who they recognize as a Wiccan. Kevin uses telekinesis to grab the camera from Nimbus's hands, breaking it and shattering the spell. Kevin convinces the gnomes that Nimbus is the one "acting against nature" and the evil cable exec disappears under a swarm of gnomes. With the camera destroyed and the gnomes pacified, Professor Astin disappears as mysteriously as he arrived, causing fashion critics everywhere to breathe a sigh of relief.

Interlude: Dinner and a Slaying
Written by Jodi Roosenraad and Greg Pearson.
The events of this episode take place on Wednesday, April 3, 1991.
Wherein Drew freaks about the events of Little Green Men, Sam reveals her science project, and some vamps have a really bad night.

1.9 Road Trip
Written and directed by Tim Ballew.
The events of this episode take place on Thursday and Friday, April 18-19, 1991.
Late at night Drew, Erik, and Kevin break into the Sacred Grounds and raid Hartsdale's library. Drew finds the journal of Theodore Kennison, a Watcher who resigned in protest after being asked to preside over a secret Watcher ritual that resulted in the death of his Slayer on her eighteenth birthday. Inside the journal, was Kennison's resignation letter, indicating he now lived in a small town in Vermont. They took the letter with Kennison's address and left, only to find their escape thwarted by a stray gremlin who had sabotaged Erik's jeep. They pushed the jeep into a no parking zone in the hopes that it would be towed before Hartsdale saw it and headed home on foot. Meanwhile, Sam and Hartsdale are on patrol in the cemetery. Sam stakes a vamp and overhears something about a "ritual of Carnageet" scheduled for the following night. She goes home and Hartsdale returns to the Sacred Grounds to research the ritual. He finds evidence of the break-in, but finds nothing disturbed inside and attributes it to vampires. That night, Moira dreams of a hillside cemetery containing a house where an evil ritual is taking place and a coffeeshop smelling of rotting flesh with a zombified Erik in the basement. At school the next day, Tori overhears the boys planning a trip to Vermont. She doesn't buy their feeble excuses and they invite her along on the condition that she tell no one about the trip. Hartsdale researches the ritual of Carnageet and discovers that it's a festival commemorating a famous bloodletting in vampire history. The vampires mostly just treat it as a big party, but it can also include a ritual where thirteen virgins are sacrificed on a mountain top to summon one of several types of nasty demon. At training that afternoon, he fills in the others. Much to his surprise, Drew and Erik beg off, claiming family obligations. Drew manages to deflect his suspicions for the moment by taking him aside and asking to learn more about battle tactics, suggesting that studying reports on the final fights of past Slayers might be a good place to start. Flattered that Drew is asking him to train him, Hartsdale agrees to dig up the files and prepare a training course in demon fighting strategy. Sam also finds the absence of the others from the evening's fight suspicious and Drew admits to her that the story about visiting relatives is just a cover for something else. Worried about Hartsdale overhearing, he just assures Sam that they're not doing anything dangerous and promises to fill her in tomorrow. He tells her that, if she needs him, she can call Tori's car phone.

That evening, Sam deflects a few questions from Hartsdale about where the others are and the two of them, plus Moira, go out to stop the ritual. Sam stakes a few vamps, including the high priest, and rescues the virgins. Moira, who is being plagued by the evil chanting she heard in her dream running through her head, finally mentions the dream to Hartsdale. He recognizes the chanting as a resurrection spell, which can bring a person back from the dead at the cost of killing everyone else in the area. He interrogates Sam, who admits that the others went off somewhere, although she doesn't know where. There is no answer on Tori's car phone. He tries Kevin's parents, on the theory that Kevin always tells his parents everything, and they tell him that Kevin drove to Vermont to meet someone. While Sam hunts down vampire stragglers from the Ritual of Carnageet, Sam and Moira return to the Sacred Grounds where Hartsdale finally notices the missing letter. He puts two and two together and calls the Council for Kennison's address. They give it to him, but warn him not to allow Kennison to talk to the Slayer. Kevin's parents arrive at the Sacred Grounds and Hartsdale has them do a spell to protect Drew, Erik, Kevin, and Tori from the collateral effects of the resurrection spell. Then he and Moira head for Vermont.

The road trippers arrive in Pleasant Valley, Vermont and check into a creepy motel across the street from a coffeeshop. Kevin calls his parents but just gets the answering machine. Tori gets directions to Kennison's house from the desk clerk. It sits at the top of a mountain overlooking the town and is identical to the house in Moira's dream. They head up the mountain, but Tori swerves to avoid a deer and ends up in the ditch. Drew is pulled from the car by a vamp dressed the garb of a high priest presiding over the Ritual of Carnageet. After a brief fight, Erik stakes the vamp, but it's clear the isn't leaving the ditch under it's own power. While Tori calls the auto club, Kevin feels his parents' protection spell take effect. Thinking they're under magical attack by vampires hiding in the woods, they decide not to wait for the auto club and head up the mountain on foot. Hartsdale and Moira arrive in town and find the inhabitants turned into zombies. They dodge the zombies and also head up the mountain, finding Tori's car abandoned with the guy from the auto club lying dead in the road nearby. While they're examining it, Tori's car phone rings and Hartsdale answers. It's Sam. Hartsdale gives her a brief synopsis of the situation and promises to rescue Drew and the others. Heading up the mountain on foot, the road trippers also find themselves dodging zombies. Hearing a car behind them, they hide in the bushes, but Tori recognizes Moira's car and flags it down. They scramble in and head up the mountain to Kennison's house. They fight their way through some more zombies and into the house, where Drew hears chanting from upstairs. There, they find Kennison in the middle of the ritual of resurrection. Drew destroys part of Kennison's magic circle, disrupting the ritual and killing the zombies. Drew and Hartsdale conduct competing interrogations of Kennison, Drew wanting to know about his resignation, Hartsdale to castigate him for trying to resurrect his Slayer. Kennison expresses shock and remorse when he learns that his ritual destroyed the town. He assures them that he never intended this and that he would never try anything like it again. Hartsdale agrees to tell the Watchers that he's dead and warns him to leave town and never do anything to attract the Council's attention. In response to Drew's questions, Kennison tries to describe the death of his Slayer, but says that the Watchers have put a spell on him to prevent him from talking about it. He doesn't know the details of the spell and Kevin doesn't have enough information to try to counter it. Drew suggests charades and Kennison manages describe a test where, on her eighteenth birthday, the Slayer is drugged so that she loses her powers and then forced to battle a vampire to the death. Hartsdale claims to know nothing of this and Kennison agrees that it's possible that he wouldn't yet have been told. When asked the reason behind the test, Kennison says that he was given justifications -- which he can't repeat -- but nothing that he found convincing. Hartsdale is baffled why such a test would be given to experienced Slayers, rather than new ones. Kevin suggests that it might be to keep them from getting complacent. Less charitable, Drew suggests that older, more experienced Slayers, are harder to control and that it's a handy way of getting rid of some and of reminding the others who's in charge. With a meaningful look at Hartsdale, Drew asks Kennison if knowing this puts the rest of them in danger from the Watchers. Kennison says that he doesn't think so, but he can't be certain. Not mollified, Drew insists on leaving Hartsdale under Tori and Kevin's guard and goes next door to call Sam and tell her about the ritual, to ensure that Hartsdale doesn't have any motivation for causing an unfortunate accident to befall the rest of them on the way home. He also advises her to make some preparations in case the Watchers try a spell to make them all forget about this evening. Drew leaves Kennison his phone number and asks to be informed of his new address and anything else he might think of that would be of help to Sam. Hartsdale does likewise. They return to Solomon, where Hartsdale receives an ominous phone call from his superior on the Council who says, "We need to talk."

1.10 Hello Kitty
Written and directed by Tim Ballew.
The events of this episode take place on Friday and Saturday, May 3-4, 1991.
Out on patrol, Sam, Drew, Erik, and Tori fight and stake a bunch of vamps. Well, They fight and Sam stakes a bunch of vamps. Back at the Sacred Grounds, Kevin is doing research on the spell from the Lichtermann Diary and Joshua is working out when Sam and Tori show up. They act strangely, Sam hitting on the boys and Tori looking through the library. They take a book and leave, Joshua tries to follow but is distracted by a pretty girl and loses them. A little later the rest of Slayer Club returns from patrol and confirms that the intruders weren't really Sam and Tori. Kevin researches shapeshifting demons and polymorph spells while the others discuss their Watcher problem. Heartsdale has been recalled to Europe, leaving Solomon immediately after returning to Vermont without even talking to Sam. Drew has taken advantage of his absence to go through the Watcher records in Heartsdale's library. He's learned that the average lifespan of a Slayer is less than a year and that, of the few who live to their eighteenth birthdays, nearly half die in the test that the Watchers administer. Sam now routinely goes about armed with weapons that can be used against vampires without requiring great strength. Kevin announces that he wants to continue his research the next day in the Martense library. On their way home for the evening, the group stops by Blaire's, but Blaire claims not to know anything about any shapshifting demons in town.

The next day, Kevin's library research proves fruitless but, on his way out, he overhears a man with a tweed jacket and an English accent asking about Sam. Other people with similar descriptions show up at Kessler's Garage and Tori's house asking similar questions but are rebuffed by Sam's father and Tori's butler. A pair show up at the Sacred Grounds where Drew and Erik menace them with crossbows. They turn out not to be Watchers, however. Instead, they claim that Sam and Tori stole something from them the previous evening and that they want it back. Joshua pick's one of their pockets and gets a wallet containing a faculty ID card for Professor Curtis Shoeman of St. Germain's Academy. They go upstairs to wait for Sam, who is expected shortly, and are joined by five more of their number. Sam shows up and the teachers explain that two people fitting Sam and Tori's descriptions broke into the school the previous night and stole something. Sam explains about the impersonators and the teachers are preparing a magical interrogation when Kevin shows up. His arrival is accompanied by a crash of thunder from outside, which startles the teachers and nearly provokes a magical firefight when they all pull wands on Slayer Club. Sam manages to calm things down, however. The wizards explain that the stolen item is a key which opens a portal behind which a demon is imprisoned. Slayer Club recognizes their description as the door in the basement of the Old Salem Brewpub.

Sam, Drew, Tori, Erik, and the wizards head for the Old Salem through a rain of frogs. Joshua and Kevin, believing that it's too late to accomplish anything at the brewpub, head for Blaire's instead. They learn that Kitty and Vivian have been their recently, boasting about the coming apocalypse, but get no leads on their current whereabouts. They head for the Old Salem to rendezvous with the others. At the brewpub, Sam is ambushed by Kitty as she walks in the door. A short fight ensues but, when Sam manages to stake Kitty, instead of dust, she dissolves into green goo. By the time the fight is over, Kevin and Joshua have arrived and the rain of frogs has turned to one of blood. Inside, the group finds two more Kitties. While Sam, Drew, and Erik fight them, Kevin and Tori lead the wizards down the basement. Joshua, meanwhile, sneaks in through the kitchen where he encounters and kills yet another goo Kitty. In the basement, Kevin and Tori see Gwen and Blackwolf confronting Vivian and a group of Kitties. The rest of Slayer Club arrives and they and Gwen begin fighting Kitties, while Blackwolf restrains Vivian and marchers her away. Once the situation seems in hand, Gwen tells Slayer Club to "finish her" and leaves. They defeat the goo Kitties and Sam pins the real Kitty to the ground with a steak at her heart. Sam asks her for the key back, but Kitty says Vivian has it. At that point, Joshua jumps on Sam's hands, driving the stake into Kitty's heart. She turns to dust, but it's dust with a weird greenish cast to it. The wizards are able to reseal the portal but warn that anyone with the key can easily open it again. Concerned that the Order of St. Germain now knows about Slayer Club worried about bugging by the Watchers, the group decides to relocate their base of operations to the Paradise Theater. Sahr isn't using it and, since there's no body, it will be vacant for years before he's declared dead. Joshua immediately rushes out to buy furnishings for their new headquarters with Professor Shoeman's credit card before he notices it missing and reports it stolen.

Interlude: Confession of a Slayer
Written by Jodi Roosenraad.
Wherein Sam seeks aid from a higher power.

1.11 Poseurs
Written and directed by Tim Ballew.
The events of this episode take place on Wednesday and Thursday, May 15-16, 1991.
In England, Hartsdale approaches an occult bookstore where his father and another man are fleeting Britta. Hartsdale's father throws a book through the window to Hartsdale, just before being killed by Britta. Later, back in Solomon, Slayer Club is battling a pack of demons wielding bone clubs. The heros are badly outnumbered, Drew is knocked out, and the others are beset by multiple opponents. Suddenly, Marcy Lee, Callie Marshall, and Stephie Newberry arrive...as the super heroes Monsoon, Valkyrie, and Mesmerix. The three easily defeat the demons and lead the "rescued" Slayer Club out of the caves into a swarm of reporters, eager to record the exploits of the super team known as The Solomon Slayers. An angry Sam seems about to challenge their version of events, but Joshua quickly snags the attention of the reporters and spins a tale of how he and his friends were rescued by the daring of the super heroes. While he and the Slayers have the attention of the reporters, the others slink off back to the Paradise Theater. Meanwhile, Hartsdale returns to Solomon to find his books missing from the Sacred Grounds. Growling that Drew must be behind this, he goes looking for his charges, eventually finding Tori's car parked near the theater and staking it out. When Slayer Club heads out to get pizza, he confronts them, throwing the book at Drew and calling them ungrateful thieves. The book turns out to be an English version of the Lichtermann Diary, which Erik examines and finds to be slightly different from the German version he has. It has several photos of Lichtermann and Britta. When Drew touches one of them, he has a vision of himself as Lichtermann training with Britta, leading him to suspect that the photos, at least, are real. Sam and Hartsdale talk, with Drew hovering in the background, much to Hartsdale's disgust. Hartsdale claims not to have known about the test given to Slayers but also says that surviving it somehow makes them more powerful, somehow linking them to the spirits of their predecessors. Sam accepts him back, but insists on keeping their new headquarters at the theater. Joshua goes back out for pizza and runs into another super team, three Martense College frat boys who now go by aliases Gekko Man, Thermonuclear Man and Big Guy, plus their pledge Whipping Boy, aka Moira's friend Jonathan Winslow. He also runs into Cora, who can see and speak with the dead, and Juanita who seems to have some sort of lizard powers.

School the next day provides a host of super powered confrontations. Drew walks by the girls locker room, looking for guys who have suddenly gained x-ray vision lurking in the corridor, but finds none. Cora warns Joshua of something huge, powerful and pulsing lying beneath the school, sleeping and bleeding. Juanita and Stephie run into each other in the hall and spend several minutes staring into each others eyes, locked in psychic combat. Marcy drenches Tori with a blast of water. When she goes to the locker room to change, she's met by Gwen, who offers her powers of her own -- and the attention that goes with them -- if she comes alone to the Old Salem Brewpub. After school, Kevin, Joshua, and Drew take the two versions of the Lichterman diary to Martense, where a friend of Moira's gives them to a handwriting analyst from the archaeology department. She determines that one is a clever forgery of the other, but is unable to determine which is real without more detailed analysis than the boys are willing to allow. Later, outside the theater, the frat boys get into a fight with The Solomon Slayers, resulting in much property damage. Observing the fight, Joshua notices that Whipping Boy's power seems to be that he takes damage for his friends, rendering them invulnerable (Drew also saw the fight, but noticed little other than Monsoon's revealing costume). Tori tells the others of Gwen's offer. Drew suggests that it would be unwise to accept it and Joshua accuses him of being jealous that nobody's offering him super powers. Tori gets angry that her friends think she'd be turned so easily and she and Drew get into a shouting match. Sam, still irritated that she's no longer the only super hero in town, takes Tori with her on patrol in the hopes that they'll be able to blow off some steam on a few luckless vamps, further annoying Drew. He stalks off to go sulk in his research on past Slayers. The others decide that maybe someone should impersonate Tori and meet with Gwen. Hartsdale and Kevin research transformation spells while Joshua goes off to find Jonathan. He gets Jonathan drunk and learns that the frat boys got their powers after Blackwolf took them to the Old Salem. He then finds Cora and Juanita preparing an attack on Russell Barrows's house. He talks them out of the plan and learns that they got their powers from Vivian. He then blindfolds Cora and Jonathan and takes them back to the theater. Despite his precautions, Cora immediately figures out where they are from the ghosts. At the cemetery, Tori admits that part of the reason she was so angry was that she is tempted by Gwen's offer. Sam tells her that being a hero isn't all it's cracked up to be and tells her it's better to be famous for who she is than what she is. Later, they run into Blackwolf and the other three frat boys. Before a confrontation can develop, Britta appears, kills Big Guy and Nuke Boy and chases Gekko Man up a tree. She then berates Blackwolf for trying to bring men into their little gang and orders her to end it. Blackwolf chases down Gekko Man and eviscerates him. Perhaps unwilling to fight other Slayers, Sam doesn't intervene.

The group reconvenes at the theater and share their stories. Joshua and Drew conclude that the three groups of super heroes represent a power struggle within Britta's gang. They drop Cora off with Kevin's parents and then head for the Old Salem. Hoping to exploit the rifts within the Kittens, they stop by a phone and Drew calls Gwen. His attempts to sway her fail, though, and she ends up handing the phone to Britta. Grasping at straws, he tells Britta that he has the second copy of the diary. Britta seems surprised to know that he had even one copy and hangs up on him. Hoping to have provoked a confrontation between Britta and Gwen, Drew suggests they hurry to the Old Salem while the vamps are distracted with internal bickering. Jonathan suggests that he use his power on which ever member of Slayer Club is most likely to be injured and everyone looks at Drew. They find the first floor of the pub guarded by The Solomon Slayers. Joshua freezes Monsoon with a fire extinguisher and he, Tori, and Jonathan lock her in a meat locker, Tori rubbing food coloring into her liquid form hoping it'll stain her skin. Kevin faces off with Mesmerix in a magical battle that eventually ends with him losing patience and using telekenises to throw her through a skylight and onto the roof. Sam battles Valkyrie. Drew and Hartsdale sneak past the fights and head for the basement, where they are immediately set upon by Vivian and Blackwolf. Vivian pins Drew to the ground but hesitates, unsure of whether she has permission to kill the Slayer's boyfriend yet. Blackwolf has no such concerns about Hartsdale and lunges at him but, after a brief fight, he manages to dust her with a well placed crossbow bolt. Enraged, Vivian tries to drain Drew only to have him laugh it off. Upstairs, Sam sees Jonathan cringe from a neck injury, throws Valkyrie through a wall and runs downstairs to rescue Drew. Vivian raises her hands in surrender and tells the group that Britta and Gwen are beyond the now portal leading from the basement. She doesn't know, or won't say, what they're planning, but the basement is filled with dynamite and mining equipment. They make Vivian retrieve the key, which is just past the portal, and seal and lock the doors. With Britta and Gwen presumably trapped inside, the group considers what to do with Vivian.

TO BE CONTINUED

1.12 Apocalypse 1.0
Written and directed by Tim Ballew.
The events of this episode take place on the night of Thursday, May 16, 1991.
Since she's done everything they've asked, Slayer Club reluctantly decides to let Vivian go. Joshua follows her upstairs and takes the badly wounded Mesmerix to the hospital. The others consider what to do, eventually concluding that the best idea is to look up the order of St. Germain for help. Before they can leave, though, the portal is opened from the inside and Gwen pokes her head out. When she sees Slayer Club, she swears and ducks back inside. Sam runs off in pursuit and the chase is on. They rush through a series caverns and twisting passages covered in green goo before Tori slips and nearly falls in a bottomless pit. Sam rescues her, but Tori loses her crossbow and the delay allows Gwen to slip out of sight. Sam insists on continuing the chase and the others follow, except for Kevin, who goes back to meet Joshua. The two boys take the time to gather proper spelunking equipment -- and some dynamite -- before heading back in after the rest of the group. Meanwhile, Sam leads the others deeper into the caves, tracking Gwen. They are attacked by a giant slug which spits a glob of foul tasting green goo in Drew's face, nearly smothering him, before Erik and Sam dispatch it. The fight gives time for Kevin and Joshua to catch up. They find a rope and rappel down into a cavern that seems organic, as if they are inside a living being. Drew hears hammering from down a side passage and they head in that direction. They're met by Gwen, who plunges into the center of the group and attacks Hartsdale. After a wild melee between the vampire and Erik, Tori and Hartsdale, Sam comes to the rescue and orders Gwen to surrender. Gwen uses the opportunity to launch another attack on Hartsdale and Sam beheads her.

Further up the passage, Drew and Joshua find a stone building. Joshua forces the door to the building, while Drew watches his back. He looks down a second passage leading into the room, sees a horde of spider demons rushing towards him and faints dead away. Sam rescues him and the group retreats into the building, barricading the door behind them. Inside, they find a temple. Hartsdale is able to read some of the inscriptions on the walls and learns that it is a temple to a true demon known as Karyzoon, who has been imprisoned under Solomon for millennia and who they are probably inside. The proceed deeper into the temple and eventually hear chanting and ominous rumbling from the demon around them. Kevin figures out that Britta is probably using the spell he found in Lichtermann's diary to steal Karyzoon's power for herself. They find Britta at an alter in the temple basement, but too late. She has completed the spell and is just leaving, carrying a bag over her shoulder and glowing with an inner green light. Sam charges, but Britta laughs off her attack and throws her into a wall with a single blow, knocking her out and nearly killing her. Realizing that they probably can't hurt Britta herself, Joshua makes a desperate grab for the bag. Britta bats him aside easily, but he does manage to knock the bag out of her grasp. Having reached the same conclusion as Joshua, Drew aims his crossbow and shoots the bag. There is a satisfying shattering of glass from within and green energy flows out of both the bag and Britta, returning her to normal. Before she can recover from the loss of her new power, Hartsdale steps up and stakes her. Unfortunately, the released energy flows back into the demon and the shuddering of the walls takes on a regularity that sounds ominously like breathing.

With the waking of the demon, the temple begins to collapse. Not really expecting it to do any good, but at a loss for anything else to do, Joshua packs his explosives around the temple's alter and Slayer Club flees the temple, pausing only long enough for Drew to pick up Britta's sword. Upstairs, the group is easily able to avoid the spider demons, who are wandering around in confusion. Apparently they never expected to actually succeed in waking up their demonic master. Drew pours some holy water on the demon's innards, which creates a satisfying, but small, wound. Sam, meanwhile, grabs Gwen's sword from where it's lying on the ground. As they climb back into the cave, Joshua throws the last stick of dynamite into the demon's stomach. Again, there seems to be little effect. Reaching the surface, they find the portal surrounded by mages from the Order of St. Germain, who are conducting a ritual to put the demon back to sleep. They take the key from Sam and chide her for "meddling in things that you don't understand." Slayer Club leaves them to it. Upstairs, Drew finally finds something to wash the foul taste of slug spit out of his mouth with -- a bottle of twenty year-old scotch from the brew pub's stores. The group heads off across the parking lot, passing the bottle back and forth between them. Even Sam takes a swig.