"Welcome to the Hellmouth" and "The Harvest " originally aired as a 2 hour series premiere event on The WB in March of 1997.

This episode ranked 2nd out of 12 WB shows for the week.

Harmony, who is one of Cordelia's friends, makes her debut in this episode.

This episode scored a 3.4 in the fast nationals.

The character of Darla was intended to be killed off in this episode, however Joss Whedon decided to have her stick around and include her in Angel's backstory. She went on to appear in various future episodes of both Buffy, and spin-off series, Angel.

At the end of the episode Giles tells Buffy, Willow and Xander that the next thing they face may be something quite different from vampires. This was done to imply that there are other non-vampire threats out there and foreshadows the events of the following episode.

Joss Whedon had hoped to include actor Eric Balfour (Jesse) in the title credits, but the show could not afford the extra set of title credits at the time. The intent was to shock the viewers when his character, Jesse, is killed off. Whedon was eventually able to produce this result to varying degrees later in the series with Tara and with Doyle in the first season of the spin-off series Angel.

Although Jesse was one of both Willow and Xander's closest friends for many years, he is never mentioned again.

Willow: (after learning that vampires really exist) Oh, I - I need to sit down.
Buffy: You are sitting down.
Willow: Oh. Good for me.

Giles: For as long as there have been vampires, there's been the Slayer. One girl in all the world, a Chosen One.
Buffy: He loves doing this part.
Giles: Alright. The Slayer hunts vampires, Buffy is a Slayer. Don't tell anyone. Well, I think that's all the vampire information you need.

Buffy: Jesse is my responsibility. I let him get taken.
Xander: That's not true.
Willow: If you hadn't shown up they would have taken us, too. Does anybody mind if I pass out?

Giles: You have no idea where they took Jesse?
Buffy: I looked around, but soon as they got clear of the graveyard, they could have just, voom!
Xander: They can fly?
Buffy: They can drive.

Giles: So all the city plans are just open to the public?
Willow: Um, well, i-in a way. I sort of stumbled onto them when I accidentally decrypted the city council's security system.
Xander: Someone's been naughty.

Xander: So, what's the plan? We saddle up, right?
Buffy: There's no "we", okay? I'm the Slayer, and you're not.
Xander: I knew you'd throw that back in my face.
Buffy: Xander, this is deeply dangerous.
Xander: I'm inadequate. That's fine. I'm less than a man.

Xander: This is just too much. I mean, yesterday my life's like, "Uh-oh, pop quiz." Today it's rain of toads.
Willow: I know. And everyone else thinks it's just a normal day.
Xander: Nobody knows. It's like we've got this big secret.
Willow: We do. That's what a secret is, when you know something the other guys don't.

Boy: (about Buffy) Why was she kicked out?
Cordelia: Uh, because she's a psycho loony!
Willow No, she's not.
Cordelia: What?
Willow: She's not a psycho. You don't even know her.
Cordelia: Excuse me? Who gave you permission to exist? Do I horn in on your private discussions? No. Why? Because you're boring.

Xander: I don't like vampires. I'm gonna take a stand and say they're not good.

Buffy: So, Giles! Got anything that can make this day any worse?
Giles: How about the end of the world?
Buffy: Knew I could count on you.

Buffy: This is really, really important.
Joyce: I know. If you don't go out, it'll be the end of the world. Everything is life or death when you're a sixteen-year-old girl.

Cordelia: Senior boys are the only way to go. Guys from our grade? Forget about it. They're children, you know? Like Jesse. Did you see him last night, following me around like a little puppy dog. You just wanna put him to sleep. But senior boys - ruff! They have mystery. They have... What's the word I'm searching for? Cars. I just am not the type to settle, you know? It's like when I go shopping. I have to have the most expensive thing. Not because it's expensive, but because it costs more.
Girl: You know, I...
Cordelia: Hello, Miss Motormouth, can I get a sentence finished?

Buffy: What exactly were you expecting?
Xander: I don't know, something. I mean, the dead rose. We should at least have an assembly.

Giles: We're at the center of a mystical convergence here. We may, in fact, stand between the Earth and its total destruction.
Buffy: Well, I gotta look on the bright side. Maybe I can still get kicked out of school!
Xander: Oh, yeah, that's a plan. 'Cause lots of schools aren't on Hellmouths.
Willow: Maybe you could blow something up. They're really strict about that.
Buffy: I was thinking of a more subtle approach, y'know, like excessive not studying.
Giles: The Earth is doomed.

Despite the fact that Eric Balfour's character, Jesse was supposedly such a close friend of Xander and Willow's, he is never referred to again in the series after this episode.

The Harvest supposedly took place on a Friday night. Therefore, it doesn't make any sense that there would be school the following morning, since it should be a weekend.

Buffy: Don't go all wild bunch on me.

This is a reference to the 1969 western, The Wild Bunch, which is known for being one of the first films to feature excessive violence. Buffy says this to her friends to imply that she wants them to avoid fighting at all costs.

Buffy: Maybe I can still get kicked out of school.
Willow: Maybe you could blow something up.

Both of these statements eventually end up coming true. Principal Snyder expels Buffy in the second season finale, "Becoming (2)", and Buffy actually blows up the high school in the third season finale, "Graduation Day (2)".