regarding the initial post:
maybe you were confused because the item in question only had one bid on it.?.
if no one else was bidding against the first bidder, his bid would remain at the starting price, still below the reserve.. if he hit the reserve with his first bid, the bid shown would change to meet the reserve price, even if there was only one bidder.. (you are almost bidding against the seller in this case)
if there were two or more bidders, the bid shown would reflect the highest bidder's current proxy bid whether or not the reserve was met