7. Conversations with Dead People (7×07)
Season 7 was a mixed bag, and you can tell they were going somewhere with it, but had to switch gears to end the show.  It had some highlights and “Conversations with Dead People” was one of them.  It’s the only episode where none of the main cast interact with one another and for that reason Xander and Anya aren’t in this episode.  The episode deals with five storylines involving Buffy, Spike, Willow, Dawn, and Andrew.  Buffy meets a vampire who she went to school with and soon finds out that Spike is feeding again.  Spike picks a woman up and kills her.  Willow is visited by the ghost of Cassie, a young girl Buffy once helped, and tries to urge her to never use magic again or she will kill everyone she loves.  Dawn gets a message from her mom stating that when the time comes, Buffy won’t choose her.  Andrew and Jonathan return from Mexico and Andrew gets a visit from the ghost of Warren and Andrew kills Jonathan.  In the end, it is revealed by Willow that The First is behind this and upon the revelation he stops.  What I really love about this episode is that you do get the sense of loneliness between the characters.  It is also one of the last ‘themed’ episodes before the series ended.
Most excellent list! Anyanka’s death in The Chosen always got to me too…
Personally, I always had a soft spot for The Zeppo.
Thanks!! I also love The Zeppo, Storyteller, and Superstar. This was a hard list to make for sure.
So glad that Hush is on here – it has always been my favorite – nothing like The Gentleman to make life a little creepier.