May 20, 2003 was the day that the final episode of Buffy the Vampire Slayer aired. For a lot of fans, it was a sad day. There were some that followed the season 8 comics that started back in 2007, but for others like me, that episode was the last we have seen of the majority of the characters on TV. BtVS has become such a phenomenon that even 10 years after the airing of the finale, people still talk about it and new fans are emerging. Joss Whedon has an amazing resume, some even before BtVS, but BtVS, oddly enough, and not even his work on Toy Story is what he is best known for (well was, before The Avengers kicked all kinds of ass last summer). In honor of the 10th anniversary of said finale, we bring you The Top 10 Episodes of Buffy the Vampire Slayer.
10. Earshot (3×18)
Of all seven seasons of BtVS, two stand out for many reasons and those are Seasons 3 and 5. I feel “Earshot” is one of the strongest episodes of Season 3. This episode deals with Buffy (Sarah Michelle Gellar) getting infected with the ‘essence of a demon’ after a fight, and bad news for her, that essence is telepathy. She begins to hear the thoughts of the student body at school and hears an ominous “By this time tomorrow, I will kill you all.” She and her friends try to find this person to stop them.
“Earshot” deals with dark subject matter and had to be pulled from its original airdate because it would’ve been one week after the Columbine shooting. BtVS has never been afraid to deal with the darkness in the world, but it is episodes like this that reminds viewers that even with demons, vampires, and other supernatural beings, humans are capable of evil too. Some highlights from this episode include her hearing the thoughts of all her friends, a great example being Xander (Nicholas Brendon) only thinking about sex, or when she hears her mother’s thoughts and finds out she slept with Giles (Anthony Stewart Head), twice in a previous episode. The final twist in the episode reveals that their main suspect, Jonathan, was going to commit suicide and Buffy talks him out of it, and then it is revealed that the lunch lady was going to poison everybody. Later seasons lose this mix of humor and darkness that the earlier seasons have. In closing, I love that the subject matter isn’t as heavy-handed as it has become for recent shows that are currently on the air.
9. Prophecy Girl (1×12)
To say the least, Season 1 of BtVS was a mixed bag, so it’s not a shock that the best episode of the season was the finale. This episode deals with Buffy overhearing a prophecy stating that the slayer will die at the hands of The Master, who is the ‘big bad’ of the season. After overhearing Giles say this to Angel (David Boreanaz) our slayer quits. After seeing how bad things are getting in Sunnydale she decides to take matters into her own hands and fights The Master.
Since they shot all episodes of Season 1 before airing there was no clear sign of a Season 2 so it’s the first time in the series where death can happen to any of the characters. The themes of this episode work well as a precursor to Season 2, and the actors have settled into their roles. This also marks the first time Buffy dies in the series, and the only time she gets resurrected by any ‘normal’ means. If you, for whatever reason, decide to skip Season 1, make sure you at least watch this as your first episode.
8. Fool for Love (5×07)
I think that Season 5 of Buffy was its greatest season. I felt Glory was a superb villain, and it had Buffy deal with her own mortality. The episode starts with Buffy getting wounded after fighting a vampire which causes her and Giles to research the death of previous slayers. They are not successful at it and she remembers that Spike (James Marsters) has at least killed two slayers.
This is a great mythology episode as it delves in Spike’s life before becoming a vampire. I feel the B-storyline doesn’t fit with the rest of the episode, but the Buffy and Spike’s storyline is epic. I found it very interesting to hear that Spike is one of the only vampires to actively seek out slayers to fight for thrills, which makes sense considering that’s exactly what he’s doing back in his first appearance in “School Hard”. The end of the episode doesn’t feel heavy-handed either. Buffy insults Spike, which causes him to snap and he seeks her out to shoot her with a shotgun. When he sees her crying over her mother’s health, he consoles her, which sets up their relationship for the rest of the series.
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.
6. The Body (5×16)
“The Body” is a monumental episode for BtVS. It deals with Buffy’s mom suddenly dying and how different people react to death. It’s also the first time that a character has died from natural causes on the show, which Buffy hates because the anger she feels cannot be channelled. It’s the rare episode where there isn’t a ‘baddie’ until she kills a vampire at the very end of the episode. The most emotional scene for me was seeing how her friends reacted. Willow obsesses over a shirt, Xander is angry, and Anya simply cannot comprehend death and mortality. The scene comes to an emotional end when Xander puts his fist in a wall. For a show like BtVS, which is grandiose with its plotting, seeing the characters do these mundane things gives you a whole new level to connect with them. Whedon has gone on to say that he wrote this episode to show how mundane death really is. It’s a very dark notion but if you think about it we never realize it because of our emotions. If any episode deserved an Emmy, it should’ve been this one.
5. Passion (2×17)
Of any episode of Season 2, “Passion” would definitely be the its darkest hour. It’s episodes like this one that shows how dark Whedon and his writers will go. Jenny Calender’s death was the first real death in the series of a major character. It’s a very poetic episode and is one of the few that has a character do voice-over narration. In the case of “Passion” it is Angelus, the evil soulless version of Buffy’s first love Angel. Making Angel evil early on shows that BtVS is not afraid to pull any punches.
I tend to latch onto and care for one particular character in every show I watch and in this show it is Giles. The scene where he sees Jenny dead makes this episode. It’s a huge moment in the Buffy/Giles relationship when he crashes into Angelus’ hideout and she comes to save him. The acting in this episode all around was a step up from the first season and this episode showed how far the actors would go to make it believable.
4. Hush (4×11)
“Hush” is a very special episode of BtVS that came during a season that was getting a lukewarm response when compared to Seasons 2 and 3. It was written by Joss Whedon to prove that the success of the show wasn’t solely based on the dialog alone. This episode only has about 17 minutes of dialog out of 44. The creatures in “Hush” are some of the scariest of the whole series. It also introduces the character of Tara.
In addition to some really great creepy moments, “Hush” has one of the funniest moments in the show’s history when Giles uses a series of overhead transparencies to explain who the creatures are, how they kill, and how a scream will kill them. Buffy makes a particular motion that gives some of the best reactions of the series. One thing the show never really gets into much is Sunnydale’s reaction to some events. In this episode the townspeople thinks they have been inflicted with laryngitis, which I find amusing. This is the only episode to be nominated for an Emmy and it’s easy to see why: it’s humorous, dark, witty, and just an all around great thrill ride.
3. Once More, With Feeling (6×07)
It would be considered a crime if I didn’t have “Once More, With Feeling” anywhere in the top 5. This musical episode is a landmark episode that Joss Whedon wanted to do as early as Season 1 but wasn’t given permission to until sometime during the filming of Season 5. Whedon took nearly 6 months to write the music for the episode, along with his wife.
Season 6 gets a lot of hate, but I feel it’s subject matter showed the gradual maturation of the series as a whole. This episode presents some dark ideas, but due to the addition of music, it feels lighthearted until you actually think about it. The episode starts with Buffy singing about how dull life has gotten and at the end every character realizes how much their life has changed due to the demon causing everyone to sing. The demon in this episode is a mixed bag for me. I like his slyness, but in terms of make-up, I feel they just painted the actor red and gave him a chin prosthetic.
Some song highlights include Tara singing “Under Your Spell” to Willow, Giles singing “Standing” to Buffy, and Spike singing “Rest in Peace” to Buffy. There is a great rhythm to this episode and the music never feels ham-fisted. If I were to show someone an episode of BtVS who never has seen one, I would show them this one.
2. The Gift (5×22)
I would have to say that “The Gift” and my number one choice are really a tie. I love that this episode would only really work as a series finale at the time, due to the theme and power of the fifth season. If they tried to do this in Season 7, it wouldn’t work as well thematically. “The Gift” is about the gang’s final assault against Glory to stop her from doing a ritual and killing Dawn. The opening of the episode goes back to the show’s roots and has Buffy fighting a normal vampire. The team contemplates how to slow Glory down and Buffy finally reveals to Giles that she has learned that death was her gift and she is against it.
The episode has a very kinetic energy all the way to the very end where Buffy finally realizes what her gift meant and she sacrifices herself for her sister and her friends. When you see her tombstone read “She saved the world – a lot” you give a chuckle but also realize that, finally, her job was done. There are some touching tidbits in the episode, such as Spike telling Buffy that he knows she will never love him but thanks her for treating him like a man and not a monster. The darkest moment comes when Giles does the one thing Buffy would never be able to do: kill a man so Glory will cease to exist. It’s a shocking moment that I feel was needed in this episode. Overall, it is one of the best episodes of television I have ever seen.
1. Chosen (7×22)
As I said earlier, this and “The Gift” would be a tie for first place. Where “The Gift” only works as a finale at the end of Season 5, “Chosen” is a great finale for any season. It’s a fun ride watching this show and I am glad that the show ended like this even if Season 7 wasn’t as strong as Season 5. The moment when all of the potentials turn into slayers is very powerful, as is the moment when Buffy realizes she isn’t alone.
My favorite moment comes when the core four (Buffy, Willow, Xander, and Giles) share a moment in the high school that mirrors the end of the pilot and you realize just how powerful their bond is at that moment, and also how much things have changed. I have no gripes about this episode at all and feel that, for a show that midway through switched networks, couldn’t end any better. There are several deaths, but Anya’s was the biggest shock for me. Seeing Xander’s look when he finds out adds depth to that doomed relationship that you rarely got to see. For fans who want to read season 8 in comic bood form go ahead, but for me, this is the end of Buffy the Vampire Slayer.
Do you agree with this list? What are some of your favorite episodes?
