Lenair's Buffy List
Compiled May 2003
I love Buffy. I also love making lists. Put it all together and you get... this page. Happy reading.
Ones for the Ages: The Best of Buffy
When they try to explain to future generations why Buffy was a great series, these are the episodes they'll point to. And I like them, too.
Best
overall: The Body (5.16). No vampires or demons, no magical reanimation.
Just the stupid, mortal, sudden death of a good person. Told in real time.
Surprise / Innocence (2.13 / 2.14). The ultimate "we had sex, and now he's being a jerk scenario."
Becoming Part 2 (2.22).
Angelus: Now that's everything, huh? No weapons... No friends... No hope.
Take all that away... and what's left?
Buffy: Me.
Hush (4.10). The episode famous for its 30 dialog-free minutes. And it was freakin' scary, too.
Restless (4.22). In dreams lie responsibilities.
The
Gift (5.22). Everybody knew that someone would die. But almost no
one guessed it would Buffy.
Once More with Feeling (6.7). Not just a stunt, the musical truly advanced every character's plotlines in important ways. And the songs stick in your head like glue.
Smashed (6.9). To be fair, probably just the last 10 minutes of “Smashed” — possibly the most incredible sex scene ever on network television.
Beneath You (7.2). Again, a good but fairly ordinary episode that is raised to the extraordinary by its final scene, which again features Buffy and Spike. “Can we rest now, Buffy? Can we rest?”
My personal favourite of all these fine episodes? Say it with me, gently now: Once More with Feeling.
Best Buffy/Angel crossover
Most of the crossover episodes, unfortunately, weren't that fantastic. Angel often seemed like a weird pod-person version of himself, as though once back in Sunnydale he'd forgotten everything he'd been through in Los Angeles. Fortunately, we did get one truly fantastic crossover: the flashback-heavy duo of Fool for Love (5.7) and Darla (Angel 2.7).
Funniest Episodes
Bewitched, Bothered, and Bewildered (2.16). Xander's love spell goes terribly, terribly wrong.
Band Candy (3.6). Magical candy bars make Giles, Joyce, Snyder, and most of the town's adults revert to their teenage selves.
Doppelgangland
(3.16). Instead of bringing back Anya's amulet, VampWillow is retrieved
from the world created in “The Wish.”
Buffy: (breathlessly) Willow, you're alive?
Willow: (puzzled) Aren't I usually?
Willow: Say, you all didn't happen to do a bunch of drugs, did ya?
Willow: (appalled) It's horrible! That's me as a vampire? (Angel closes
the door) I'm so evil and... skanky. (aside to Buffy, worried) And I think
I'm kinda gay.
Something Blue (4.9). Willow's out of control magic reeks havoc on her friends, including making Spike and Buffy think they are in love and about to be married.
Tabula Rasa (6.8). Everyone forgets who they are. Both hilarious and predictive of events to come later in the season.
Him (7.6). Buffy, Dawn, Anya, and Willow all compete for the same high school student, thanks to his lust-inducing sports jacket.
Ones for Me: More Personal Favourites
These ones didn't make it into other categories, but I like them a lot. (In air date order.)
Nightmares
(1.10). Everyone's nightmares start coming true. And these are the nightmares
we've all had.
I Only Have Eyes for You (2.19). It's romantic, it's thematic, it gets Buffy and Angel kissing again without cheating... I love it.
The Wish (3.9). What would Sunnydale have been like if Buffy had moved to Cleveland? For this episode alone, Marti Noxon has earned her place in the Buffy Hall of Fame.
The Zeppo (3.13). Buffy does Rosencratz and Guildenstern Are Dead, with Xander as Rosencratz (or maybe Guildenstern?), and Buffy as Hamlet. You got to love it when the apocalypse takes place off-screen.
Who
Are You? (4.16) Faith takes full advantage of her time in Buffy's
body.
Seeing Red (6.19). Brilliantly filmed, though I have to fast-forward the attempted rape scene.
Conversations with Dead People (7.7). Five stories in real time. Dawn's is terrifying, Buffy's is funny and insightful, and Spike's is mysterious and ultimately shocking.
Selfless (7.5). Anya finally gets an episode of her own — and it could be the best one of Season 7.
Episodes I liked a whole lot more than others did
These ones aren't my favourites, but I did think they were good. This is not a popular opinion.
The Pack (1.5). Xander becomes cool and scary; well-executed metaphor of how kids can get when in a group; what's not to love?
Go Fish (2.20). I know why people hate this one: it was broadcast in the middle of the whole “Angel turns evil” story arc. Viewers were interested in that, dammit; no one wanted to see a story about the swim team turning into fishes. But viewed on its own, it's actually a pretty decent episode that really advances Xander and Cordelia's relationship.
The Initiative (4.7). It's not that people hate this one, but they never pick it as one of their favourites, and I would put it right up there. So much is revealed in this one: Riley's secret life in the military, Spike's fate as a captive and the effect of his chip, Professor Walsh's role... And even though I know all that now, it's still fun to watch it all being revealed again!
Doublemeat Palace (6.12). I guess this one doesn't mean much if you've never experienced the horror that is a boring, dissatisfying job, but I have, and this episode really captured what that can do to people. So I'll forgive it the lame snake monster at the end.
Also Season 6 in general — I don't share the “popular” opinion that it was weaker than the rest. I found a lot of it really fascinating.
Favourite Characters
|
|
Fave | Runner-up |
|
Season 1–3 |
 She was just so adorable. |
 There's something about a vampire with a soul. |
|
Season 4–7 |
 Unpredictable; endlessly fascinating. Also hot. |
 Who says beautiful women can't be funny? |