March 10th marked the 20-year anniversary of TV show Buffy, the Vampire Slayer. A whole lot of new merchandise is being released (my wallet won’t thank me for that), and it has brought me back to all the reasons why I loved this groundbreaking TV show. It is no lie that Buffy is my favourite show ever. I was hooked from the beginning, and I have watched and re-watched it many times over the years.

Buffy was a great show in many ways. The witty dialogue, intriguing and well-formed characters, and arcing storylines are what it is most known for. The fact that the creators of the show did so much with the small budget they had only makes me love it all the more.

It was one of the shows that really inspired me in writing. The script was always well-written (something that can often be lacking in even some of the highest-rated TV shows), and the character quirks and development really got me thinking when it came to my own character creation. There was never a dull character on Buffy (though there were a few unlikable ones). I loved the contrast of good and evil, and all the messy things in between.

More than that, I loved the themes of belonging. Watching a show about a group of outcasts in school really resonated with me, because I was not exactly in the popular crowd. More than that, doesn’t every teenager go through a phase of feeling like they don’t belong? It showed that the nerd can become a super witch, and the dorky guy can save the world (and date the most popular girl in school!). Even after the high school years the themes of family and friendship were always prominent.

To commemorate the 20-year anniversary I am going to list my top 10 favourite episodes of Buffy. As it would be impossible for me to put the list in order, I will just put them in order of which season they are from.

WARNING: There are serious spoilers ahead. If you haven’t watched the whole show, then… wait, why wouldn’t you have watched the show?

1. School Hard (S2 E3)

This is a very watchable episode because of the introduction of the new ‘Big Bad’ in town – Spike and Drusilla. Great as the show already was, the addition of Spike brought it to that extra level. I love the way he comes in, with the insane Drusilla traipsing wraithlike behind him. I particularly enjoy the connection that he has with Angel, since it was Angel who drove Drusilla insane and then turned her into a vampire (as we later discover).

I think I just love the fact that they are all stuck in the high school, especially that Willow and Cordelia are trapped in a broom cupboard together (and remain there, even after the vampire threat has passed). I like that Buffy is bending over backwards to make the parent-teacher night a success, with Principal Snyder breathing down her neck.

It also has a great Joyce moment, when she hits Spike over the head with the fire axe. “Get the hell away from my daughter.”

2. Becoming, Parts 1 and 2 (S2 E21-22)

It was so hard to just pick one of the episodes from this season finale. It works so well together as a whole. Probably of every episode of Buffy, this is the season finale I cry the most over. The ‘Close Your Eyes’ Buffy/Angel love score by Christophe Beck has to be one of my favourite pieces of music from the entire show. The entire season had a lot of build-up to the moment when Buffy makes the fateful decision to kill Angel. I mean, killing the love of your life to save the world is pretty much the ultimate sacrifice. It’s no wonder she runs away to LA and changes her name to Anne after this.

3. Doppelgangland (S3 E16)

There are a lot of good episodes in season 3. There are great characters, like the additions of Faith, the Mayor and, of course, Wesley. This episode just really gets me. I love the fact that everyone thinks Willow has been turned into a vampire. Of all the ‘evil twin’ episodes of Buffy, this is the best. The awkward sort of chemistry between Cordelia and Wesley, and especially the part where Willow pretends to be a vampire. One of my favourite quotes is, “I’m a blood-sucking fiend, look at my outfit!”

4. Graduation Day, Part 2 (S3 E22)

Unlike with Becoming, I did not include the first part of the episode in this. Why? I don’t like it as much because of the whole Buffy killing faith (well, almost), and Angel nearly killing Buffy, deal. What I do love is the final fight of the students against the vampires, and the transformation of the Mayor in the middle of his speech at Graduation. All this typical supernatural stuff, interspersed with the normalcy of a high school graduation, creates a wonderful juxtaposition. It is one of my favourite (dare I even say my favourite?) season finale of the series.

Another particularly good part is that Dawn’s introduction into the show is hinted at even from this episode. Faith’s words, “little miss muffet counting down from 7-3-0” refers both to Buffy’s death two seasons from now, and Dawn’s appearance at the beginning of season 5. Just knowing that these plots were developed so early on is both awesome and chilling.

5. Pangs (S4 E8)

This is actually my favourite episode of all time. I have probably watched this episode more than any other. At first I could not really put my finger on why I always watched it. I mean, it is a hilarious episode. It’s like a dysfunctional family holiday. You’ve got Spike, the neutered vampire tied to a chair. Then there’s Xander, cursed with Syphillis and Smallpox with his girlfriend Anya, the ex-demon. There is Giles the former watcher arguing over history with the witch Willow. In the middle of it all is Buffy, trying to have the perfect thanksgiving, completely unaware that Angel has come back to ‘watch over’ her. I love how the scoobies think Angel is evil when they run into him, and the slip Xander makes at the end of the episode that he was in town.

6. Hush (S4 E10)

This a great episode for many reasons. For one, most of the episode is completely without speech. For another, it was one of the creepiest episodes of Buffy I saw (though that whole alien on the ceiling one from season 5 is up there on the list). Overall, it is just so well-done. I love all the miscommunication that can happen when people can’t speak, like when Xander thinks Spike bit Anya. My favourite scene is when Giles is trying to explain to the Scoobies what is happening through use of a projector, backed by the eerie Danse Macabre by Camille Saint-Saens.

7. Restless (S4 E22)

Okay, so it is becoming pretty clear that I like season 4. There are just so many great episodes in it! The characters are all in a great place, and it is kind of a transition year from their high school lives to their adult, college lives.

This episode is particularly awesome because of the dream sequences of the four central members of the scooby gang after their pooling of power to take down Adam. The spirit of the first Slayer is stalking them, and this combined with some foreshadowing and just the regular wacky dreams stuff makes it particularly entertaining and enlightening.

Best quote ever: “I wear the cheese; The cheese does not wear me.”

8. The Body (S5 E16)

Another very well done episode. There is a sort of intriguing simplicity, and a raw sense of realism to it. The entire episode is without music. The actors perform so well in this because you truly believe that this is real. Even though this show is, essentially, fantasy, this episode draws a very clear picture of grief in all its forms and stages.

There are some notable moments. Anya not knowing how to deal with death because she has never really faced her own mortality, and now it is staring her in the face. Her speech is moving, and one of Anya’s best scenes in the show.

There is Buffy frantically trying to resuscitate her mother, and a flash of how things could have been in a perfect world. The paramedics revive Joyce and she is fine and everything is tied up in a mlneat little package. But life isn’t like that.

All in all, this is one of the most heart wrenching episodes of Buffy.

9. Once More, With Feeling (S6 E7)

The musical episode! I am a big fan of musicals, so you can imagine my delight when I heard there was going to be a musical episode of Buffy. When it first came on TV we taped the episode and I watched it over and over again.

I know that Joss Whedon had been wanting to do a musical episode for a while. He had the ideas, the songs, and most of the cast had extensive musical backgrounds. Every song was great, nothing seemed forced or overdone. I would have loved for it to be a movie, but mostly because I wanted more songs.

10. Chosen (S7 E22)

The final episode of Buffy. I remember watching this on TV and sitting there after it was over in a kind of shock. I could not believe it was over. But it was probably the best series finale of any show because it didn’t try too hard to tie everything up in a neat bow, but it also didn’t end on a stupid cliffhanger. It was filled with all the usual things – sacrifice, heartache, grim determination and, finally, hope.

 

 

Naturally, this list could change at any given time. Some of the episodes, like Pangs, came immediately to my mind but it always depends with the others, given my mood.

As you could imagine, I was so psyched to discover that the Buffy cast had gathered for a reunion photo shoot for Entertainment Weekly. I can’t wait to hunt down a copy of the magazine!