Sarah Michelle Gellar makes a much wanted return to TV this fall in “Ringer”. It got me thinking about my favorite episodes of one of my favorite shows “Buffy The Vampire Slayer”. Yes Buffy is awesome and there are so many episodes to choose from this wasn’t easy. I have a feeling that if you’re a fan you will hopefully agree with me, and sound off in the comments if you think I missed one of your favorites.
10.Passion(season 2 episode 17) Spoiler, Angel becomes one bad dude. And this amazing episode is narrated by him with an eerie calm. As Angel taunts the Scoobies from a distant, drawing Buffy as she sleeps and watches them from a far, Angelus(his evil name) is told by Drusilla that Jenny Calender is in the process of restoring his soul. Angelus storms Sunnydale High and catches Jenny…and breaks her neck. After tormenting Giles with Jenny’s death, Buffy talks him out of seeking revenge, but she also realizes a terrible truth…she must kill Angelus.
9. Faith, Hope, Trick(season 3 episode 3)
The first appearance of Faith The Vampire Slayer is memorable. With Buffy’s death in season 1 a new slayer must take her place. But Buffy only died briefly and the first Slayer to emerge from her death was Kendra. But she too was killed so in step Faith. This episode is the catalyst for the Buffy, Faith rivalry. But they work together to take down an extremely powerful vampire named Kakistos. This episode also marks the return of Angel who…oh just keep reading I will tell you later. Yes there are some other amazing episodes featuring Faith but I like this one as it introduces us to this emotionally damaged girl.
8. Becoming Part 2 (season 2 episode 22)
When Buffy and Angel knock boots his curse is lifted. The curse being he was a Vampire with a soul which makes him basically remember all of the terrible things he’s done as Angelus. With his soul gone he returned to his murderous ways. After kidnapping Giles Buffy confronts Angelus at his mansion and they do battle. Knowing she must kill him to prevent the awaking of a demon called Acathla, Buffy sets out to do just that. But as she’s about to plunge a sword in Angelus, Willow has restored his soul. But the portal for Acathla had already been opened. Realizing that it was now Angel standing in front of her, Buffy embraces him and plunges her sword into his stomach, killing her one true love.
7. Prophecy Girl (season 1 episode 12)
After reading the prophecy that if Buffy fights The Master(the oldest known vampire) she will die, Buffy decides that she is going to quit being the slayer. But after thinking about it she decides that she will fight The Master no matter what. Giles tries to stop her and she knocks him out. When she goes to The Masters liar she is ambushed form behind and drank from by the Master. He drops her into a shallow pool, leaving her to drown. What the Master had not counted on was a rescue by Xander he performs CPR on Buffy. Buffy revives and stakes that vampire bastard right through his heart. No, not even death can stop Buffy.
6. Chosen (season 7 episode 22)
The final episode of Buffy is everything you wanted as a fan(except for maybe the death of Spike and Anya, sad). The destruction of the Hellmouth and Sunnydale, an epic vampire battle, and Nathan Fillion. Buffy realizes that she cannot beat Caleb and his minions by herself, so she has Willow perform a spell where all the potential slayers would all be given her power. The result, not one or two slayers, but hundreds. Buffy went out totally kicking ass and empowering women all over the world, hell yes!
5. Hush (season 4 episode 10)
Everyone loves Joss Whedon’s dialogue. So he decided to write an episode where there is hardly any dialogue. The result is one of the creepiest shows ever, not just on Buffy, but ever. The villains are The Gentlemen who place a spell over Sunnydale, making everyone lose their voice. And since no one can scream The Gentlemen take the hearts of their victims without anyone hearing their screams. It’s a twisted fairytale and extremely effective horror show making. Man, just the picture gives me the willies.
4 Innocence (season 2 episode 13)
Buffy and Angel’s relationship had been building to this moment every since he swooped into her life. It comes to a sexy crescendo in Surprise. They finally do the dirty deed, and it’s beautiful. But it doesn’t end there. After Buffy falls asleep Angel runs out in the rain in pain. He slowly rises to his feet and when a person helps him to his feet, he happily bites and kills her. Angel lost his soul when making love to Buffy, turning him into the dreaded vampire Angelus!
3. The Body (season 5 episode 16)
One of the most heart wrenching and powerful episodes on TV history The Body is hard to watch. After defeating vampires and demons the one thing Buffy could not defeat was the natural and shocking death of her mother. Joss Whedon wrote this episode to address a single shocking issue. In fact Joss’ mother died of the same thing cerebral aneurysm. There is no music in this episode and the performance of Sarah Michelle Gellar is absolutely amazing. This episode is hard to watch, but also one everyone must watch. Truly powerful stuff.
2. Once More With Feeling (season 6 episode 7)
This episode is a musical and totally amazing. After resurrecting Buffy the Scoobies have a new problem, they randomly break out in song. The songs range from classic musical stuff, to rock, and duets. They all advance the story in stunning ways and when it’s reveled that Buffy was at peace and possibly in Heaven after she died, the gang can’t help but think maybe bringing back Buffy was a mistake. This episode also sets up Willow’s growing power as a witch and her shocking turn as a villain.
1. The Gift (season 5 episode 22)
Buffy is the ultimate woman hero. She often times puts herself at risk for the safety of others. And this is no more evident then in The Gift, my most favorite episode of Buffy. Glory seemed to be an unbeatable god. When Glory opens a portal the only way to seal it is with the blood of Buffy’s sister Dawn. Buffy however realizes that Dawn and her actually share the same blood and instead of Dawn sacrificing herself, Buffy does. Throwing herself off a tower, through the portal and falling to her death. At the end of the episode Buffy’s gravestone says, “She saved the World-a lot” couldn’t have said it any better.