Just a little over ten years ago one of the (and it’s no exaggeration) greatest television shows ever created drew to an epic conclusion. The world was saved, the Slayer lived and she had changed the battle between good and evil forever! Buffy Summers was no ordinary high schooler and her show was no ordinary television show, it captured the imaginations, hearts and wallets of people all over the world and so in honour of the vampire slayer with a penchant for backflips and late night dancing, this are our top ten favourite Buffy the Vampire Slayer episodes!
*Warning, Baby Buffy Fans and Newcomers may find some spoilers!
10 – Welcome to the Hellmouth
Principal Flutie: You burned down the gym!
Buffy: I did. I really did, but-but you’re not seeing the big picture here. I mean that gym was full of vampi- asbestos.
It set the tone for the run of the whole show! Young Buffy seeking a clean slate is dragged to Sunnydale by her overbearing mother, Joyce! There they hope to leave her past antics behind her and set about distancing her life from vampires and the undead! Little does she know she’s found herself on a ‘Hellmouth’, a nexus for supernatural energy and beacon for all things that go bump in the night! We also meet her best friends for life, Willow and Xander and her mentor and protector, Giles not to mention sassy Cordelia and the mysterious Angel!
9 – Once more with Feeling
What more is there to say but… I can still belt these out, word…for … word!
8 – Halloween
Never has a character relied so heavily on his military training as our Xander and if it wasn’t for this episode then the awkward teen might not have made it into his adult years. It’s Halloween and the Scoobies are getting ready for a party! Costumes purchased unknowingly from Ethan Rayne, a disciple of Chaos, the gang take on the persona of their costumes turning Buffy into a delicate maiden unable to fight against the forces of evil forcing Willow to take charge for the first time and stop Spike from taking out the fragile Slayer.
7 – Hush
When critics praised the dialogue of the show claiming it was probably the best thing about the series, Whedon took it upon himself to show that there was more to Buffy than witty one liners and how better to do that than write an entire episode where there is less than 14minutes of dialogue! Yup! Hush is in at number 7 and the college going Slayer must contend with ‘The Gentleman’ who steal the voices of the Sunnydale residents rendering their victims mute and unable to cry for help while preventing the voice from destroying them. The episode went on to be nominated for an Emmy award and the Gentleman still manage to scare the daylights out of Buffy fans all over the world!
6 – Doppelgangland
I’ll end the first half of this with Doppelgangland and a tribute to the sadistic side of Willow!
Editor-in-Chief, part-time super villain and hoarder of cats. If you can’t find me writing, I’m probably in the kitchen!
Is it even real?! Buffy is at breaking point and when her self-belief is tested even the audience are left doubting the world we had all come to learn and love! Poisoned by a demon Buffy is drawn into a world where she isn’t the slayer, she’s a girl committed to an asylum in Los Angeles suffering from serious delusions. The episode drifts between the Buffy we know and the girl struggling to find her mind again and they are pushed to breaking point both fighting to survive. It has left the series open for some serious debate and Whedon has stated he wouldn’t have it any other way with his fans!
What happens when a Goddess attacks and drains the sanity from a witch’s girlfriend? The Witch gets mad…
It was the romance that we ALL (don’t lie…you wanted to be one of the other halves in this relationship) wanted to be apart of and ‘The Prom’ was one of the most emotional episodes going to this point in the series! Not only do fans have to deal with the issue of of Buffy and Angel’s relationship issue but then there was the speech…
Jonathan: “We have one more award to give out. Is Buffy Summers here tonight? Did she, um…This is actually a new category. First time ever. I guess there were a lot of write-in ballots, and, um, well, t-the prom committee asked me to read this. “We’re not good friends. Most of us never found the time to get to know you, but that doesn’t mean we haven’t noticed you. We don’t talk about it much, but it’s no secret that Sunnydale High isn’t really like other high schools. A lot of weird stuff happens here…
…But whenever there was a problem or something creepy happened, you seemed to show up and stop it. Most of the people here have been saved by you or helped by you at one time or another. We’re proud to say that the class of ’99 has the lowest mortality rate of any graduating class in Sunnydale history, and we know at least part of that is because of you. So the senior class offers its thanks and gives you, uh, uh, this. It’s from all of us, and it has written here, “Buffy Summers, Class Protector“.
It was the final episode, the last moments we shared with the Slayer and by her side the Scooby gang stick to her! Her slayer army must breach the hellmouth itself and no one knows who if any of them will walk out of the nightmare alive. Writing this I still get those goosebumps as the potential Slayers are imbued with power and the last stand is made against the forces of hell.
It was the most heart breaking and real episode of a television series I’ve ever watched! To this day nearly 12 years since it first aired I am still reduced to tears. It has beaten out some seriously stiff competition to make it the number one spot and while the show will never be forgotten with memorable characters and engrossing stories, it was the moment when we found the Slayer and her friends coping with the reality that even when you face demons and the gates of hell, life still finds a way to get at you and when Buffy returns home and finds her mother, Joyce Summers mother to the entire Scooby Gang has died.
She wasn’t killed by a demon, it wasn’t an angry God, it was just one of those things, it was life getting in the way. The episode featured no music and we are forced to experience the unease, discomfort and agony without the safety blanket we’d come to expect as fans of the show. There are no monsters (with the exception of a vampire) and the episode acts as reminder for us that Buffy is at the end of the day just like us but even when she faces the loss of her mother she can’t turn her back on her duties, as our Slayer.
Editor-in-Chief, part-time super villain and hoarder of cats. If you can’t find me writing, I’m probably in the kitchen!
