My Favorite Buffy the Vampire Slayer Episodes

 Greetings! I know I just did a Top Ten post, but I've been wanting to talk about Buffy some more, and I figured that this was a good chance to do it. This was ridiculously hard, because there are 144 episodes of Buffy, and I deeply love most of them, so there was no way I would be able to just choose ten, but I chose fifteen, which I think is pretty reasonable [at least for someone who's super involved in the Buffyvserse like I am].

If you've never seen Buffy, here's the link to where I reviewed it. 

*clears throat* Let's get started, shall we?
Disclaimer: There will be spoilers galore, so read at your own risk. 

#15: Something Blue

Summary: One of Willow's spells causes her statements to become reality, with consequences both entertaining and life-threatening.

Why I Love It: I love this one because it's just incredibly entertaining. The actors all do a really great job in this episode, the dialogue is great [as per usual], and it's a really fun and creative idea for an episode. This one also has lots of funny parts, like learning about Spike's love of soap operas [side note: did you guys know that Passions was a real show?].

#14: Becoming: Part 2

Summary: Spike strikes an unlikely alliance with Buffy to keep Angel from destroying the world. 

Why I Love It: This episode is just exactly how a finale should be done. It's definitely pretty heartbreaking, which is good, but it has some funny moments. I love all of the Buffy/Spike interactions, and I think they wrapped this season up really well. 

#13: Halloween

Summary: On Halloween, Buffy and her friends visit an unusual costume shop where customers turn into whatever costume they're wearing.

Why I Love It: I love Halloween and I love autumn, so, of course, I love this episode. The actors all do a fantastic job in this episode, it's a neat concept that was really well executed, and it's really fun to watch. You get to see Willow gain a little bit of confidence in this episode, which is really great. Also, I love Oz in this episode [he's only in it for a little bit, but he's great in it].

#12: I Only Have Eyes For You

Summary: Sunnydale High School is haunted by the ghosts of a former student and teacher who reenact their tragic romance through the bodies of the school's current inhabitants. 

Why I Love It: I've heard this episode described as ''hauntingly beautiful'' and I think that suits it. It's definitely not a happy episode or a fun one, but it's well-written and well-acted. Also, having Buffy being possessed by James was a really smart choice, because it meant that she was able to understand him better and, since she was re-enacting it with Angel [who was possessed by Grace], she couldn't kill him. Overall, it's just a really good episode. 

#11: Lover's Walk

Summary: Spike returns to Sunnydale and kidnaps Willow in hopes of creating a magic spell that will make Drusilla love him again.

Why I Love It: This is another one that I love because it's hilarious. Seeing Spike basically drag Buffy and Angel all around town while whining about his problems and then completely getting over it once he gets into a fight is just awesome. My thoughts on this episode could be summed up with this GIF.

#10: Hush

Summary: When everyone in Sunnydale loses their voice, the Scooby Gang must silently solve the mystery of the monsters who stole their ability to speak. 

Why I Love It: Hush is one of those episodes that almost everyone has on their Top Ten list, and for a very good reason. This episode has barely any dialogue, which could've gone really badly, but ended up being a masterpiece [Fun Fact: Joss Whedon actually wrote this episode because he heard someone say that the dialogue was the best part of Buffy, so he decided to try and write an episode without dialogue].

I also love how creative the plot is in this episode. 

Also, even though I am not a big horror fan, I really liked all the horror elements in this episode [which is pretty rare for a Buffy episode. Even though there are vampires and monsters involved, it's not that scary]. 

The Gentlemen are great [and terrifying] villains.

See? They're super creepy. 

#9: Dopplegangland

Summary: While casting a magic spell, Willow and Anya accidentally summon Willow's evil double from an alternate universe. 

Why I Love It: 

Can I just say that it is so much fun to see Alyson Hannigan as Vampire Willow? She looks like she's having a blast. She always does a great job, but it's especially apparent in this episode, since she plays two different versions of Willow. The dialogue in this episode is great, it's hilarious and has a creative premise, and it's just a fun one to watch. 

Also, I don't know if Joss intended Willow to be gay or not when this line was written, but, either way, it's a gem. 

#8: Chosen

Summary: After killing Caleb, Buffy conceives a plan to defeat the First once and for all. Willow invokes a magic spell that alters the ancient Slayer spell, and gives Buffy the allies she needs to fight the Uber-Vamp army. An epic battle ensues, and several good friends are lost. At the end Buffy faces a completely different problem-----one she's glad to have.

Why I Love It: First of all, I think I should say that the Buffy team did an excellent job with finales, which are notoriously difficult to pull off. This was the series finale in addition to the seventh season finale, which meant that it would be even harder to write, and I wasn't sure if it would stick the landing or not. It did, if that wasn't clear from it being on this list. I just felt like it wrapped up the series in a really good way. There was one character death that I felt like wasn't really necessary, but the other one felt like a really good way to end that character's arc. Like I said, it felt like every character arc was finished, and it was just a good ending. Okay, I'll stop rambling now. 

#7: Family

Summary: When relatives arrive in Sunnydale, to celebrate her birthday, Tara uses a magic spell on her friends to keep them from learning her ''secret.'' Meanwhile, Glory unleashes a hoard of demons to hunt down Buffy. 

Why I Love It: This may seem like an odd one, since I don't see it on too many people's Top Tens list, but there are a lot of things I love about this episode. In my opinion, it's the perfect mix of silly and sweet. There's plenty of goofy moments and witty lines [mostly related to Xander], and then there are scenes that just tugged at my heartstrings [like the 'We're Family' scene]. Also, Amy Adams guest starred in this one, and I love her, so that was really cool. I also loved that this one was Tara-centric, since we don't get a lot of episodes about her. 

You guys, I'm awwww-ing so hard right now. They're the cuuuuutest. 

#6: The Gift

Summary: As Glory prepares Dawn for a bloodletting ritual that will open a portal to another dimension, Buffy and her friends prepare for battle.

Why I Love It: Yup, here's another finale. Actually, I think this was originally going to be the series finale before it got renewed for two more seasons, and if it had ended with this, I wouldn't be angry. It's a great finale for the same reasons that Chosen is: It wraps up everyone's plot lines nicely, and has a satisfying ending [note that by satisfying I mean it has a good ending, not satisfying as in happy because that ending was not happy. Bittersweet would be more accurate]. It's hard to pick my favorite finale, since they're all so good, but I think this one wins.

#5: Fear, Itself

Summary: On Halloween, Buffy and her friends find themselves trapped inside a haunted frat house complete with real bats, zombies, and a terrifying demon. 

Why I Love It: Can I just say I'm a big fan of TV ''specials''? And by that, I mean I love Halloween episodes, Christmas episodes, musical episodes, etc. The whole plot of having characters facing what they're afraid of is one of my personal favorites, plus this episode had some truly fantastic dialogue and funny moments.

Also, Anya in a bunny costume. 

#4: Who Are You?

Summary: Having switched bodies with Buffy, Faith enjoys her newfound freedom. Meanwhile, Buffy finds herself at the mercy of the Watcher council. 

Why I Love It: Ahh, the obligatory body-swap episode. Done well, they can be interesting and fun. However, they're not always done well. This one was, though. Eliza Dushku and Sarah Michelle Geller both do an amazing job mimicking each other's mannerisms, facial expressions, etc, which is part of what makes this episode so good. It's incredibly entertaining, while also being character-centric and just starting to dive into Faith's trauma, which is verrrrry interesting.

#3: Earshot

Summary: A mouthless demon infects Buffy with the ability to hear everyone's thoughts, but what starts out as a useful power soon turns into a curse.

Why I Love It: To be honest, I usually have a hard time explaining my love for Earshot. Sure, it's a good episode, but it wouldn't be on most people's Top Tens. Like Who Are You?, it's entertaining while also having more serious parts [Like Buffy's speech to Jonathan. Have I mentioned that I really love that speech? Because I do]. Also, the dialogue in this episode is amazing, and it's just a fun episode. 

#2: The Body

Summary: Buffy, Dawn and their friends deal with the afternath of Joyce's death. 

Why I Love It: This is an episode that I love, although it isn't necessarily one I like to re-watch because it's heartbreaking. It has a very realistic and interesting depiction of death and grief, which is, again, why I haven't re-watched it. There were also a lot of interesting artistic decisions made in this decision [like the choice to not include music], and the actors all brought their A-game [I mean, they always do, but even more so in this episode]. Anya's monologue, for example. Emma Caulfield was phenomenal in this scene.

I'm putting this here, so that you could read the whole thing. If you want to watch the whole scene, here's it on YouTube. Warning: It is a tearjerker. 

#1: Once More, With Feeling

Summary: In this musical extravaganza, Sunnydale residents find themselves bursting into song, and flame, when a demon attempts to make Dawn his bride. 

Why I Love It: Have I mentioned that I love musicals? Like, really, really, really love them? And I love the idea of musical episodes on TV, but a lot of shows [*cough* Riverdale] don't do them very well. However, yet again, the Buffy team did a fantastic job. It has an excellent plot that gives us an actual reason as to why everyone's singing and dancing,  plus the songs are actually really good [and, instead of just being covers they're original songs that fit each of the characters and manage to cover a bunch of genres], and, instead of just being a filler episode, it sets up a lot of events for the rest of the season. Just a gem of an episode, overall. 

Here's the entire soundtrack, if you feel compelled to listen to the songs. 

If you can find the music video version, I highly recommend watching it. It's hilarious.

So, let's talk. What're your favorite episodes of Buffy [if you've seen it]? Do we share any favorites? What are your favorite songs from Once More, With Feeling?