{"id":27930,"date":"2012-09-03T18:13:18","date_gmt":"2012-09-03T17:13:18","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.scifinow.co.uk\/?p=27930"},"modified":"2012-09-06T18:15:31","modified_gmt":"2012-09-06T17:15:31","slug":"top-10-best-buffy-the-vampire-slayer-episodes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.scifinow.co.uk\/top-tens\/top-10-best-buffy-the-vampire-slayer-episodes\/","title":{"rendered":"Top 10 Best Buffy The Vampire Slayer Episodes"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>10. Lies My Parents Told Me<\/strong><\/p>\n

Spike was arguably the best-developed character on Buffy, going from trashy antagonist to a neutered vampire facing his own nature to soulful antihero, all while having excellent hair and an amusing British accent. In this episode, Spike’s origins are revisited as we’re shown his disturbing relationship with his mother, while Robin Wood confronts the blonde vampire about his past actions \u2013 specifically, the murder of his mother, the slayer Nikki Wood, from who Spike acquired his trademark jacket. Powerful stuff, and its denouement reminds us of just how much Spike evolved as a character in the five seasons since his debut.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>9. Fear, Itself<\/strong><\/p>\n

The best Halloween episode of Buffy, in which a party goes horribly wrong when all the guests\u2019 fears come to life, leaving Anya (dressed as a bunny) and Giles to try and save the group. \u2018Fear, Itself\u2019 is Buffy at its funniest \u2013 particularly the shock ending where the embodiment of fear turns out to be a few inches in height.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>8. Storyteller<\/strong><\/p>\n

Formerly evil ‘supervillain’ Andrew shows us the world of Buffy through a camera lens, tracking the Slayer and her entourage through a quiet period in their battle against the First Evil. Tom Lenk\u2019s performance as the narrator is superb, particularly the spot-on Masterpiece Theatre parody in which he dubs the protagonist “Buffy, Slayer of the Vampyres”. This charming episode is actually a great reminder of why Buffy\u2019s varied cast is so engaging after seven years, even when they’re doing a lot \u2013 it also scores points for the fan-treasured non sequitur where Andrew recalls himself, Jonathan and Warren as Gods, dressed in robes and dancing across a field.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>7. Restless<\/strong><\/p>\n

One of the strangest chapters of Buffy, \u2018Restless\u2019 is composed almost entirely of dream sequences involving the main characters. This well-edited, intriguing episode is packed with bizarre imagery and, as such, is quite open to interpretation, although Joss Whedon’s commentary for the episode helps point you in the right direction. Who is the cheese man? Why does Xander dream he\u2019s peeing in front of the army and getting it on with Buffy\u2019s mum? It\u2019s one of the best season finales of the show, perhaps because all the standing plotlines of Season Four were wrapped up the episode before, as well as a great prelude to the remaining three seasons.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a> 6. Fool For Love<\/strong><\/p>\n

How do you kill a vampire slayer? Ask the vampire that\u2019s killed two of them. This Spike-centric episode is an exciting venture into the show\u2019s mythology, as we watch the bleach-blonde vampire recall the sad moments of his history, particularly his unfortunate tendency to be manipulated by the women in his life. Despite Spike being a bloodthirsty killer throughout the majority of his existence, this is one of the instances in which we\u2019re shown how victimised and pathetic he can be, in spite of his inhumane past.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>5. Chosen<\/strong><\/p>\n

The final episode of Buffy is an all-out war against the First Evil, a much more traditional approach to a finale in terms of style than \u2018The Gift\u2019. It\u2019s not quite as slick, but it\u2019s a tough call, since this episode has more than a few poignant moments and impressive visual effects. From Spike\u2019s sacrifice to Anya\u2019s demise until the ultimate moment when Sunnydale is destroyed by the Hellmouth, it\u2019s exactly the kind of big-budget finale the show needed to go out on a bang.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>4. The Gift<\/strong><\/p>\n

Well, Buffy does die in this one. We had to include it, really, didn\u2019t we? Even if she did come back in the next season, the final moment where Buffy prevents the end of the world by sacrificing herself to close a world-consuming portal is poignant. Behind the scenes, this was created as a series finale since no deal could be closed to bring Buffy back for a sixth season on The WB network, yet the show was soon picked up by the emerging UPN network and the heroine was revived. As great as \u2018The Gift\u2019 is, from Buffy\u2019s sad acceptance that her end is near to Spike\u2019s futile attempt to save Dawn, we\u2019re very pleased the Slayer came back for another couple of years.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>3. Hush<\/strong><\/p>\n

We all know the genius of \u2018Hush\u2019 \u2013 it\u2019s the fact that over 25 minutes of it has no dialogue at all, relying solely on crafty acting performances and visual storytelling. What more is there to say?<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a> 2. The Body<\/strong><\/p>\n

A heartbreaking episode, and the strongest demonstration of Buffy\u2019s capacity to make human drama absolutely compelling.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>1. Once More With Feeling<\/strong><\/p>\n

Nobody could anticipate quite how on-the-money Buffy was in taking the simple idea of a musical episode and making it such a hit among fans and critics. All of the musical numbers are perfect \u2013 the seeds of doubt in Xander and Anya\u2019s marriage are planted in I\u2019ll Never Tell<\/em>, James Marsters gets his rock on with Rest In Peace<\/em> and the gloriously over-the-top Walk Through The Fire<\/em> sees everyone singing their hearts out. Guest star Hinton Battle may well be the highlight of the whole affair, playing Sweet, the demon who can make people dance to their deaths. High concept it may be, but ‘Once More With Feeling’ encapsulates the sheer creativity that powered Buffy through seven excellent years.<\/p>\n

And the rest\u2026<\/strong><\/p>\n

I realise there aren\u2019t a lot of early episodes on this list \u2013 it\u2019s a subjective thing, but I actually think Buffy<\/em> improved exponentially when Angel left. Not that it was bad before, but I think Season Four marked the time the writers started turning experimental ideas into truly classic episodes (particularly with ‘Hush’ and ‘Restless’). Having said that, I have a lot of love for early episodes, many of which you\u2019ll find in these honourable mentions, which are in no order whatsoever:<\/p>\n

‘Graduation Day’<\/strong> (everyone likes a big fight and a bad CG snake), ‘Normal Again<\/strong>‘ (contentious, but I like that it got people talking), ‘Grave’<\/strong> (Season Six gets a lot of hate, but Willow and Xander\u2019s conversation at the climax highlighted just how much we cared about these characters), ‘Dirty Girls<\/strong>‘ (Buffy<\/em> at its darkest, though BBC2 ruined this for terrestrial viewers in the UK by censoring the episode and not making it clear Xander had been blinded in one eye), ‘Conversations With Dead People’<\/strong> (great concept), ‘Doublemeat Palace’<\/strong> (I still loved fast food after watching this), ‘As You Were<\/strong>‘ (crap, maybe we do like Riley!), ‘Buffy Vs Dracula’<\/strong> (a pleasant oddity), ‘The Yoko Factor<\/strong>‘ (Riley Vs Angel! I swear the writers had comic book fans in mind when writing this), ‘Superstar’<\/strong> (Danny Strong is one of the show\u2019s all-time best supporting stars), ‘Lovers Walk’<\/strong> (captures all the messed up stuff that comes with romance in a Whedon show), ‘Tabula Rasa<\/strong>‘ (amnesia spell was a funny idea, but the ending is SO downbeat), ‘Anne<\/strong>‘ (Buffy grows up some more, with a superb high concept at the centre of the \u2018aging\u2019 in this episode), ‘Band Candy’<\/strong>, ‘New Moon Rising’<\/strong>, ‘Amends’<\/strong>, ‘Earshot<\/strong>‘, ‘The Prom’<\/strong>, ‘Lie To Me’<\/strong>, ‘Innocence’<\/strong>, ‘Faith’, ‘Hope And Trick<\/strong>‘, ‘Becoming Part 2’<\/strong>, ‘Selfless’<\/strong> (which very nearly made the top ten), ‘Hell\u2019s Bells’<\/strong>\u2026<\/p>\n

Alright, we pretty much like them all (except Season One \u2013 Principal Flutie being eaten by hyenas was a creative low point, and in comparison to later Big Bads, the Master isn\u2019t in the same ballpark \u2013 still love the episode \u2018Angel<\/strong>\u2019, though).<\/p>\n

What are your favourite episodes of Buffy? Let us know below or @SciFiNow<\/a>! Check out our accompanying Angel list<\/a>, too.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Counting down our Top 10 episodes of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, created by Joss Whedon – did your favourite make it?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":16,"featured_media":28123,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"MSN_Categories":"Uncategorized","MSN_Publish_Option":false,"MSN_Is_Local_News":false,"MSN_Is_AIAC_Included":"Empty","MSN_Location":"[]","MSN_Add_Feature_Img_On_Top_Of_Post":false,"MSN_Has_Custom_Author":false,"MSN_Custom_Author":"","MSN_Has_Custom_Canonical_Url":false,"MSN_Custom_Canonical_Url":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[1622,441],"acf":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.scifinow.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/09\/Once-More-With-Feeling.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.scifinow.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27930"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.scifinow.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.scifinow.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.scifinow.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/16"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.scifinow.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=27930"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.scifinow.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27930\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.scifinow.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/28123"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.scifinow.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=27930"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.scifinow.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=27930"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.scifinow.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=27930"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}