Buffy

[frelling_tralk]

The 19 greatest episodes of "Buffy the Vampire Slayer," in honor of the show's 19th birthday

I think I would have added Innocence, Doopelgangland, Who Are You, and Restless to my list, although I wouldn't know which episodes to take off for them! (I guess maybe Band Candy, Life Serial, and Seeing Red?) I've noticed that Innocence seems to often get left off lists like these in favour of Passion, but personally I find Innocence to be the much stronger episode overall, even though the chase sequence from Passion might be more memorable

And season 4 should really have more than two episodes on there IMO, the central arc might not have been the strongest, but there were still quite a few classic one-off episodes that year

Comments

[itsnotmymind.livejournal.com]

I'm stunned that they left Restless off the list. And yes to Innocence and Who Are You. My list would probably also include Earshot, New Moon Rising, and Dead Things. I would hate to leave Lie To Me off...

I'm iffy on School Hard. Spike and Dru have an amazing introduction, but the rest of the episode is not so great.

[frelling-tralk.livejournal.com]

I have a soft spot for School Hard as Spike and Dru really do kickstart season 2 and the beginning of ~Classic Buffy~, but yeah I think Spike and Dru as characters mostly carry that episode, rather than it being a classic in itself

I would definitely consider adding Earshot and Dead Things, it's hard to narrow it down to only 19 episodes *g*

[mfirefly10.livejournal.com]

ITA with most of this list. I hated Seeing Red so I'd definitely take that one off the list and I don't remember much about Life Serial so I'd remove that one, too. Innocence and Who Are You absolutely belong on that list so I'd put those in instead. Something Blue and Band Candy were good but IDK if I'd consider them for this list. I'd probably replace those with Doppelgangland, Restless or Consequences.

[frelling-tralk.livejournal.com]

I enjoyed Life Serial a lot, man could I relate to Buffy's boredom while trying out her first 9-5 jobs after school *g*, but if we can only pick 19 episodes then yeah that one wouldn't be on there for me as the very best that bts has to offer

I wonder if Innocence and Doopelgangland both got left off because they were considered too similar to Passion and The Wish?

[rachg82.livejournal.com]

I also love Who Are You and season 4 in general, and Restless is my all-time fave Buffy episode.

[frelling-tralk.livejournal.com]

Same! Restless, Once More With Feeling, and Fool For Love are my top three episodes

[chelseagirl.livejournal.com]

Jenny Calendar's death raises Passion to my top 10, much less 19. I did like the character and was rooting for her and Giles to reconcile, but also this was the first time we realized how high the stakes were and that major characters could die.  (Long before "Joss loves to kill characters" had become a thing.)

I would rate Innocence very highly, as well.

[frelling-tralk.livejournal.com]

I do think that Jenny's death sequence and the aftermath was incredibly well-done, but Innocence tops it for me as an episode

[sunclouds33.livejournal.com]

I also like Innocence more than Passion, although both are extraordinary. Innocence is more of a show-case for the entire cast. Some of the stalking in Passion was outstanding on first watch, but feels repetitive on second watch when you know that Jenny was the one that died instead of Joyce, or Willow, or no one at all because lots of shows promise a death but don't deliver.

I'd take off Band Candy, Life Serial, and Seeing Red too in order to replace also with Restless, Doppelgangland, and Who are You? I think I'd also replace School Hard, The Prom, Chosen with Bad Girls, Consequences (maybe too repetitive for both of those eps, but I love that arc), Innocence. And Conversations with Dead People with The Yoko Factor. And I know I'm alone but I like Tough Love and I Was Made to Love You more than The Body or Fool for Love in terms of S5 entries.

[frelling-tralk.livejournal.com]

Yeah I do think that Passion was incredible when it came to actually delivering with Jenny's death sequence, but some of the beginning of the episode isn't as strong to me, whereas Innocence delivers in every scene IMO

And I do enjoy I Was Made To Love You a lot more than many seemed too (I'm always here for Jane Espensen Buffy episodes!), but I must admit that I've never thought of it as being one of the very best that Buffy has to offer, what is it that makes it top 19 for you?

[infinitewhale.livejournal.com]

I'd probably take off Grad. Day, Selfless, Life Serial, Chosen, Seeing Red, School Hard, Something Blue... Yeah, I'm not a fan of the list. Seeing Red is a pretty gripping episode, but I wouldn't really call it great. There's bias there because I find the message repugnant.

I've always wondered why Anne never gets any love. I'd include Anne, Storyteller, Forever, and Him in there somewhere. I'd definitely take Halloween over School Hard.

[frelling-tralk.livejournal.com]

The premiere episodes never seem to get as much love for some reason, Bargaining is the only one I've ever seen frequently pointed too as a stand-out, and ironically that that was the one premiere not written by Joss. I think part of why Anne wasn't that popular was because a lot of viewers were impatient to get Buffy back to Sunnydale? I've seen some complaints over the years that season 3 was too slow to get going in the first three episodes, possibly that concept of Buffy being trapped in a hell dimension would have been better received if it had aired later in the year instead, although obviously that would have spoiled the metaphor somewhat as it was supposed to happen at a time when Buffy was isolated and lost!

And Storyteller and Halloween are definitely episodes that I'd also consider for the top 19, although I don't know about Him tbh. It was a funny episode, but I've never really seen it as one of the classic Buffy comedies. It has its moments though

[infinitewhale.livejournal.com]

I think part of why Anne wasn't that popular was because a lot of viewers were impatient to get Buffy back to Sunnydale?

Maybe. It does seem like eps were the Scoobies are separated don't get much love? There's Bargaining, but that's different since she's dead and there's Buffybot. To me Anne is about as perfect of a Buffy ep as you can get.

It was a funny episode, but I've never really seen it as one of the classic Buffy comedies. It has its moments though

Comedy is subjective, of course. I feel the same way about Something Blue and Band Candy. I just don't find them funny, while Living Conditions and Him are hilarious.

[frelling-tralk.livejournal.com]

Fair enough! I'm with you in not being a huge fan of Band Candy actually. I mean it was decent enough as Buffy episodes go, I did enjoy the characterisations of Giles and Synder, but I've never been that convinced by the adults all without fail turning into irresponsible idiots, it felt like a really clunky message on what all teenagers are supposedly like. I definitely wouldn't include it among my favourite of the Buffy comedy episodes anyway. Living Conditions, Pangs, and A New Man were all much funnier IMO

[infinitewhale.livejournal.com]

I'd definitely put A New Man over Band Candy. Thing about BC is there's not a whole lot of funny stuff I remember. Mostly I'm just once-again annoyed at Joyce for being overbearing and refusing to accept her role in Buffy leaving. And making her pay for the Jeep damage. All while pretending to be about responsibility.

Yeah, I have issues with Band Candy!

[molly_may]

Yeah, I would trade Passion for Innocence in a heartbeat. I do like Passion, but Innocence is the real game-changer of the series, and I don't think there's a wasted moment in it. Plus, it doesn't have a broody Angel voiceover, which gives it a definite advantage.

I would probably keep Band Candy because it always makes me laugh, but drop The Prom because Buffy getting her award is the only scene in that episode that I really care about. I would also drop Seeing Red and add Restless, but beyond that I do really like every episode on the list which makes it hard to consider dropping any of them. It's tough to keep the list to only 19!

[frelling-tralk.livejournal.com]

That was my dilemma, I could think of tons more episodes that I wanted to include, but it was hard to know which ones to drop *g* And yeah, Passion is good definitely, but I'm always surprised whenever I see it being rated higher than Innocence, and that does seem to happen a lot with best of lists only including Passion and Becoming from season 2. I suppose that Jenny Calender's death is the most memorable for most viewers when they look back on season 2, and so Passions is always remembered as the real stand-out episode from that arc, along with Angel going to hell in the finale of course, but then Innocence was just as shocking at the time for the way that it turned Angel and emotionally gutted Buffy. Plus it has a rocket launcher!

[ever-neutral.livejournal.com]

Lowkey miffed at the justification for the inclusion of Seeing Red -- "Tara was killed off therefore it was a great episode?" If you say so.

I'm a fake Spike stan because I've never understood the raving over School Hard -- it's some 30 minutes of everyone running around a dark Sunnydale High set and clutching their pearls. Shoulda been Innocence!!

And to this day I stare blankly at the hype over The Prom. While I'm as gripped by Angel dumping Buffy in the sewers as much as the next person, my eyeballs glaze over hardcore at the uber-American high school experience tradition ritual blah blah blah.

In any case, I'm glad people still make these lists because questioning everyone else's choices is good times.

[frelling-tralk.livejournal.com]

I didn't understand that logic either, if anything Dead Things would be the better episode to go with if you're going to talk about SR doing a great job of catching you off-guard in building up Warren as a legitimately scary villain

I love SH just for the Spike and Dru moments tbh lol, "you see Miss Edith? If you'd been good you could have watched with the rest', 'fed off a flower person and spend the next four hours watching my hands move', 'time for a little less ritual and a little more fun around here'. It was such a perfect intro for them <3 But yeah in retrospect it doesn't really have the strongest plot

And heh Buffy was my first intro to American rituals like campaigning to be crowned 'Queen' at Homecoming or having a King and Queen at Prom, so I will always have a soft spot for the spin those episodes put on them. Most people's eyes tend to glaze over when I say that Homecoming is one of my fav Buffy episodes though *g*

[penderies.livejournal.com]

I thought Passion was so upsetting, but definitely not as amazing an episode as some of the others. I think it was just so shocking which is why most people pick it. Season two is amazing, though.

[frelling-tralk.livejournal.com]

Yeah I agree, I was saying above that I think most people pick Passions and Becoming as the strongest episodes from that arc partly because Jenny's death and Buffy having to kill Angel were sooo shocking that they stood out more, but then Innocence was just as much a game-changer as well at the time. Waiting in Innocence for Angel to fully reveal himself as Angelus to Buffy and the others (that scene at school when he's calling Willow to him is so creepy!) builds even more beautifully for me than Angelus's stalking at the beginning of Passion (I've always thought that Willow's discovery of her fish being killed was a bit on the lame side quite honestly), although I'm not arguing that Passions wasn't a strong episode as well of course. Once it hits its stride then it's really great

[davesmusictank.livejournal.com]

Overall Season 4 was pretty good with some excellent stand alone episodes. Restless should have been on that list as well.

[frelling-tralk.livejournal.com]

Restless should have definitely been included, that's one of the Buffy greats for me