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.

[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.

[rachg82.livejournal.com]

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

[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.

[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.

[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.

[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!

[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.

[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.

[davesmusictank.livejournal.com]

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