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This episode also marked the first time a popular recurring character in the Buffyverse kicked the bucket. Jenny’s death took the show into a whole new zone for the audience as well as the characters, and cemented Buffy’s conviction that Angelus would have to die as soon as possible. And the dramatic irony of that floppy disk sliding off the desk and out of view in the episode’s final moments gave us a despairing, tragic pain every bit as exquisite as anything Angelus himself could have dealt out.

Damn you, Whedon.

8. WILD AT HEART (Season 4, Episode 6)

This episode does something that the series tends on the whole to do very well, have a character take a step outside themselves to really examine all the angles, both logistic and philosophical, to their situation. Oz is finally confronted with a completely different take on lycanthropy and what it means to live with it. Here Veruca occupies the same role that Faith did in “Consequences.” Whether or not you agree with her conclusions, all of her questions are worth asking.

This episode also burns in our memories because it’s one that few of us saw coming. We all knew Oz was building toward something major, but leaving the show because of it—and so abruptly—completely blindsided us. Sure, it was due to some behind-the-scenes renegotiations and wasn’t purely inspired from an artistic standpoint, but who cares? The ultimate result was perfection. Like Willow, we couldn’t believe it was happening, and we kept hoping against all hope that Oz would stop the van and walk back through that door, and he didn’t.

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Whedon has said that there are very specific reasons behind when he chooses to fade out at the bottom of an episode, rather than the standard cut to black. I’ve always suspected that a fade out signifies the end of an era, the closing of a door, and in this instance, it was to say that Oz was leaving and it was for real.

7. FOOL FOR LOVE (Season 5, Episode 7)

Mythology episodes are almost always a treat. Seeing how Spike started as some simpering, foppish romantic, then grow into a vicious, brutal killer as layer after layer of his identity gets laid on, then finally realizing that underneath all the bleach and leather and blood, he’s still the same guy… it’s truly brilliant. James Marsters takes us on such a journey, and if that weren’t enough, we get to see two Slayers, both of whom are fucking badasses that I immediately wanted to know more about. Spike’s final monologue to Buffy is so, so good, and touches on themes that will play out over the rest of the season.

Aside from being a fun (probably the most fun) Spike episode in the entire run of the series, as well as a solid building block of Season 5, “Fool For Love” gave us more insight into the psychology of the Slayer in one episode than we’d gotten in the entire series up to that point. It is a true masterpiece as a character study, as mythology, and as just plain fun.

6. HUSH (Season 4, Episode 10)

Do I even need to say why this episode is amazing? It makes it onto every single Top 10 list of this kind, and for good reason. A deliberate exercise by Whedon in writing and direction, there is no dialogue for about 3/4 of the episode, forcing the actors to rely entirely on their physicality to convey all their thoughts and emotions. This of course was built upon the theme that language is so specific and so limiting that it gets in our way, and that it’s only once we stop talking that we start communicating.

The performances were top notch, the humor was on point (we all know which scene I’m referencing), the music and atmosphere were bone-chilling, and the Gentlemen themselves were so creepy and unsettling in how civilized their malice was that they inspired more than a few people’s nightmares. Throw in Buffy and Riley’s mutual identity reveal and the first appearance of Tara and all the Sapphic subtext she brought with her, and it’s no mystery why this episode is universally considered one of the best.

5. RESTLESS (Season 4, Episode 22)

This oddly low-key season finale is a grace note that really delves into the character’s psychologies, taking a look back at where they started, where they are, and where they’re going. Foreshadowing abounds in this episode, and events or qualities alluded to here resonate throughout the rest of the series. Everything from a mention of Dawn to Joyce’s death to Anya’s return to the vengeance fold to Riley’s departure to Spike’s redemption… I mean, there’s just too much to even list. Fifteen years in, and I’m still picking up on new levels of meaning with every viewing.

As a character study, the piece is flawless, most notably with Willow’s own perception of herself and her subconscious belief that all of her character development to that point is a lie, a disguise, artifice to hide that she’s really still an insecure nerd underneath it all. It’s truly brilliant. This episode also marks the first appearance of Sineya A.K.A. the Primitive or First Slayer, a character that was explored more fully in the Buffy comics.

But even beyond all that, this episode is a work of art on account of its presentation alone. Countless films and TV shows have attempted to depict the surrealism of the dreamscape, but none (with the possible exception of Twin Peaks, which gets a brief shout-out in Willow’s segment) has done it so successfully. The way the locations and scenarios drift into one another almost seamlessly, how imagery and behavior that would ordinarily seem out of place is just accepted as a given, the lighting, the music, it’s just art. There’s no other word for it.

4. ONCE MORE, WITH FEELING (Season 6, Episode 7)

There is a not small portion of the fandom that would rank this episode at #1, and it’s easy to see why. The plot is solid, the musical numbers are well-written and fun, and the episode manages to forward the storyline of nearly every character (as per usual, Dawn gets the shaft).

“Once More, With Feeling” wasn’t the first attempt by a TV series at a musical episode, but it is by far the most successful. And before anyone mentions Glee, that is a whole other story and you know it. In terms of a one-shot episode of a show that otherwise does not employ musical numbers as part of its premise, this one is the undisputed champion.

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You don’t have to be versed in musical theater tropes to enjoy the hell out of it, but if you are, it is sublime on a whole other level. Each number represents a different genre of musical theater. “Going Through the Motions” is a standard Disney “I want” song. “I’ll Never Tell” is reminiscent of the kitschy fun of mid-20th Century screwball comedies (with the deliberately shitty high school choreography to match). Then, of course, there’s “Rest in Peace” and “Standing,” which pay homage to modern rock operas like Tommy and Rent.

It’s is simply mind-boggling not only how many moving parts went into making this episode work, but how well the finished product does. It’s crazy, it’s daring, it’s fun, and it holds up as both a viewing experience and an iPod playlist.

3. THE BODY (Season 5, Episode 16)

Never have I seen such a visceral and on point exploration of the initial shock that precedes the full emotional release of grief. The way that Buffy just stumbles in a daze through the first few hours of life without her mom, too in shock to deal… the way Dawn sees some stupid junior high crap as life or death until she’s confronted with a true matter of life and death… the coming undone of Xander and Willow, for whom Joyce was the warm, nurturing presence in light of parents that had so utterly failed them … and poor Anya, who had cast off her mortality before she ever had to face it finally coming to understand what it means and what it does, asking the others simple questions of a lost child.

Emma Caulfield not even getting nominated for an Emmy for Anya’s breakdown is just a crime. Even Giles is shaken. And then there’s Tara, the unexpected voice of comfort, who’s been through all this. She and Buffy aren’t very close and don’t have much in common, but now something bonds them that the others simply cannot understand, not completely.

There’s an odd air of violation in this episode, the way that Buffy’s world is completely crumbling beneath her feet and yet for the rest of the world it’s just another day. Life goes on. Children play. Parking attendants leave tickets. The world keeps on turning in a way that seems almost vulgar. Joss Whedon gets a lot of shit for killing off characters, often accused of gratuitous deaths, but this was one that, despite how much it hurt—and I felt this loss more deeply than any other Buffyverse character—felt completely justified, because it was handled so damn well.

2. GRADUATION DAY, PARTS 1 & 2 (Season 3, Episodes 21 & 22)

“Graduation Day” is simply a feast. It is a fitting, impeccably paced, and brilliantly written finale to what is arguably the most even and well-crafted season of the show. Every character finds a moment to shine, and every subplot contributes to the main story. Aside from the main plot, which features a lot of work on Xander’s part, thanks to his brief stint as a soldier during “Halloween,” we find him chatting up Cordelia, with whom he reconciled during “The Prom.” They’re not heading back toward dating again—that ship has sailed—but they are notably friendlier than they ever were before they hooked up, showing us that there is no returning to the status quo. These kids are different from who they were before. They’ve grown, apart perhaps, but growth is growth. Xander also brings Anya into the equation, and thus her firsthand account of what an ascension actually looks like, information upon which much of the story is predicated.

Willow and Oz end up having their first time together in a rather impromptu but no less welcome fashion. Their contribution to the finale is far more emotional than plotty, but given how pivotal Willow was in the previous season finale, giving Xander a chance to really shine this time seems only fair. Giles blows up the school himself, starting with his beloved library. As for our titular vampire slayer… well, where to begin?

There’s the final break with Angel, the rush to save his life, the to-the-death fight with Faith in order to do it. And while the fight with Faith was enormously fun, well choreographed, and certainly more emotionally charged than Buffy’s showdown with the Mayor-as-giant-demon-snake, the most poignant moment, and the one that kills me softly every time, is Buffy and Faith’s coda inside the dream.

It’s ironic that in order for them to find peace with one another, Faith had to end up in a coma. Everything about that scene—the dialogue, the bizarre imagery (a possible dry-run for “Restless?”), Christophe Beck’s simultaneously haunting and Zen score, even the first vague reference to Dawn—is just perfect and beautiful, and subtly underlines the quiet tragedy of Faith’s story. Even after everything that’s happened, Buffy’s compassion moves her to forgive Faith, even if it’s too late.

“Graduation Day” was a turning point for the series in so many ways. It was a transition from high school to college, from being one show two shows, and from Angel being Buffy’s one true love to the that mythic ex against whom all future boyfriends will be compared. Some much beloved characters (Larry) died, others (Harmony) were vamped, and yet others (Cordelia) walked away, never to be seen on Buffy again. And, of course, they blew up the school. And in the purest, most harmless desire to watch that hellish institution disappear, who among us hasn’t dreamed of that?

So, what could possibly top an episode where Angel drinks from Buffy, where the entire graduating class of Sunnydale High unites to claim victory over high school, and the school itself is blow to high hell?

1. BECOMING, PARTS 1 & 2 (Season 2, Episodes 21 & 22)

Of all the Buffy finales, this one was the most heartbreaking, even more so than “The Gift,” because sad as it was, we all knew Buffy was coming back to life. We had no such guarantees about Angel, at least until the nightly news that aired immediately after, which mentioned the prospect of a spin-off featuring him. But as we were watching the episode, all we knew was that Buffy had just killed Angel—not Angelus, but a freshly re-ensouled Angel—in order to save the world, and it destroyed her so profoundly that she left town. It was by far and away the most emotionally resonant big bad fight. I’d say the fight with Faith comes close in terms of emotional weight, but Faith was that season’s Dragon, not the Big Bad.

In addition to the most climactic and tragic lovers’ spat of all time, This episode featured the torture of Giles, the sadistic (on both Angelus’ part and Whedon’s) first appearance of Jenny since her brutal murder, the death of Kendra, the first alliance of Buffy and Spike, Joyce learning that Buffy is the Slayer, and lest we forget… Willow’s first spell, the first step in a journey that would define her character for the remainder of the series. This episode had twists and turns, romantic drama, family drama, humor, grief, heartbreak, foreshadowing for the season to come, and just when you thought Buffy squaring off in a sword duel with the demon wearing her dead boyfriend’s face was the worst it was going to get… Willow’s spell works and Angel’s soul is restored. Buffy gets Angel back, and she still has to kill him.

And then… Sarah McLachlan. I was done, people, and I still am, 17 years later. Sweet. Fucking. God. This was amazing and in my book the all-time greatest episode of Buffy the Vampire Slayer.

Now, I’m sure many are wondering, even those who agree, how “Becoming” made it to the top of the list when “The Body” was my favorite. The reason “The Body” or any of the other stand-out, artsy episodes of Buffy wouldn’t make it to #1 is simple. The #1 episode of any show should fully embody the spirit and tone of that show. It shouldn’t be a typical episode, because then by definition it wouldn’t be special. Rather, it should be the ultimate form, if you will, of a typical episode.

Now, the artsy episodes like “The Body,” “Restless,” and, yes, “Once More, With Feeling” are—and I can’t emphasize this enough—FUCKING INCREDIBLE. But if someone who knew absolutely nothing of Buffy asked you to recommend an episode that really encapsulated what the show was like and what it was about, an episode that successfully embodied the general tone, themes, and presentation, the same qualities that make those episodes so freakin’ amazing preclude them from ever being that recommendation.

“Graduation Day” and “Becoming” are truly Buffy at its best, so why did one win out over the other? Well, there are a few reasons.

One sounds pretty shallow, but does count for something. Angelus is a vampire. Now, it’s true that the series opened up the premise of the Slayer to fighting all demons and creatures of darkness, but the show ain’t called Buffy the Monster Slayer. Vampires are the default. When all else fails, vampires are there as the constant underlying threat. It’s where the premise began. Thus, an elevated vampire like the Master or Angelus will always be closer to that premise and thus more resonant. They also align with the gothic feel of the early seasons, 1 & 2 especially.

Then there’s the fact that with Angelus, the emotional stakes were far higher. The Mayor was a great villain, but his emotional ties and Buffy’s were with Faith, not with each other. Buffy wasn’t conflicted, damaged, or tested by fighting the Mayor the way she was when she fought Angelus.

“Becoming” is Buffy in its purest form: A girl fighting a vampire as she endures heartbreak. Nothing boils the premise down quite so well. This two-parter enchants you, seduces you, then rips your heart out and dares you to keep on going. It is gothic horror/romance and astute metaphor in equal measure, and it is sublime as both.

Both episodes are satisfying meals, but they’re different kinds of meals. “Graduation Day” is a hearty shepherd’s pie, delicious and nutritious. It’s got meat, potatoes, gravy, even a little veg. It’s filling, satisfying, it hits all the right notes, and you can pound that goodness with gusto; it’s comfort food you can share with the group.

“Becoming” is a cheese board with fine wine. You’ve got a modest variety of savory flavors: cheese, meats, maybe even some grapes. It’s a sparer meal, to be sure, but no less nutritious and satisfying. And paired with a nice Cabernet or Riesling, it’s a delight shared in more intimate company and stands as an example of just how much artistry can go into the simple joys. True, it may be an acquired taste for some, not as guaranteed a crowd pleaser, but it’s definitely better for your heart.

This article first ran on October 16, 2015.