Favorite Series in 10 or Less: Buffy the Vampire Slayer

It seems appropriate that I would begin my "10 or Less" series with my favorite series of all time: Buffy the Vampire Slayer. For this particular series in my blog, I will choose a canceled show that I have seen every episode of. I will go through the list of episodes and pick my top ten of all time to share with you all. Buffy was REALLY hard for me to narrow down. My initial list was 16 when I was being very picky, and by the time I got it down to 12, I was agonizing over what to cross off. Then ordering the final 10 was also extremely difficult, but I think the final result reflects my feelings for the show quite well. I must make a quick warning that I have always been a fan of Buffy and Angel together, so this ends up showing a lot in the list. You'll have to let me know what your favorites are if you watch the show.

10. The Body, Season 5, Episode 16

This episode stood out among many of the others because of how real and silent it was throughout its duration. I think there is little to no music in the episode, and the characters' reactions are raw and ugly at times to convey the tragedy of sudden death. The episode starts with Buffy coming home to find her mom dead on the couch, with no evidence of murder. Her mom had been in and out of the hospital in previous episodes because of a brain tumor, but she had been given a clean bill of health. The show divides into segments showing how each person deals with the death, starting with Buffy. She calls 911 and tries to do CPR, but ends up cracking a rib. The paramedics come and she has a brief fantasy that her mom wakes up and was saved just in time, but this is quickly shattered when the paramedics pronounce her dead and leave Buffy with the body. Giles comes to help her, not knowing what she called him for, and Buffy yells at him that they can not touch the body before collapsing into grief.
The episode continues with a poignant scene when Buffy has to go tell her sister at school what has happened. Both girls end up crying in the hallway while classmates watch from the window silently wondering what is going on. Buffy's friends gather at Willow's before meeting the family at the hospital in the next segment, and you see that they are all at a loss of what to do to help their friend. Anya gives a particularly amazing speech about not understanding death and grief. She gives it from a perspective of someone who is newly human, but it strikes a chord with those in the audience who remember the confusion of the first death in their life.

But I don't understand! I don't understand how this all happens... How we go through this. I mean I knew her, and then she's.. there's just a body, and I don't understand why she just can't get back in it and not be dead anymore. It's stupid, it's mortal and stupid! And Xander's crying and not talking, and I was having fruit punch, and I thought, Well, Joyce will never have any more fruit punch ever and she'll never have eggs, or yawn, or brush her hair, not ever, and no one will explain to me why!

I think that speech makes this one of my favorites. The writing and acting for this episode was just fantastic. It's hard to watch because it feels so real, but it captures the feelings anyone would have in that situation.

9. Tabula Rasa, Season 6, Episode 8

This episode is really silly and fun, and gave the audience a break from all the drama that was going on in the show at the time. Willow casts a spell to make her girlfriend, Tara, forget about all the witchcraft she has done so that she won't leave her. Unfortunately, the spell backfires and makes everyone forget who they are. The entire cast is together when the spell takes affect, so they immediately begin accusing each other of causing the memory loss, and then move on to debating government conspiracies. Some of the characters are able to figure out their names by finding I.D. cards, papers, and in one person's case, a name necklace. Buffy is not one of these people, and decides to name herself Joan. Dawn argues with her about this being a stupid name, and they figure out that they are probably sisters because of the way they are bickering. While this was a lucky guess, the rest of the group misinterprets their relationships. Willow thinks she is Xander's girlfriend because she is wearing his jacket, Anya thinks she is married to Giles because they are both listed as owners of the magic shop, and Spike thinks he is Giles' son because they are both British and seem to hate each other.
Things get crazier when they start getting attacked by Spike's enemies and Buffy realizes she must be some kind of superhero because of her abilities. Spike claims he is strong, too, so they both set out to fight the bad guys while the rest of the group escapes through the back tunnels. Giles and Anya stick around to try to find a magical solution, but Anya ends up conjuring an enormous amount of bunnies (one of her only fears). The spell eventually wears off, but everyone is left unhappy because they must go back to all of the drama that is going on. Definitely worth watching for a laugh, but you might want to switch to something else once they get their memory back if you don't want to be depressed.

8. Angel, Season 1, Episode 7

Okay, this had to be on the list because of how much I love Angel. Angel is actually introduced in the first episode of the series, but this is the episode in which Buffy finds out he is a vampire. Dun dun duuuuuuuuun. Of course this is after she has developed a major crush on him, so she has a lot of emotions to work out.
Angel saves Buffy in the beginning of the episode from a three on one attack, and she insists he stay at her house since it's dangerous outside (not knowing he can very well take care of himself). He's a gentleman and sleeps on her floor next to her bed, and she brags about this the next day to Willow and Xander as she begins the typical teenager gushing about her guy. The next night they kiss after they both admit they can't stop thinking about each other, and he decides this is the perfect time to show her he's a vampire. Boys.
Darla, Angel's sire, shows up on his doorstep to convince him to kill Buffy, while Buffy's friends convince her she needs to kill him because it's her job. They go to fight each other, but realize neither of them has the guts to do anything. Angel confesses to Buffy that over a hundred years ago he was cursed with a soul, and now feels guilt and sadness over the mass murders he caused in his earlier years. Buffy begins to sympathize, but they are interrupted by a pissed off Darla who opens fire on them both (this was one of the few times guns were used in this show). Angel ends up killing Darla himself, and he and Buffy agree to "see each other around" which apparently is code for "become destined lovers." Gotta love a good romance story. Twilight has nothing on these two.

7. The Gift, Season 5, Episode 22

Spoiler Alert: Buffy dies. Yes, this episode shocked me more than any other show has (although that is a big statement, so take it lightly). Season 5 has a long story line about Buffy's new found sister, Dawn, and how she really isn't Buffy's sister, but instead a key to another dimension in which a woman named Glory is an evil god. Glory has been trying to find the key to open up the doors between the two worlds and end her life as a human, but it takes her awhile to figure out it's Dawn, let alone that the key is a human. Wow, that summarizing sounds so bizarre, but if you watch the show, it makes sense I promise.
By this episode, Glory has Dawn, and is getting ready to do the ritual to open up the portal. The ritual involves draining Dawn of her blood, so Buffy and her friends must get there and stop it before it's too late. They have to be creative since Glory is immortal, but they end up using a rather large hammer and a wreaking ball to slow her down quite nicely. Unfortunately, Glory has a really creepy assistant to perform the ritual for her, and Dawn's blood starts opening the portal before Buffy can reach her. The only way to close the portal (which is currently bringing in ginormous demons from another dimension) is to close it by draining the rest of Dawn's blood. At this moment, Buffy realizes Dawn was made from her own blood, and knows that when she was earlier told "Death is your gift" by a spirit guide, it meant her own death. She can die to save Dawn and the world. She gives one final speech to Dawn that we hear after she has already jumped into the portal and died, and I think at this point I was a complete mess.

Dawn, listen to me, listen. I love you. I will always love you. But this is the work that I have to do. Tell Giles… tell Giles I figured it out. And, and I'm okay. And give my love to my friends. You have to take care of them now. You have to take care of each other. Dawn, the hardest thing in this world… is to live in it. Be brave. Live… for me.

I cried for about 20 minutes. I managed to compose myself during the Angel finale that immediately followed, but at the end of that episode, Angel is informed of Buffy's death. I started crying all over again. Damn you Joss Whedon for tugging at my heartstrings!

6. Graduation Day, Season 3, Episodes 21-22

This is one of my favorites because it has personal significance. It was actually the first episode I ever watched live. I saw the preview for it when I was in 5th grade and decided that a show involving a giant snake, graduation, girl fights, and a slow motion vampire bite was well worth my attention. I was not disappointed.
The episode is another climactic ending to a long story line that was built up throughout the season. This one involved the immortal town mayor preparing himself to transform into a giant snake demon to take out Sunnydale. He was able to recruit Faith, the only other living slayer, who turned away from Buffy mid-season in favor of the dark side. She shoots Angel with a poison arrow in the beginning of the two part episode, infecting him with a disease whose only cure is slayer's blood. Buffy goes after Faith to get the anecdote and manages to mortally wound her. Faith jumps off a ledge to avoid saving Angel, and she ends up in a coma in the hospital later. Buffy then decides she is Angel's only hope for survival and convinces him to drink from her. The drinking scene is pretty epic, but it doesn't compare to the full blown fight at the end.
Buffy is somehow able to recruit the entire senior class to help with her plan to blow up the giant snake demon. There is a part where Buffy yells "Now!" at graduation and every student takes off their cap and gown to reveal concealed weapons they armed themselves with. It's great. There is also an awesome shot of vampires (trying to run away from the students) that end up facing a menacing group of guys, whose front runner is none other than a pissed off Angel.
The saddest part of this episode is when Angel leaves. Buffy sees him from a distance in the last few minutes of the episode and gives him that knowing look of goodbye. He then walks off into the smoke without a word. I didn't get this when I first saw it because I had no idea of the back story, but after watching the seasons leading up to this point, I was much more emotionally involved. I'm glad Angel got his own series, but I always looked forward to those few crossover episodes.

5. The Prom, Season 3, Episode 20

Ah, the prom. It comes up in every teenage drama. The girl gets the guy, they have that perfect dance, and they are in love forever. Not quite for Buffy. In this episode, Angel realizes he can never give Buffy a normal life and decides to break up with her. She tells him as he is breaking it off, "I want my life to be with you." He stares at her for a minute and then says firmly "I don't." She doesn't know how life will go on without him, but he says he will leave after Graduation to make it easier. Angel is then labeled by audiences as a douchebag. Especially for breaking up with Buffy right before prom.
The break up is heart-wrenching to watch, and you can't help but shed a few tears when Buffy shares her pain with Willow. "I feel like I can't breathe, Will. I feel like I can't breathe!" I think every girl can relate to that, and maybe even some guys, too. There is no need for some dramatic demon story, so they just throw in some hell hounds that are raised to attack prom-goers and call it a day. Buffy saves everyone as usual and manages to find the time to make herself look pretty for prom at the end.
The best part of the episode comes when the senior class presents Buffy with an award for all her efforts in protecting the school and town. The somewhat nerdy kid Jonathan gets up and reads the following speech before presenting Buffy with a decorative umbrella:

This is actually a new category. First time ever. I guess there were a lot of write-in ballots, and, um, well, the prom committee asked me to read this... We're not good friends. Most of us never found the time to get to know you, but that doesn't mean we haven't noticed you. We don't talk about it much, but it's no secret that Sunnydale High isn't really like other high schools. A lot of weird stuff happens here. But whenever there was a problem or something creepy happened, you seemed to show up and stop it. Most of the people here have been saved by you, or helped by you at one time or another. We're proud to say that the Class of '99 has the lowest mortality rate of any graduating class in Sunnydale history. And we know at least part of that is because of you. So the senior class offers its thanks, and gives you, uh, this. It's from all of us, and it has written here, "Buffy Summers, Class Protector.

Such a great moment in the Buffy series. And then they follow this with Angel showing up to be Buffy's date just for the night. They dance to the beautiful "Wild Horses" and the episode fades to black. Perfect.

4. Earshot, Season 3, Episode 18

Earshot actually didn't air when it was originally supposed to. They had to delay the airdate because it dealt with threats on a high school, and Columbine had recently happened in the previous week. The episode starts out with Buffy killing a random demon and absorbing some of it's blood. Because of this, she is told by Giles that she might develop an aspect of the demon. She worries about growing a tail or horns, but then soon discovers she developed telepathy instead.
This power seems great at first. Buffy uses it to answer before the smart kid in English and torment Xander for his inappropriate thoughts, but then she becomes overwhelmed with the voices in her head. The only voice she can pick out is a quiet "This time tomorrow, I'll kill you all." Buffy can't help to figure out who it is because she is so weakened by her condition. That leaves the detective work up to her friends at school. Xander quickly accuses the lunch lady, but everyone ignores him and goes down a list of students. They interrogate each student pretending they are from the yearbook, and are able to narrow it down pretty quickly.
Angel helps find a cure for Buffy from an identical demon, and soon she is back at school tracking down the potential murderer. She thinks it is Jonathan because she spots him with a gun in the school tower, but when she confronts him, she finds out he was planning a suicide, not a murder. Xander wanders into the cafeteria to eat some jello and discovers the lunch lady pouring rat poison in the kid's food. Hysteria ensues with Xander knocking over everyone's lunch tray to prevent them from being poisoned, and Buffy fighting to get the meat cleaver out of the lunch lady's hand. It's a pretty great ending, and it includes a serious thought about suicide. Buffy is able to calm down Jonathan and tell him everyone deals with pain, and that he is not suffering alone. She shares some of her own pain, too, extending the message that everyone suffers, but it's just how you deal with it that makes the person.


3. Pangs, Season 4, Episode 8

Remember I mentioned crossover episodes? This is one of them, and the first of which Angel appears in Buffy after leaving the show. Angel comes to town because his friend had a vision Buffy was in danger. He decides it would be better not to tell her he's there, but he somehow manages to run into all of Buffy's friends at some point in the episode. Every time they see him, they assume he is evil again, and he has to keep correcting them as he gets increasingly frustrated with their accusations.
Buffy makes it her goal to have a normal first Thanksgiving at college, so she prepares a dinner for her friends at Giles' house. This is interrupted by many things, including Spike begging for help since he can't eat anything (he was previously implanted with a chip that made it impossible to attack anyone as a vampire without feeling intense pain) and indian spirits claiming revenge for the Europeans bringing them diseases way back when. Buffy, Giles, and a tied up Spike are attacked by the spirits at home and fend for themselves until the rest of their friends arrive with Angel. Spike can't do anything, but provides excellent commentary, like saying "Watch the heart!" when being repeatedly shot with arrows, and yelling at Buffy to "Undo it! Undo it!" when she causes a spirit to transform into a wild bear.
They make it out alive and manage to salvage a small dinner, which Buffy is immensly proud of. Everyone is happily eating (minus Spike) until Xander accidently lets it spill Angel was there the whole time right before the credits go up. "Oops" is all you here when the screen goes black. I loved this episode for the Angel come back, but also for all the parts that had me laughing. I was always continually impressed with the writing for this show.

2. Surprise, Season 2, Episode 13

I still remember watching this episode on the fancy VHS tapes I bought in middle school (TV on DVD did not exist yet). I was actually very familiar with it because I had read the novelization first. Those novels were my only connection to pre-Graduation Day episodes, so it took me awhile to piece together the show's past before it was finally re-runned on FX.
Surprise is a big part of the Buffy/Angel saga. It's Buffy's birthday, so of course, something tragic happens. The group finds out Spike and Drusilla are re-forming the Judge, an ancient demon that couldn't be killed and was instead separated into pieces and dispersed among the Earth. If he gets put together, he can just look at someone to kill them. At Buffy's surprise party, she runs into a group of vampires moving one of the pieces (an arm to be exact). She gets a hold of it, and the gang decides Angel should take it to some remote location to keep it safe. He must leave Buffy for months, breaking her heart. He gives her a Claddagh ring (since I saw this, I always wear one, too) to show his love right before they part, but there is no need for goodbyes because the vampires catch up with them and get the arm back.
Buffy and Angel try to stop them, but they fail and are nearly killed once the Judge is assembled. They flee back to Angel's apartment and profess their love after almost losing each other. They also finally sleep together. Too bad sleeping together makes Angel lose his soul and turn evil again. That tragic thing I was talking about....this is it. I always stop the episode right before he loses his soul and pretend they are just happy. It wouldn't make for good TV, but it would be nice.

1. Becoming, Season 2, Episodes 21-22

This is the third season finale on my list, and in my mind, the best episode of the series. It's another two-parter, but each episode has it's own purpose. Angel is still without a soul and has killed a lot of people in Buffy's life by this point. His next plan is to open the moth of Acathla to swallow the world into hell.
The first episode of the two sets up the final battle between Angel and Buffy by killing off even more characters, and taking many others out of the running with injuries. It also consists of flashbacks showing how Angel came to meet Buffy and why he moved to Sunnydale. We find out he acutally saw Buffy when she was called to be a slayer, and that when they met in the pilot, he already knew her pretty well. It was interesting to see this bit of history, and how the weak, but kind-hearted Angel of the past parallelled with this horrible monster in the present.
A side-plot develops in which Willow figures out how to curse Angel again with a soul. Her first attempt is thwarted, but she manages to complete the curse on her second try. Unfortunately, the evil Angel has already opened the mouth to hell, and the only way to close it is to kill him. Buffy has only a few moments with the Angel she fell in love with, so she hugs him, kisses him, and tells him everything will be all right. He acts as if he just woke up and doesn't seem to remember anything, so when Buffy tells him to close his eyes, he doesn't expect that she will plunge a sword into him. But she does, to the dismay of fans everywhere. This final act emotionally destroys her, so she leaves Sunnydale without telling her friends and the final sight of the episode is a "You are now leaving Sunnydale" sign. They also play Sarah McLachlan's "Full of Grace" after she kills Angel to really drive the emotion home.