Here it is.....

And now, after an interminable amount of time, it gives me great pleasure to present my Best of the Rest: Buffy the Vampire Slayer

First, the mission statement as presented by Brian:
"Lately everybody and their brother, from print magazines and newpapers to the Internet, has been making best episode lists. And you'll generally see the same episodes in varying orders on just about every best episode list: Welcome to the Hellmouth/The Harvest, Angel, Prophecy Girl, School Hard, Innocence, Passion, Becoming (Part 2), Doppelgängland, Earshot, The Prom, Graduation Day (Parts 1 & 2), Hush, Restless, Fool for Love, The Body, The Gift, Once More, With Feeling, and Conversations with Dead People......okay, let's be different, let's spread the love around a bit — let's do a "Best of the Rest" list."

And now, my top ten episodes not featured above:

10. Bargaining: Part One - Season 6
To be honest, the primary reason that this episode has made it to my list is simply because it had such a memorable opening sequence. The vivid moments of the X-Men-like fight scene were just amazing to behold. Willow coordinating the group, almost like Professor Xavier or Jean Grey and the rest of the group kicking vampire butt was just a new direction for the show to take, even if it was short-lived. It was also a wake-up call to the audience to show the versatility of the writing staff to craft such an unusally comic book-like sequence. Also, this episode had a very human quality in that it showcased the Scoobies going behind the backs of the adults, doing something naughty, all for what they perceived as a greater good. The first half of this episode was more than enough to make up for Buffy's probably lowest year, with very little exception.

9. The Zeppo - Season 3
This episode was quite intruiging to me in its execution. It was the sort of episode that you don't normally see in a television program. The Zeppo took the usual premise of the show (i.e. someone encounters monsters, Buffy and gang research, the group fights, etc.) and turned it into set dressing. This was Xander's opportunity to shine, and shine he did. Again, this was a writing exercise for the staff which they passed with flying colors. While Xander has been the focus of many a story before and since this point, he had, at least to this episode, never been asked to carry an entire episode on his own, which he quite successfully did.

8. Halloween - Season 2
Our first real glimpse into how the spookiest holiday of the year fits into demon/vampire lore. It was an episode that was dealt with wonderfully, had a great early appearance by Ethan Rayne, selling the costumes to the kids and wreaking his usual havoc. This was an episode with little bits of thoughtfulness in it: a) Buffy trying to dress for Angel as the kind of girl she thought he would like; b) Willow stuck as a really nicely dressed ghost (and by the way, the convention that she really had to die to become a ghost surprised me in that they actually took that step, rather than just make her unsubstantial); c) Xander becoming the rough-and-tumble macho type (which he actually kept a part of for at least a few more seasons -- yay continuity) and d) Cordelia "not" being a cat :)

7. Superstar - Season 4
Until Earshot, Jonathan had been all over the place, but in a mosquito bite sort of way. He would pop up from here to there, with his itchiness, but he would feel so good when scratched. Always a pleasure.

6. Tabula Rasa - Season 6
This episode was a fine example of demonstrating the difference between who you are and who you REALLY are. Despite losing the memories of who they are and what roles they play in the group dynamic, the actual dynamics began to shine through. Everyone basically stayed who they were, just with comedic effects. Giles and Anya being married was great fun, albeit mildly scarring. Spike and Giles were hilarous believing they were father and son. And who can forget this:

Spike: "Oh, listen to Mary Poppins. He's got his crust all stiff and upper with that nancy-boy accent. You Englishman are always so... (pause) Bloody hell! Sodding, blimey, shagging, knickers, oh God! I'm English!"
Giles: "Welcome to the nancy tribe."

And of course, when Spike believes himself to be a vampire with a soul, Buffy's retort being "A vampire with a soul? Oh my God, how lame is that?"

5. Buffy vs. Dracula - Season 5
I was soooooo waiting for this episode. The showdown which I had been dreaming of since I first started watching the show. And it sure didn't disappoint. Dracula was a perfect example of the BTVS staff not taking themselves too seriously. The fact that Spike knew Dracula was just cooler than words, and learning that the biggest, baddest vampire of all time had turned into the Pop Star of the vampire set was just better than I could have hoped for. Watching all the girls (including Willow) fawn over him was delicious, as was the Xander being turned into Dracula's "butt-monkey." And lest we forget Giles in the pit with the Dracula's "brides. And finally, the ending just had me in hysterics. It was open ended, but even Buffy herself didn't care. It was just a great, care-free romp.

4. Band Candy - Season 3
Yet another guilty pleasure of mine and another fun jaunt, disguised as an insightful tale of growing up. Many stories, ala "Freaky Friday" have tried to demonstrate how a child needs to grow up, and how a grown up needs to lighten up. But few of them were as easy to swallow as Band Candy Also, for all the occasional cheese in the episode, the story spoke poignantly to the fact that all adults have been children at one point or another, and it was a credit to Jane Espenson that she was able to infuse them with the same sort of personality traits and problems that the REGULAR teens had been experiencing on the show, which made them less a caricature of the characters that they were, and more just truly younger versions. Besides, this episode sets up the funniest bit in Earshot, don't you think?

3. Helpless - Season 3
This episode heralded a true paradigm change for the show. It was time for Giles to quit the council and it was time for Buffy to declare her independence. It set up a reason for Wesley in Sunnydale, an event whose repercussions are felt to this day. It was also one of the scariest episodes to date, unleashing the equivalent to a vampire serial killer on a powerless Buffy and her own mother. It was a story of betrayal and one that sent shockwaves through the Buffyverse.

2. Help - Season 7
Help was the ultimate stab in the back. I don't mean this to say that it was hurtful to the audience. I don't mean it in a negative way. I mean that it was the biggest surprise I had had to that point. Truly we were led down the garden path by Rebecca Rand Kirshner. Following Cassie throught the episode, learning all about her, realizing that she may have insight into her death when she is abducted by a cult, Buffy and the gang realizing this, and Buffy saving her in the end. To that point it was just like any other episode of BTVS. But, when it came time to elicit that sigh of relief that signified that all was good, BAMMM!!!!!! It was all over in a flash. It represented the first true failure of the slayer. Until then, it was just that maybe she didn't get there in time, or maybe she didn't even know. This time she was there and could do nothing. And instead of the usual sigh of relief or gasp of the cliffhanger, I was right there with the characters at the end. I felt the pain and sadness.

1. Enemies - Season 3
I have never kept it a secret that Season 3 was my favorite season of Buffy The Vampire Slayer so it should come as no surpirse to anyone that this list has been predominantly season 3 episodes, or that I would cap this list with my very favorite episode from that season. Enemies however, can not be truly appreciated unless you take into account where BTVS was at the time and where it had been until that point. Many big storylines merged in that episode to tug at our heartstrings and play on our emotions: Faith going bad (the gang finally had their hard evidence on this account), Buffy's insecurity about Angel, Angelus (who, let us not forget, loomed large in the majority of the previous season) and the Mayor's ascension.

And while there are many runners up, I think we would be hard-pressed to find a more happy "yes! Yes! YES! YES!!" moment in BTVS than:
Buffy: I never knew you had so much rage in you.
Faith: What can I say? I'm the world's best actor.
Angel: Second best.
Buffy: Graduation day. You think we missed anything?
Angel: I think we know everything she knows.
Buffy: May I say something? Psych!

And so, my list has now come to an end. A word on my criteria. In addition to the most well-written or well-played episodes, another bit of criteria for me was memorability. I have to thank Brian for keeping me informed as to which episodes are which (I am notoriously rotten with names). But the most vital part of my research was using my own memory. Not in remembering episodes I had seen, maybe when I was sick, or after I had aced a test in college or something. That is not the memorable that I was looking for. The memorable are the ones that just stick out in my mind as having made the largest impression, certainly in a good way. And these episodes represent all that and more. Some would argue that fun is a major player as to what I enjoy about BTVS, but if you look carefully, you'll notice that the top three episodes on the list are pretty serious ones overall. Fun is fun, but you know there is always more. I also didn't include the finale as one of my choices, although it was certainly a contender. My ultimate decision on that is that in due time, it will be one of the episodes listed at the top which would have been banned from this list anyway.

Coming Soon: My final thoughts on the Buffy The Vampire Slayer series finale...............




  posted by J @ 18:43