Xander, That's Not The North Star, It's An Airplane (Part 1)

You ever watch something on TV that you have on DVD and have seen several times before but you end up watching the rest of the episode/movie anyway and you feel the urge to watch the entire thing again? I had that recently. I was sitting down to dinner before going to work and while channel surfing, I saw an episode of Buffy The Vampire Slayer and since there wasn't anything else particularly engaging on any other channel, I kept watching to determine what episode it was. It ended up being I Was Made For Loving You, a season 5 episode involving a robot (not the first robot to appear on the show either) and a rather enjoyable one at that.

For those not in the know, here's the skinny: Buffy is a young woman who is destined to fight off the vampires, the demons, the monsters, the things that go bump in the night. She is the latest (at first) in a long line of vampire slayers. With her friends, she is not alone as she tackles high school (initially) and the forces of darkness. The show ran for seven seasons, from 1997-2003 and is still fondly remembered today. The legacy even lives on in comic book form, with season eight having finished and now season nine is currently being written. And of course, the show had a spin-off with Angel (which I will discuss another time)

I could go on about the show but, partly inspired by re-watching that episode and my best friend's own blog post about Buffy (http://daveherndon.blogspot.com/2011/10/buffy-vampire-slayer-discussed.html#comment-form), I have decided to do my own top ten list of favourite episodes, spread out over two blog posts.

Before we get into that, of the TV series itself, here is how I rank the seasons, from best to worst:
6, 3, 5, 2, 1, 7, 4
Oh and I should point out there may be spoilers so if you have not yet watched the show or are still on the early seasons, you have been warned.

Now, for the episode list itself, we'll do in reverse:
10. Graduation Day Part 2 (Season 3, Episode 22)
Season finales are of course a big deal for any show though only two have made my list. The key theme is ascension. Not just for the season's villain (literal in his case as he transforms from man to demon), but for Buffy and her friends too as they graduate high school (as the title states) and thus, they ascend into adulthood of sorts.
I think my favourite aspect has to be the fact that throughout the seasons, Buffy and her friends have been unable to stop the ascension or the villain's plans and are up against a wall in trying to vanquish him. However, by the episode's end, she not only has a plan, but she got the whole student body in on it, even though she's never really fit in. A nice pre-cursor to her leadership role in season 7.
The action is top-notch and it has one of my absolute favourite lines of the show: “Fire bad, tree pretty”

9. Storyteller (Season 7, Episode 16)
Despite how serious the show is and how it handles mature and complex issues, Buffy still has razor sharp wit and in some cases, creates whole episodes of hilarity. Like this episode.
Newly reformed Andrew (one of my favourite characters of the franchise, hands down) takes up the bulk of this episode, with video camera at the ready to film Buffy and her potential slayers as they train for an upcoming war.
Like some of the best episodes, it is capable of putting you into hysterics one minute and then make you sad in the next. Andrew stops denying the truth about what happened to his former friend (a friend he killed and refused to take the blame for) and thus, he grows a little. Character development is a huge part of why this show is so damn good.

8. Crush (Season 5, Episode 14)
In which ensemble dark horse Spike confesses his love for Buffy, who just reacts with outright disgust. A funny episode, though it's dark. Also notable for being the last non-flashback appearance of Spike's former lover and sire, Drusilla.

7. Forever (Season 5, Episode 17)
The episode right after the very infamous shock of The Body. While many fans will state this as a favourite (indeed, The Body is an extremely fine piece of work and were this a top twenty, it would have been here no doubt), the aftermath deals more directly with Dawn and Spike's perspectives, with excellent dialogue between Buffy and Dawn and both Sarah Michelle Gellar and Michelle Trachtenberg act the Hell out of their scenes.

6. Once More With Feeling (Season 6, Episode 7)
If you're not a hardcore fan, you probably still know the name Once More With Feeling. But if you're not in the know, it's the musical episode. A fantastic musical, too. And it actually goes to great lengths to explain WHY everyone's bursting into spontaneous song and dance routines, with lampshade hanging on the types of songs found in musicals and the measures of success (basically, Anya asking different questions like if a certain character's song could be considered a breakaway pop hit).
Throw in a smooth, sophisticated demon as the “villain” (I'd be hard pressed to call him that, he doesn't seem entirely evil) and you have a highlight for the series. Incidentally, my favourite songs are Under Your Spell, Rest In Peace and Walk Through The Fire. And yes, I know the words to each of those off by heart...