An Extremely Controversial Buffy the Vampire Slayer Ranking
A season and episode ranking, because why not
My mind has been on Buffy the Vampire Slayer lately. First, a scene from the season three episode “GingerbRead” went viral: in it Buffy stops someone from bullying one of her classmates simply by popping with a smile on her face. The kids at Sunnydale High School knew not to play with her.
Second, Donald Sutherland passed this weekend and while the actor is obviously beloved for his iconic roles in films like Klute and Don’t Look Now, I’m equally obsessed with his role as Buffy’s Watcher Merrick in the 1992 Buffy the Vampire Slayer film. The film is a lot campier and unserious than the WB-cum-UPN television series, but it’s one of my faves in large part from Sutherland’s grounding performance.
But back to the real Buffy! Here is an extremely controversial (at least according to Twitter) ranking of the seven seasons of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, complete with my favorite and least favorite episodes.
SEASON 6
Yes, I’m a season six truther! I wrote an (now deleted, thanks MTV News!) essay about the much-maligned season in 2017 for the series’ 20th anniversary and how it was a great exploration of adulthood and sexuality via Buffy’s mom’s death and her twisted relationship with Spike (my favorite in the series). Recently, at a recording of the podcast Vibe Check, a woman approach me to tell me how much she loved that essay. Elements of it appear in my essay collection next year.
This season is more than just the iconic musical episode “Once More, With Feeling!” The series' explorations of depression, loss, and sexual desire are never better than they are in this season, even when they sometimes miss the mark.
Favorite Episodes: “Once More, With Feeling,” “Tabula Rasa,” “Villains” (I personally love the Dark Willow arc.)
Least Favorite: “As You Were” (Yeah, I’m a Buffy and Spike fan. So this Riley episode can kick rocks. And I will always stan “Doublemeat Palace,” a perfect send-up of B movies!!)
SEASON 3
Season 3 is pretty much regarded as a perfect season of television. If we’re being honest, the pairing of season 2 and 3 is a sublime kind of television that doesn’t exist anymore. Blending comedy, action, drama, and also 44 episodes that allow the plot room to breathe while also giving us bang-up one-off episodes? Most of these episodes wouldn’t even exist in the age of streaming. Why waste time with an episode like “Band Candy” or “Gingerbread” or “The Wish,” even? I’m reminded of when I worked on Netflix’s Daybreak and was so excited to write a homecoming episode that felt like a one-off.
The Mayor is one of the best villains the show has ever had. Faith is one of the best television characters ever created. Season 3 has it all.
Favorite Episodes: “Homecoming,” “Band Candy,” “Lovers Walk,” “The Wish,” “Enemies,” “Graduation Day”
Least Favorite: “Beauty and the Beasts”
SEASON 2
Another perfect season. The arc of Buffy and Angel’s romance, with the added twist of sex turning him into Angelus, is some of the best plotting in television. Then there’s the introduction of Spike and Drusilla, who are also two of the series’ best villains. Every episode of this season plays off the fun promised in season 1 (the twist involving Kendra’s existence as a Slayer, because Buffy technically died in the season 1 finale is inspired). It’s campy and it’s thrilling and it’s heartbreaking. Watching this season live, I was acutely aware that I was watching one of the best things to ever air on television. And the finale, when Buffy kills Angel to save the world and then skips town in heartbreak… it cemented those feelings.
Favorite Episodes: “When She Was Bad,” “School Hard,” “Surprise/Innocence,” “Passion,” “Becoming”
Least Favorite: “Inca Mummy Girl” (This episode is offensively bad and also boring. I know that some other dumb episodes like “Some Assembly Required,” “Reptile Boy,” and “Go Fish” aren’t fan faves, but I love them)
SEASON 5
Glory!!! My favorite villain in the series. She’s just the perfect counterpart to Buffy that every scene she’s in is magic. The twist with her actually being Ben is also great, even if Ben kinda sucks. The dissolution of Buffy and Riley’s relationship is kinda what knocks this season down a few notches (and season 4). Their relationship was so grand in season 4 and then this season mostly spends half its episodes undoing that. There had to be a better way to cut Riley from the series beyond rewriting a relationship we’d already been forced to care about.
I think the Dawn stuff is great too and I find Michelle Trachtenberg’s performance has aged better than you remember. Also, the Dracula episode is great. If you hate it, you hate fun! If the series had ended here, with Buffy’s death in “The Gift,” it would’ve still been one of the best series on television.
Favorite Episodes: “Buffy vs. Dracula,” “Checkpoint,” “Crush,” “The Body,” “The Gift”
Least Favorite: “Listening to Fear” (The gut punch of “The Body” withstanding, the initial Joyce cancer episodes are kind of a slog. “Shadow” has some great performances but the monster sucks. A slight step up from the alien slug in “Listening to Fear,” however, since Glory is involved)
SEASON 4
As I said, so much of this season has aged poorly because of the Riley relationship. But overall, the mystery involving the Initiative, the reintroduction of Spike, and the new college setting breath a lot of new life into the series. Also, it has some of the best one-off episodes in the entire series. “Hush” and “Restless” are two for the history books.
Favorite Episodes: “Hush,” “Pangs,” “Something Blue,” “Restless”
Least Favorite: “Where the Wild Things Are” (Riley and Buffy having sex an entire episode is nauseating. Also, you can never make me hate “Beer Bad!!!”)
SEASON 7
Season 7 isn’t awful but it’s also not really great. The idea of introducing potential slayers is better in theory than practice and a lot of the shit introduced in the premiere, “Lessons,” gets done away with almost immediately. This season’s problem is that it throws a lot of shit at the wall and then when it’s time to ramp up for the ending, it’s a slow crawl to the finish line. The First Evil… another good villain in theory, but they’re kinda lame here and less scary than they were in “Amends.” Caleb is a fine villain, I guess, but did we need him for that many episodes?
One thing this season has going for it is the finale. “Chosen” is a great series finale and one of Buffy’s best episodes.
Favorite Episodes: “Conversations with Dead People,” “Bring on the Night,” “Showtime,” “Chosen”
Least Favorite: I mean… there’s a lot!!! “Potential,” “The Killer in Me,” “Get It Done”
SEASON 1
Season is 1 great! It’s a fun season of television that I like quite a bit more than other fans. But at the end of the day… it’s just not that girl! The show is still largely figuring itself out and how to blend comedy and drama and genuine emotion. It gets there by the end of the season, however. “Prophecy Girl” is one of the best episodes of the series, even if it’s only the 12th. The Master kinda sucks as a villain, but Buffy is so fucking funny (“I may be dead, but I’m still pretty!”) fighting him that it doesn’t matter.
Favorite Episodes: “Welcome to the Hellmouth,” “The Harvest,” “The Pack,” “The Puppet Show,” “Prophecy Girl”
Least Favorite: “Teacher’s Pet”
The fact that you love Buffy has to be my favorite thing about you Ira!
When someone asks me the scariest episode in TV history, it's always "Hush"! Love your mention of Donald Sutherland as Merrick in the movie - Sutherland and Paul Reubens are so great in that.