Almost a year ago to the day, BuzzFeed ranked every episode of Buffy. It came as no surprise to me that there were wrong. Clearly the person/s who complied had no idea what makes a good Buffy episode. If you’re no stranger to PCM, you’ll know that all of us here are massive Whedon fans. So we took personal offence to the rankings and decided to do our own. So here you have it. A decidedly more definitive, but yet probably not because in fairness everyone has their own opinions, ranking of every episode of BtVS than that BuzzFeed one.
We’re not going to bore you with a synopsis on every episode, or the reasoning behind our ranking. Just a few of them, to explain the massive variations between this and the BuzzFeed one.
136. Blood Ties
135. Go Fish
134. The Killer In Me
133. Real Me
132. Bad Eggs
131. Family
130. Reptile Boy
129. Doublemeat Palace
128. The Pack
127. Ted
126. Teacher’s Pet
124. All The Way
123. Some Assembly Required
122. Spiral
121. Touched
120. Crush
119. No Place Like Home
118. First Date
117. Hell’s Bells
116. Beer Bad
115. After Life
114. Into The Woods
113. I, Robot… You, Jane
112. Intervention
111. Out of My Mind
110. Sleeper
109. I Was Made To Love You
108. Entropy
107. Wrecked
106. Smashed
104. As You Were
103. Shadow
102. The Replacement
100. Beneath You
99. Goodbye Iowa
98. The Weight Of The World
97. Flooded
96. Inca Mummy Girl
95. Forever
94. Listening To Fear
93. The Zeppo
92. Beauty & The Beasts
91. School Hard
BuzzFeed ranking: 18
Why is it worse?
Yes it introduces spike. It’s a solid episode. But it doesn’t hold up compared to the rest of the season and definitely isn’t top half material.
90. Lie To Me
89. New Moon Rising
88. Get It Done
87. Empty Places
86. Where the Wild Things Are
85. The Yoko Factor
84. Gone
83. Seeing Red
82. Doomed
81. Help
80. Lessons
79. Phases
78. The Initiative
77. Never Kill A Boy On The First Date
76. Nightmares
75. The I in Team
74. Normal Again
73. Potential
72. Never Leave Me
71. Two To Go/ Grave
70. Bargaining
69. Older and Far Away
68. Bring On The Night
67. Lies My Parents Told Me
66. Killed By Death
65. Dead Man’s Party
64. Buffy vs. Dracula
63. Villains
62. Out of Mind, Out of Sight
61. Fool For Love
BuzzFeed ranking: 12
Why is it worse?
Look, the Spike fans in the audience can simmer down, whatever way you cut it, he’s abusive and doesn’t get a free pass ever. Season 6 Spike just gives us the ick. So, no Buzzfeed. No.
60. When She Was Bad
59. Revelations
58. Superstar
57. Fear, Itself
56. The Puppet Show
55. Hallowe’en
4. The Dark Age
53. End Of Days
52. The Harsh Light of Day
51. Same Time, Same Place
50. Him
49. Angel
48. Earshot
47. Welcome to the Hellmouth/The Harvest
46. Anne
45. Faith, Hope & Trick
44. Consequences
43. Homecoming
42. Checkpoint
41. Triangle
40. Tabula Rasa
39. Living Conditions
38. Choices
37. Primeval
36. What’s My Line?
35. Chosen
34. Showtime
BuzzFeed ranking: 111
Why is it better?
Showtime is a pivotal episode for Buffy. She goes from a slayer to The Slayer. The commander destined to turn the tide.
33. The Freshman
BuzzFeed ranking: 69
Why is it better?
This is such a major life episode. It’s not over the top. It’s not flashy. It’s about dealing with life as it comes at you. And the fact that Sunday is one of the all time great vamps is just the cherry on top.
32. Life Serial
31. A New Man
30. Dirty Girls
29. Storyteller
28. Witch
27. Gingerbread
26. Enemies
25. I Only Have Eyes For You
24. Bad Girls
23. Pangs
22. Band Candy
21. Something Blue
20. This Year’s Girl/Who Are You?
19. The Wish
18. Helpless
17. Amends
16. Prophecy Girl
15. The Prom
14. Bewitched, Bothered & Bewildered
13. Restless
12. Selfless
11. Lovers Walk
10. The Gift
9. The Body
8. Doppelgangland
7. Passion
6. Conversations With Dead People
BuzzFeed ranking: 20.
Why is is better than that?
The show took a chance on a slow burn episode which was scary, poignant and incredibly paced. Some of the best writing and most subtle acting in the whole show.
5. Once More With Feeling
4. Hush
3. Surprise/Innocence
2. Becoming
1. Graduation
BuzzFeed ranking: 10
Why is it better?
Graduation is hands down the best episode of BtVS. It’s everything that Buffy is about: love, friendship, betrayal all set against the backdrop of the apocalypse. Graduation is the culmination of so much of Buffy’s growth. She was told she wouldn’t graduate, wouldn’t live that long, couldn’t have a normal life and she proved everyone wrong, and so did the show.
