10. Selfless - I love Anya, but this episode is a long-overdue exploration of her character and of Xander's hypocrisy and occasional willful blindness in dating a woman with a higher body count than Angel's and Spike's put together. Plus, the Sjornjost flashbacks are priceless. Village Man: The troll is doing an Olaf impersonation!
9. Angel - Sets up the Angel character for the rest of BtVS, not to mention AtS. Buffy: "Hunk" can mean a lot of things, bad things.
8. Doppelgangland - Thanks to The Wish we have the outstandingly funny Doppelgangland. Alyson Hannigan is hilarious in no less than four different roles (Good Willow, Vamp Willow, and Good Willow and Vamp Willow pretending to be each other). Mayor: No Slayer of mine is gonna live in a fleabag hotel. That place has a very unsavory reputation. There are immoral liaisons going on there. Faith: Yeah, plus all the screwing.
7. Earshot - A hilarious one from my favorite Buffy writer, Jane Espenson. I love Xander's attempts not to think about sex and how Cordelia's utterances and thoughts are exactly the same. Cordelia: Hi Mr. Beech! I was just wondering, were you planning on killing a bunch of people tomorrow? (smiles) Oh, it's for the yearbook!
6. Who Are You? - Body-swapping is a common theme in genre TV, but no show's done a better job of it than BtVS. SMG and Eliza Dushku are great as Fuffy (Faith in Buffy) and Baith (Buffy in Faith), the only downside being that Eliza didn't get more to do. Plus, this episode's got Willow and Tara's famous "Spellgasm" scene. Giles: Who's president? Baith: We're checking for Buffy, not a concussion.
5. Tabula Rasa - Memory loss is another genre TV staple, and once again BtVS outdoes the other shows. It's mostly very funny (except for the cheesey Loan Shark), but the ending hits you right in the gut. Plus, and I love Spike in that suit. Spike: Oh, great, a tarty stepmom who's half old Daddy's age.
4. Restless - A brilliantly-done "tone poem" (Joss' description) which really does seem dreamlike. Everything flows perfectly, and everything means something (well, except for perhaps the guy with the cheese). Xander: Sometimes I think about two women doing a spell ... and then I do a spell by myself.
3. Something Blue - Possibly the Funniest Episode Ever. This is the one that I put on when I need cheering up. In addition to their great sexual/romantic chemistry, SMG and James Marsters also have amazing comic chemistry. Plus, I'm a sucker for all the Spuffy cuteness, even if it is spell-induced. Buffy: I'm getting married - can you believe it? Riley: I don't think "no" is a strong enough word.
2. Intervention - More comic gold and Spuffy(bot) cuteness from SMG and James Marsters, but it's also the major turning point in Buffy and Spike's relationship. In Fool for Love, the viewer realizes that Spike is capable of selfless good, but the end of Intervention is when Buffy realizes it too. Plus, I love Buffybot; she's so nice, so chipper, and so incredibly funny. Buffybot: Angel's lame. His hair sticks straight up, and he's bloody stupid. (We laughed so much at the above line that we had to stop the DVD for a few minutes.)
1. Once More, With Feeling - "Genius" is not a term to be tossed around lightly, but Joss earns it with this one. Think about it: A guy who isn't even a musican or composer by trade taught himself piano and then proceeded to write a character-driven musical in which every song is memorable and moves the plot along without being an exposition dump. A lot of people who write Broadway musicals for a living (*cough* Webber *cough*) can't do that. OMWF is unfortunately a mixed bag as far as recruiting new BtVS fans goes: It's a great way to showcase Joss' talents and entice friends who also love musicals, but you really need to be familiar with the characters and their back-story for the episode to have its full impact. Fun trivia: OMWF choreographer Adam Shankman (who also plays one of the dancing graveyard demons/sweepers) went on to direct Hairspray 2. Anya: I've seen some of these underworld child bride deals and, and they never end well. Well, maybe once.
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
timeasmymeasure
no subject
Date: 2007-10-16 07:48 pm (UTC)Village Man: The troll is doing an Olaf impersonation!
9. Angel - Sets up the Angel character for the rest of BtVS, not to mention AtS.
Buffy: "Hunk" can mean a lot of things, bad things.
8. Doppelgangland - Thanks to The Wish we have the outstandingly funny Doppelgangland. Alyson Hannigan is hilarious in no less than four different roles (Good Willow, Vamp Willow, and Good Willow and Vamp Willow pretending to be each other).
Mayor: No Slayer of mine is gonna live in a fleabag hotel. That place has a very unsavory reputation. There are immoral liaisons going on there.
Faith: Yeah, plus all the screwing.
7. Earshot - A hilarious one from my favorite Buffy writer, Jane Espenson. I love Xander's attempts not to think about sex and how Cordelia's utterances and thoughts are exactly the same.
Cordelia: Hi Mr. Beech! I was just wondering, were you planning on killing a bunch of people tomorrow? (smiles) Oh, it's for the yearbook!
6. Who Are You? - Body-swapping is a common theme in genre TV, but no show's done a better job of it than BtVS. SMG and Eliza Dushku are great as Fuffy (Faith in Buffy) and Baith (Buffy in Faith), the only downside being that Eliza didn't get more to do. Plus, this episode's got Willow and Tara's famous "Spellgasm" scene.
Giles: Who's president?
Baith: We're checking for Buffy, not a concussion.
5. Tabula Rasa - Memory loss is another genre TV staple, and once again BtVS outdoes the other shows. It's mostly very funny (except for the cheesey Loan Shark), but the ending hits you right in the gut. Plus, and I love Spike in that suit.
Spike: Oh, great, a tarty stepmom who's half old Daddy's age.
4. Restless - A brilliantly-done "tone poem" (Joss' description) which really does seem dreamlike. Everything flows perfectly, and everything means something (well, except for perhaps the guy with the cheese).
Xander: Sometimes I think about two women doing a spell ... and then I do a spell by myself.
3. Something Blue - Possibly the Funniest Episode Ever. This is the one that I put on when I need cheering up. In addition to their great sexual/romantic chemistry, SMG and James Marsters also have amazing comic chemistry. Plus, I'm a sucker for all the Spuffy cuteness, even if it is spell-induced.
Buffy: I'm getting married - can you believe it?
Riley: I don't think "no" is a strong enough word.
2. Intervention - More comic gold and Spuffy(bot) cuteness from SMG and James Marsters, but it's also the major turning point in Buffy and Spike's relationship. In Fool for Love, the viewer realizes that Spike is capable of selfless good, but the end of Intervention is when Buffy realizes it too. Plus, I love Buffybot; she's so nice, so chipper, and so incredibly funny.
Buffybot: Angel's lame. His hair sticks straight up, and he's bloody stupid.
(We laughed so much at the above line that we had to stop the DVD for a few minutes.)
1. Once More, With Feeling - "Genius" is not a term to be tossed around lightly, but Joss earns it with this one. Think about it: A guy who isn't even a musican or composer by trade taught himself piano and then proceeded to write a character-driven musical in which every song is memorable and moves the plot along without being an exposition dump. A lot of people who write Broadway musicals for a living (*cough* Webber *cough*) can't do that. OMWF is unfortunately a mixed bag as far as recruiting new BtVS fans goes: It's a great way to showcase Joss' talents and entice friends who also love musicals, but you really need to be familiar with the characters and their back-story for the episode to have its full impact. Fun trivia: OMWF choreographer Adam Shankman (who also plays one of the dancing graveyard demons/sweepers) went on to direct Hairspray 2.
Anya: I've seen some of these underworld child bride deals and, and they never end well. Well, maybe once.