Top Ten favorite 'Buffy the Vampire Slayer' Moments

[Storm]

It's been a year since Buffy took its final swan song. After watching a DVD or two I wanted to sounded off and unite all my fellow Buffyverse fans to list and chat about their favorite top ten moments and episodes in Buffy the Vampire Slayer history. Join the fun!


Note: Don't worry Angel fans. Next week I'm starting a Top Ten Angel Moments thread to celebrate the final farewell!


Okay here we go:



Top Ten of BtVS:



#10: "I may be dead, but I'm still pretty. Which is more than I can say for you." - Buffy, Prophecy Girl


Prophecy Girl is one of my favorite episodes of Buffy's S1. It had drama, humor, action, and hmmm... a pretty white dress. It had it all. So why does this episode rock? Because of this line and moment. Buffy and the Master are head to head and for someone who should be scare she is not and she showed what a slayer really is. This episode made me into a Buffy Summers fan and who doesn't like hot blondes in white dresses dusting vamps?


#9: "Close your eyes." - Buffy to Angel, Becoming Pt. 2

Saddest moment ever. Why this moment rocked? Well, because Buffy had to do one of the most mind boggling things a lover would have to do to save the world... kill the love of her life. As a B/A shipper I was crushed. Throughout that whole summer I was filled with questions. With SMG's performance and the touching Sarah McLachlan music playing in the background.... this moment owned S2.


#8: Mom? Mom? Mommy?" - Buffy, The Body

Buffy seeing her mother lying on the couch dead is one of the horrifying moments of Buffy history. It's chilling and just plain sad but that moment didn't own the episode. Sure it was one of the best and my favorite and SMG knocked it out of park but the moment that made The Body one of the compelling episodes and made me have a better understanding of Xander's girlfriend, Anya. I finally connected with Anya on a deeper level. The way she asked "why" and didn't understand the ritual of death was just touching and made me fall in love with the ex-demon and the actress who played her. One of many best moments of S5.



#7: "I'm under your spell." - Tara, Once More with Feeling

One of my favorite episodes of S6 before the whole "Spike banging" arc (I forgive you Joss!). When I first heard about Buffy being made into a musical for one episode I was worried but after seeing the finale result I just loved it and brought the soundtrack. Why did this episode rock? Well, duh because it was a musical but my favorite moment is with the ever-so-loving... Willow and Tara. I love the song "Under Your Spell" and with the enchanting harmony of Amber Benson and beautiful lyrics this moment was my favorite and made me quite the Tara/Willow shipper.



#6: "No, you don't get it. I don't care!" - Faith, Bad Girls

I was never a Faith fan (more of a Kendra supporter) but Bad Girls were one of few episodes where I actually took a fondness of Faith and had an understanding of the character. Eliza Duskhu is a talented actress and she showed off her chops in this episode where you could actually love to hate Faith. The moment where she told Buffy that she didn't care about murdering an innocent was great and paved the way for our resident vixen. Bad Girls was just a cool episode because of that moment plus the cool dance sequence with Faith and Buffy at The Bronze.



#5: "Every now and then, people surprise you." - Buffy, The Prom

This episode can be good and bad for any B/A shipper. Good, Buffy is finally acknowledged for her good deeds by her fellow classmates. Bad, Angel breaks up with Buffy (big jerk!) but my favorite moment is the bittersweet ending when the slayer and her vampire beau share one final dance to the song "Wild Horses" which is ever-so-fitting to the moment and the relationship of Buffy and Angel plus didn't Buffy just look lovely in her dress?


#4: "Passion. It lies in all of us." - Angelus, Passion

This episode proved how much of a badass Angelus could be and I loved every minute of it. Joss Whedon showed us fans that he can make Angel into Buffy's Romeo and Lex Luthor all in one but the result of that was a tragic one. Here comes the moment people but it's not a pretty one. Jenny Calendar, Giles' girlfriend, finally figures out a spell to re-ensoul Angel but one problem Angelus knows. The chase begins and when you think Jenny will reach an exit to freedom or even the arms of Buffy and the fellow Scoobies, Angelus kills her but that's not the moment which makes "Passion" so great. When Giles enters his apartment he finds his dead lover lying on his bed. I felt Giles' pain and couldn't believe what Joss had done since Jenny seemed like a potential character to become a regular. Jenny died and Giles tried to get his payback and the episode ended with one thing lurking in every fans' mind: how will Angel get re-ensouled and if he doesn't is Buffy prepared to face him?




#3: Ah... Well, at least you all didn't dream about that guy with the cheese. I don't know where the hell that came from." - Buffy, Restless

The season finale that actually didn't wrap up the season but just left fans wondering and trying to figrue out the darn clues to S5 was just cool. It was flawless. Being in the minds of Buffy, Xander, Giles, and Willow and seeing the final showdown between Buffy and The Primitive were gravy but the moment that owned this episode was all the scenes with our beloved cheese guy. The cheese guy ruled and is one many characters that were so underrated. When I first saw this episode I laughed so hard. To this day we don't know what the cheese guys real agenda was but the character was surly a clever one. Forever the Cheese Guy!


#2: Yeah, you're not the one and only chosen anymore. Just gotta live like a person. How's that feel? - Faith to Buffy, Chosen

Love it or hate it this episode was really good. Nitpick all you want this was the second perfect conclusion of the slayer and her adventures ("The Gift" tops it). Buffy faces off against The First and its minions. Buffy had the infamous cookie dough speech with Angel. Spike and Anya died like a heroes but this is not what made this episode so cool. It was the bitter sweet ending that did. The hellmouth was destroyed and slayers everywhere were called upon. Buffy and Faith were not the only chosen ones anymore and they could finally live normal lives and how does Buffy respond to that? With a smile. That moment was truly touching and it captured the feeling of fans everywhere in a nutshell. We felt her freedom.


#1: "But you're... you're just a girl." - Kid to Buffy, The Gift

What can I say about this episode? If Joss ended the show with this finale then I wouldn't be upset (okay maybe a little bit) but that's how good "The Gift" is. Glory is defeated by Buffy with the help the Giles, Xander proposes to Anya, and Buffy makes the ultimate sacrifice. She realizes her inner gift and dies in order to give Dawn a life. The portal opens and she dives into it. Best moment in Buffy history and my personal favorite. Seeing the grief stricken Scooby Gang and her grave at the end was classic. The world was saved and the slayer was finally at peace.

[Patrick Bateman]

1. "Home sweet home."

Spike is my absolute favorite character in the Buffyverse, and his debut episode was fantastic, climaxing in his effortless killing of the "annoying" one.

2. "Death is your gift."

The finale of season 5 was extremely gripping and masterfully done. It brings you to tears every time.

3. "I died... so many years ago..."

Spike's annoyed look on his face in "Once More With Feeling" as he began to sing was absolutely priceless, and seeing the "big bad" crooning was hysterical, and a good showcase for one of James Marsters other talents.

4. "Shut it, Sit 'n' Spin."

That was the only quote I can recall from Angelus in season 2 right now, so I used that. I LOVED Angel as the big villain of season 2, and everything he did as Angelus made him my favorite villain of the entire series.

5. "I'm bored... Episode One bored."

The addition of Andrew as more or less a regular in Season 7 was one of my favorite things about that season. He added comedy to an otherwise humor-less season.

6. "I didn't give him syphallis!"

The Thanksgiving episode of Season 4 is one of my favorites of all time. So many quotable moments, and everyone's interaction was very entertaining.

7. "Home Sweet... *falls out of car drunk*... home."

Spike's only episode in Season 3, which put a new twist on his debut in Sunnydale. A hilariously funny ep.

8. "Once More, With Feeling"

I already gave a nod to one moment, but now I have to nominate the entire episode. I've seen it at least 20 times and it never gets old.

9. "I can feel it, Buffy. I can feel my soul!"

Spike's sacrifice in the series finale was incredibly touching, and it was extremely suiting to the character that he went out in a blaze of glory, laughing and sneering rather than weeping.

10. *Insert every Xander inspirational speech here.*

Every time Xander opened his mouth in an attempt to rally the troops and give someone support, it was beautifully written. Made his character so much more than "dorky guy who tells jokes".

[Master Moron]

Ummm...I'm confused, are we doing favorite moments or episodes?

[cheungcheung]

my fave moment was definitely buffy's sacrifice in the season five finale.

that should have been the ending to Buffy.. no doubt.

Chosen pales in comparison, with Wolfram and Hart saving the World, and really no need for all of them girls to become slayers....

[Patrick Bateman]

Ummm...I'm confused, are we doing favorite moments or episodes?

If you noticed the thread title, it should answer that. The only reason I used "Once More, With Feeling" as a moment, is because that was a special episode that in my opinion should count as a moment.

[Fone Bone]

I'm going to list 20. So there.

1. "Close your eyes..." Becoming Part 2. Best. Moment. EVER. The Buffy saga reached dizzying gothic soap-opera heights with this ultimate choice Buffy had to make. Sacrifice the man she loved, or let the world be sucked into Hell. When she repeated the exact words Darla used when she killed Angel centuries ago, the look of confusion and betrayel on Angel's face made his fate that much more heartbreaking. Great Christophe Beck music too, turning into a sad Sarah MacLachlan song as Buffy runs away from home.

2. "The hardest thing in this life is to live in it." The Gift. While Buffy is shown sacrificing her life to save Dawn her last words repaet over her death scene as she jumps into the vortex. The scene as her friends discover her lifeless body is made all the more heartbreaking by Spike sobbing uncontrollably.

3. "Buffy Summers, Class Protector." The Prom. Buffy receiving the ultimate acknowledgment from Jonathon and the rest of Sunnydale High goes down in history as the most touching Buffy scene ever.

4. "Where do we go from here?" Once More, With Feeling. As the Scoobies sing their last refrain in the musical Spike and Buffy finally kiss. The fact that the relationship was so mishandled in later episodes cannot take away the sheer emotional excitement of when this long-awaited scene finally happened.

5. "Upstairs" Passion. Giles finding Jenny Calendar's body, cruelly laid out on display in his bed by evil Angel while classical music played was one of Buffy's most horrifying scenes ever. What made it so brutal was that the audience KNEW. We just knew. If we hadn't seen Angel snapping Jenny's neck the scene wouldn't have had nearly as much potency.

6. "So you're the one who sees everything. Let's see what we can do about that." Dirty Girls. Murderous mysogynist Caleb takes out one of Xander's eyes. What makes this scene so powerful is the fact that Xander had just given the Potential Slayers an inspirational speech on how much they could trust Buffy. Leading the group unprepared into the vineyard to be slaughtered was Buffy's fault making Xander's speech doubley sad. By the way Caleb is the scariest Buffy villian since...

7. "Can't even shout. Can't even cry. The Gentlemen are coming by. Knocking on windows, peeking in doors, they need to take seven and they might take yours. Can't call for help. Can't say a word. You're gonna die screaming and you won't be heard." Hush. Every appearance of the Gentlemen scared the bejebus out of me. Chasing Tara down a hall, cutting out a boy's heart while he screams silently, fighting Buffy and Riley in the clocktower. The fact that this silent episode was so GOOD at showing how people communicate didn't hurt either. Stealing their voices only brought out the best in our heroes.

8. "Do you want to make out with me?" Innocence. The scene in the van where Oz tells Willow that he won't kiss her until she is ready to kiss him back is Willow at her most adorable and Oz at his coolest. A pretty heavy episode, with Angel turning evil, and this little scene is a perfect example at how great Joss Whedon is at capturing the REAL moments.

9. "Mom? Mom? Mommy?" The Body. The entire teaser and opening act of this episode where Buffy finds Joyce dead on the couch is heart-stoppingly intense. So real as Buffy deals with conflicting emotions throughout the episode of shock, grief, disgust, numbness, and horror.

10. "I want to see how it ends." Chosen. The final battle after Buffy and the gang enter the Hellmouth and fight an army of Ubervamps in an assault on the First is undoubtably Buffy's greatest battle scene and the most epic in scope. The kicker is Spike sacrificing his life to close the Hellmouth for good, but not before one last moment between Buffy and Spike. "I can feel it. My soul. It kind of burns."

11. Xander's bizarre dream in Restless fueled speculation on his character's role in the series for years to come.

12. "I'm sixteen years old. I don't want to die." Buffy's speech to Giles and Angel in Prophecy Girl was Sarah Michelle Gellar's first Emmy-worthy performance. She portrays being a scared teenage girl very well before she finally accepts her destiny.

13. The final battle in The Wish. EVERYBODY dies untils Giles resets history by smashing Anyanka's neckless.

14. All of Sunnydale High takes on the Mayor in Graduation Day Part 2. The school exploding was Buffy at it's most satisfying as well as Oz's "We survived... Not the battle. High school."

15. "I'm so evil and skanky. And I think I'm kinda gay." Willow in Doppelgangland. 'Nuff said.

16. "Home, sweet home" School Hard. Spike and Dru crash into the Sunnydale welcome sign.

17. "I did it my way." Spike cauterwalling to Sid Vicious at the end of Lover's Walk as he speeds out of town is a defining Spike moment.

18. "Freeze!" The cops pointing a gun at Buffy while she stands over Kendra's Body in Becoming Part 1 is Buffy's best cliffhanger ever. Speaking of which:

19. "I'd like to test that theory." says Giles knocking Willow across the room after she says "There's no-one powerful enough to stop me." Two to Go. Okay, one more:

20. Spike shreiking as his soul is restored. Grave.

Honorable mention: ALL the flashbacks in Becoming Part 1. Does a string of great moments count? Seriously you got Angelus being sired, Angel torturing Drusilla for the first time, Angel being cursed by Gypsies with a soul, Angel homeless in New York, and Buffy being called by Merrick while Angel watches. Great stuff and the beginning of Buffy and Angel flashbacks.

[Ruffian]

Close your Eyes - "Becoming, Part 2"
My favorite of all favorite moments in the Buffy series. Buffy sacrifices the one person she loved the most. Not only that, her mom kicks her out of the house, she got kicked out of school, her friends were ambushed by Drusilla, who also killed Kendra. It's a point where everything falls apart for Buffy, and she stood up to the challenge.

Enter Angelus - "Innocence"
Love Angelus's entrance. He turns on a woman, feeds on her, and then exhales the cigarette smoke as he lets her body fall to the ground. Right away he was scary, and I was fearful and excited at the same time.

Battling the Mayor - "Graduation Day, Part 2"
Blowing up Sunnydale High was just awesome. This was also the end of my favorite chapter in Buffy's life.

Ghostly Gothic Romance - "I Only Have Eyes for You."
A surprising twist of events. Buffy and evil Angel were able to change the course of events that allowed the spirits of James Stanley and Grace Newton to move on. There story and the anguish James was feeling was a nice parallel to how Buffy was feeling.

I may be love's *****, but at least I'm man enough to admit it - "Lovers Walk"
That was a hilarious line, and a great guest spot by Spike. He came to Sunnydale broken and the one who leaves ready to conquer love. Our heros though are left in his initial situation. Cordelia I felt most sorry for.

Am I a thing worth saving? - "Amends"
Yes you are, Angel. Took me awhile to understand that it was the Powers that Be that stepped in to save Angel that Christmas morning. That led to an understanding that the PTB's were also responsible for bringing Angel back from the hell dimension at the end of "Faith, Hope, and Trick." Pretty cool connection, and a nice setup for the spinoff.

Willow kisses Oz for the first time - "Phases"
Possibly the cutest and sweetest kiss in the entire Buffyverse.

Buffy takes charge - Checkpoint
Nice turn of events for the Slayer and the Watchers Council. As with the Scooby gang, I've disliked the Council ever since they fired Giles and sent Wesley to take his place (no offense to Wesley, I love the character). It was nice to see Buffy stand up to them. Even though she was only one among many of them she understood who had the real power.

The Final Battle - Chosen
There's just something satisfying to see a big hole in the ground where Sunnydale once stood. I didn't expect the Buffy and the gang to close the hellmouth by taking out the entire city. Pretty awesome.

I'll list a tenth later when I have time. Trying to single out ten moments ain't easy.

[screw on head]

I loved that moment where I realized Angel first lost his soul, after his forbidden night with Buffy in Season 2 I think. Where he staggers out into the rain, and I made that realization that something's gone wrong, and later find out he's become Angelus, ugh, great stuff. Season 2 really rocked.

Overall, Fone Bone's hit a lot of my fave moments in his list.

[Fone Bone]

I can't believe I left out "Am I a thing worth saving? Am I a righteous man? It's not the monster in me that needs killing, it's the man," from Amends. A perfect scene and Buffy and Angel's best moment especially with the redemptive snowfall.

Angelus's first scene was killer too with him standing out in the rain, getting up, killing the woman and blowing out her cigarette smoke. That was a scene you were like "Dang, that's cold."

Thanks Twilight!

[Ed Liu]

Howdy,

Can't say I'm as fanatic as some of the hardcore Buffy fans here, so I'm sure I've missed a bunch of moments just because I haven't seen them. That said:

1. "Buffy Summers, Class Protector." Buffy is a superhero, with a secret identity and super powers and everything. I really loved the way that this one moment nods to those conventions, while simultaneously upending them. "Yes, we know your secret. No, we won't tell." I also really liked the symbolism of giving her a little umbrella.

2. The entirety of the "Evil Willow comes to Sunnydale" episode. For all the heavy mysticism and deep discussions of destiny, Buffy was often just insane, loopy fun playing entirely by its own rules. This episode is the embodiment of all that sort of thing.

Um, that's all I can think of, beyond the others already mentioned ("Mom? Mom? Mommy?" is heartbreaking). I'm sure I'll think of about 8 others after posting, of course...

-- Ed/Ace

[Storm]

Fone Bone you list some other favorite moments of mine and you went pass ten. You rebel!


I have a few more:


"If you touch me, I'll kill you." - Buffy to Giles, Helpless

When I first saw this episode I was going bonkers. Buffy helpless? It's not a sentence you say everyday. When she said that to Giles I was right there with her. I felt the emotion and how she felt used and betrayed. Naughty Watchers Council.



"Who's gonna take care of us?" - Buffy, Forever

Such a touching moment and what a tearjerker. Sarah Michelle Gellar and Michelle Trachenberg's performaces are powerful in this ending scene. How Buffy breakdowns and deals with the lost of her mother is just a great moment. I love it when they just hug and let it all out.



"I'm Kendra the Vampire Slayer!" - Kendra, What My Line Pt. 1

Kendra is one of my favorite characters and she is so overlooked when it comes to Buffy and Faith. When she made her first appearance everybody thought she was a bad guy but when she said those five little words in her cool accent... the BtVS mythos changed forever. Great performance by Bianca Lawson too!



"Professor Walsh. That simple little recon you sent me on . . . wasn't a raccoon. Turns out it was me trapped in the sewers with a faulty weapon and two of your pet demons. If you think that's enough to kill me, you really don't know what a Slayer is. Trust me when I say you're gonna find out." - Buffy, The I in Team

Another great classic Buffy Summers moment.



"Bored now." - Evil Willow, Villains

Evil Willow ripping the flesh off of Warren. Nuff said.


"Can I Spend the Night... Alone?" - Conversation w/ Dead People

The opening scenes with Buffy, Willow, and Dawn while the enchanting song "Blue" by Angie Hart plays is just pure Buffy at it's best.



"Get out!" - Buffy's reaction to Dracula saying he's Dracula, Buffy vs Dracula

Buffy meeting the prince of darkness himself for the very first time and she seemed star strucked. Pretty funny moment in the Buffyverse.



Brain Fart! More to come and keep em' coming. Top 10 Angel Moments Thread coming soon!



- Storm

[Patrick Bateman]

"It's not like it had a catchy hook or anything, like 'I'm coming up so you better get this party started'. It's boring, old, and English, just like you...el... Brenner. Yuel Brenner... a British Yuel Brenner." - Buffy to Giles, Season 7. One of my favorite lines from a wonderful episode.

"I'm tired of being the guy who eats bugs and gets the funny siphalis. I'm done being everyone's buttmonkey!" - Xander
"Check. No more buttmonkey." - Buffy
My favorite scene in Buffy vs. Dracula.