Monday, October 1, 2012

Countdown to Halloween Day 1 -- My Top 5 Buffy episodes

Welcome to the first of my Countdown to Halloween themed posts here at Categorically Thinking.  Due to time constraints, I'm starting off with a quick list.

MY TOP 5 FAVORITE EPISODES OF BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER

5.  "Tabula Rasa" -- Although this episode would lead to some of my least favorite BtVS plots, it will always hold a special place in my heart for the comedy gold of the amnesiac Scooby Gang trying to suss out their names and relationships.  Not the scariest or creepiest of episodes, but one that makes me laugh a lot.

4. "Restless" -- And speaking of laughing a lot, the Season 4 finale which finds the Core 4 being stalked by some mysterious force in their dreams is filled with Whedonisms and non sequiters that amused me greatly.  It also managed to capture the shifting logic and locations of dreams better than most any other show I've seen.  And, unlike the incidental villains of "Tabula Rasa," the mysterious force here brings a bit of the creepy.  But, not as much as . . .

3. "Hush" -- Probably best known for its gimmicky premise -- there's zero dialogue in the second and third acts of the episode -- the real reason this episode stands out for me is the fact that the Monsters of the Week are among the creepiest things I've ever seen on broadcast TV.  Seriously, it's rare for me to get creeped out by a TV show, but "Hush" managed it easily.

2. "The Body" -- This episode revolving around the death of a long-time character never ceases to choke me up; the sequence where Anya has her breakdown gets me to tear up every time I watch it.

1.  "Once More With Feeling" -- Yes, the musical episode of Buffy is my favorite episode of Buffy; is anyone really surprised?

1 comment:

  1. Good list. I have been trying to come up with a top 5 for a while, but I just can't decide which episodes to pick. I really think "Hush", "The Body" and the musical should be on my list, but that leaves only two spots for all the other awesome episodes! Too hard to decide between "Nightmares", "Becoming I&II", "Helpless", "The I in Team", "Who Are You?", "The Gift", "Life Serial", "Normal Again", "Chosen"... I think I'm just gonna come up with a top 3 for each season eventually! Anyways, thanks for getting me to think about those awesome episodes! Can't wait for the rest of your pre-Halloween posts!

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