The 7 Best Seasons of Buffy

Ok, so there are only 7 seasons of Buffy. Well, technically 8 now with the comics, but as it is a) A comic book and b) incomplete, I feel it’s best to compare the television series. Besides, there are no “bad” seasons of Buffy, just seasons that are better than others. I decided to start out with a list that’s both obvious and requires some serious analysis. Expect a similar list for Angel to follow, though not immediately (this takes alot longer than it looks).

In ranking the seasons, I took the following into account: overall plot, series-changing moments, quality of stand-alones, quality of key episodes, and season finales.

7. Season 1 (S1)

To be fair, S1 is at a disadvantage with just over half the number of episodes of a normal season of Buffy. One could argue that the proportion of good : not-so good episodes is actually higher in this season. Also, with being the first season, it obviously had to be good enough in those first 12 episodes to garner enough attention and praise in order to get the go-ahead for Season 2.

However, S1 suffers from flaws which the show writers tightened up in pretty much all of the later seasons. First of all, S1 is heavy on the “monster of the week” episode type throughout, as opposed to the more favourable increasing number of key episodes as the season comes to a close. Yes, there are important scenes relating to the Master’s freedom from beginning to end, but there are relatively few key episodes which advance the plot in their entirety. The standalones are good for the most part in establishing the setting and character, but Joss and Co. hadn’t quite explored the drama among the characters that made the show as compelling as it was.

Also, the Master is possibly the least engaging character that has several key role in the series, namely killing Buffy and activating the next slayer, as well as being the ancestor of the four most important vampires in the series (Darla, Angelus, Drusilla and Spike). The writers hadn’t quite grasped yet that the best villains are evil but oddly likable.

Key Episodes: Welcome to the Hellmouth/The Harvest, Angel, Prophecy Girl

Notable Standalones: The Pack, The Puppet Show, Out of Mind Out of Sight

Episodes to Skip: Never Kill a Boy on the First Date, I Robot…You Jane

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6. Season 7 (S7)

At the opposite end of Buffy’s run we have Season 7 which, poetically, suffers from the opposite problem of S1; too much drama. Also, too many annoying potential slayers; especially Kennedy.

Since it was the last season, there were numerous loose ends to tie up relationship-wise, and drama became the forefront at the expense of the plot. Buffy has to sort out her conflicting feelings about Spike, Willow is reeling from the aftermath of her dark rage from the death of her girlfriend, and Xander dances around Anya while feeling guilty about his decision to leave her at the alter. All very good plot-lines on their own, but throw them all together with a less than stellar season-long arc on top of the annoying potentials (did I say that already?), and the season as a whole leaves you with a bleh feeling. The Uber-vamps and the Bringers aren’t the most entertaining lackeys of the Big Bad we’ve seen, and the First doesn’t feel nearly as hopelessly undefeatable as we’d like.

However, there are some positives about the season. Principal Wood is definitely an interesting character to introduce, and Dawn is significantly less whiny (at the request of Michelle Trachtenberg, I believe). Can’t forget about Andrew’s supreme geekiness that made Xander look like a jock. Also, being the huge Spuffy fan that I am, I get a lot of the more romantic aspects of the relationship that were seriously lacking in season 6. Finally, the Finale was such a perfect way to end the series about female empowerment, and let us know that the show had come full circle as well as a long way.

Key Episodes: Beneath You, Bring on the Night, Showtime, Get It Done, Empty Places, Chosen

Notable Stand-Alones: Help, Him, Conversations with Dead People, Storytelller

Episodes to Skip: Same Time Same Place, First Date

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5. Season 4 (S4)

Ahh. Season 4. I have a love-hate relationship with this season. There are so many episodes I really like by themselves, and there are some great lines, as well as the addition of a certain bleach-blonde vampire to the main cast.

However, this is also the season of the Initiative. And of Adam. And of the Unpleasant One, aka Riley Finn. Basically, anyone or any plot relating back to the government got on my nerves.

Unfortunately, the good episodes of S4 are often deeply linked to the Initiative. And as Buffy starts dating Riley, this link gets even deeper. *sigh*

I don’t know what to say more than that on this season. I think the dichotomy of strong feelings for S4 makes me a poor judge, but alls I knows is I likes it better than S7, but not as much as S6.

Key Episodes: Wild At Heart, The Initiative, Doomed, Goodbye Iowa, The Yoko Factor, Primeval

Notable Stand-Alones: The Harsh Light of Day, Something Blue, Hush, This Year’s Girl/Who Are You, New Moon Rising, Restless

Episodes to Skip: Living Conditions, Fear Itself, Beer Bad, Where the Wild Things Are

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4. Season 6 (S6)

Easiest the darkest season of all, S6 looks, feels, sounds and tastes different than the others (but the smell is about the same). If all the seasons before and after this one were rated PG-13, S6 no doubt earns an R. Not just for gratuitous sexual content, but for adult themes and violence (quite often with the gratuitous sexual content). Buffy’s depression and secret sexual using and loosing of Spike, Willow’s magic addiction and eventual psychotic breakdown, Xander and Anya’s relationship collapse and the demon’s relapse. The Trio of Supernerds start out as a pathetic but comical foe for our heroine, but the twisted misogynistic stylings of Warren take them to a darker place than even Jonathan and Andrew never knew they would reach. Even
Dawn’s clepto tendencies is an issue thats more real than most we see on Buffy. For many, this was the year that they lost the metaphor and the Scooby Gang dealt with serious grown-up issues.

Whether you enjoyed this season came down to whether or not you could handle that. Many people couldn’t. Personally, I could.

Perhaps its because this is the season I started watching Buffy, but this season isn’t too dark for me, though I do admit its quite a shocker to go from an episode from, say, Season 3 to one from S6. Even the episodes that aren’t that great, though, I still have a certain fondness for, because it kept me tuning in from week to week.

Things I liked about the season was the complex relationship between Buffy and Spike, though the attempted rape is by far the hardest scene for me to watch in all seven seasons. It often makes me sick. Also, you can’t forget the perfection of “Once More, with Feeling,” an episode that brings up the points of the rest of the season all on its own. Dark Willow is a great villain, though a bit anticlimactic because you know she can’t die and she wont kill a major character.

Dawn was a bigger pain in S6 than S5, particularly due to her whining about Buffy’s lack of attention. She was depressed and trying to earn a living for the both of you with a minimum wage job, you brat; go watch some TV. As I said before, the Trio had a tendency to be quite a pathetic follow-up to a god in the previous season, and when they got dark, they became too real for the universe they were supposed to be in. And, might I mention again that the attempted rape was truly horrible; so much that even the actors were questioning the writers on that.

Overall, S6 is filled with a significant amount of drama, but enough plot to balance it out.

Key Episodes: Bargaining 1&2, Once More With Feeling, Smashed/Wrecked, Dead Things, Hell’s Bells, Seeing Red, Villains/Two to Go/Grave

Notable Stand-alones: Life Serial, Tabula Rasa, Gone

Episodes to Skip: Doublemeat Palace, Older and Far Away, Normal Again

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3. Season 5 (S5)

I am aware that this is the season that introduces, rather convolutely, one of the most annoying characters in the Buffyverse, especially if you have a younger sibling. However, this also introduces the first real moments of Spuffy, and so there are many episodes and scenes throughout the season I just adore. This is also when Willow/Tara is at it’s best, and the overall arc of the season is one of the most complete.

Glory is a good Big Bad; not my favourite, but solid. She did have a tendency to get on my nerves after longer periods of exposure, but overall, her plan to get back to her home dimension and destroy any dimensions standing in the way is a plausible one as Big Bad plans go. And, though I begrudginly admit, the notion of keeping the key in Buffy’s protection in the form of someone she loves is a good one. The build up of the season, as well as the heartbreaking finale, is great and pulse pounding. The final shot of the season (what was supposed to be the final shot of the series) is as touching and simple as things go. I cry when I see “The Gift.”

Not only is this the beginning of the delicious Spuffy, with Spikes sometimes creepy, sometimes adorable crush on the slayer, but we also get the send off of the Unpleasant One. We get a deeper understanding of Slayer lore, as well as what makes Buffy stand out as a slayer. Overall, only a few flaws in a great season.

Key Episodes: Out of My Mind, Into the Woods, Blood Ties, The Body, Spiral, The Gift

Notable Standalones: Buffy vs. Dracula, Family, Fool For Love, Checkpoint, Crush, I Was Made to Love You, Intervention

Episodes to Skip: Shadow, Listening to Fear, Forever

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2. Season 3 (S3)

Now, by the number of episodes I like, this season should actually be number one. From episode to episode, the quality was pretty consistent pretty much the whole way through. But obviously the amount of love per episode is not quite as high as number one, and therefore here we are with the silver medal.

Season 3 is excellent. Of course, you need to see the latter half of season 2 to appreciate it, but chances are you have, and you realize that Buffy’s final year in Sunnydale High is almost as interesting, weird and tragic as her last. There is such exploration with the “doomed”ness of the Bangel relationship, that by the end you feel that its both heartbreaking and for the best when Angel departs for his spin-off.

Also, we get the introduction and corruption of one of the most popular recurring characters, Faith. The bad version of Buffy, we get a character we think is cool, revile, and sympathize with. Faith is a gigantic character experiment of giving power to an unstable person without the foundations of love, and we see not only her struggle with it, but her complete loss of humanity while still remaining human. Her relationship with the Mayor parallels Buffy’s father-daughter relationship with Giles, and the comparison is eerie.

Speaking of the Mayor, he is probably one of the most creative villains on either show. His germaphobia, combined with his Mister Rogers attitude to his minions while he tries to ascend to a gigantic snake demon makes him one interesting character to watch. Excellent performance.

This season also has some of the first sightings of the show making fun of itself, and asks some pretty hard questions of itself, like in the episode “The Wish.” Standalones are particularly well done, and the key episodes are often well done but can seem to lack in comparison. Overall, fabulous.

Key Episodes: Faith Hope & Trick, Lover’s Walk, Amends, Helpless, Bad Girls/Consequences, Enemies, The Prom, Graduation Day 1&2

Notable Standalones: Homecoming, The Wish, Gingerbread, The Zeppo, Dopplegangland, Earshot

Episodes to Skip: Dead Man’s Party, Revelations

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1. Season 2 (S2)

Season 2 is more or less the essence of Buffy (for me). This season had everything you could possibly want in a season of Buffy; humour, romance, drama, great villains, character development, action, horror. It is my feeling that this is when Buffy was truly at its best.

First and foremost, the main villain of the season is the most personal Buffy ever has. Angelus is not only diabolical, but he devastates us because he devastates Buffy. The metaphor for a girl loosing her virginity to what is seemingly a nice guy, only to find out he’s turned into an asshole, is so perfectly executed that we feel Buffy’s pain for the entirety of the season. And the final moments, in which Buffy is forced to kill her lover to save the world, is possibly the most tragic moment of all 7 seasons (despite the fact that he returns later).  It’s here that Joss realizes that sad endings that are beautifully and painfully done can be ten times the episode than one with a happy ending. Or as he puts it; Buffy in pain, show good.

We also get the first villains who end up being loved by the audience; Spike and Drusilla. Their twisted love for each other and for destruction made them a captivating foe for Buffy, and both characters were so different yet powerful that they both stole all the scenes they were in. With the addition of these two, the foursome of the important vampire gang is complete (at least, by introduction to the audience). Though their importance was supposed to be at the same level of Mr. Trick in Season 3, due to their immense popularity, Drusilla becomes a fan favourite, especially in Flashbacks, and Spike arguably becomes one of the most important characters on the show.

Buffy, Xander, Willow and Giles all get significant drama and character development in this season. The writers really get into a stride with stand-alones as well as key episodes. In fact, most of the important events that occur in later seasons of both shows can be traced back to episodes in this season, even the one-shot eps. It’s that powerful.

What else can I say; Buffy Season 2 comes as close to perfect as this show can get. Much love from beginning to end.

Key Episodes: School Hard, Halloween The Dark Age, What’s My Line 1&2, Surprise/Innocence, Phases, Passion, Becoming 1&2

Notable Stand-Alones: Lie to Me, Bewitched Bothered and Bewildered, Killed by Death, I Only Have Eyes For You, Go Fish

Episodes to Skip: Some Assembly Required, Ted, Bad Eggs