Unless you’ve been living under (or on) the Hellmouth, you’re probably aware that this week marks the 20th anniversary of Buffy the Vampire Slayer. This little TV show that could, born from an ill-received flop of a movie, reemerged as an expected to fail mid-season replacement. What followed, though, was seven seasons of some of the best storytelling that ever graced the small screen. And although not every season was equally beloved, each one still had more than a handful of standout episodes that, like Buffy herself, were destined to become legend.
Read on to find out what I think were the single best episodes from every season of Buffy the Vampire Slayer.
2. Season Two, Episode(s) Twenty-One and Twenty-Two – “Becoming”
Ok maybe this one is a bit of a cheat because I had to choose two episodes, but “Becoming” really is a two-hour episode more than it is a two-parter. And boy is it a doozy. “Becoming”, for me at least, became the high water mark that all future episodes had to at least emulate. Filled with action, intense drama, and some of the most well-written and literary dialogue and narration that show would ever have, this episode was a complete game changer. It’s also where the show’s ability to tell complex, and deeply layered stories really first came about. This chapter is not just about Angel becoming a vampire in the past, and a hero later. It’s also about Buffy finally becoming a slayer, and if you want to get really meta about it, it’s where the show finally becomes what it was meant to be.
