Buffy The Vampire Slayer: The Best Episodes In Every Season, According To IMDb

The hit primetime fantasy drama, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, premiered on The WB as a mid-season replacement in March of 1997. The series follows the title character Buffy, who in addition to being a high school student with normal teenage problems, is also the Chosen One. Buffy is the one person in the whole world with superpowers that can fight “vampires, demons, and the forces of darkness”.

The series aired for seven successful seasons and garnered a massive fan base. After the series finale in 2003, Buffy’s story continued with an online comic strip. The series can be streamed in its entirety on Hulu, and if you decide to revisit Sunnydale and our favorite characters, here are the best episodes of each season, which should be first on your watchlist.

10 Season One: Prophecy Girl (9.0)

In the season one finale, Buffy must face The Master on the same night as Sunnydale High School’s homecoming dance. Before the big night, Buffy overhears Angel and Giles talking in the library.

Giles informs Angel that there is a prophecy that says Buffy will die at the hands of The Master. When Buffy learns of her fate, she initially tries to run from it but knows that she can’t. Buffy faces The Master and she does die, but luckily, Xander is there to save the day.

9 Season Two: Becoming, Part 2 (9.6)

The season finale for season two of Buffy the Vampire Slayer is one of the most heartbreaking episodes in television history. Earlier in the season, Buffy and Angel spend the night together and Angel experiences one true moment of happiness, which steals his restored soul, making Angel once again, the epitome of a demon.

Angel wreaks havoc on Buffy and her friends and it all comes to a head in this final, tragic episode of the season.

8 Season Three: Dopplegangland (9.3)

In this season three episode, newly human, Anya, enlists the help of Willow for a dark spell. Willow, tired of being labeled as “old reliable” decides to help Anya knowing it will be something new for her and unexpected when her friends find out.

Unfortunately, Willow and Anya’s spell doesn’t go according to plan and the two end up summoning evil’s Vampire alter ego, creating mass confusion for not only human Willow and her friends, but the demon world as well.

7 Season Three: Graduation Day, Part 2 (9.3)

Season three has been building up to Sunnydale High School’s graduation day. Not only are Buffy, Xander, Willow, Oz, and Cordelia graduating, but they are teaming up with their class to defeat whatever the Mayor has in store for the class of 1999.

When the day finally arrives, Buffy and her friends and co-fighters are prepared but have underestimated what the Mayor planned and it takes burning down the high school to save the world from another impending apocalypse.

6 Season Four: Something Blue (9.1)

One of the reasons Buffy was such a successful series is because it balanced the horror and suspense with quirky and funny storylines, characters, and dialogue so well. One of the best and quirkiest episodes of the series is in season four when Willow accidentally casts a spell that makes everything she says become a reality.

At one point, in an argument with Buffy, Willow suggests that she and Spike should get married, and suddenly, the two enemies are engaged, which is really fun for fans of the show to watch play out.

5 Season Four: Hush (9.7)

Season four’s episode titled, “Hush”, is one of the scariest episodes in television history.

This episode stood out as one of the series’ best and was nominated for an Emmy award for writing. In the episode, the entire town of Sunnydale has lost the ability to speak due to a curse from the biggest and baddest demons fans have ever seen. These demons invade Sunnydale, ripping hearts out of their victims’ bodies, who are unable to scream because the whole town has gone silent.

4 Season Five: The Body (9.7)

This was another critically acclaimed episode of the series. The writing, directing, and Sarah Michelle Gellar’s performance in this episode have been hailed as some of the best work in television history.

Leading up to this episode, Buffy’s mother, Joyce, has been diagnosed with a brain tumor. In this episode, Joyce loses her battle to cancer and Buffy is the one who finds her.

3 Season Five: The Gift (9.5)

Buffy the Vampire Slayer always delivered fantastic season finales, and season five’s finale was no different. Buffy faces her strongest opponent yet for most of season five.

Fans spent most of this season wondering how Buffy and her friends were all going to get out of this one alive, and it turns out, not all of them did. This is the episode where Buffy dies, leaving her friends completely devastated and at a loss for how to move on.

2 Season Six: Once More, With Feeling (9.8)

This is an episode that fans love, but it’s been reported, some of the cast dreaded filming. In true Joss Whedon fashion, he ups his quirky plot-game with this musical episode of Buffy the Vampire Slayer. 

A new demon in town casts a spell where people sing and dance until they burst into flames. The entire casts sings both individually and together in this episode and in one of Buffy’s songs she reveals to her friends that when she died she went to heaven and her friends pulled her out of a good place where she was happy.

1 Season Seven: Chosen (9.3)

The seventh season finale is also the series’ finale. Buffy and the Scooby gang spend most of the seventh season recruiting and training new slayers to help fight the ultimate evil that threatens to end the world.

In the finale episode, the fight is finally here. Buffy and most of her friends make it out alive, but there are some casualties, including Buffy’s on-again/off-again lover, Spike, who sacrifices himself so that Buffy and the others can get out of a cave as it’s collapsing.

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