As a series, Buffy the Vampire Slayer ran for 7 seasons, and had a lot of great episodes, so I wanted to highlight 3 episodes that are among the best.
The Body (Season 5, Episode 16)
In The Body, Buffy comes home to find her mother dead, her lifeless body on their couch. She calls 911, they tell her to perform CPR, and she cracks a rib (she's way too strong to perform CPR on anyone!). But her mother has already passed.
This is one of those episodes that is so shocking that it's from a supernatural series because you'd think it was from some award-winning drama series. Joss Whedon wrote and directed the episode, and the way it was done was so realistic, you completely and totally forget it's a vampire show.
The way everyone reacts is exactly the way everyone reacts when someone close to them dies. Xander punching the wall, Anya not understanding how Joyce will never have certain foods again, Buffy imagining her mother survived, Willow obsessing over nothing important, Dawn throwing a fit like a little child.
I remember watching the episode when it aired with my mother (we both loved supernatural shows), and she had to leave in the middle of the episode. It triggered her with the death of her mother. I haven't watched this episode since my mother died, but I imagine it'd have a similar effect for me now.
I am thoroughly convinced this is the episode that got Sarah Michelle Gellar her sole Golden Globe nomination. When people heard about that nom, the collective gasp of shock from Hollywood could be heard around the world!
Hush (Season 4, Episode 10)
In Hush, everyone in Sunnydale loses their voice so the baddies can steal people's hearts without anyone screaming. It's a strange episode in that there is very little talking, and the characters have to mime and write down and draw what they're trying to say, which leads to some confusion and hilarity, of course.
This episode CREEPS ME OUT SO HARD! Losing your ability to speak all of a sudden, is straight out of a nightmare where something bad is happening and you try to scream but nothing comes out. Talk about terrifying!
And the baddies in this episode just add to the creep factor, floating and making no noise. I don't think I could watch this episode again, or at least not at night and not alone, I couldn't sleep after watching it the first time!
Innocence (Season 2, Episode 14)
In Innocence, Angel loses his soul and reverts back to evil Angelus. Angel was a vampire who was truly brutal, until he was cursed with a soul. He's spent his time since overwhelmed by the pain of the harm he's caused, until he meets Buffy, and the two fall in love. On her seventeenth birthday, they end up having sex, which triggers the release of the curse, which said Angel would have a soul until he had one moment of true happiness, which he has with Buffy.
Buffy is absolutely heartbroken realizing what's happened, that it's partially her fault, and that she may have to kill him at some point (which she does at the end of the season). At the same time, Spike and Dru have put together the Judge, who wants to kill everyone with just his touch, but Buffy ends up killing him (with some modern weaponry!).
This was a bit of a heartbreaking episode as we fans loved Buffy and Angel, and you really felt bad for both of them. Neither knew what would happen, and there were outsized consequences.
I will say, I found the idea that Buffy was essentially punished for having sex was odd considering Joss Whedon wanted to subvert the idea that the girl always gets killed in horror movies once she has sex with Buffy the Vampire Slayer the film. Not sure why he changed it for the show. She was punished the very next time she had sex too (with Parker). And then the next guy, Riley, had sex with someone else pretending to be her (Faith). And don't get me started on the sexual relationship with Spike! So the show was kind of toxic with its portrayal of sex with Buffy but it was a direct contrast to the film. Must’ve been a clue as to what would come out about Whedon years later . . .
My Personal Favorite: Phases (Season 2, Episode 15)
My personal favorite was coincidentally the episode after Innocence, when Oz (Seth Green) becomes a werewolf. It was super campy and a total throwback kind of episode, and I love how sweet Oz was with Willow. I know she turned out to be gay, but that wasn't Oz's fault!