9) The Wish – Season 3, Episode 9
Yes, TV shows and movies have cribbed the plot of It’s A Wonderful Life more times than we can count, but that doesn’t mean that, if approached in the right way, some freshness and invention can’t be injected into the old concept.
Chiefly, this episode’s depiction of a Sunnydale without Buffy is a chance to dive into a Bizarro-World where everything has gone to seed without the Slayer to protect it. There are some great twists and surprises – e.g. alt-Buffy having her neck viciously snapped by the Master – but the star of the episode is Vampire Willow. Alyson Hannigan excels at playing a sultry, psychopathic version of the usually loveably dorky Willow. In hindsight, the character also foreshadows Willow’s turn to the darkness in season 6.
“The Wish” was so good it spawned a sequel that same season, “Doppelgangland,” which sees Vampire Willow travel to the regular dimension. More of an out-and-out comedy, it’s remarkably almost as good as its predecessor.