Buffy the Vampire Slayer served up a lot of first-class episodes across its seven seasons on air, whether they were hilarious, challenging, heartbreaking, scary or, as was most likely, a combination of all of the above plus a bunch more adjectives. There’s a familiar list of episodes that fans often rank at the top, but what are the best hours of the series according to Buffy Summers herself, Sarah Michelle Gellar?
BuzzFeed caught up with the star and asked her to name her top three Buffy episodes, and here’s what Gellar went for:
“The Body,” “The Prom,” and the silent episode, “Hush”.
I think a lot of Scooby Gang lovers would agree with those choices. For those unfamiliar with the titles, “The Body” is the season 5 episode in which Buffy’s mother Joyce dies, from a brain aneurysm rather than a vampire bite. It’s often applauded for stripping out nearly all supernatural elements and offering a devastating portrayal of grief.
On the more uplifting side of the show we have “The Prom,” the season 3 outing mostly beloved for the final scene in which Angel shows up at the prom to dance with Buffy, and the heroine is given the Class Protector Award by her classmates for all the times she’s saved the school from vamps. You can watch the moment in question above.
As Gellar reminds us, “Hush” is the episode which dispenses with dialogue for the most part after the citizens of Sunnydale have their voices stolen by creepy monsters the Gentlemen. The silent movie premise was a genius idea from creator/writer/director Joss Whedon. It also introduced hugely popular character Tara, Willow’s future girlfriend.
Whedon is currently working on a Buffy the Vampire Slayer reboot, which he’ll exec produce and while Gellar has previously wished him well with the project, she says she won’t be involved, feeling she’s already completed her journey with the character. Which is fair enough.