Much like the Potentials themselves, these episodes have a lot of good qualities, but also have something annoying holding them back from greatness.
173. Welcome to the Hellmouth
Buffy Season 1, Episode 1
Written by Joss Whedon
Directed by Charles Martin Smith
Welcome to Sunnydale, where the librarians are British, students frequently get murdered on school property, and the pop culture quips are seriously dated (um, James Spader was once a heartthrob????) Sure, the pilot suffers from awkward dialogue, bad special effects, and a tedious villain. But it also displays the show’s potential to be a funny and poignant look at high school, which is quite literally hell. Good things ahead.
172. The Harvest
Buffy Season 1, Episode 2
Written by Joss Whedon
Directed by John Kretchmer
Only the second episode of Buffy and Giles has already uttered the phrase “end of the world”. The Master wants to do a thing that lets him walk above ground and open the Hellmouth. Personally, I think he just wants to not look like he has fruit punch mouth anymore. In the end, Buffy defeats the Master’s plan in the same way she will end up being one of the most successful Slayers of all-time: with a little help from her friends.
171. Tomorrow
Angel Season 3, Episode 22
Written and directed by David Greenwalt
This episode is the ultimate mixed bag. On the one hand, Connor puts Angel in a metal box and lets him sink to the bottom of the ocean, which is a thrilling and cruel way to end the season. But this episode also sets in motion the worst plot line in the entire Buffyverse with Cordelia “ascending” to a higher plane. Please no.
170. Just Rewards
Angel Season 5, Episode 2
Written by David Fury and Ben Edlund
Directed by James Contner
Spike comes back from the dead as an incorporeal ghost. While Spike’s return is great for the show, it does cheapen his sacrifice in the Buffy finale. Thankfully, the dynamic between him and Angel in season 5 is enough to assuage my misgivings.
169. Touched
Buffy Season 7, Episode 20
Written by Rebecca Rand Kirshner
Directed by David Solomon
This is a sweet episode, though not much happens aside from a bunch of sexy times. Buffy spends a night cuddling with Spike, satisfying shippers everywhere. Willow has sex with Kennedy (ugh) but it’s one of the first lesbian sex scenes on TV (yay!). Others have sex, too. Honestly, outside of the sex, I don’t remember much else happening. Oh yeah, Faith leads a group of potentials into a small, dark basement equipped with explosives...
168. I’ve Got You Under My Skin
Angel Season 1, Episode 14
Written by Jeanine Renshaw
Directed by R.D. Price
The eerie plot twist justifies the means here as the boy who was possessed is himself more evil than the demon that possessed him. It’s a neat MOTW episode, but it doesn’t have much significance for any of the main characters, save for a few moments when the possessed child impersonates Doyle.
167. As You Were
Buffy Season 6, Episode 15
Written and Directed by Douglas Petrie
“You’re up, you’re down, but it doesn’t change what you are. You are a hell of a woman”. Say what you will about Riley, but his one-episode return was the necessary catalyst for Buffy to change. Buffy is so lost in season 6 and desperately needed to be reminded of her worth so she could end her unhealthy relationship with Spike. It may not be the most exciting hour of television, but it’s an important one.
166. The Witch
Buffy Season 1, Episode 3
Written by Dana Reston
Directed by Stephen Cragg
Yeah, the special effects are poor, but this episode does a good job establishing how the Hellmouth contains more than just vampires. But let’s be honest, the best part of this episode is the eyes moving in the cheerleading statue at the end, which sets up a creepy callback to that same statue in season 2.
165. Crush
Buffy Season 5, Episode 14
Written by David Fury
Directed by Daniel Attias
Tough look for my guy Spike, who takes desperate measures to gain Buffy’s affections, like chaining Buffy to a wall and offering to kill Drusilla. The representation of what it means for Spike to love someone when he doesn’t have a soul - cruelly and possessively - is intriguing, but Spike is a smidge too pathetic here that it’s hard to watch.
164. Carpe Noctem
Angel Season 3, Episode 4
Written by Scott Murphy
Directed by James Contner
An old man uses a body switching spell so he can be young again and bed tons of ladies. He gets Angel’s body and hijinks ensue. Amusing, but it serves no other purpose than to diffuse Fred’s crush on Angel.
163. Reptile Boy
Buffy Season 2, Episode 5
Written and Directed by David Greenwalt
This episode comes at you with a powerful message for young women: Don’t drink alcohol with frat boys because they will chain you in a basement and try to sacrifice you to a penis demon. I love that Buffy goes there re: misogyny and sexual violence, and the episode is incredibly entertaining, even if it is a little over-the-top. But can we still get a moratorium on phallic demons please?
162. Hell Bound
Angel Season 5, Episode 4
Written and Directed by Steven DeKnight
Spike is being pulled back to hell when his non-corporeal self “wisps away” where he is being taunted by evil ghosts like the Reaper. It’s creepy, and we get to learn more about Wolfram & Hart’s history. But overall, it’s not that meaningful an episode.
161. Out of Mind, Out of Sight
Buffy Season 1, Episode 11
Written by Joss Whedon, Ashley Gable & Thomas Swyden
Directed by Reza Badiyi
A student who was ignored until she turned invisible terrorizes her peers, Cordelia in particular. It’s a neat concept, though a bit blunt in execution. Hands down the best part of the episode is the coda, as the invisible girl gets taken to this school that trains invisible assassins. Cool.
160. Room w/a Vu
Angel Season 1, Episode 5
Written by Jane Espensen & David Greenwalt
Directed by Scott McGinnis
A decent Cordelia episode brought down by the presence of an annoyingly murderous old lady ghost who goes in and out of translucence like a T.V. with bad reception. Still, Cordelia saying "the Bitch is back" is pretty epic, and I do love me some ghost Dennis.
159. Enemies
Buffy Season 3, Episode 17
Written by Douglas Petrie
Directed by David Grossman
Faith, working with the Mayor, tries to trick Angel into sleeping with her so that he loses his soul. What happens is moderately compelling - Angel pretends to be Angelus to trick Faith into revealing the Mayor's plan. But it bothers me just how dumb Faith’s plan is because ORGASMS DO NOT EQUAL TRUE HAPPINESS for the purpose of breaking Angel’s curse (or in real life, as anyone who has ever had a sad orgasm knows). I cannot emphasize enough how annoying this misunderstanding is.
158. Forever
Buffy Season 5, Episode 17
Written and Directed by Marti Noxon
This episode tackles the aftermath of Joyce’s death fairly well. Unfortunately, it comes right after “The Body”, one of the best episodes of any show, ever. And it features a lot of Dawn being completely inconsiderate of her sister's feelings. Suffice it to say, it's a bit of a letdown.
157. The Harsh Light of Day
Buffy Season 4, Episode 3
Written by Jane Espenson
Directed by James Contner
Spike gets the gem of Amara, which allows him to have a kick-ass fight with Buffy in the sunlight. Buffy beats him and sends the ring to Angel, leading to the first great crossover episode. Too bad some asshole in a polo shirt named Parker Abrams gets so much screen time.
156. Wild at Heart
Buffy Season 4, Episode 6
Written by Marti Noxon
Directed by David Grossman
Oz’s departure is sudden and sloppy, though it’s hard to fault the show for it since Seth Green abruptly wanted to leave. While Alyson Hannigan's performance is heartbreaking, it's just too much to introduce Veruca as a love interest for Oz, have her turn into a villain and die in the span of (mostly) one episode.
155. Offspring
Angel Season 3, Episode 7
Written by David Greenwalt
Directed by Turi Meyer
This episode exists to answer this age-old question: if you’re an evil being that feasts off the blood of others to survive, do you suddenly become good if you get mythically pregnant? Turns out the answer is no, you just get more evil and more ravenous. That’s why Cordelia’s desire to protect Darla, who is obviously still an evil vampire, makes little sense.
Side note: Why was Holtz wearing sunglasses in 1771? Is that a thing?
154. Through the Looking Glass
Angel Season 2, Episode 21
Written and Directed by Tim Minear
The Pylea plot line is corny but this episode gets an edge because it's funny. The “Dance of Honour” gets me every time.
153. Tough Love
Buffy Season 5, Episode 19
Written by Rebecca Rand Kirshner
Directed by David Grossman
The point of this episode is to raise the stakes when Glory brain-sucks Tara. Aside from getting the first glimpse of Willow’s dark powers when she fucks with Glory, there is not much else going on here.
152. Gone
Buffy Season 6, Episode 11
Written and Directed by David Fury
Buffy becomes invisible and bounds around town scaring the social services lady and having more sex with Spike. Willow cracks the case of Buffy’s invisibility the old-fashioned non-magic way. It’s funny and entertaining, but something about this episode feels…empty.
151. Benediction
Angel Season 3, Episode 21
Written and directed by Tim Minear
Connor and Angel bond over killing vampires, so Holtz plots to make Connor hate his father even more by faking his own death. It’s a power move, for sure, and creates an ominous vibe going into the finale. Too bad I just don't really care about Connor.
150. The Magic Bullet
Angel Season 4, Episode 19
Written and directed by Jeffrey Bell
This episode would not have been as exciting if anyone other than Fred went on a solo quest to break Jasmine's spell. Fred pulls a Hermione and discovers the key is Jasmine’s blood by using logic and intelligence. The scene where she shoots Angel with a stray bullet from Jasmine is brilliant. The Jasmine-Connor scenes are lacklustre in comparison.
149. Nightmares
Buffy Season 1, Episode 10
Written by Joss Whedon and David Greenwalt
Directed by Bruce Seth Green
For season one, this is a great episode. Nightmares coming to life leads to a nice mix of humour (Xander in his underwear, Willow forced to sing), horror (that fucking clown) and emotional devastation (Buffy’s father telling her the divorce was her fault). It basically sets the foundation for later, better Buffy episodes.
148. Couplet
Angel Season 3, Episode 14
Written by Tim Minear and Jeffrey Bell
Directed by Tim Minear
Yes, the folks at Angel Investigations desperately need to get laid, especially Cordelia. That said, it doesn't make sense to have Cordelia asking Angel to help her have sex with Groo after she and Angel shared many steamy moments in “Waiting in the Wings”. But I can’t dismiss this episode outright because it features a tree demon WITH A DSL INTERNET CONNECTION! Delightful. It also has Wesley discovering a disturbing prophecy about Angel killing his own son, which won’t be at all significant.
147. Life Serial
Buffy Season 6, Episode 5
Written by David Fury and Jane Espenson
Directed by Nick Marck
A trio of nerds (Warren, Jonathan, and Andrew) put Buffy through a series of tests that are both funny and sad, though ultimately kinda pointless.
146. War Zone
Angel Season 1, Episode 20
Written by Gary Campbell
Directed by David Straiton
The introduction of Charles Gunn, street vampire hunter, is a positive moment for the show during a time when it was sorely lacking in interesting characters (especially racialized characters). We get a glimpse into the life of a group of kids who live on the streets and spend their time warding off vampires. It’s a nice piece of world building, as it shows that some people don’t have the luxury of ignoring the demons around them. The scene where Gunn kills his sister-turned-vampire goes on a smidge too long, though.
145. Untouched
Angel Season 2, Episode 4
Written by Mere Smith
Directed by Joss Whedon
Strong premise: a woman named Bethany who has been abused by her father develops telekinetic powers she can barely control. Wolfram & Hart want her to work for them, Angel wants to save her. The problem is that everything is just a little too scripted, like when Bethany’s estranged father randomly shows up at the hotel at the perfect time for a final showdown.
144. Dad
Angel Season 3, Episode 10
Written by David Goodman
Directed by Fred Keller
This episode can be summed up as “a baby continuously crying, interspersed with action sequences”. Still, the action sequences are pretty damn entertaining and definitely ramping up to something (Spoiler: it’s betrayal).
143. Two to Go
Buffy Season 6, Episode 21
Written by Douglas Petrie
Directed by Bill Norton
The least compelling of the Dark Willow episodes, this one focuses on her quest for vengeance against Andrew and Jonathan. All it really amounts to is Buffy scrambling to protect everyone from Willow. But it has a great ending with Giles showing up, looking bad af. Giles <3
142. Heartthrob
Angel Season 3, Episode 1
Written and directed by David Greenwalt
Angel is grieving Buffy’s death while hunting another vampire who is grieving the death of his vampire love who was killed by Angel. The “grief over lost love” theme is a little overdone, but there is a lot of good stuff here, including more scenes from Angel’s past, a cool trick to make a vampire invincible for a time, and some nice Cordy/Angel moments.
Side note: Isn’t it strange that Cordelia was a high school student like 3 years ago at this point? Seems like the show just forgot about that and decided to write her like she’s 30.
141. Quickening
Angel Season 3, Episode 8
Written by Jeffrey Bell
Directed by Skip Schoolnik
This episode is all set-up. A bunch of different groups try to capture Darla so they can either worship or kill the baby inside her. The gang fights their way out of a hospital in an exciting sequence, and then Darla goes into labour in a convertible. But nothing actually happens.
140. Beneath You
Buffy Season 7, Episode 2
Written by Douglas Petrie
Directed by Nick Marck
Honestly, it’s hard to remember anything about this episode other than the stunning ending where a newly ensouled Spike prostrates himself on a cross. If we were ranking episode endings, this one would probably be top 10. Outside of that, the plot focuses on Anya, who turns a woman’s abusive ex-boyfriend into a giant worm demon. One of the better phallic CGI monsters in the Buffyverse, but still.
139. No Place Like Home
Buffy Season 5, Episode 5
Written by Douglas Petrie
Directed by David Solomon
This episode would be lower if it didn’t include two great scenes. First, Buffy discovering Dawn is the key through a creepy spell that makes Dawn’s image fade/look demonic in all of the family photographs. And Giles wearing Wizard robes, complete with a pointy hat. Hawt.
138. Never Leave Me
Buffy Season 7, Episode 9
Written by Drew Goddard
Directed by David Solomon
For all the talking in this episode, it still manages to feel fast-paced. The interrogations of Spike and Andrew are highly enjoyable. Andrew's is particularly entertaining, and his lie about buying blood because he fell in love with a vampire in Mexico is laughably obvious.
137. The Replacement
Buffy Season 5, Episode 3
Written by Jane Espenson
Directed by James Contner
Xander gets hit with a demon’s mystical weapon, splitting him into two people that embody the best and worst qualities of him as a person. It’s a neat concept, but as Xander-focused episodes go, it’s a tad underwhelming. Maybe they should have let Anya have that Xander threesome after all?
136. Flooded
Buffy Season 6, Episode 4
Written by Jane Espenson & Douglas Petrie
Directed by Douglas Petrie
This episode is a lot more than just “Buffy has money issues”. It delves deeper into Buffy’s crippling depression/anxiety after being ripped from heaven, albeit with too much emphasis on plumbing. Still, it also has one of my favourite scenes of the series where Giles gets into a fight with Willow. He accuses her of being a “rank, arrogant amateur," for using dark magic to bring Buffy back from the dead, and Willow responds with a threat: “you better not piss me off." Chilling.
Side note: If the douchebags at the Watcher's Council get paid, why doesn't the Slayer? She is doing all of the hard work.
135. Billy
Angel Season 3, Episode 6
Written by Tim Minear & Jeffrey Bell
Directed by David Grossman
The demon Angel released from a fire prison to save Cordelia in "That Vision Thing" has an awful power that turns men into violent misogynists. While I appreciate the theme of self-reliant women protecting themselves, the exaggerated violence makes the depiction of misogyny ridiculous rather than realistic. Case in point: Wesley’s misogyn-ologue about the Garden of Eden. Still, Lilah fans rejoice at the harrowing scene at the airstrip.
134. Family
Buffy Season 5, Episode 6
Written and Directed by Joss Whedon
Is this a lovely episode? Yes. Everyone bands together to protect Tara from her shitty, patriarchal family and Tara and Willow do a sweet floaty slow dance because they can’t kiss yet on network television. It’s just missing…something. Maybe Tara’s family is a little cliché, or the episode is lacking the heft of other character-centric episodes.
133. Faith, Hope and Trick
Buffy Season 3, Episode 3
Written by David Greenwalt
Directed by James Contner
Faith’s introduction as the wild Slayer is a treat. Mr. Trick is also cool because he is a vampire with actual charisma. So what’s holding this episode back? It’s Scott Hope. Who buys someone a ring before the first date? Pfft.
132. Lessons
Buffy Season 7, episode 1
Written by Joss Whedon
Directed by David Solomon
The way Buffy deals with Willow’s post-evilness in England with Giles is low-key lovely. For instance, this exchange:
Giles: "Do you want to be punished?"
Willow: "I want to be Willow."
It’s probably most memorable, though, for the ending where Spike talks to an evil entity in the school basement that embodies all of the previous Big Bads. Kinda neat.
131. Hero
Angel Season 1, Episode 9
Written by Tim Minear & Howard Gordon
Directed byTucker Gates