Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Top Ten Moments Part 1 of 2

I'm a big Joss Whedon fan. My love of his shows started when I randomly decided to start watching Buffy the Vampire Slayer at the outset of it's third season. I really don't know why exactly I was so intent on watching it, though I recall TV Guide lavishing praise on it at the time, so I wanted to see what the fuss was about. Plus that blonde girl in the lead was pretty.

Little did I know what I was getting into, and how deeply I would become invested in this show with the silly name and its characters. I've been a diehard fan of everything Joss does since, and have wept with the rest of the fandom in the dark days of cancellation. While I believe Firefly would have been my favorite Joss show had it continued, and I feel by its final season, I was slightly more in love with Angel as a show, it all started with Buffy, which will always be the standard to which I hold all future entertainment.

Considering my love for these shows, I intend for them to be a recurring theme on this blog. The first few posts I have planned are probably a bit unoriginal or obvious, but it seems like a good place to start: the good old Top 10 Lists. The first one is going to be dedicated to moments or scenes, and eventually we'll get to my favorite overall episodes. As you can imagine, we're going to start with Buffy. Note that any episode I'm including on my Favorite Episodes list will be excluded from this one - if only to prevent me from picking several scenes from a single episode.

Since I get wordy when discussing things I'm passionate about, I decided to split this list into two posts. Below are five of the ten scenes. As it's hard enough to pick just ten, and impossible to put them in order, these are organized randomly, after the break.

Amends (3.10) - A Righteous Man
Amends is what introduces us to The First Evil - nearly four seasons before it would resurface in the show's final season. More importantly, it brings to the forefront the guilt that Angel feels every day for the sins he committed during his life as a (soulless) vampire. We already know at this point he's no longer evil, but while it's one thing to know he was for hundreds of years, it's another to see it and how it affects him in modern times.

But this is a list about moments, not episodes. While this certainly is a worthwhile episode as a whole, it's the final scenes that are the most notable. Worried that he'll only end up hurting the one he loves, and doesn't belong in the living world for what he's done, Angel decides he, the world and Buffy would be better off without him around. The plan is to let the rising sun take care of this, so he waits outside just before dawn. While he feels he's doing the world a favor, Buffy shows up and tries to convince him to come inside, that he does indeed deserve to live. That standing here waiting to be turned to ash wasn't noble as he felt, but the coward's way out. Angel is unwilling to listen, and things come to blows (as they sometimes do between the two). Adamant that this is proof he's doing the right thing, Angel shouts at Buffy with a tremble in his voice we've never heard, "Am I a thing worth saving? Am I a righteous man?!"

There's a bit more dialogue, and Angel's life is spared by a freak sun-blocking snowstorm, but it's this line and moment that hits you hard. The fact that he's just asking the question with such passion, and feels so guilty about what he did - even though it was during a time when he had no soul or conscience to guide him - is proof enough that he *is* worth saving. Nobody who wasn't would be questioning it. It's this moment that truly shows us his vulnerable side, and that, yes, he is a thing worth saving. This episode happened to be on TV a few weeks ago, and I had to stop flipping channels just to see this scene. It was what inspired me to create this list. No matter how many times I see it, it always gets to me.

Beneath You (7.02) - For Her
"Why does a man do what he mustn't? For her. To be hers. To be the kind of man who would never..."

After the shocking reveal in season six of Spike regaining his soul, he returns to Sunnydale pretty much... Well, crazy. By the end of it's second episode, there's a fantastic scene in a chapel of all places in which Spike tells Buffy that he got his soul back. Not only that, but that he nearly went through hell to do it - and that he did it for her. Much like Angel, he's now dealing with the guilt of what he did in his unlife, on top of guilt for hurting Buffy, and the whole "First Evil haunting he making me do things and seem insane." It's enough to drive anyone mad.

It's an intensely powerful scene. Unlike Angel before him, he didn't have a soul thrust upon him as punishment. Spike sought out a way to get his back as a way to try and repent for the terrible things he'd done - one in particular to Buffy. It's one thing to try to make up for your sins because if your newly-ensouled self. It's quite another to purposely seek it out: Spike decides to be a better man while still a soulless demon. And why? For her.

This scene forever changes the dynamic between Spike and Buffy, and was the first indication that he was on his way of becoming my favorite character on the show. This feeling built up over the season, solidifying by episode 20, but this was the origin of it all.

Hush (4.10) - I Guess We Have To Talk
Hush overall is a fantastic episode, which goes without saying (even though I just said it). I'm not here to talk about the entire episode, just the closing scene. This episode is where both Buffy and Riley learn of each others' double lives, which you would think would be easier to digest and work through, provided they were able to talk. After saving the day, the two finally get to sit down and have said discussion - at which point neither knows what to say.

Why is this special? I have to admit, it's not something I was insightful enough to pick up on when i watched the episode; it was Joss' commentary on the episode that clued me in. He points out the distinction between "talking" and "communicating," and that the inability to speak doesn't necessarily hinder communication. It's an interesting point, and illustrated beautifully by this scene: Now that each of them can finally talk, they think they should be able to discuss the new developments in their lives, yet have no idea what to say. The irony of course being that they managed to save the town from The Gentlemen via non-verbal communication.

The Gift (5.22) - The Hardest Thing in This World...
I don't think there's much explanation needed as to why I included the season five finale on this list. After a year of watching over this person who isn't her real sister (but also is), it dawns on Buffy (har har) what the First Slayer meant about death being "her gift." That by giving up her own life, she could save Dawn's. The final moments are both heart-wrenching and touching, highlighted by the excellent score, and the voice over of Buffy's final words to Dawn. TV doesn't get much more beautiful than this.

Two to Go (6.21) - I'd Like to Test That Theory
If you're a fan of the show, there's pretty much no chance at all that seeing Giles come back and (temporarily) save Buffy from Evil Willow didn't cause you to leap up and shout with glee. It was one of the most surprising moments of the series - and unlike many of the surprise moments, it was a welcome one. Entrances just don't get more badass than this.

Come back next time for the other five of my top ten scenes (remember, in no particular order!), and provided anyone is actually reading this blog yet, feel free to share your own favorites or thoughts in the comments!