Agree on "Guise Will Be Guise". Disagree on "Him", which I think it one of the weakest episodes of the series. I prefer "Beer Bad" to "Him". But the episode on that list that's definitely the most worthy of recognition is "The Freshman". I went back and re-watched that recently, and it really is well made. A bit sad and disparaging, but appropriately so. All Buffy's known (and all we've known) up to this point is Sunnydale High. She was adrift in so many ways but still found her strength in the end. The arm is hurt, but not broken.

WhatsAStevedore | August 16, 09:56 CET

"Him" is one of my favourite episodes, I don't have any episodes I don't like though.

Buffy: Willow, you’re a gay woman! And he... isn’t.
Willow: This isn’t about his physical presence! It’s about his heart.
Anya: His physical presence has a PENIS!

Emma's delivery of that last line gets me every time.

Winchester | August 16, 10:26 CET

Well... i think that "The Freshman" is the worse Buffy episode that Joss wrote! I hate the villian, she marked that the era when vampire was scary is long over...

Yea, no love for that episode!

Reutermo | August 16, 10:31 CET

Talking about lesser discussed episodes of Buffy is an interesting concept for a series. I enjoyed reading that because those really are episodes I don't usually think about, but they are still wonderful television. (For the most part. There are one or two on that list that I do not love.)

I feel like the great thing about Buffy (and Angel) is that every episode may not be great, but every episode has at least a couple fantastic moments and some great dialogue (whether it is just a hilarious one-liner or a touching conversation or a philosophical speech). So when I notice that some random never-been-on-a-best-of-Buffy-list episode like "Beer Bad" or "Reptile Boy" is on tv, I think "oh, I really don't like this episode", but then I start watching and there is a great scene with Willow chewing out Parker or Cordelia being Cordelia and it just makes me happy. I don't really think it is true for every show on television that the lesser episodes still have redeeming moments.

Reading this brought on the nostalgia...I just love Buffy. :)

LadyJay | August 16, 10:45 CET

LadyJay, you bring up an interesting point that has come up when I'm trying to initiate someone new a favorite series of mine. An episode might be weak, but contains either a great scene or a small piece of character development, or an awesome ending, so I must show it to them. Which means I've hardly skipped an episode. For example, I don't love "Fredless" from Angel season 4, but the actions of the characters later in the season need it for context--which is cooler to see that me explain it.

"the Freshman" (It felt so -ahem- fresh, and the stake twirl! Oh! the stake twirl!) and "No Place Like Home" (the Magic Box stuff, crazy Glory, and the trance!) rank pretty high for me. At the time of it's airing, I was pretty obsessed with "Gingerbread", and "As You Were" was decent for a season six episode.
As for the Angel episodes mentioned, I liked some more than others, but I could only allow myself to watch "She" once--which means I shouldn't judge it too harshly or it's just that bad.

CaptainB | August 16, 13:09 CET

"Him" is slow to start but then I love the second half. One of my favorite scenes in all of Buffy is when we are in Wood's office and we see through the window Buffy trying to kill him and Spike trying to stop her.

ftloosenfanzfree | August 16, 13:49 CET

I'm glad they mentioned "Guise Will Be Guise"; that's one of my favorite episodes of the entire series. For that matter, I'm glad they showed loved to Angel; I agree that it's probably the most overlooked of Joss' series, and undeservedly so. After Firefly, it's probably my favorite.

deepgirl187 | August 16, 13:58 CET

Totally disagree with the author about "As You Were". If there's a single episode in the entire canon I could do without, that one's it. Yes, it has some (a few) good parts (Two-faced Willow, in particular), but the "Riley Finn, Super Sodjer, Spy, Demon-Hunter, Glamorous... Thingy" leaves me gagging. The only thing that helps is telling myself that the reality is just being filtered through Buffy's depressed POV...

Rowan Hawthorn | August 16, 14:22 CET

Willow: A doodle. I do doodle. You too. You do doodle too.

Worth it every time. I'm currently in a very slowly progressing rewatch and Gingerbread came up last week. I remembered Jane mentioning that as her favorite line during the 20th Anniversary Panel at SDCC. I couldn't remember the episode and context it was in and when I watched Gingerbread and Willow burst that out, I totally got it. Made me appreciate the episode as a whole a lot more, too.

D-e-f- | August 16, 14:32 CET

I've seen every episode of BtVS at least 6-7 times but Angel only twice. And the last viewing was a few years ago. I recently re-watched a few episodes towards the end of S1 (intro to Gun) with my nephew and I gotta say, it seems most of Angel's 5 seasons are under rated!

Really enjoyed watching Faith torture Wes and then go to jail!

alexreager | August 16, 15:26 CET

Thanks for the love, Whedonesque. I'm the author of those 12 posts. I'm glad people are enjoying them. I had fun writing about each episode. And I do think I love ANGEL just a tiny bit more than Buffy.

jacobsfoot | August 16, 15:38 CET

The Freshman is the first episode of the show I watched and is what pulled me in.

The Witch however I skip every re-watch.

ShannonMS81 | August 16, 15:44 CET

'As You Were' is the only episode where I actually love Riley. It's also the most often quoted episode between me and my sister

"Nice wheels." "Came with the car."

mewling | August 16, 18:13 CET

Alexreager: I have that too. I'm continuously in the process of watching Buffy (I'll often leave long gaps, but by the time I get to the end I always want to start over and don't see a reason not to, and then I just keep going at whatever pace I feel like watching them until the process starts all over again), but I've only seen Angel in full once. I do like the show, but for some reason I find that I'm less enticed by it than I am by Buffy on any given day.

Mitholas | August 16, 18:42 CET

I really don't understand the hate for Buffy's last 2 seasons. Season six, at least, i understand why some people don't like (and why I do), but I'm baffled when someone says season seven was weak.

wasabi17 | August 16, 21:53 CET

No, not overlooked, but several times revisited :)

cleveland | August 17, 00:36 CET

There really isn't a bad Buffy episode, just a reflection of the mind of the beholder at that particular time.

Well, there was "Eggs Bad", but I'm calling that an abnormality.

Or was it....

Madhatter | August 17, 13:02 CET