"The Body" is definitely in the top ten list of best BtVS episodes for me. A very techy subject handled delicately and tastefully, yet still was in-your-face harsh and raw, making for a great hour of entertaining television. I say delicate because if Mutant Enemy had at any time during that production taken a single misstep, it risked becoming a "very special episode" aka "after school special" and that way lies spooky carnival death. However, had they been less dramatic and more flippant with the material, it could have become sarcastically laughable and pithy in a trite way. Many production companies would not face that material. I found it to be a daring episode and I wish television was this good more often.

ZachsMind | April 25, 17:47 CET

Every moment in "The Body" was perfect, every camera angle genious, and every piece of dialogue true to the situation and character. If no one is around when I watch it, I'll still cry at Anya's monologue. I think part of what makes The Body work, aside from what ZachsMind wrote, is that Joss isn't afraid to hurt us. I still remember the first time I saw it, and the shivers that when down my spine when he did that quick montage of Buffy's fantasy that she had "found her mother in time" and everything was all right, only to flash back to Buffy staring in disbelief.

ringworm | April 25, 18:53 CET

I am in total agreement with ZM. In particular I cry like a baby when the following Anya lines roll around:

"I mean, I knew her, and then she's, (sniffling) there's just a body, and I don't understand why she just can't get back in it and not be dead anymore. It's stupid. It's mortal and stupid. (still teary) And, and Xander's crying and not talking, and, and I was having fruit punch, and I thought, well, Joyce will never have any more fruit punch ever, and she'll never have eggs, or yawn or brush her hair, not ever, and no one will explain to me why."

Its at once very childlike and yet so apt and direct to the heart of what one feels at times like these. The reactions all around were dead on (err no pun intended) and the way it was shot was just incredible. edit: /agree with ringworm as well.

[ edited by zeitgeist on 2005-04-25 17:03 ]

zeitgeist | April 25, 19:01 CET

ringworm: "Joss isn't afraid to hurt us" indeed. Not in any exploitative way, of course, but in a genuine, hammer-blow-to-the-gut way that is so real it's almost impossible to believe.

A friend I got hooked on Buffy recently finished Season 5...he said, "Amazing how, in a show where people die all the time, how Joyce's death can affect you to powerfully." Yes, amazing indeed.

zeitgeist, the first time I heard Anya's childlike meditation on death I bawled...I still do, every time I watch The Body.

Chris inVirginia | April 25, 19:21 CET

‘The Body” is not only one of the very best episodes of BtVS (or any series for that matter), it is a beautiful example of someone having something pure and heartfelt to say and being allowed to say it.
For me the truest moment is when Buffy opens the kitchen door and she can hear everyone in the neighborhood going about their business. Her world has totally changed and yet everyone else goes on as usual while she is left stunned and numb in her bubble of grief and disbelief. That’s exactly what it’s like.

bloodflowers | April 25, 19:27 CET

It's Anya's monologue that gets me, too. She says the things that everyone thinks but cannot really utter. But, beyond that, I was so shocked the first time I saw the episode to see so many of my own thoughts at the loss of close family members made manifest right before my eyes. The surreal aspects. The inability to find the right thing to wear. It is a brilliant episode.

palehorse | April 25, 19:29 CET

I completely agree with what everyone has said so far. BtVS had many, many amazing episodes, but "The Body" is Joss's masterpiece, as far as I'm concerned. It transcended its medium in so many ways. Anya's monologue still gets to me, as it does everyone else... Xander putting his fist through the wall... Buffy vomiting and then methodically cleaning it up... Willow breaking down because she can't find the right shirt (how many of us have had to go to a funeral and can't figure out if black is too mournful and any other color looks too happy?)... Tara quietly telling Buffy about her mother dying... the closeup of the body that Dawn is drawing in art class. It was just an astounding episode, and captured in so many ways exactly what the death of a close one feels like to those who must continue to live on.

Nikki Stafford | April 25, 19:49 CET

The whole episode gets me. From Buffy saying "Mom,mom? mommy" where she starts off just looking for her mother and turning into a little girl realizing something is seriously wrong. Her whole demeanor changes from a grown-up woman to a little girl in a matter of a few seconds. Her realization that her mother is gone and the stunned look on her face and her whole skin tone changes from looking healthy to looking pasty and slighly damp, her vomitting on the floor to her detached manner as she "looks" out the back door not being aware of anything around her.

And then when Giles comes running in and she yells at him not to touch "the body" and everything hits her at that moment. Okay, tearing up right now just thinking of the episode and I've only covered the first few minutes. Willow's anxiety and nervousness and Tara's strong support were wonderfully done. Xander wanting to lash out at everything was so spot on to how a lot of people would really act and Anya's childlike speech, more poignant because it came from Anya who had been alive for so long and forgot all about the fear of death, put into words what everyone cannot fathom, how can we be here, happy and alive one moment and then just gone.

And poor Dawnie, the scene where she's sobbing in the bathroom over some silly teen drama not realizing what is coming and then to be told her mother is dead really got me. We didn't actually hear what Buffy said but we, and all of Dawn's class, were aware of the drama that was happening in the hallway (and did anyone else think that Dawn's teacher looked eerily like Joyce?).

But the very end when Dawn has to see her mother for herself and goes into the morgue only to be attacked by a vampire and then Buffy has to fight him off and is unable to prevent Dawn from doing what she needs to do. With Buffy lying there on the floor as Dawn is reaching out to touch her mother's dead face is just etched in my memory.

Every person in that episode deserved an Emmy for their wonderful and honest portrayal of how we grieve and react to death. Joss brilliantly captured it and no one in life can escape having to live through it.

Firefly Flanatic | April 25, 19:53 CET

In the Serenity commentary on the Firefly dvds, Joss mentions that they had to digitally remove a blink from one scene in The Body :)

Grounded | April 25, 20:04 CET

It's always sudden

*sniff*

Kudos to Tvgal for recognizing greatness for what it is.

NickSeng | April 25, 20:09 CET

Very well said, Firefly Flanatic.

jewel | April 25, 20:39 CET

Every moment of that episode is heart-wrenching. The scene in the hospital when they just don't know what to do also gets to me.

When I was going through the S5 DVD's and I was about to watch it for the first time since it aired I had to brace myself and say "Here it comes, get ready". At first I felt the vampire at the end was obligatory but hearing Joss' commentary put it in perspective. Did anybody else also have an adverse reaction to the vampire at first?

And bottom line? I miss Joyce. Great character. Great Mom.

batmarlowe | April 25, 20:52 CET

The Body captures the stark utter physical realness of death so potently that I have to steel myself to watch it every time. And it gets me every time in the center of the solar plexus. As Nikki Stafford said, a masterpiece. Unbelievable that the show wasn't honored with a boatload of Emmy's for this.

And this from a show that too many people still (still!!) dismiss as a light, unrealistic fantasy. My ass. Buffy was as realistic as it gets where it counts - as Jane Espenson has said, Joss's interest is in the stuff beneath the stuff. You know, the emotions and interactions and character developments that underlie all that slayage and witchcraft and mystical whatsits. The Body was an unusual episode in that the death was of normal causes and only one lonely vampire made an appearance (a tremendously effective touch, I thought.) But even in the midst of BtVS's fantastical plotlines, emotional truth and realism was a given and was extraordinarily crafted and played. Sure, Buffy was a vampire slayer whose vampire-with-a-soul boyfriend became evil after the slept together, but Buffy's devastation over this heartbreak was as real as it gets.

But back to The Body: I thought everyone - everyone - gave fantastic performances. Like many here, Anya's speech does me in. Brilliantly played. And I thought that Sarah Michelle Gellar did a phenomenal job. They all did.

phlebotinin | April 25, 20:53 CET

"Always sudden"...yes indeed...I lived overseas from age 17 to 25 (Munich), and my mother had very bad arthritis and resultant heart problems all her adult life...every time I heard that someone from home had called (an expensive thing in those days) I always expected the worst. And it didn't happen. Until one day, 5 years (and many hospital visits) later, it did. And it was staggering. I'd been preparing for that moment for literally 2 decades, and I found myself miserably unready. It is indeed always sudden.

How Joss and everyone else captured that sensation...those sensations...so much more powerfully and believably than the Hollywood honchos (and Euro-realists, too) manage to do is breathtaking. And beautiful.

Firefly Flanatic, what jewel said, in spades.

On a different note, I found this from her take on 24 interesting:

"Didn't they know the rules? People in the opening credits aren't supposed to die."

I may be mistaken, wasn't "Seeing Red" the only time Amber Benson was in the opening credits as a regular cast member (as opposed to "guest star")?

Chris inVirginia | April 25, 20:56 CET

No, you're not mistaken, CiV. Amber was bumped up to opening credits status for Seeing Red. And from Joss's commentary for WttH, he wanted to make Jesse part of the opening credits for the first two episodes but ended up not doing it for financial reasons or something.

Before going all extra-gaga over 24's opening credits' death, TV Gal might want to check out Buffy/Angel's long history of killing people who are in the opening credits: Doyle, Wesley, Cordelia, Gunn (assumed), Fred, Anya, Spike, Tara. Am I missing anyone? The ME folks have been doing this for a long time and doing it repeatedly.

phlebotinin | April 25, 21:09 CET

Well, Buffy died twice . . . and she killed Angel. Of course, the list of those who stayed dead is much shorter.

palehorse | April 25, 21:36 CET

I started to tear-up just remembering portions of the episode while reading these posts. Amazing. (shakes head)

newcj | April 25, 21:48 CET

I also agree here that The Body is an amazing episode. When you take some of the agreed 'best of Buffy' episodes such as Hush, The Body, The Gift or Once More, With Feeling and compare them it is astounding how accomplished they are. Very different episodes in many ways, but also all very firmly rooted in the Buffyverse, all technically brilliant in terms of acting, writing and direction, but also very entertaining in many ways for different reasons.

I don't think The Body was perfect but it was very close. I thought the first few scenes with Buffy discovering the body and telling Dawn at school were very powerful- well shot, beautifully acted, and rich with symbolism.

It's not that I thought the second half of the episode was horrible, but there were some things I could have done without. Some of the dialogue between the Scoobies was a little too rehearsed or something, not as truthful and shocked as Buffy was before that.

Anya's speech was also magnificent, although I could have done without the "and she'll never have eggs, or yawn or brush her hair" bit. I never liked it for some reason, I think Drusilla said something similar about her mother in season two and it just reminded me of that a little. But it was incredibly in character and a perfect example of how Buffy can actually make more realistic observations than 'serious' shows. It takes an ex-demon to highlight the umcomfortableness and unsureness of the characters, whereas in other programs the characters wouldn't be able to say something like this.

I've always found Buffyverse deaths extremely moving. There have been hundreds of characters who have died between either Buffy or Angel, and a lot of them were probably random victims, but there were a lot of important deaths too. There were some big heroic supernatural deathes like Buffy's, Spike's or Doyle's, or more brutal and quick like those of Jenny, Anya or Tara, Joyce's premature but natural death, and even some deliberate but unfortunate ones like Angel's death in Becoming Part 2.

I even found there were some very quick, almost unnoticeable deaths which still highlighted the senselessness and indignity of the monsters the gang had to fight- Harmony and Larry's deaths in Graduation Day Part 2 as an example.

I thought that Jenny was really the first important character to die in Buffy. Jesse had only been around for a couple of episodes so the audience wasn't as invested in him. However, we had seen Jenny develop a relationship with Giles and feel guilty about having to deceive the gang, and eventually trying to redeem herself, before being brutually disposed of by Angelus- who didn't even drink her blood.

Joyce's death was interesting in that it was one of the first natural deaths, of someone Buffy couldn't have saved because there was no monster to fight. We saw this even later with Cassie Newtwon, who's death always reminded me of Joyce.

I thought Tara's death was also tragic for many reasons, because she was so young, had just been reunited with Willow, because she was one of the most innocent characters and because it wasn't even a deliberate attack on her. I felt that it wasn't acknowledged enough by Xander or Buffy immediately afterwards but apart from that it was perfect because it was so unexpected and unjust and had such dramatic consequences.

Doyle's death was pretty special too, although we had only known the character a short space of time, his death was big and heroic, even more bittersweet because he finally embraced himself and his demon side, and finally realised that his feelings towards Cordelia may have been reciprocated, but that it was too late for anything to be done about it.

I also thought that Buffy's death in "The Gift" was extremely beautiful and heroic, sacrificing her own life to save those of her sister and the world. It was sad because she was so young but it a way it was also a relief as she finally came to terms with her place in the world, and as a slayer she could have had other more unpleasant ways to die, but instead went to a good place.

I thought Joss adding Amber Benson to the credits in Seeing Red was a masterstroke, it would have been suprising if Eric Balfour had been added in WTTH and killed in TH, but it was almost more so with Amber because she had been a guest star for so long so when she was promoted the audience thought that she was going to be around for a while, lulling you into a false sense of security, before her untimely demise. I did think that she should have become a regular much earlier because she was such a good character, much like Andy Hallet, who was in Angel frequently for almost three full seasons before being promoted.

Razor | April 25, 22:33 CET

Lindsey. He died, too. Gavin, Lilah, as well.

Chris inVirginia | April 25, 22:47 CET

There isn't much I can add to everyone else' thought on the Body. It's amazing. Definitely in my top 2 BtVS eps of all time (nudged out slightly, perhaps, by OMWF). And I think what makes it that much more incredible is that it's so unusual for the show – almost completely un-genre (in fact, the vampire at the end seems almost tacked-on, and is the one piece I could have done without), just dealing with natural death and hitting it so completely on target.
I still remember coming back to my apartment one day and finding my boyfriend crying. He told me he had just finished watching the Body on FX (I was in the early days of my Buffy watching and hadn't seen it yet). I kidded him quite a bit about the fact that he was crying over Buffy, of all things. A few months later, I saw it for the first time, after Thanksgiving dinner, as part of an FX Buffy marathon. I cried like a baby (which my boyfriend, of course, loved, and which elicited quite a reaction from my mother - "what on EARTH are you watching??"). It's not an episode I rewatch frequently, because it is so brutal, and so draining emotionally. But as an hour of television, it's the most flawless and real examination of death I can think of. I agree with ZM at the top of this thread - it so easily could have fallen into "very special episode"/TV movie of the week territory, and didn't.

I agree with everyone who particuarly loves Anya's speech, though I also love the range of emotions Buffy goes through at the beginning. And I always end up crying watching Dawn hear the news for the first time.
Brilliant, brilliant television.

acp | April 25, 23:17 CET

I too can't add much except this was the episode for me that made me go Buffy is a great show...to Buffy is the best show that has ever been on television. I start crying from the moment Buffy says "mom, mom, mommy" and I don't stop until after she tells Dawn. I love the Anya speech, but for me, the most amazing thing in the show is Buffy's range of emotion in the beginning and the overwhelming disbelief. I cry everytime I watch it and that isn't very often because it is so raw and real. Kudos to TV Gal for recognizing it.

jabby | April 26, 01:01 CET

The Body is one of the episodes I watch the least. I feel it was extremely well done but it is so real, it affects me strongly, making me very depressed and upset.

Passion | April 26, 01:22 CET

Joss totally exploits us. I'm still driven crazy with grief that Buffy and Angel never got to be together. I watch the Body and I Will Remember You the most.
Plus he wrote Dawn's line: just before Buffy's about to tell her her mom died, "I thought mom was picking me up." Don't you love him? That's genius.

charisma | April 26, 02:17 CET

i cry a lot watching buffy and angel episodes. "the body" is the only one that made me cry 3 times in one sitting. that's all i have to say about that.

MySerenity | April 26, 02:26 CET

I too think it is one of the most powerful episodes in TV history and I find it absurd that it hasn't been recognized as such.

I think that the reason Anya's speech was so poignant was because she was always the character who opened her mouth without even thinking about what was coming out. She has been so brutally literal and honest in her history on the show that it justified her being the only one who could verbalize it. Both Xander and Willow are feeling the same way, but Anya is the only one who can say it because she doesn't know!

I found it particularly beautiful after watching "Selfless" because I think that this is the defining reason why she couldn't be a vengeance demon again. This is why it hurts her so much. Because of Joyce. She caused death for hundreds of years, never knowing or caring about the people. But she knew and cared about Joyce. This made completely human. She couldn't go back because she had finally become human.

Xander | April 26, 02:27 CET

Oh, I agree with the Buffy comments. I loved the Anya speech but it was Buffy that moved me the most and you felt like you were living it with her. I think I just sat in stunned silence the whole time, quietly crying (well, maybe not so quietly, there was lots of sobbing going on).

And the thing with the whole Anya speech was that you didn't see it coming. She was being Anya up til the point, saying her usual inappropriate things and Willow kept giving her dirty looks. You think she is just being typical Anya until Willow yells at her and Anya breaks down and you realize that she wasn't saying things to be cruel or just outspoken but that she is just absolutely stunned and shocked by Joyce's death and truly doesn't understand.

Firefly Flanatic | April 26, 02:39 CET

OK...
This was the very first episode I had ever watched of Buffy. I watched it when it was free to air, and it gutted me then. I had just lost my Father, and it was so realistic and so much like the experience.

To say Joss is genius is far to glib a remark for me concerning this. Joss has felt this. He knows it, and he just put his heart into that episode. After watching it I had so much more respect for the show, I would love to say I was hooked thereafter but unfortunately , no, my next episode was OMWF. Now, well you all know me, I love it! There's also a nice thread about this on the Whedonesque Flickr site, which was running a few weeks back. I just bumped it up.

p.s Firefly Flanatic, your earlier run thru was beautiful and also made me tear up just remebering it too.

[ edited by nixygirl on 2005-04-26 02:06 ]

nixygirl | April 26, 04:04 CET

I consider The Body to be the single finest and most moving hour of television ever broadcast. I don't think it goes wrong ever. From the moment Buffy sees her mom and calls out her name, to the time when Giles shows up and Buffy tells him that she is not supposed to move the body (which is where I, a 52-yr-old guy begin to lose it), to Buffy telling Dawn out of our hearing (a brilliant stroke and where I am now gushing buckets) to Willow's panic (and Tara's perfectly realized set of kisses) and Xander's anger and anguish and Anya's heart-rending speech (floods of tears now) and then to the hospital, with Tara's revelation (Tara being Tara, helping others with their pain) and the final stunning ending where you are not allowed the release of seeing Dawn make contact (and after the brutal reminder that life must go on and there are vamps still to kill), I cannot imagine a more powerful tv hour. And the shame is that it does not resonate as well for the casual viewer; one really neeeds to know and love these characters to really understand everyone's reactions.

But brilliant, like nothing has ever been. Just brilliant.

Dana5140 | April 26, 04:09 CET

The episode was a stab in the gut, that I wasnt ready to watch until just last year because I'd also lost my mother to cancer. Joss got everything right--and more than the episode, Buffy's whole mourning process that lasts long after was right on as well.

redtenko | April 26, 05:36 CET

Sigh. It's one of my favorite episodes and, ironically, one that I can't bear to watch very often. So, so sad. And I haven't even experienced the loss of somebody close to me yet, after which I can only imagine it will get so, so sadder.

Shudder.

VampiresSuckLOLOLGetIt | April 26, 05:55 CET

Right there with ya, redtenko.

nixygirl | April 26, 09:53 CET

There's nothing new I can add to the pile of kudos for this episode. Yet, I must chime in because it's at the top of BtVS's achievements for me, even though like several others I don't watch it frequently because it's just too realistic and painful. I lost a brother when I was young, and that feeling Buffy conveyed so perfectly of being shattered by grief while the unmindful world outside goes on -- her numb silence juxtuposed with the ordinary sounds of everyday taken-for-granted living in the background -- was as brutally, beautifully truthful as it gets.

I still can't comprehend why it didn't win every award Hollywood has to offer; there's never before been a show on TV that's dealt with the reality of death in such an unsentimentalized, emotionally authentic way. The only thing I can think is that the American TV industry likes to pretend it knows what scares the crap out of people (whether it's large-scale, SFX-enhanced terrorism or your more personal neighborhood hack-n'-slash serial-killer-of-the-week), but when it comes to the subject of honestly and straightforwardly dealing with an ordinary death, they just don't have the balls guts for it.

Without re-mentioning all the wonderful parts that have been noted above, it was the little moments that killed me. The tinkling chimes, children laughing/screaming. Buffy's vomit being absorbed by the paper towel. Joyce's ribs breaking. Buffy's concern over the indignity of Joyce's hiked-up skirt. Giles breaking into a run when he comes in and realizes what's happened. Dawn falling to her knees in view of her art class and the boy she has a crush on. Joyce's eyes never being closed by anyone until the end (thank you, Dawn)... So many images and words that linger. All so real.

The reasoning I've heard in some places for why the episode was so professionally unrewarded -- that Buffy is just a genre show -- doesn't cut it. Every aspect of The Body is brilliant from start to finish. Every line of dialogue is distilled and potent, every frame exquisitely considered; visually, it's a lyric poem, a love letter and a threnody wrapped up in one economical package. But romantic as Buffy could sometimes be, The Body stripped ordinary tragedy bare and pulled no punches. Rather than just watching from a remove, Joss let us not only share, but experience the most intimate, agonizing pain of Buffy's life when she was alone and at her most vulnerable, and our helplessness was like that of her closest friends. We lived it and we felt it so deeply that for many of us, it's like we actually lost Joyce ourselves. That's not just an hour's worth of mindless entertainment. That's high art.

Wiseblood | April 26, 11:04 CET

Beautifully said, Wiseblood.

palehorse | April 26, 12:31 CET

Okay, I shamelessly admit to reading this entire thread, and actually (is this weird?) welling up a little myslef reading about certain moments. So I thought I'd share one with you guys:

I had the arc mapped out years before I made the ep, and I always knew it would be MY ep. But when it came around I was filled with ideas for expansion, movies, comics, and that "mom's death ep" was just my day job... One night we had friends over and I remember walking into a room by myself and suddenly realizing that the most important artistic challenge I might EVER face was the ep I was about to start writing. It was a little epiphany, how much this ep would mean to me and how much it would push me artistically. I've mentioned that it's based on some real experiences, talked about the aesthetics of the thing, the idea to not use music... but that one first moment of realization, the first terrible blush of the thing, that was extreme. Part of that excitement is having no idea how it will turn out. Now I do. Reading these posts means a huge amount to me. I would have posted this last night, but I (do you even have to ask?) forgot my password again. Thanks, all. -j.

joss | April 27, 00:09 CET

Excellent. Thanks JW.

SoddingNancyTribe | April 27, 00:13 CET

The Body was one of your finest works of art Joss. You told the true story of death like it is and I applaud you for it.

SpikeBad | April 27, 01:17 CET

*g* hey Joss. Since I just saw the Serenity Trailer I can't resist to give you a huge hug. It looks great.

oh and hey because of the password: You know that you can choose your password yourself, right? I mean you can use a word you have to think about every day anyway... *eg*

Princessofdarkness | April 27, 01:21 CET

yeah, agreement all 'round from me too.

and yeah, now i'm weepy too from reading everyone's comments.

i've said it before - BtVS was like a rope thrown to drowning-girl-me when my life fell apart in 2000. i hadn't paid any attention to the whole deal before then. and the series just reverberated, got under my skin, seemed to know me and be able to tell my life on the screen while telling a tale totally NOT of my experience. simply amazing stuff.

having Tara say "It's always sudden." just hit me so hard when i first heard it. of course. it is always sudden. i now use that often when discussing our parents' mortality among my friends. some have gone, some are hanging on, some are hale, but no matter when or how, it is always sudden.

**and re: password - if you have a computer than only you use, you can set it so that it never asks for your password again. gosh, don't ask ME how to do that though. i'm not that helpful.

leenah | April 27, 01:45 CET

It’s one of my favorite episodes. Anyas speech in it (the things Joyce would never be able to do again) reminded me a lot of a scene in a Stephen King novella of the same name, that the movie "Stand By Me" was based on, the passage where they find the body and the kid sees that the shoes flew off the dead kids feet.

I always wondered if Joss was inspired at all by that - and hence the title.

Odysseus | April 27, 02:01 CET

Yeah. The Body. I'm glad you have that epiphany because it is one of the best things ever done on TV.
It comes closer to saying what happened when my mom died than anything else ever has. Despite being totally unlike it in fact. My sister watched The Body once and has never been able to watch it again.
Thanks.
And Serenity trailer? Whooo hooo! ;-)

Lioness | April 27, 02:01 CET

Joss posted in a thread I started!!!! And we can do ♥! And the Serenity trailer is up!!! This made a bad day much better!

killinj | April 27, 02:29 CET

Thanks Joss!! The Body is indeed one of the finest hours of television ever. I thank you for it.

jewel | April 27, 02:30 CET

When I saw "I Was Made to Love You," and the last few moments, I knew that the following episode was going to be devestatingly difficult to watch, and I knew I wasn't ready. So, for the first Tuesday in many moons, I didn't tune in as it aired. I watched it on tape, weeks later, when I'd decided I could deal.

It was a good call. Didn't stop me from bawling my eyeballs out, but, it was a bit easier. Except for the "blind now" part.

The reality of death, the way it drops onto a canvas of utter mundanity, was never captured so precisely. I can watch almost every Buffy/Angel episode over and over without a second thought, but, I still have to make repeat viewings of "The Body" a deliberate choice. Powerful stuff.

k8cre8 | April 27, 02:36 CET

Ohmigosh, Joss! Don't even get me started on OMWF, Hush, New Moon Rising, Dopplegangland, etc.- the finest TV ever! But The Body- astonishing beyong belief. (And Serenity? I. Must. See. Now!!!).

Dana5140 | April 27, 02:37 CET

so much of Joss' work has meant a great deal to us, for years now the Buffyverse & Angelverse were an important part of my life, and 'The Body' really shows why. The depth of his stories were always there, saying things that really meant something.
So today we all saw the 'Serenity' trailer, and it just gives me so much pleasure to know that Joss was on-line and must have seen the excitement and joy of all his fans.
I'm feeling very sentimental now...I'd better go watch the trailer ten more times.

embers | April 27, 03:30 CET

I was thinking about this after I read Joss's post, and I realized that the reason, for me, that that episode and the series as a whole are so affecting no matter how often I see them, is their truth. I know that is a "Duh" statement on its face, but the difference I am making has to do with truth vs. manipulation.

I've seen some wonderful movies that are pretty much a study of audience manipulation. The first time I see one I can float along and enjoy it, even if a part of my brain is recognizing how blatantly I am being manipulated. The more I see it, however, the more it fails to affect me emotionally, even if I can still marvel at how well it is done and enjoy it in a fairly detached way.

The Body, and BtVS in general...but especially The Body...used bare truth to engage the audience's emotions and consciousness. It is harder and more dangerous, but it does not matter how many times someone sees it, it will still slice straight through to their emotions.

Amazing.

newcj | April 27, 04:00 CET

Yay! Hey Joss! I kind of feel like Killinj right now, 'cept of course I do get to actually see the movie in a few hours!!! Sorry am peeking!

OK, Net hugs for Joss, for taking my heart in "The Body" and letting it rest.
You will never really know what that means to me.
♥ ♥ ♥

nixygirl | April 27, 04:06 CET

Also, go have a look at what we said a few weeks back on our less visitered more open Flickr site. http://www.flickr.com/groups/topic/24263/#comment194199

nixygirl | April 27, 04:25 CET

So Joss...
The Body was the first episode to mesmerize me from start to finish, as I had only recently begun watching reruns around the time I first saw it.
It wasn't television. It was too good.
The Body is the best BtVS ep, imho.
As for the vampire at the end, i get why it was there. Buffy fights in every single episode. It doesn't matter what else happens around her. She's always the Slayer.
As for Anya's words about fruit punch "and she'll never have eggs, or yawn or brush her hair," well, they are beyond the obvious 'original'. That's one of the purest lines I've ever heard or read. And I was a lit major. What separates good writers from great writers? Voice. And verisimilitude.

WhoIsOmega? | April 27, 08:10 CET

That's when the tears rolled....the Anya line. Man that gave me a punch in the face. Emma's delivery was beyond perfection. Joss, thanks for posting. You rock (but of course you knew that). Ohh, and that trailer eveyone is talking about....it's OK.


:) hee hee.

Harmalicious | April 27, 08:39 CET

I'm so glad that I recorded The Body the first time I watched it. I made so many trips to the bathroom (where my tissue lives) to clean up my uncontrollable sobs (so not like me), I would have missed most of it. In hindsight, I should have just brought the whole box to the tv (not very bright). Reading everyone's post made me misty too... On a brighter note, going to go watch the shiny trailer again... makes me hap-py...

Sunnycide | April 27, 10:58 CET

Here's hoping this help makes Joss remember his amazing accomplishments of the small screen so that he doesn't completely abandon it (nudge: "Ripper" mini-series or something in 2007 after "Wonder Woman" :-) You can create something so much deeper in 300-900 minutes of a TV series than you can in just 100 minutes of a movie.

TaraLivesOn | April 27, 13:50 CET

Thank you Joss. 'The Body' and the whole whedonverse came to me at a very difficult time for me and it wasn't just an amazing escape, it was the feeling that other people know how i feel. That's brave, thank you.

buffbuff | April 29, 14:50 CET