****NOMINEE #1****
''The Big Moments''
(Buffy S2 Ep21 ~ Becoming: Part 1)
~~~~
Whistler: No one asks for their life to change, not really. But it does.
Whistler: So what are we, helpless? Puppets? No. The big moments are gonna come. You can't help that. It's what you do afterwards that counts. That's when you find out who you are.
~~~~
Tome's commentary: Who doesn't remember that monologue from Whistler? It is very fitting for ‘Becoming’s storyline: Buffy's life changes dramatically; what is she going to do now? Even for a strong young woman like her, it will take time to get back on her feet. Anyhow, I love the scene! I still don't really understand why Drusilla never used her hypnotic powers before if it made it that easy to kill a slayer, but sweet baby Jesus, all hell breaks loose in the good old library and the Scooby Gang is simply outmatched. And for ONCE, they didn't seem untouchable!
Was I sad to see Kendra go? Not really. She was (and this is my personal opinion) quite annoying, and she didn't develop as a character at all. She seemed to only be there for the purpose of demonstrating how different Buffy was from your typical slayer. I guess the goal was accomplished. Her death also gave Buffy one more reason to kill Angelus (about time, Buff). Honestly, though, the first time I saw the scene, I was worried about Willow most of all! Poor Will looked to be in real bad shape. 🙁 Overall, this was a powerful, poignant moment in the series.
****NOMINEE #2****
''The Yellow Crayon''
(Buffy S6 Ep22 ~ Grave)
~~~~
Xander: First day of kindergarten. You cried because you broke the yellow crayon, and you were too afraid to tell anyone. You've come pretty far, ending the world, not a terrific notion. But the thing is? Yeah. I love you. I loved crayon-breaky Willow and I love ... scary veiny Willow. So if I'm going out, it's here. If you wanna kill the world? Well, then start with me. I've earned that.
~~~~
Tome's commentary: The yellow crayon speech. Who could forget that one?! This scene will forever remain in my mind as Xander's brightest moment. It's also, in my opinion, the most touching moment as far as displays of powerful friendships are concerned. Xand-man, despite having no super-powers, goes on Kingman's Bluff to try to stop his best friend from ending the world. It's crazy to think that even though the ''love conquers all'' routine has been done a thousand times over, it was still accomplished in a believable, powerful way.
Nicolas' acting in that scene was top notch, all the way to the sudden voice inflection of, ''If I'm going out, it's here.'' And what to say of Alyson Hannigan's performance?! Not much. 😉 Haha! By now, she had gotten us used to her gripping, believable, tearful breakdowns.
This was simply a great, classic scene from BtVS.
****NOMINEE #3****
''Simply Unacceptable!''
(Buffy S3 Ep22 ~ Graduation Day: Part II)
~~~~
Buffy: Hey! You remember this? I took it from Faith. Stuck it in her gut. Just slid in her like she was butter.
Buffy: You want to get it back from me, Dick?
~~~~
Tome's commentary: Wasn't that line from Buffy perfect? 😀 I loved the delivery! Yet, I have to question how - realistically - The Mayor would still care about Faith while in snake form. Sure, he loved her as his daughter when he was human, but he was not that man anymore. In my honest opinion, his feelings should have been nullified/erased. But enough of that! This whole episode is full of great moments, this long sequence being one of the best. The students fighting The Mayor and his vampire squad with crossbows and flamethrowers, Wesley getting knocked out with one punch, Snyder meeting his end, Buffy running through the school chased by a gigantic snake... I’ve got to admit that I thought the special effects were great AT THE TIME, haha! And of course, Giles is the one who destroys the library. 🙂
****NOMINEE #4****
''You're a Bloody Puppet!''
(Angel S5 Ep14 ~ Smile Time)
~~~~
Angel: What are you people looking at? Well?
Spike: They're looking at the wee, little puppet man.
~~~~
Tome's commentary: Smile Time is one of my favorite episodes of TV, ever. There are many scenes from it that I thought would deserve a spot on this list, but alas, I had to cut most of them! Anyway, this one is the best. Spike's face when he sees Angel sitting at his desk... PURE HILARITY! Hahahaha! Then puppet Angel wrestles with his long-time rival, drawing attention from every employee at Wolfram & Hart. It's incredible how they've managed to make Angel look so positively real. 😱 His walking back towards his room while everybody else just watched him... DAMN!
****NOMINEE #5****
''Xander Being An Ass: Take 2''
(Buffy S3 Ep2 ~ Dead Man's Party)
~~~~
Buffy: God, Xander! Do you think you could at least stick to annoying me on your own behalf?
Xander: Fine! You stop acting like an idiot, I'll stop annoying you!
Buffy: Oh, you wanna talk acting like an idiot, Nighthawk?
Oz: Okay. I'm gonna step in now, being Referee Guy.
Willow: No, let them go, Oz. Talking about it isn't helping. We might as well try some violence.
~~~~
Tome's commentary: This is part two of Xander being an ass to Buffy. Xander and Buffy might be best friends, but Xander certainly has a bad habit of being really harsh with her when it comes to the decisions she makes. In this particular scene, he goes too far and the two of them are about to come to blows (that would have been glorious to see!) until Oz intervenes. I'll admit it: I'm a fan of Xander. He's a really cool, funny guy and he's USUALLY a great friend. He, however, can be quite patronizing toward the girls he is attracted to (see Buffy, Anya, Cordy). Notice how he almost never acts this way toward Willow, Dawn and Tara? I think we can explain that behavior (at least with Cordy and Anya) by the fact that he likes to have control in his romantic relationships. When it comes to Buffy, it's more complicated. In some cases - like this one - he seems to only be bitter about something Buffy did that bothered him, while in others he's just plain old jealous (see Xander being an ass #1 and #3). With the other girls, he seems more tolerant and less intrusive. Girls, the lesson you can take from this is: Don't date a Xander or he'll suddenly become a patronizing, over-controlling freak. 😉
As for the scene, well...It's just explosive! Joyce, Willow, and Xander finally let their feelings about Buffy running away come out. The problem here for Joyce is that she's in a really bad position to speak. She was the one who threatened her daughter that if she left the house, she couldn't come back. Yes, she was in a very emotional state when she said it, but so was Buffy! It shouldn't be surprising to her that Buffy chose to run away. Buffy's friends also had no idea what she had gone through, so they're a little too harsh there. Honestly, I always thought this scene to be very authentic: Indeed, people often fight instead of calmly expressing their feelings. Had they all explained their point of views reasonably (instead of yelling back and forth), they most likely could have empathized with each other's pain. This brings me to one personality trait of Buffy that often leads to havoc and loss: she has a difficult time talking to the people close to her about her problems. She's not used to opening up emotionally. Being the Slayer left her thinking that she's alone in the world, but she's not! Being a Slayer doesn't mean that her feelings are any different from usual human feelings! Get off your high horse, Buff! Had she spoken to, say, Giles about what had happened with Angel, all of that could have gone much more smoothly. Her friends and her mom would have certainly understood her distress. I sure did.
So yes, I usually root for Buffy in this scene, but she has a part of the blame to take.
****NOMINEE #6****
''An Unlikely Hero''
(Angel S1 Ep9 ~ Hero)
~~~~
Doyle (to Cordelia): Too bad we'll never know if this is a face you could learn to love.
~~~~
Tome's commentary: Doyle is far from being my favorite character in the 'Verse, however, I must admit that in the short time frame during which he was on the show, he had good chemistry with Angel and Cordy. Who knows, maybe I would have learned to like him more had he not died in this episode. Anyhow, personally my favorite part in *this* scene is actually after he dies and we see Cordelia watching the commercial they filmed together. Cordy, who's still quite the superficial girl, realizes the extent to which she didn't see Doyle for what he was all this time, and even something that actually angered her earlier (RATES!) now makes her smile. At least that's how I saw it.
Doyle's death would prove to be a *good* thing in the end, because it led to Wesley's arrival; Wesley, who was going to turn out to be probably the deepest character on the show. That, and in the original storyline written by Joss, Doyle was supposed to come back as an antagonist in S4, which would have been very interesting!
****NOMINEE #7****
''Against All Laws of God and Men!''
(Buffy S2 Ep14 ~ Innocence)
~~~~
Xander: Willow, we were just kissing. It doesn't mean that much.
Willow: No. It just means that you'd rather be with someone you hate than be with me.
~~~~
Tome's commentary: Another memorable scene, courtesy of Xander and Willow! Having known of Willow's crush on her best friend for almost two years, it was heartbreaking to see her discover Xander and Cordelia had a relationship like that. When she says, ''It just means that you'd rather be with someone you hate than be with me'', you can just feel the pain in her voice. I'm not usually one to bash Xander, but he must have been blind not to notice Willow's interest in him. As her best friend, he should have said something to her sooner.
****NOMINEE #8****
''The Destroyer''
(Angel S3 Ep19 ~ The Price)
~~~~
Connor: Hi. Dad.
~~~~
Tome's commentary: Ok, let me begin by saying that this was one of the few scenes where I was seriously shocked on the first viewing. I did not expect Connor to come back so soon, and certainly not as a teenager! Alright, that's done. Next! What the hell was that demonic creature? And why did it suddenly vanish from the ground, never to be mentioned again? 😛 That was some weird shit. But yea, this was one good entrance! After the roller coaster that was this episode, they left us with the best cliffhanger of the season (maybe of the show?). I had so many questions that I hoped were going to be answered in the next episode. It's too bad that Connor turned out to be quite lame (at least in the few episodes from S3).
****NOMINEE #9****
''The Inner Sanctum''
(Buffy S3 Ep21 ~ Graduation Day: Part I)
~~~~
The Mayor: ''The beast will walk upon the earth and darkness will follow. The several races of man will be as one in their terror and destruction.'' Aw, that's kind of sweet. Different races coming together.
Buffy: You never get even a little tired of hearing yourself speak, do you?
The Mayor (to Giles): That's one spunky little girl you've raised. I'm gonna eat her.
~~~~
Tome's commentary: What is there to say about this scene? It's just so intense! The whole time you don't know if The Mayor is actually going to hurt them. Because, yes, being invulnerable he could have actually taken them out right there and then. Maybe not without a few holes in his body, but the Scooby Gang would have been hard pressed to stay alive. But as usual, the villain in the story just doesn't use his opportunities. 😉 TYPICAL! Haha! Anyway, Harry Groener is such a good actor and it shows here. The man can go from friendly and jovial to creepy and menacing; the way he wipes the blood from the sword, *brrrr*. This scene clearly shows why he's usually thought as the best Big Bad on the show.
****NOMINEE #10****
''Spike, Protector of Puppies''
(Buffy S4 Ep11 ~ Doomed)
~~~~
Spike: What's this? Sittin' around watching the telly while there's evil still afoot? It's not very industrious of you. I say we go out there and kick a little demon ass! What? Can't go without your Buffy, is that it? Too chicken? Let's find her. She is the chosen one, after all. Come on! Vampires! Grrr! Nasty! Let's annihilate them, for justice, and for... the safety of puppies... and Christmas, right? Let's fight that evil! Let's kill something! Oh, come on!
~~~~
Tome's commentary: Spike might be quite pathetic and downgraded to comic relief in S4, but it doesn't mean that he isn't still fun! The guy is just charismatic as hell, and every scene he's in usually had me laughing my ass off. This one is one of my favorites. It's short and doesn't really entail anything more than getting a good laugh, but his lines are perfect! Spike, the rebel, the murderous vampire who killed two powerful Slayers, is now quite set on risking his life fighting demons, if only for the safety of cute puppies! 😀 Hahahahaha! Priceless.
''The Big Moments''
(Buffy S2 Ep21 ~ Becoming: Part 1)
~~~~
Whistler: No one asks for their life to change, not really. But it does.
Whistler: So what are we, helpless? Puppets? No. The big moments are gonna come. You can't help that. It's what you do afterwards that counts. That's when you find out who you are.
~~~~
Tome's commentary: Who doesn't remember that monologue from Whistler? It is very fitting for ‘Becoming’s storyline: Buffy's life changes dramatically; what is she going to do now? Even for a strong young woman like her, it will take time to get back on her feet. Anyhow, I love the scene! I still don't really understand why Drusilla never used her hypnotic powers before if it made it that easy to kill a slayer, but sweet baby Jesus, all hell breaks loose in the good old library and the Scooby Gang is simply outmatched. And for ONCE, they didn't seem untouchable!
Was I sad to see Kendra go? Not really. She was (and this is my personal opinion) quite annoying, and she didn't develop as a character at all. She seemed to only be there for the purpose of demonstrating how different Buffy was from your typical slayer. I guess the goal was accomplished. Her death also gave Buffy one more reason to kill Angelus (about time, Buff). Honestly, though, the first time I saw the scene, I was worried about Willow most of all! Poor Will looked to be in real bad shape. 🙁 Overall, this was a powerful, poignant moment in the series.
****NOMINEE #2****
''The Yellow Crayon''
(Buffy S6 Ep22 ~ Grave)
~~~~
Xander: First day of kindergarten. You cried because you broke the yellow crayon, and you were too afraid to tell anyone. You've come pretty far, ending the world, not a terrific notion. But the thing is? Yeah. I love you. I loved crayon-breaky Willow and I love ... scary veiny Willow. So if I'm going out, it's here. If you wanna kill the world? Well, then start with me. I've earned that.
~~~~
Tome's commentary: The yellow crayon speech. Who could forget that one?! This scene will forever remain in my mind as Xander's brightest moment. It's also, in my opinion, the most touching moment as far as displays of powerful friendships are concerned. Xand-man, despite having no super-powers, goes on Kingman's Bluff to try to stop his best friend from ending the world. It's crazy to think that even though the ''love conquers all'' routine has been done a thousand times over, it was still accomplished in a believable, powerful way.
Nicolas' acting in that scene was top notch, all the way to the sudden voice inflection of, ''If I'm going out, it's here.'' And what to say of Alyson Hannigan's performance?! Not much. 😉 Haha! By now, she had gotten us used to her gripping, believable, tearful breakdowns.
This was simply a great, classic scene from BtVS.
****NOMINEE #3****
''Simply Unacceptable!''
(Buffy S3 Ep22 ~ Graduation Day: Part II)
~~~~
Buffy: Hey! You remember this? I took it from Faith. Stuck it in her gut. Just slid in her like she was butter.
Buffy: You want to get it back from me, Dick?
~~~~
Tome's commentary: Wasn't that line from Buffy perfect? 😀 I loved the delivery! Yet, I have to question how - realistically - The Mayor would still care about Faith while in snake form. Sure, he loved her as his daughter when he was human, but he was not that man anymore. In my honest opinion, his feelings should have been nullified/erased. But enough of that! This whole episode is full of great moments, this long sequence being one of the best. The students fighting The Mayor and his vampire squad with crossbows and flamethrowers, Wesley getting knocked out with one punch, Snyder meeting his end, Buffy running through the school chased by a gigantic snake... I’ve got to admit that I thought the special effects were great AT THE TIME, haha! And of course, Giles is the one who destroys the library. 🙂
****NOMINEE #4****
''You're a Bloody Puppet!''
(Angel S5 Ep14 ~ Smile Time)
~~~~
Angel: What are you people looking at? Well?
Spike: They're looking at the wee, little puppet man.
~~~~
Tome's commentary: Smile Time is one of my favorite episodes of TV, ever. There are many scenes from it that I thought would deserve a spot on this list, but alas, I had to cut most of them! Anyway, this one is the best. Spike's face when he sees Angel sitting at his desk... PURE HILARITY! Hahahaha! Then puppet Angel wrestles with his long-time rival, drawing attention from every employee at Wolfram & Hart. It's incredible how they've managed to make Angel look so positively real. 😱 His walking back towards his room while everybody else just watched him... DAMN!
****NOMINEE #5****
''Xander Being An Ass: Take 2''
(Buffy S3 Ep2 ~ Dead Man's Party)
~~~~
Buffy: God, Xander! Do you think you could at least stick to annoying me on your own behalf?
Xander: Fine! You stop acting like an idiot, I'll stop annoying you!
Buffy: Oh, you wanna talk acting like an idiot, Nighthawk?
Oz: Okay. I'm gonna step in now, being Referee Guy.
Willow: No, let them go, Oz. Talking about it isn't helping. We might as well try some violence.
~~~~
Tome's commentary: This is part two of Xander being an ass to Buffy. Xander and Buffy might be best friends, but Xander certainly has a bad habit of being really harsh with her when it comes to the decisions she makes. In this particular scene, he goes too far and the two of them are about to come to blows (that would have been glorious to see!) until Oz intervenes. I'll admit it: I'm a fan of Xander. He's a really cool, funny guy and he's USUALLY a great friend. He, however, can be quite patronizing toward the girls he is attracted to (see Buffy, Anya, Cordy). Notice how he almost never acts this way toward Willow, Dawn and Tara? I think we can explain that behavior (at least with Cordy and Anya) by the fact that he likes to have control in his romantic relationships. When it comes to Buffy, it's more complicated. In some cases - like this one - he seems to only be bitter about something Buffy did that bothered him, while in others he's just plain old jealous (see Xander being an ass #1 and #3). With the other girls, he seems more tolerant and less intrusive. Girls, the lesson you can take from this is: Don't date a Xander or he'll suddenly become a patronizing, over-controlling freak. 😉
As for the scene, well...It's just explosive! Joyce, Willow, and Xander finally let their feelings about Buffy running away come out. The problem here for Joyce is that she's in a really bad position to speak. She was the one who threatened her daughter that if she left the house, she couldn't come back. Yes, she was in a very emotional state when she said it, but so was Buffy! It shouldn't be surprising to her that Buffy chose to run away. Buffy's friends also had no idea what she had gone through, so they're a little too harsh there. Honestly, I always thought this scene to be very authentic: Indeed, people often fight instead of calmly expressing their feelings. Had they all explained their point of views reasonably (instead of yelling back and forth), they most likely could have empathized with each other's pain. This brings me to one personality trait of Buffy that often leads to havoc and loss: she has a difficult time talking to the people close to her about her problems. She's not used to opening up emotionally. Being the Slayer left her thinking that she's alone in the world, but she's not! Being a Slayer doesn't mean that her feelings are any different from usual human feelings! Get off your high horse, Buff! Had she spoken to, say, Giles about what had happened with Angel, all of that could have gone much more smoothly. Her friends and her mom would have certainly understood her distress. I sure did.
So yes, I usually root for Buffy in this scene, but she has a part of the blame to take.
****NOMINEE #6****
''An Unlikely Hero''
(Angel S1 Ep9 ~ Hero)
~~~~
Doyle (to Cordelia): Too bad we'll never know if this is a face you could learn to love.
~~~~
Tome's commentary: Doyle is far from being my favorite character in the 'Verse, however, I must admit that in the short time frame during which he was on the show, he had good chemistry with Angel and Cordy. Who knows, maybe I would have learned to like him more had he not died in this episode. Anyhow, personally my favorite part in *this* scene is actually after he dies and we see Cordelia watching the commercial they filmed together. Cordy, who's still quite the superficial girl, realizes the extent to which she didn't see Doyle for what he was all this time, and even something that actually angered her earlier (RATES!) now makes her smile. At least that's how I saw it.
Doyle's death would prove to be a *good* thing in the end, because it led to Wesley's arrival; Wesley, who was going to turn out to be probably the deepest character on the show. That, and in the original storyline written by Joss, Doyle was supposed to come back as an antagonist in S4, which would have been very interesting!
****NOMINEE #7****
''Against All Laws of God and Men!''
(Buffy S2 Ep14 ~ Innocence)
~~~~
Xander: Willow, we were just kissing. It doesn't mean that much.
Willow: No. It just means that you'd rather be with someone you hate than be with me.
~~~~
Tome's commentary: Another memorable scene, courtesy of Xander and Willow! Having known of Willow's crush on her best friend for almost two years, it was heartbreaking to see her discover Xander and Cordelia had a relationship like that. When she says, ''It just means that you'd rather be with someone you hate than be with me'', you can just feel the pain in her voice. I'm not usually one to bash Xander, but he must have been blind not to notice Willow's interest in him. As her best friend, he should have said something to her sooner.
****NOMINEE #8****
''The Destroyer''
(Angel S3 Ep19 ~ The Price)
~~~~
Connor: Hi. Dad.
~~~~
Tome's commentary: Ok, let me begin by saying that this was one of the few scenes where I was seriously shocked on the first viewing. I did not expect Connor to come back so soon, and certainly not as a teenager! Alright, that's done. Next! What the hell was that demonic creature? And why did it suddenly vanish from the ground, never to be mentioned again? 😛 That was some weird shit. But yea, this was one good entrance! After the roller coaster that was this episode, they left us with the best cliffhanger of the season (maybe of the show?). I had so many questions that I hoped were going to be answered in the next episode. It's too bad that Connor turned out to be quite lame (at least in the few episodes from S3).
****NOMINEE #9****
''The Inner Sanctum''
(Buffy S3 Ep21 ~ Graduation Day: Part I)
~~~~
The Mayor: ''The beast will walk upon the earth and darkness will follow. The several races of man will be as one in their terror and destruction.'' Aw, that's kind of sweet. Different races coming together.
Buffy: You never get even a little tired of hearing yourself speak, do you?
The Mayor (to Giles): That's one spunky little girl you've raised. I'm gonna eat her.
~~~~
Tome's commentary: What is there to say about this scene? It's just so intense! The whole time you don't know if The Mayor is actually going to hurt them. Because, yes, being invulnerable he could have actually taken them out right there and then. Maybe not without a few holes in his body, but the Scooby Gang would have been hard pressed to stay alive. But as usual, the villain in the story just doesn't use his opportunities. 😉 TYPICAL! Haha! Anyway, Harry Groener is such a good actor and it shows here. The man can go from friendly and jovial to creepy and menacing; the way he wipes the blood from the sword, *brrrr*. This scene clearly shows why he's usually thought as the best Big Bad on the show.
****NOMINEE #10****
''Spike, Protector of Puppies''
(Buffy S4 Ep11 ~ Doomed)
~~~~
Spike: What's this? Sittin' around watching the telly while there's evil still afoot? It's not very industrious of you. I say we go out there and kick a little demon ass! What? Can't go without your Buffy, is that it? Too chicken? Let's find her. She is the chosen one, after all. Come on! Vampires! Grrr! Nasty! Let's annihilate them, for justice, and for... the safety of puppies... and Christmas, right? Let's fight that evil! Let's kill something! Oh, come on!
~~~~
Tome's commentary: Spike might be quite pathetic and downgraded to comic relief in S4, but it doesn't mean that he isn't still fun! The guy is just charismatic as hell, and every scene he's in usually had me laughing my ass off. This one is one of my favorites. It's short and doesn't really entail anything more than getting a good laugh, but his lines are perfect! Spike, the rebel, the murderous vampire who killed two powerful Slayers, is now quite set on risking his life fighting demons, if only for the safety of cute puppies! 😀 Hahahahaha! Priceless.
Last edited:
MinwaraYana
Great job!
