Top 5 Season 5 Episodes

[EffulgentBitca]

1. The Gift - This episode makes me cry every single time and it's a brilliant, impactful conclusion to the arc of the season, both metaphorically and literally.
2. Fool for Love - Spike's development throughout the series is one of its highlights for me. Getting to discover his layers, the many times contradictory facets of his personality, and his rich inner world was an amazing journey that was greatly fueled by this episode.
3. The Body - What can I say about this episode that has not already been said? The way it conveys grief and the negative space surrounding the death of a loved one is painfully realistic and impossible to shake off once you watch it. The silence pounds on you, the writing and the acting tug at your hearstrings as you follow the characters trying to deal and make sense of what has happened. It's a masterclass in TV and into how fundamental truths can be captured through stories.
4. Crush - There is Drusilla, the adorable dynamic between Spike and Dawn, Buffy finds out about Spike's feelings for her, we get to experience more of Spike's complexity, and wonder about the link between the soul and love. Lots of elements to enjoy in this one.
5. Family - This is when I fell in love with Tara's character. The family is more than blood trope is something that I never get tired of seeing in stories and here it relates wonderfully to both Dawn and Tara.

 

[Mylie]

1. The Gift
2. Forever
3. No Place Like Home
4. The Body
5. Real Me

Honorable mentions : Family, Checkpoint, Fool For Love, Blood Ties

I used to think that this season had a strong season arc, but that the episodes were not very memorable, but my rewatch last year has made me change my mind. It's filled with great episodes that I admire a lot or that are flawed but dear to me.

I kind of want to do a rewatch these days, probably because Buffering the vampire slayer and Passion of the Nerd are both on season 5 right now.

 

[WillowFromBuffy]

1. The Body - Just a masterpiece. One of the more unique BtVS episodes.
2. Fool For Love - BtVS has never felt so much like a movie. It looks great, we learn so much about Spike, and it explains so much about how he came to be like he is. The Whirlwind all together.
3. Forever - I love episodes that deal with the casting of a spell, especially when I want the caster of the spell to succeed. Genre convention dictates that Dawn must fail, but I can't help but root for her, just like I root for Buffy to save Angel in "Becoming," even though I know she'll fail.
4. The Gift - Probably the most intense episode ever. Lots of great inner Scooby drama, especially between Buffy and Giles, whose Watcher training starts to show.
5. Real Me - This should have been the season opener. I love the use of framed narration via Dawn. I love Dawn. I love the focus on inter-Scooby dynamics. It is not my favourite Harmony episode, but I love how she is used as a mirror for Dawn and Buffy of what complete self absorption looks like.

 

[Btvs fan]

1 ) Fool For Love : One of my all time favourite episodes and that Doorstep scene is just so great 😍
2 ) Intervention: SMG is hilarious as the Buffy Bot but it's all about the Spuffy scene at the end 😍
3) Crush : JM turns a 1 dimensional script into gold with an incredible performance.
4) Forever: SMG and MT kill it here and Joel Grey is delightfully creepy as Doc .
5) Blood Ties : The best episode of the whole Dawn/Glory arc Imo

 

[Athene]

Mine changed since last time so thought I'd add my new list.
1. The Gift
2. Forever
3. I Was Made To Love You
4. The Body
5. The Weight of the World

 

[Btvs fan]

@WillowFromBuffy I know, I was only teasing

 

[vampmogs]

My ranking;

1. The Gift: My 2nd favourite episode of the series. A truly exceptional masterpiece with stunning performances, great action, and truly moving moments. Frankly put, nothing that came after it was ever this good again.
2. Fool For Love: Just when Spike's character was starting to feel a little redundant and unnecessary, this episode came along and launched him into the stratosphere. It's a magnificent character-piece that added so many layers to not only Spike but to the Fang Gang and the mythology of the show. It's also gorgeously shot, written, and edited. In my Top 10 episodes of the series for sure.
3. The Body: Truth to be told, I find this episode somewhat dull and I don't rewatch it often. But Whedon has admitted that was kind of the point and that he wanted to explore the tedium of death. There's moments that feel unearned to me (I don't quite buy Anya's breakdown) and moments that I think are a little generic (the fade over shots of the gang hugging at the hospital) but I can't deny what a fantastic episode of television this objectively was.
4. No Place Like Home: In comparison to 1-3 on my list this episode feels a tad underwhelming. However, they've teased the mystery of Dawn for 4 episodes now and I think this episode lives up to expectations. Sure there's some issues, including the writing cheating with Dawn by having her act a little too creepily ("Want some tea mum? I made it for you") which in hindsight makes no sense, the underwhelming Buffy VS Glory choreography, and the writers pretending that Spike's actions last episode never happened, but the scene of Buffy's hallucinations revealing the truth about Dawn is so creepy and well done. The exposition scene between Buffy and the monk all works brilliantly on all levels. Basically, I just find it really entertaining to rewatch.
5. Forever: Despite liking their relationship the Spike/Dawn scenes in this episode oddly leave me cold. But everything else is great. The cinematography in this episode is top notch, Angel's appearance is understated and beautiful, the ethical debate about resurrections is handled well and is a precursor to S6, and the episode does a wonderful job of capturing that surreal strangeness of a house with no Joyce. But of course it's the final scene between Buffy and Dawn that is so damn heartbreaking. It very well may be SMG's finest performance in the series and the way they juggle the gut-wrenching subject matter alongside the creepiness of Joyce approaching the house, without detracting from either, is honestly pretty mind-blowing. I'd also like to add that SMG is particularly beautiful throughout this episode.

 

[Btvs fan]

My ranking;

1. The Gift: My 2nd favourite episode of the series. A truly exceptional masterpiece with stunning performances, great action, and truly moving moments. Frankly put, nothing that came after it was ever this good again.
2. Fool For Love: Just when Spike's character was starting to feel a little redundant and unnecessary, this episode came along and launched him into the stratosphere. It's a magnificent character-piece that added so many layers to not only Spike but to the Fang Gang and the mythology of the show. It's also gorgeously shot, written, and edited. In my Top 10 episodes of the series for sure.
3. The Body: Truth to be told, I find this episode somewhat dull and I don't rewatch it often. But Whedon has admitted that was kind of the point and that he wanted to explore the tedium of death. There's moments that feel unearned to me (I don't quite buy Anya's breakdown) and moments that I think are a little generic (the fade over shots of the gang hugging at the hospital) but I can't deny what a fantastic episode of television this objectively was.
4. No Place Like Home: In comparison to 1-3 on my list this episode feels a tad underwhelming. However, they've teased the mystery of Dawn for 4 episodes now and I think this episode lives up to expectations. Sure there's some issues, including the writing cheating with Dawn by having her act a little too creepily ("Want some tea mum? I made it for you") which in hindsight makes no sense, the underwhelming Buffy VS Glory choreography, and the writers pretending that Spike's actions last episode never happened, but the scene of Buffy's hallucinations revealing the truth about Dawn is so creepy and well done. The exposition scene between Buffy and the monk all works brilliantly on all levels. Basically, I just find it really entertaining to rewatch.
5. Forever: Despite liking their relationship the Spike/Dawn scenes in this episode oddly leave me cold. But everything else is great. The cinematography in this episode is top notch, Angel's appearance is understated and beautiful, the ethical debate about resurrections is handled well and is a precursor to S6, and the episode does a wonderful job of capturing that surreal strangeness of a house with no Joyce. But of course it's the final scene between Buffy and Dawn that is so damn heartbreaking. It very well may be SMG's finest performance in the series and the way they juggle the gut-wrenching subject matter alongside the creepiness of Joyce approaching the house, without detracting from either, is honestly pretty mind-blowing. I'd also like to add that SMG is particularly beautiful throughout this episode.

Lol it's so funny as I feel the exact opposite on the Gift 😄
For me the stunt scenes are poor. There is a moment where the stunt double (it's obvious it not SMG) does her Cartwheel/flip kick while fighting Glory on the scaffold and it feels so out of place. While Glory sells it like shes been shot 😬

Joss set up at the start of the episode a situation he had no intention of following through on. So it was a big waste of time.

Also wtf happened to Joel Grey. He can survive a sword through the gut but not a shove 🤷‍♂️

The death scene is beautifully shot/acted and scored but I feel nothing because I know (and knew then) that Buffy had 2 more years on UPN so I knew she was coming back. For me that should've been the way to end the show. Buffy dying to save the world but that jmo.

 

[Btvs fan]

@thrash I think both then and S7 a Faith spin off was always the viable and the best way to go. You could've done a Spike and Dawn Logan movie style spin off with Spike as the Logan role. You also had a Giles spin off. There was loads imo

 

[Serenityrose]

Season 5 is my favorite season so it's hard to narrow it down. My rankings often change though my absolute favorites always stay towards the top.

1. Fool for Love- Spike is my favorite character so this was just pure brilliance for me. On top of that seeing the history was amazing especially the Angelus/Darla/Dru/Spike stuff. I could have watched a few more hours of this. Spike from the very beginning always seemed to me to be more complex than the average villain, this episode just dove into that and I loved it.

2. The Gift- Beautiful episode. Starting right from the beginning when the boy Buffy saves comments that she's just a girl. Bringing home the original message that Buffy for all her strength and responsibility was just a girl. Honestly I think this pulled at the heartstrings more than the actual series finale.

3. Intervention- What can I say Sarah playing the Buffybot was hilarious. I loved seeing how everyone reacted to it and of course the touching kiss that Buffy gave to Spike at the end of the episode.

4. Family- I loved this episode. I loved how they addressed that Tara didn't really feel that she had been fully accepted and in the end everyone fought for her. The message being that family isn't about blood but the bond you share. You could tell this was written by Joss.

5. Crush/Spiral- This is a real toughy so I'm not sure how to choose. I love both of these episodes. Spiral for me just had non stop action. Just when things couldn't get worse, they did and I loved the angst of seeing everyone trying to rally and fight. Crush..again I loved it. Even though I'm a huge Spuffy fan, I loved seeing Dru return and seeing that old Spike/Dru magic. And yikes just the idea of all the women in Spike's life in one episode and him dealing with them . It was hilarious and I still remember watching it when it first aired and not knowing how it would play out.