Hi Everyone!

I am in college in California and my theology professor is about as obsessed with Buffy as I am. We are trying to think of the best Buffy episode to show to everyone in class to convert them to Buffyism, but most of them are either anti-Buffy, or have never seen the show before. What do you think is a really good episode of Buffy to show to people to make them love it, but also so that they can understand what's going on w/out knowing what's going on, and with maybe just a basic oral introduction to some background info. My teacher wants me to bring in the top two episodes of my choice by tomorrow and she's going to bring in her top two and then we're going to choose from those? So, I need fast feedback!

Thank you so much!
-Erica

My opinions on the best ever and the best to introduce people to Buffy are very different..

To get people into it you need a good standalone, preferably funny...

Hush is a good bet for sure.

Hush is good, yep. The Body will make them appreciate the dramatic aspects and the guys in the class are bound to like it. Bewitched, Bothered, and Bewildered is also good IMO.

This is surprisingly difficult, as "Favorite" wouldn't necessarily be the one you'd show somebody first, but my choice is high in my faves list..."Prophecy Girl". It gives a good look at all the characters, a nice early look at Buffyverse, and it has "I'm 16 years old".

maybe once more with feeling... it's kinda hard to follow.... but it's awesome!

Hush, and The Body great eps, might sway people

Hush is a good recommendation . . . I was considering Hush, Passion, Becoming Part II, Wild at Heart, Who Are You. I want them to get emotionally involved and not think of the show as "Cheesy". Which of these would you suggest? Or maybe some that I have forgotten?

Out of that batch, I'd go with "Passion".

yep, I think that's a good one to.
you don't want to show them an EP that is too deep yet into the stuff we all love because you have to really understand the show and you don't want to do that to them. they have to be stand alone EP or as close to one as you can get.

"Prophecy Girl" is one
"The Body" is another but only to show to someone who wants more drama than vamp action.

have to think more about them

Who is this teacher and when can we meet him/her? lol.

For me, the best standalone greatest episode is Hush..cuz its pretty damn scary, and funny too..and it would be a great one for any non-BtVS watcher to see. I'd also say The Zeppo (for comedic purposes), Buffy Vs. Dracula (for acton purposes), All The Way (action), & Tabula Rasa (ultimate comedic episode, but could be stupid and confusing to outsiders). Okay, I need to narrow down.....

Umm, I'd go with: HUSH! (but if not; Buffy vs Drac, or Tabula )

I agree that Hush would be a good one to show them...Passion is a good one too. I don't think that non-Buffy fans would appreciate The Body or OMWF like we did.

I was going to mention Tabula Rasa as well b/c it's such a funny ep but didn't know if a non-Buffy fan could appreciate some of the funnies in it.

disagree about The Body, That's a great dramatic EP that stands on it own and is not deep into the Slaying so it show a very serious show to someone who doesn't thing the show is serious.

OMWF definately not for a non fan. you have to know the show to get must of it.
Buffy vs. drac though a good one puts them into the oh dear frame of mind this is just what I thought.

allot of this depends on the person. if they like shows like charmed or smallville then the ones you would choose are different from someone who like ER and reality TV. Showing them eps that deal with real issues plainly are a good way to go for those

Okay, so I've narrowed it down to 3 eps . . . Hush, Passion, and The Body. Now I have to narrow it down to two. (I'm still taking suggestions though, so if somebody hasn't recommended one that you think is good, don't be afraid to say it!).

And yes, this teacher is wonderful! We have serious discussions about Buffy nearly every day that we have class! She has every episode on tape and says that when her six year old son gets a little older, she's going to make him watch all of the eps!

I agree that "Prophecy Girl" would be a great one. Also, "Helpless". Maybe for a comedic episode: "Band Candy" or "Tabula Rasa".

Out of the three that you have already chosen, I'd go with "The Body" for sure.

Yeah, I really like Helpless too . . . in fact, I like it so much that I know the whole thing by heart. But I don't think others will appreciate it like I do. Because they don't understand the whole "slayer powers" thing and they don't understand the strength of Buffy and Giles relationship.

Well then...you really need to be introduced to Premiere our resident Helpless fanatic I love the ep too...one of my personal faves.

what college in california are you at, i live in cali and just gotta go to this college and take this theology class

I'm at Loyola Marymount University. It's about 10 minutes away from the L.A. airport and it's a beautiful, beautiful school. The teacher's name is Shiela Jones and the class was Christian Ethics. Where in Cali. are you from? I'm actually from Wisconsin, but I decided to move to Cali. when I was like 10 years old, and I finally made it!

LMFAO: That's sooooo true
Premiere were are you to settle this
it's one of my fav as well, of course any EP with those great Buffy/Giles moments I love

So your going to be having a great talk about tonights EP I bet

Welcome to the Board...

I usually end up showing Becoming, parts 1 & 2.

My friends loved Beauty and the Beasts. Some people think Buffy is chessy and childish, so I think a smart Ep is the way to go. A good way to show them it is a lot deeper that they thought.

The episodes I would go with are Prophecy Girl, The Gift, and Afterlife. The reason I would chose these episodes are because they all have to do with choices and consequences. Issues which a theology class would be interested in.

Prophecy Girl has to do with Buffy's choice to protect the world. A lot of the Scooby character dynamic is easily accessible to a novice viewer. The scene between Buffy and Willow, in Willow's bedroom, shows how talented the two lead actresses are. The theme of accepting ones destiny, and self sacrifice have resonance throughout the series.

The Gift and Afterlife, can easily be shown together without Bargaining in between. A short description of who each character is and the direness of their situation would be required; but, I think the rest is easily accessible. The Gift is what turned me into a buffyfan. The choice of self sacrifice which Buffy and Dawn have to make on top of the tower has great dramatic and theological resonance.
Afterlife, James and Sarah put in the performances of the season. "Every night I save you" and "I think, I was in Heaven."

Sorry if I'm a little late in answering this post. Good luck in school.

Well, I'll cop out and just take the easy choice, which is "Hush", imho. I've already used it successfully once to hook one friend, so its a proven winner.

I remember that I showed to my boyfriend Becoming I and II. He never saw really the show before.

I`d definately NOT go with The Body. Go for Hush and another funny like BBB or Band Candy.

I cannot say what Buffy ep is the best for newcomers. Actually the plot is so complex, it's best to start with S1E1 - or even with the Buffy movie - in soap operas the characters change too!

BUT NEVER TRUST A TV MAGAZINE. The information given to episodes sometimes, that's my experience, mostly falsifies the whole impression the episode gave too me. Besides that taking out of suspense there ar often mistakes in.

This is what my TV-magazine gave as info for the Buffy ep "Smashed"

Three dark people break into the museum of Sunnydale. It's Warren and his friends, who are about to steal a giant diamond on Spike's order. (!) But as the nightwatcher steps in their way they act cold as ice and put out the freeze-ray, While the frozen watchman is left back, Warren & Co. seemingly haven't finished their mission yet. What do they plan? - During that Spike's getting his heartlady on her nerves. Since the kiss he's sure she's in love with him.. Above there is a screencap of Buffy and Spike leaning at the pillar. Must be right after the part of the episode where all the noises stop and only music can be heard.

I remember last year there was a similar quirk. Instead of monks the TV mag told monkeys (!) - yes they really had written "Affen" not "Mönche" - would have hidden the key from Glory.

This is all really hard.

My first inclination, if I just had two to introduce someone - was Welcome to the HellMouth and Prophecy Girl.
The first one - is the first one so it's designed to explain everything. The second is my all time favorite and actually the first one I ever saw.


But, I think B_A's got a good point here though. About mixing in a funny one. But I wouldn't show the funny one first. Also agree about The Body. It's just too intense and not typical of the show. I can't say what effec it would have on someone who isn't familiar with the characters but for me it was so upsetting that I can't watch it again.

Can you have 3?

WTTHM first, then BBB then PG would be my suggestion.

I guess it doesn't matter at this point since we're way passed your 'next day' deadline. Sorry I didn't see the post in time to respond earlier.

everyone agrees, it is "innocence" or "passion". season 2 was where almost all people got hooked on buffy. there are almost no new veiwers from season 4 on. thats why the ratings have never gone up.

I think 'When she was bad' is a good one as it shows SMG's acting skills, and shows all the relationships like Willow liking Xander and Xander liking Buffy and Buffy liking Angel etc.

thats a good idea. i think you should chose out of these:

Hush - basically coz its so amazing in every aspect..
Tabula Rasa - So funny! but should be shown AFTER an ep that actually has Giles and the gang being.. well.. not leave-ingly
Something Blue - coz its really funny and we get a good view of Willow's power and cool effects with her magic..
Band Candy - because its funny and... gross (giles/Joyce... *shudder*
Ear Shot - so good!

ok... those are more than i thought of when i saw your very first post LMUBuffy.. lol sorry.

um sorry - beg to differ, but i started watching buffy religiously on Sky One (tv) from the end of Season 4 beginnng of Season 5 so there! and if you dont believe me, ask ProBecGraResTheGra!

and... grrrr... just stop with the 'falling ratings' already!!

"innocence" was josh whedon's favorite by the way!!

from joss:


AOL Host: A member wants to know what your favorite ‘Buffy’ episode is, if you can name one.

Joss Whedon: It varies, very often. I have to say that ‘Innocence,’ the episode where Buffy slept with Angel and he went crazy, will have a huge place in my heart. That show more purely showed us what we were going to be able to do with that series, kind of took it to the next level. Hey, you never forget your first time.

joss says it better than any of us. innocence is the ep you need to use. innocence took the show to a new level. those are joss's words, not mine!!

Yeah... I tried to hook someone by showing him The Body... didn't work.

It`s too intense I think.. the reason it affects us so strongly is because we KNOW the characters.. if you don`t... it`s just boring.

I'd definitely go with "Hush" for this one too. All you need to know about the show to appreciate this ep is that Buffy has superpowers. For the vast majority of the others which have been mentioned, I think at least some kind of basic knowledge of at least a couple of the other characters is necessary.

"Passion" isn't as powerful if you don't have any understanding of who exactly Angelus is, and what happened to bring him to Sunnydale, "Something Blue" is fantastic but I think you need to know a bit about the Buffy/Spike dynamic before that ep in order to appreciate it fully, a lot of the superbly funny parts of "Tabula Rasa" made some kind of reference to prior eps, etc, etc...

Definately... As a rule you don`t want anything where the viewer will have to keep asking you to clarify things in order to follow what`s going on.

Really you need to know what type of person your trying to introduce to the show. if they're going to be turned off by the plot of vampires the you need them to watch EP that are more about the characters. so there is not pat answer. I guy I work with today was talking to me in my cube and just the way he talked showing him anything but a EP like the Body wouldn't do it. he needs to see the intensness of that EP and the acting . to show him BBB or anything else wouldn't do it.

another I know would go for Innocence in a heart beat, but can't get her past the title. And I know she'd love that EP. shame.

so really, know the people and figure the EP around that.

Excellent point, "Buffy" is a Buffet. Give the person a serving of what he/she likes best first, and later on they'll be more likely to try something else.

i have to go with joss on this one!! "innocence" defined
the show. trying to make spike into angel just makes that ep all the better.

the body is a good ep for the hard core, but quite frankly it is boring to newcomers. innocence, on the other hand has all the elements of btvs in it. it wraps up the 1st 2 seasons and takes the show to a totally new level. as for eps in season 6, even joss said season 6 was a big turn off. season 2 made joss a genius. anyone wanting to understand what great television is should watch season 2 from beginning to end!!