Most underrated episode?

[henzINNIT]

matthewblake said:

I think season 7's "Dirty Girls" is another great episode that gets forgotten. We have the introduction of Caleb, Faith's return, a great fight sequence in the end, and Xander's eye...

Dirty Girls is my fav episode of that season. Caleb + Eye removal = Success.

[alycat7]

some of the most underrated episodes are Sleeper, Gone, and Band Candy

[coolspringsj]

I would put Spiral in my top 10 episodes of all time. It is action packed with the Knights chasing the bus and then the standoff at the abandoned gas station. Very epic feel.

[Rachster]

there are alot of episodes that are not given enough credit too many i really liked conversations with dead people and help in season 7 season 6 with willow going bad i didnt really like the last three eps but in wreked i think it is when she almost gets dawn killed shes a real bitch but in a good way lol i also like once more with feeling

[MawdurnBukanier]

commandercool said:

She really did grow quite a bit, and she doesn't appear to be done.

Haha to that.

On topic though, my vote goes to Band Candy, I think the only episode I've watched more than that is OMWF. Another of my favorite, often overlooked, moments is in Go Fish, where Buffy tells Willow to interrogate Johnathon and she says, "Really? Me?" I don't know why, but I just love her voice there.

[Ethros]

I think 4.01 "The Freshman" is quite an underrated episode. It's not my all-time fave, not even in my Top 20, but I really, really like it.

The episode aired in Autumn 1999, and I started uni three years later in 2002. And my first day there was TOTALLY like Buffy's (minus the vampires )
The whole 'being overwhelmed by the campus' thing, being in a foreign environment, starting scary new classes, feeling homesick, trepidation etc.
So remembering that episode, and knowing that someone as strong as Buffy had gone through the same thing, struggled to begin with, and eventually came out on top, gave me the courage to pull through

So I will always have a soft spot for that episode

.... Plus it's hilarious:
Xander- "Do we hug?"
Oz- "I think we're too manly"

[barryshaft]

I agree with Mikey, the Dark Willow trilogy really gets a lot of flack. Hell most of Season 6 takes a lot of unnecessary shit, as lame as it was at times it was some of the shows darkest and most challenging stories. Dark Willow I always dug the arc and I absolutely love the ending. Hannigan's acting is quite underrated here too because she plays such a vastly different side of Willow (and no I don't mean evil) and that's Willow's absolute bitterness to the life she leads (with Buffy). A lot of it is there under the surface, bubbling for some time and I think Willow's terrible puns are just another sign of her loss of control. Also, it's Buffy, everyone makes bad puns...Buffy herself seldom gets a laugh from me in her fight-time puns.

My underrated episodes, Lie To Me, Wild at Heart, Dead Man's Party, Into The Woods, Dead Things, Hell's Bells, Empty Places. Most of these I picked because I think the show managed to reach great heights when it didn't shy away from showing the insanely flawed aspects of the main characters. A lot of people complain about these episodes because they don't like the way the characters act, as these are the episodes that feature the main characters doing something usually quite out of place for them. I say out of place and not out of character (as many complain) because none of these ever felt like flaws in writing so much as flaws in the characters themselves and I'm always fascinated by these episodes. The series especially excelled in showing Xander's very human, very negative aspects in Dead Man's Party and Hell's Bells, as well as Oz's in Wild at Heart. And Into The Woods gets a vote from me for finally making Riley's character somewhat interesting (nowhere near likeable still, but interesting). And Lie to Me made the list because it's just awesome and gets lost in the shuffle a lot.

[BuffyFanOne]

I was going to mention Lie to Me aswell. Sarah is so amazing in that episode and the leason at the end is so touching. For me, this is the moment when Giles is cemented as Buffy's father figure. When Buffy asks Giles to lie to her and he complies, it is really a beautiful moment.

[hunter233]

I'm gonna throw in my vote for Lie to Me as well. The final scene is one of the most poignant in the entire series. Not to mention, if you look at it closely, it really foreshadows almost everything that goes down that season, though you'd never realize it at the time.

Side note: another moment of foreshadowing that you'd never realize, and almost certainly wasn't intentional. I think it was in Gingerbread, or whatever the witch hunt ep was called, but Cordy found Giles unconscious in the Summers house, and slapped him awake, commenting on how often he gets knocked out. Her warning to him? "One of these days you're going to wake up in a coma." Giles is apalled by the ridiculousness of this statement, but if you think about it, that's exactly what happens to Cordy. As I was watching that recently with my roommate, my heart suddenly broke during what was supposed to be a very funny moment. It sucked, heh.

[Fireball]

Id go with "Whats My Line 1 and 2" and "Primeval". I enjoyed those episodes, not my favourites but they are good none the less.

[bagofknives]

For some reason 'Chckpoint' stands as a great episode for me!?

[richieshag89]

Enemies

[jellymoff]

This episode is really funny and gives us a good look into Xander's character. This is one of the few times that he gets to shine. Plus, the whole end of the world going on around him-hilarious!

[barryshaft]

I agree with you there, The Zeppo is one of my favourite episodes of the series. Not only does it perfectly capture Xander as a character but it kind of takes on the series as a whole (up to that point) and mocks it ever so slightly (but lovingly, unlike stuff like Normal Again later in the series)

[Wyndam]

The Zeppo is also one of my favorite episodes. I thought it was just fantastic. I wish every season had had a Xander centric episode (where he is in nearly every scene). I just love The Zeppo and then Season 5's The Replacement.

[henzINNIT]

barryshaft said:

My underrated episodes, Lie To Me, Wild at Heart, Dead Man's Party, Into The Woods, Dead Things, Hell's Bells, Empty Places. Most of these I picked because I think the show managed to reach great heights when it didn't shy away from showing the insanely flawed aspects of the main characters. A lot of people complain about these episodes because they don't like the way the characters act, as these are the episodes that feature the main characters doing something usually quite out of place for them. I say out of place and not out of character (as many complain) because none of these ever felt like flaws in writing so much as flaws in the characters themselves and I'm always fascinated by these episodes. The series especially excelled in showing Xander's very human, very negative aspects in Dead Man's Party and Hell's Bells, as well as Oz's in Wild at Heart. And Into The Woods gets a vote from me for finally making Riley's character somewhat interesting (nowhere near likeable still, but interesting). And Lie to Me made the list because it's just awesome and gets lost in the shuffle a lot.

I agree with all of that except for Hells Bells. It's not because of the poor actions of Xander... it's the fact that the episode is terrible lol.

I like Lie to Me except for the guest star's (whose name I forgot) lazy acting. It's like he's coasting through until his final scene.

[afer]

I'd say some early season 4 episodes- Living Conditions. Thought it was quite up-beat and funny. The Harsh Light Of Day. HELLO- The only episode where we see a vampire in sunlight (and not frying).

[Vampire Lady]

I Only Have Eyes for You is a majorly overlooked ep, in my opinion. It's actually my favorite Buffy episode ever. I don't even know what it is about it, but I just love it.

Other underrated eps are The Pack, Helpless, Earshot, A New Man, The Yoko Factor, Family, Normal Again, and Touched.

[Aloha Joe]

Beer Bad.

I've heard a lot of people saying they hated it. I liked it. Not the greatest episode, but still underrated.

[Enisy]

I don't know if this has been mentioned, but I think Grave is very underrated. It's one of the best season finales, with some of the most heartbreaking moments in the whole series, and it's ignored only because it doesn't have that "Written/Directed by Joss Whedon" title in the beginning (never mind that Joss rewrote and reconstructed a lot of scenes there, like the little crayon speech and Buffy's epiphany).