The 15 Greatest "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" Episodes That Nobody Talks About

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Complex Original

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Buffy the Vampire Slayer is generally regarded by everyone with good taste as one of the best television series of all time. Joss Whedon could go on to make ten more box office shattering superhero movies, and his most seminal, iconic work would remain the story of the plucky blond destined to fight evil in the midst of cramming for finals. Acclaimed critic Alan Sepinwall even dedicated a chapter of his book to explaining how and why the series (1997-2003) changed the landscape of TV as we know it today.

Part of that impact was delivered through groundbreaking, form-challenging episodes, regarded as classics today, like the silent episode "Hush," the musical "Once More, With Feeling" or the devastating hour when Buffy and co. deal with a very human death in "The Body." Throw those in with the show's highly celebrated season finales and other event episodes, and you've got a catalog other series would kill for. It's a feat no one expected this series to achieve when it debuted 17 years ago to the day as the TV spinoff of a forgotten, campy teen movie.

Of course, the side effect of having 144 episodes means for every fondly remembered hour like "The Zeppo," there are dozens that become forgotten with each passing year. Episodes that, while maybe not as transcendent, still found the writers room and cast firing on all cylinders. On the anniversary of Buffy's premiere, here are a handful of episodes we feel are underrated and overshadowed: The 15 Greatest Buffy Episodes That Nobody Talks About.

RELATED: 10 Episodes of "Angel" That Prove It's Just as Good (If Not Better) Than "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" 
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15. "Life Serial" (Season 6, Episode 5)

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14. "Selfless" (Season 7, Episode 5)

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13. "Something Blue" (Season 4, Episode 9)

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12. "The Puppet Show" (Season 1, Episode 9)

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11. "Homecoming" (Season 3, Episode 5)

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10. "Family" (Season 5, Episode 6)

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9. "Enemies" (Season 3, Episode 17)

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8. "Band Candy" (Season 3, Episode 6)

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7. "The Dark Age" (Season 2, Episode 8)

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6. "The Initiative" (Season 4, Episode 7)

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The one where: Buffy and Riley begin courting each other and the true nature of the lurks creeping around campus in military gear and capturing monsters is finally revealed.

It's great because: Yes, Riley was ultimately the most swagless, his relationship with Buffy was more boring than C-Span, and The Initiative storyline never quite soared to the heights that it could have. But the episode in which all of those story threads began to take shape is golden, in large part because of the genius decision to lower Spike's threat level and add him to the main cast.

It's shouldn't have been surprising that he became the season's secret weapon when his official debut as a main player features a scene as amazing as him failing to kill Wilow and learning he can't kill anymore, written as a metaphor for sexual impotency. As if that's not enough to warrant a spot high on anybody's list, the same episode also features Xander fully embracing his bitchassness in a slow-mo slapfight with Harmony.

5. "I Only Have Eyes For You" (Season 2, Episode 19)

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4. "The Freshman" (Season 4, Episode 1)

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3. "Forever" (Season 5, Episode 17)

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2. "Lies My Parents Told Me" (Season 7, Episode 17)

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1. "Conversations With Dead People" (Season 7, Episode 7)

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