Arguably the best episode on this list, The Body is Buffy the Vampire Slayer's least fantastical episode, which is what qualifies it as a Bottle Episode (despite moving freely between a few different locations). Season Five of Buffy had her facing arguably her most dangerous foe yet in the form of Glory (a God), and even the standalone episodes of this season mentioned her impending threat in some capacity. Except for The Body. This is one of the few examples in which a serialized fantasy show doubles down and forgets about its magical elements in order to deal with a cruel and simple truth: the death of Buffy's mother. Buffy is a show that was unafraid to cope with death from the outset, but Whedon and his writing team are unafraid of going a step further and killing off a key character in a heartbreakingly mundane way. With extremely limited visual effects and almost no fantasy elements (only one Vampire appears in the episode) and no soundtrack whatsoever, the direction of this episode (once again courtesy of Joss Whedon) sells the discomfort, horror, and despair of losing a loved one. Calling this one of the most difficult episodes of TV to watch would not be an overstatement - it is outright brutal in a way no Television mourning ever is. But perhaps there is nothing more heartbreaking than Anya's mid-episode monologue where she tries to cope with her feelings about death and loss - as a former demon, she cannot understand the reality of death, and in a curious way, neither can we.