Every Buffy The Vampire Slayer Season Finale Ranked From Worst To Best

10. Prophecy Girl (Season 1, Episode 12)

Kicking things off, we have the very first season finale which saw Buffy finally come face-to-face with The Master in what should have been an epic showdown, but ultimately was a more restrained and ever-so-slightly disappointing affair that didn't quite live up to the hype that had been built up over the previous eleven episodes.

Although that's not to say that 'Prophecy Girl' is a bad episode, quite the opposite actually, but compared to everything else that's to come, it's very much the show in its infancy and it's likely that the budget didn't allow for much in terms of scale. This episode's real power also lies in its first viewing, where we're not entirely sure whether the prophecy will come to pass, or if The Master will indeed be freed from his prison.

It certainly does lose a little of its appeal on rewatches, but this episode was a fantastic indicator of what was to come. Much of the previous episodes' campy nature was pushed aside in favour of a more focused and serious approach to the story, and Buffy's descent into the bowels of The Master's lair remains one of the show's most suspenseful and downright eerie sequences.