10 Buffy The Vampire Slayer Episodes That Changed Everything

7. Touched

Speaking of impact when it comes to the portrayal of gay characters on television, it wasn't until Buffy's seventh and final season that the show portrayed a full-blown lesbian sex scene. Network television's first lesbian love scene (though cable beat them to the punch) took place during during Touched, and featured newcomer Kennedy taking the lead with Willow, whose original love interest, Tara, had perished the previous season. While episodes like Once More, With Feeling hinted at this, Touched was the first to openly show love-making between a same-sex couple, and while it seems unthinkable today, with the proliferation of HBO and other cable networks more than willing to push boundaries, the episode caused quite a stir when it aired back in 2003. The first lesbian sex scene on network television: another Buffy first.