10 Buffy The Vampire Slayer Moments That Shocked Us All
8. "Mommy?" - I Was Made to Love You (Season 5, Episode 15)
Despite the reputation that season five has for being one of the show's finest outings, I Was Made to Love You is quite often seen as something of a misfire for the show when it was at the height of its powers.
The episode sees Buffy racing to stop April, a robot that's determined to find her creator Warren, who invented her with less than honourable intentions in mind. April leaves a trail of destruction everywhere she goes, and upon learning that Warren has a human girlfriend goes into a complete frenzy.
And yes, it's every bit as silly as it sounds.
After battling, and subsequently stopping, the love-struck android, Buffy returns home and finds Joyce motionless on the sofa. Had Glory made good on her promise to make Buffy's family suffer? Or had Joyce simply succumbed to the brain tumour that had been eating away at her throughout the show's emotionally devastating fifth season?
This shock finale got viewers minds racing and the following episode The Body is often regarded as one of the finest hours of television ever produced for its sombre tone and gruelling depiction of grief, but that initial reveal at the end of this episode will always sting.