10 More Overlooked Buffy The Vampire Slayer Episodes That Are Secretly Classics

The only Christmas-centric episode in the show's run, 'Amends' is an unusually dark and moody affair that forgoes the usual Yuletide cheer for something more psychological and emotionally devastating.

As the holidays draw ever closer, Angel begins to suffer from a string of nightmares and visions that put him face-to-face with the numerous people he had murdered before being re-ensouled. These visions grow increasingly intense before telling him that the only way for him to be free of his suffering. Not wanting to return to his evil ways, or kill the woman that he loves, Angel decides his only way out is to end his life - believing himself to be beyond redemption in a climax that will have everyone in the room reaching for the tissues.

Aside from being a great deep-dive into Angel's psyche, as well as a fantastic rumination on the sinful nature of humans in general, 'Amends' is most notable within the show's canon for introducing us to The First, who is responsible for Angel's psychological torture.

Essentially the original evil, The First is a being of pure malevolence that predates life as we know it, and one that would come back in the show's final season as its chief antagonist.