10 Most Underrated Buffy The Vampier Slayer Episodes

Buffy the Vampire Slayer is a cultural phenomenon and a widely beloved TV show. It's a series full of some truly breathtaking and in some cases revolutionary episodes of television. Sure, there have been some duds, but for every "Doublemeat Palace", "First Date" and "Go Fish" there's a "Passion", a "Hush" and a "Fool for Love." The duds are often fun, that can't be denied, but they're not Buffy at its best.

But what about the episodes that rarely enter the conversation of Buffy greats? This list will focus on those lost gems, from the far too hated to the tragically overlooked. Be them episodes which added much needed layers to some of our favourite characters and the overarching story, or episodes overshadowed by the events and arcs that surrounded it, every season will have a chance (or two) to shine.

Because after 144 episodes, and being off air for sixteen years, means rather inevitably that some episodes have been forgotten or dismissed to fast. And once you've read the list, why not re-visit the episodes featured? Major spoiler ahead, but enjoy.

At its surface, Season One's “Nightmares” is a typical monster-of-the-week episode: a boy in a coma who makes people’s nightmares come true, and a demon trying to stop Buffy from uncovering a morbid truth. But each character gets a chance to shine. More than that, they get the chance to go face-to-face with what they fear most.

In many ways, this episode is an early example of what was to come, and how good the show and the characters were going to be. It also showed that the gang were the core of the show, and it wasn’t all doom and monsters and vampires.

Key moments such as Xander taking on a killer clown, Willow getting stage fright, Giles imagining Buffy is dead and Buffy herself imagining she's a vampire and also responsible for her parents’ divorce. All these great dives into the characters makes this an episode well worth re-visiting.

It also gets bonus points for Xander confronting his old birthday clown: “Your balloon animals were pathetic. Everyone can make a giraffe.”