10 Most Underrated Buffy The Vampier Slayer Episodes

A late Season Seven episode, this entry is somewhat overshadowed by the episodes surrounding it and the threat of The First Evil. It’s all about conflict - physical, emotional and otherwise. Spike is conflicted by the sinister First Evil, and Buffy, Giles and the gang are desperate to bring him back. But there’s a catch: Principal Robin Wood, a freelance demon hunter, reveals to Giles he is the son of Nikki Wood, a Slayer whom Spike murdered in the 70s.

Wanting revenge, Wood lures Spike into a trap and attempts to kill him whilst Giles, who believes the vampire to be a threat to their success, tries to stall Buffy.

Within this episode the writers manage to open the door to even more of Spike’s backstory, helping fans understand what happened after he was sired by Drusilla and how his relationship with his ailing mother was changed after he returned to her. It’s always sad to see Spike’s past; he was once so innocent. But watching him kill his own mother is the hardest thing to watch in his journey.

Of course, Wood's plan fails and he inadvertently saves Spike from The First. It's peak Buffy, but an episode nonetheless lost in a show full of peaks.