10 Worst Buffy The Vampire Slayer Episodes

Season 5 is the best season outside of Buffy’s high school years, and as such, ‘Listening to Fear’ is a bit of an outlier.

It starts off okay – the opening section at the hospital with Buffy, Dawn, and Joyce is innocent enough. And the part where Willow and Tara stare at the stars is a great moment. Unfortunately, this tender scene is interrupted by a meteorite burning across the night sky. A Queller Demon then spawns from this meteorite and makes its way to the hospital.

This is when the problems start to arise. For one thing, how on earth does the demon get around without being seen? It doesn’t exactly blend in with the rest of the hospital. And secondly, why did the writers feel the need to bring back Riley’s commando squad? This odd addition to the episode feels completely out of place given the Initiative was one of the worst aspects of the previous season.

Whilst the Queller Demon is terrifying during the closing stages of the episode, this isn’t enough to make up for the rest of the story.