Every Buffy The Vampire Slayer Holiday Episode Ranked From Worst To Best

Securing the top spot for sheer hilarity and slick writing alone, season four's Pangs takes Thanksgiving and turns it on its head.

Appropriately so, the spirits of the Native American Chumash tribe come back to seek vengeance for the wrongs enacted upon their ancestors by the forebears of Sunnydale's white American contingent. Xander is infected with malaria, smallpox and syphilis, reflecting the diseases the European founders of the USA brought with them, while the spirits launch an all-out offensive on Giles' apartment with archers, wolves and a mysterious, smoking, knife-wielding ring leader.

To add to the chaos, Willow and Giles are at odds, Angel is sneaking around in the background, and Spike turns to his old enemies for help. Starving and unable to defend himself against The Initiative, who have put a neutering chip inside his head, Spike arrives at Giles' place under a blanket, begging for shelter. Of course, the gang are the very spirit of generosity and holiday goodwill, and he is swiftly lashed to a dining chair. This allows Spike to pass commentary on the siege of the house, while becoming a pincushion for the invaders' stray arrows.

Pangs ends on dinner, the gang all gathered around Giles' dining table. While it serves as an inversion of the traditional family Thanksgiving, this is also a reaffirmation of the internal conflicts that many family units, whether real or constructed, face around this holiday.

Well, there's always next year...