Ranking Every Season of Buffy the Vampire Slayer

Most rankings are subjective, and so is this one! Ask a handful of Buffy the Vampire Slayer fans to rank the show’s seasons, and you’ll probably get wildly different answers. Some people think the show peaked with Buffy and Angel’s tragic story arc in season 2; others find that whole thing extremely problematic. Some people love the Dawn era; others would tell you it makes them want to throw something. Everyone hates Xander – except all the times they didn’t.

So, here’s the official (but subjective) Den of Geek ranking for all of Buffy’s seven seasons. Hear us out, then feel free to head to the comments and sound off…

7. Season 7

The final season of Buffy gave us a touching ending that wrapped up the series well and promised a better future for most of the show’s characters. After battling The First Evil in its many guises, Buffy and the Scoobies turn Sunnydale into a crater and many of the Potential Slayers into real ones. For the first time in years, life also looks to be full of possibilities for Buffy, who has carried the weight of the world on her shoulders since she was originally chosen to battle dark forces. She has shifted from reactive hero to full-on general, and her actions have felt earned, even when they were uncomfortable to watch.

But unfortunately, the final season dragged at the time, and drags on rewatch. The First is underused in practice as a villain, playing with Spike, the Turok-Hans, and later Caleb as its minions, but proving no real threat beyond psychological manipulation. The Potentials also overload the show with new characters who aren’t fully fleshed out and become quickly annoying. Our faves start acting out of character, ganging up against Buffy and, in Giles’ case, making moves against Spike behind her back. There was certainly precedence for this – killing Ben, his reluctant dirty work for the Watchers Council – but it feels like retreading old ground.

There was a lot of retreading in season 7. Back to Sunnydale High, back to the beginning, looping everything full circle, but it regularly seemed like we’d been here before. The show was running out of ideas and steam, and it was almost a relief when it ended with its uplifting yet occasionally tragic finale. Certain moments are infuriating, though. Spike’s heroic death was immediately undone in Angel, and the killing of the show’s neurodivergent-coded character, Anya, in the final minutes still feels unnecessary and mean-spirited.

6. Season 1

Important elements of the show first came together in season 1, introducing our main characters and showing how they respond to wild situations that no 16-year-old should have to navigate. The “high school is hell” theme and the rubbery “monster of the week” approach landed immediately, and the Whedon-speak dialogue (now largely considered Millennial cringe) was a delight at the time.

Some of the episodes do feel quite quaint now, occasionally laughably so, especially Willow falling in love with a demon online when the technology was still in its infancy. Others have fared better. “Welcome to the Hellmouth” is still one of the best pilots ever created, and “Prophecy Girl” is one of the best finales, delivering an air-punching evolution for the show’s central character as she begins to resist expectations from those with her and against her.

Still, season 1 ultimately feels really rough around the edges because the show hadn’t hit its stride yet. The character of Xander, played by newcomer Nicholas Brendon after Ryan Reynolds turned down the role, remains particularly hard to watch as he refuses to take the hint that Buffy isn’t interested in him and ends up coming off as disturbingly possessive, which fades into the background somewhat in season 2 as the dynamics of the main characters deepen. Persistently bad editing and lighting choices also don’t help – the budget was low, and the crew was likely doing the best they could, but future seasons benefited from learning the lessons of the first, both practically and in characterization.

5. Season 5

Season 5 is a mixed bag, with an equal number of solid and utterly underwhelming episodes.

Glory is a great villain – a God who can’t be killed and who feels like a genuine threat – but the episodes where she has an impact on our gang are interspersed with some real stinkers, usually where Buffy’s little sister Dawn is in danger and screeching about how unfair everything is, but also anything with Buffy’s pathetic ex-army boyfriend Riley, who seems entirely focused on his own selfish needs even as things get worse and worse for Buffy. The Knights of Byzantium are relentlessly silly and easily dispatched in the end, so the episodes leading up to the terrific finale, where Buffy sacrifices herself to save Dawn, also prove a bit annoying to get through.

There’s some really good stuff here, though. The Spike-centric episode “Fool for Love” builds to a surprisingly touching conclusion, and his Buffybot era is truly wild, even today. The fallout from Joyce’s death in “The Body” is heartbreaking. Glory’s attack on Tara is truly upsetting. “Buffy vs. Dracula” remains an incredible monster-of-the-week episode, and the show even manages to create one of its creepiest moments ever when Joyce is resurrected and comes knocking at the door in “Forever.”

4. Season 6

“This is too high on the ranking,” I can sense some of you thinking, and that’s fair! But hear me out: I feel like Buffy season 6 got a rough deal when it first aired and has since become better regarded.

In season 6, the characters were growing up along with the show’s audience. At the time, many fans thought that Buffy’s depression after being brought back to life, and the way she had to cope with joining the adult world, was simply too glum. Much of the humor that propped up earlier seasons had lessened and was replaced by the reality of living. There were bills to pay, and Buffy had to get a humiliating minimum wage job. With no parents around, she didn’t know how to cope with things going wrong. She started sleeping with someone who wasn’t good for her, but briefly lightened the load on her emotional state. These are relatable things that come up for many people at that age. Buffy couldn’t just bounce back from being sucked out of heaven. She was forced to cope with real life, and that meant something to many viewers dealing with their own monsters. Willow’s villain arc may have also divided people, but at least the show attempted to explore addiction issues in a somewhat meaningful way, which was more than many were doing at that point.

After bringing us a “silent” episode in season 4, Buffy also delivered an incredible musical episode here, featuring catchy songs that became enduring earworms, but it’s the season’s central theme – that sometimes life will plunge you into darkness and you have to battle your own demons – that has truly lasted the test of time.

3. Season 4

Season 4 may be slightly uneven, but it’s definitely ambitious. From the groundbreaking “Hush” to the surreal “Restless,” this season is stuffed with memorable episodes that push the show beyond its comfort zone as Buffy goes to college and discovers that independence brings even greater danger. At the same time, the Scooby gang is forced into situations that lead them to bolder character arcs. Willow loses Oz but finds a new love in Tara. Xander realizes he’s going nowhere and begins a serious relationship with someone he’s not even sure he likes. With his steady librarian job over, Giles spirals into a midlife crisis fueled by boredom and the sense that he’s no longer needed.

The season also makes the U.S. military into a joke, which is either hilarious or annoying, depending on how much you love the U.S. military, I suppose. As part of the military influx, Riley’s introduction is sweet to begin with. It’s nice to couple Buffy with someone normal but not totally boring (your mileage may vary), and seeing him slowly get to grips with what’s really going on in Sunnydale and the gray areas that Buffy has to deal with is mostly compelling. The season falls flat with its big bad Adam, but there are so many highlights elsewhere that it’s hard to be too mad about it.

“Living Conditions,” where Buffy decides that her annoying roommate is evil, is hilariously relatable. The twist of “Fear, Itself” – that the demonic Gachnar is only a couple of inches tall when it finally manifests – hits every time. Jonathan’s world-altering installment “Superstar” is so stacked with fun that it’s unexpectedly hard to leave behind. Willow’s spell going awry in “Something Blue” also leads to some fantastic scenes between the cast. But it’s not all breezy stuff. In “The Harsh Light of Day,” the show tackles the possibility that not everyone you’re seduced by will treat you right, and Faith’s return in a phenomenal double bill toward the end leads to an understanding between her and Buffy that finally leaves the door open for Faith to be redeemed, a solid storyline that continues in season 7, Angel, and the comics that followed.

2. Season 2

It’s an understatement to say that season 2 was a huge step up from season 1. Darker and more emotional, season 2’s main arc is planned and executed magnificently as Buffy and Angel’s romance deepens, then implodes spectacularly when she sleeps with him and he turns evil. The Angelus arc presents Buffy with her first real moral challenge: whether to kill the man she loves and break her own heart, or find a way to save him that could lead to more and more carnage in the meantime.

The Buffy-Angel storyline never loses its momentum because season 2 mixes classic monster-of-the-week episodes with that arc exceptionally well. There are some duds for sure (stuff like “Inca Mummy Girl” and “Bad Eggs”), but we also get “Halloween,” “Ted,” and “Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered.” There are also a couple of double-episode story arcs in “What’s My Line” and “Becoming” that are, quite simply, some of the best TV we’ve ever had the pleasure of watching.

Season 2 also introduces Spike and Drusilla, a fresh and massively chaotic couple whose relationship is upended when Angelus is pulled back into their orbit, where he cucks Spike into the stratosphere. Growing the cast of vampire characters was key at this point, increasing the audience’s patience for a little bloodsucking fun in one area, even while Angelus became the worst of the worst in another (the murder of Jenny Calendar is still a tough watch). Spike would go on to become one of the series’ main characters, surprising the show’s writers, and James Marsters’ performance as the Billy Idol-lookalike was so dedicated that a later storyline would even send him to therapy in real life.

1. Season 3

A tonal high point for the series, season 3 of Buffy found the perfect balance of humor, romance, and drama. It also had a great villain, a dark side of the Slayer in Faith, and a thrilling final battle that could have easily ended the whole show right there.

In Mayor Richard Wilkins III, Buffy had something new. Right up until the last episode, he was a subtle but menacing villain who played up his quirky moments as an endearing father figure to two young girls whose fathers were no longer in the picture. His urge to reinforce good in the community and his silly giggles at the most mundane things were deftly offset by the sense that nothing would stop him from ascending into a staggering demonic force. His evil plan had been coming to fruition for so long that Buffy ended up “killing” Faith just to get his attention. Though Faith’s soul seemed unsalvageable at the time, Buffy wrestled with how to deal with her until the penultimate episode. Thus, season 3 had created the perfect storm for its two Slayers, whose lawful and neutral-good tendencies shifted as they were affected by their own choices and actions, each holding a mirror up to the other until discomfort set in time and again.

Meanwhile, every Scooby got a standout episode in season 3. “The Zeppo” proved that Xander could get into trouble all by himself; “The Wish” introduced Cordelia to an even more violent alternate reality; “Doppelgangland” further forced Willow out of her shell; and Giles got his teenage kicks back in “Band Candy.” The school suicide episode “Earshot” was too close to the bone for the network following the Columbine massacre, but its upsetting storyline also remains eternally relevant.

Yes, we can all admit that the CGI on the Mayor Snake Monster has aged very poorly (and it wasn’t great at the time), but season 3 still remains the high point of the series for many Buffy fans.