30 Days of Buffy Meme — Day 2

[rebcake]

Day 1: Favorite Season
Day 2: Favorite Episode
Day 3: Favorite Song Used In An Episode
Day 4: Favorite Female Character
Day 5: Least Favorite Female Character
Day 6: Favorite Male Character
Day 7: Least Favorite Male Character
Day 8: Favorite Friendship
Day 9: Favorite Romance
Day 10: Least Favorite Season
Day 11: Least Favorite Romance
Day 12: Least Favorite Episode
Day 13: Favorite Potential Slayer
Day 14: Favorite Female Villain
Day 15: Favorite Male Villain
Day 16: Episode You Like That Everyone Else Hates
Day 17: Character You Relate To The Most
Day 18: Character Who Didn’t Get Enough Screen Time
Day 19: Character You Like That Everyone Else Hates
Day 20: Best Spike-centric Episode
Day 21: Best Willow-centric Episode
Day 22: Best Xander-centric Episode
Day 23: Two Characters You Wanted To Get Together That Never Did
Day 24: Hottest scene
Day 25: Favorite Buffyverse Saying
Day 26: Favorite Scooby Moment
Day 27: Cutest Moment
Day 28: Character You Love To Hate
Day 29: Episode You Hate That Everyone Else Loves
Day 30: What You Think Made Buffy So Great

Favorite Episode: This one is not tough at all. It's Fool For Love, y'all!

So many good episodes and still this one stands out: unexpected back story, loads of "historical" stuff, glimpses of slayers past, super funny Harmony, dead sexy Dru, and bonus Chaos Demon! This episode is a big fat payoff for continuity buffs. It explains Spike's name(s), his Slayer obsession, his scar, his coat, and his breakup with his paramour of 100+ years. The subway/alley back and forth is a dazzling, heart in the throat scene. It's also the episode that launched a thousand fanfics, and would be worthy for that alone. To top it all off, both Spike and Buffy get to fight back tears. Mmmmm, emotional.

I think the reason I like it so much is that it opens up the Buffyverse. We aren't just in this one, probably sucktastic, moment on the Hellmouth. We're all over the world and all through time. We are multitudes! There was some of this in Becoming back in Season 2, but that was mainly through Angel's eyes, and this gives us a whole host of possible perspectives. It's clear that we can't trust the teller of the tale, either, and that encourages the viewer to be a more active participant in the story. Nifty, yes?