Buffy the Vampire Slayer's Highest Point | BtVS Season 3 Review

Video Description

The first half of the third season of Buffy the Vampire Slayer might be the finest television ever made. Through its somewhat slow start with Anne and Faith, Hope and Trick to its dizzying heights at Lovers Walk and The Wish and some of the weirder episodes after like Gingerbread or The Zeppo, this video basically has me endlessly gush the entire way through and love everything Buffy, Giles, Xander; Willow, Oz, Cordelia, Principal Snyder, and the weird car girl from The Zeppo do, as well as defend some episodes I consider underrated like Dead Man’s Party. Throughout this video I often refer to The Phi Phenomenon - https://www.phi-phenomenon.org/buffy/ - for data on how Buffy was perceived in the early 2000s and use screenshots from the site to illustrate various points. Timestamps 00:00 Anne - a clunky if interesting start 06:44 Dead Man’s Party, or what if I liked When She Was Bad? 15:06 Faith, Hope and Trick and the early season 3 slump. 23:40 The first glimpses of late-season Buffy 25:30 Beauty and the Beasts, an overloaded Oz episode without much Oz. 33:55 Homecoming - the definitive Buffy and Cordelia episode with surprising depth. 34:48 Homecoming Tangent: Why I struggle to like Cordelia, and how she gets better 43:40 Homecoming Tangent: The Mayor! A fantastic villain who’s above average for Buffy 51:15 This upcoming chunk of Buffy is unbelievably great 52:36 Writer Break: Looking back at David Greenwalt’s mixed bag of episodes. 56:50 Writer Break: Looking forward to Jane Espenson, one of the most important and talented people on the Buffy crew. 57:22 Band Candy, the purest distillation of Buffy’s fun side 1:05:22 Revelations, an elegant and refined character episode with deceptive depth. 1:06:59 Writer Break: Douglas Petrie, someone who I want to pay closer attention to this time around 1:20:40 Lovers Walk, a fantastic late-season Buffy episode transported back in time 1:32:23 Lovers Walk Tangent: The Magic Box is here! 1:41:48 Writer Break: Dan Vebber, a two-timer heavy hitter 1:42:53 The Wish, Monster of the Week television perfected 1:59:58 Amends, boring but significant 2:09:08 Gingerbread, heavy-handed on purpose? 2:13:58 Helpless is good, but it’s not my thing 2:14:35 Writer Break: David Fury’s first solo episode 2:16:27 My (somehow still) growing appreciation for Anthony Stewart Head’s performance. 2:22:09 The Zeppo, a weird and clunky episode I can’t help but really love 2:30:31 Wrapping up, and quick thoughts on the season’s structure and how localized Faith’s arc is.