buffy the vampire slayer

Mailbag

April mailbag!

This month: books that need reissues, songs that belong to one director, and the Buffy Big Bad ranking you've been waiting for.

Buffy, in a red sweater, crouches over the prone corpse of her mother, Joyce, who is very obviously dead.

buffy the vampire slayer

The many legacies of Buffy the Vampire Slayer's best episode

A strange, austere hour remains unlike anything else in TV history

The Gentlemen in Buffy are bald, white-painted guys in suits with sharp teeth. They're inside a clock.

When the episodes are better than the season

And vice versa.

Episodes: The complete, definitive ranking of "Once More, With Feeling" musical moments

These are, without dispute, the 11 best musical moments in the soundtrack to "Once More, With Feeling," the musical episode of Buffy the Vampire Slayer. 11) "They got the mustard out!" Specifically when the chorus sings it, then does the dance with the shirts. Perfect. 10)

Episodes: Why horror doesn't work on television

It's October, the start of my three favorite months of the year; the time when Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas stuff all nestles comfortably next to each other at your local department store; and the perfect time to think about what's become, somewhat surprisingly, my favorite genre:

hannibal

The Fall (spoilers for Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Hannibal)

At first blush, "The Gift," the fifth season finale of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and "The Wrath of the Lamb," the series finale (for now) of Hannibal would seem to have little to do with each other, beyond the obvious — both conclude with the protagonist plunging