The best season of Buffy the Vampire Slayeris fantastic for many reasons, including a big one that most fans haven’t realized. Though the Buffy season 1 finale proved the show was a masterpiece, the episodes that came before were famously rough compared to the rest of the iconic series we all know and love.
When the series was great, it really was firing on all cylinders, but Buffy‘s seven seasons weren’t all equal in terms of quality. Though it could be argued that Buffy season 4 is underrated, some magic was definitely lost after the Scoobies started college. Indeed, Buffy‘s high school installments were definitely when the series was at its peak, particularly its sophomore season.
Buffy The Vampire Slayer Season 2 Is The Show’s Best Era
Many shows come out swinging, only to experience a “sophomore slump” when season 2 doesn’t deliver on the original engaging premise. But Buffy went the opposite way. Season 1 was hardly a tough act to follow, but the show found its footing in the finale, setting up season 2 to be great — and did it ever deliver.
Firstly, we have to talk about season 2’s villains, as it introduced some of the greatest characters in Buffy‘ rogue’s gallery. The Master may have been Buffy season 1’s best baddie, but that’s damning with faint praise, and he pales in comparison to the fan-favorite Spike and Drusilla.
Then, of course, there’s the actual season 2 big bad, Angelus. Buffy season 2 cemented Buffy and Angel as a romance for the ages while having them experience typical rites of passage, including a first date and Buffy having sex for the first time. Consummating their relationship then results in Angel losing his soul, and the second half of the season is beyond intense as Angelus wreaks havoc.
The Scoobies also had more fully fleshed-out character arcs. Season 1 saw Willow, Xander, Giles, and Cordelia sometimes lean into caricature, but in season 2, they felt like real people. All of them experienced fulfilling romantic storylines, and they all grew as people, particularly Willow, as she learned to shed her wallflower tendencies and dabble in magic.
All this comes together in two of Buffy‘s most perfect episodes, the two-part season finale, “Becoming.” It’s not until Buffy sacrifices herself to save the world in season 5 that we get a more tragic season closer. When Willow’s spell works and Angel regains his soul, only for Buffy to be forced to send him to hell, all of our hearts collectively broke.
These are the reasons why Buffy the Vampire Slayer became the iconic series that it did, but season 2 raised the bar in an entirely different way that it’s not given nearly enough credit for.
Buffy Season 2’s Huge Variety Of Monsters Makes It So Great
Though season 1 established the show’s signature monster-of-the-week format, many of these villains were the worst in Buffy the Vampire Slayerhistory, from Moloch the catfishing demon to the hyena bullies. However, season 1 crawled so season 2 could run, and the latter installment featured some of Buffy‘s best monsters-of-the-week.
Not only that, but season 2 was the first time Buffy introduced its own unique take on many classic horror creatures. The first was in episode 2, “Some Assembly Required,” which featured a football player zombie who craved companionship, resulting in his living little brother stealing the bodies of dead girls in order to make him a girlfriend.
This was a bit of a shlocky premise, as it tried to do too many things at once, but Buffy season 2’s other monsters-of-the-week only got better from there. Two episodes later, “Inca Mummy Girl” featured a mummified princess who was the show’s first sympathetic villain.
| Classic Horror Monsters Introduced in Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season 2 | ||
|---|---|---|
| Episode 2 | “Some Assembly Required” | Zombie |
| Episode 4 | “Inca Mummy Girl” | Mummy |
| Episode 11 | “Ted” | Robot |
| Episode 15 | “Phases” | Werewolf |
| Episode 16 | “Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered” | Ghosts |
| Episode 19 | “Go Fish” | Creature from the Black Lagoon |
The show’s robot introduction was nothing short of spectacular, with a delightful villain turn from the late, great John Ritter in one of Buffy‘s best monster-of-the-week episodes, “Ted.” Robots would go on to be a major component in Buffy, as would werewolves, which were introduced in season 2’s “Phases” with the Oz reveal.
The season also explored ghosts for the first time with the literally haunting “I Only Have Eyes for You,” and gave its own take on the Creature from the Black Lagoon in Buffy‘s terrifying “Go Fish” episode.
Ultimately, we can talk about how great Buffy the Vampire Slayer season 2 is because of Spike or Angelus until we’re blue in the face, and this is fair. But really, the monsters deserve more credit.
- Release Date
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1997 – 2003
- Network
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The WB
