As with most shows that ran for as long asBuffy the Vampire Slayer(seven seasons and 144 episodes), this action/comedy/drama/fantasy/romance series wasn’t perfect, but it was pretty great more often than it wasn’t. It was a sharply written and subversive TV series, taking the premise found in a fairly unsuccessful 1992 movie of the same name and exploring it to its full potential throughout the late 1990s and early 2000s, with the titular Buffy being a young woman blessed/cursed with great powers, and destined to spend her life fighting demons.
Buffy the Vampire Slayeroften soared due to its writing, with plenty of unpredictable plot twists and turns, memorable characters, and great dialogue. With excellent writing comes, quite naturally, plenty of great quotes, and that’s exactly what you get below. Picking just a handful from so many seasons is easier said than done, butthese quotes representBuffyat both its funniest and most tragic, and are ultimately just a small sample of how many great linesthe writers of the show packed into it.
Buffy The Vampire Slayer
15"Tact is just not saying true stuff. I’ll pass."
“Killed by Death” - Season 2, Episode 18 (1998)
“Killed by Death” comes right on the heels of one ofBuffy the Vampire Slayer’s first major deaths, ironically enough. It’s also placed in the season a little before the more dramatic climax, with the episode, instead, seeing the titular character taken down by something much more mundane: the flu. Of course, once she gets to the hospital, there’s a demon there that needs to be dealt with, all while sick.
It’s not a hugely memorable episode outside the main antagonist being creepier than usual, and Cordelia having a great one-liner that sums up her character well, equating “tact” with dishonesty in her usual flippant way.But she kind of gets away with it at this point, having warmed up to Buffy and the others to some extent by Season 2’s end; far less borderline villainous than she was in Season 1.
14"Buffy’s looking at Parker… who, it turns out, has a reflection. So big plus there."
“The Harsh Light of Day” - Season 4, Episode 3 (1999)
For better or worse, a decent amount of time is spent on Buffy’s relationships throughoutBuffy the Vampire Slayer, and how they’re generally with folks of a supernatural nature. The precedent is set early on with her first (and ultimately most tragic) love, Angel, who ends up leaving Buffy the character andBuffythe show in Season 3, departing for his own Los Angeles-based spin-off.
So, come Season 4’s “The Harsh Light of Day,” Buffy is in college and potentially ready to move on. Ever-loyal friendWillow notices her showing interestin someone who doesn’t seem to be any kind of monster (he even has a reflection), and seems happy for her friend finding someone who isn’t a vampire. Of course, she’s still dating a werewolf at this point, but in a place like Sunnydale, that just seems like something of an inevitability.
13"It’s a big rock. I can’t wait to tell my friends. They don’t have a rock this big."
“Becoming: Part 1” - Season 2, Episode 21 (1998)
Buffy the Vampire Slayer’s second season was what made it clear that the show was something great, and aTV spin-off that could outclass its movie counterpart. A big reason for that was the introduction of Spike, who was a bit of a supporting antagonist throughout Season 2 (ultimately less powerful than the true big bad, Angelus) before eventually joining the show in more of a regular role from Season 4 onwards.
He’s charismatic and sometimes imposing as a villain, but he’s also hilariously snarky, even in a show where just about every character is more than adequate in snark warfare.He sarcastically downplays Angelus stealing a stone that’s said to contain a demon that could end the world, clearly jealous he wasn’t able to do it himself, and not being entirely wrong when he declares it’s just “a big rock.”
12"You think I don’t watch your movies? You always come back."
“Buffy vs. Dracula” - Season 5, Episode 1 (2000)
“Buffy vs. Dracula” kicks offBuffy the Vampire Slayer’s excellent fifth season, and makes use of the fact that Dracula is a character in the public domain to have him go up against Buffy. Its title recallsthe Universal monster movies of old, which sometimes had titles that included the names of two iconic characters, suggesting they were going to clash (like withFrankenstein Meets the Wolf Man).
Buffy eventually defeats Dracula,because she’s Buffy, and then lets him know that he shouldn’t bother continually trying to come back to life, as she’s well-versed with his movies where Dracula keeps returning (perhaps having gone through both the Hammer Film Productions series and the Universal ones). There’s even a cloud of dust that looks like it wants to reform until Buffy’s quip, at which point it slinks off, presumably to resurrect itself somewhere other than Sunnydale.
11"I like you. You’re funny, and you’re nicely shaped, and frankly, it’s ludicrous to have these interlocking bodies and not… interlock… Please remove your clothing now."
Once more, a quote from “The Harsh Light of Day” surfaces, this time revolving around ex-vengeance demon Anya. It goes to show that even in a fairly ordinary episode from one of the show’s lesser seasons, there’s still great dialogue to be found. That being said, to be fair, Season 4 does end up going to some more interesting places as it goes along, and sets up the superior Season 5 well.
Anya starts to come into her own as more of a recurring character here, with her bluntness and lack of understanding regarding human communication largely being a source of comedy. As is, at least initially, her rather chaotic relationship with Xander, whichpretty much begins here after she requests – while completely naked – that they make use of their “interlocking bodies.”
10“Dawn’s in trouble, must be Tuesday.”
“Once More, with Feeling” - Season 6, Episode 7 (2001)
Though “Once More with Feeling” appeared in the controversialsixth season ofBuffy the Vampire Slayer, you’d be hard-pressed to find a fan of the show who doesn’t consider it one of the very best episodes. It’s a musical episode, finding a clever reason for all the characters to suddenly live life like they were in a musical, all the while pushing forward several key storylines of the season (including the angst Buffy feels after being brought back from the dead).
It’s a surprisingly eventful episode, gets quite heavy towards the end, and also proves to be one of the show’s funniest hours. It also contains theclassic self-aware zinger delivered by Buffy about how often her younger sister was in trouble… a line that gets funnier when you learnBuffy the Vampire Slayerused to air on Tuesday nights (from halfway through Season 2 onwards at least).
9"Giles, I’m sixteen years old. I don’t want to die."
“Prophecy Girl” - Season 1, Episode 12 (1997)
It’s no secret that, like many shows, the first season ofBuffy the Vampire Slayerwas a little rough around the edges. Most long-running TV shows take a little while to find their footing, and when it comes toBuffy, the first season was only half the length of all the others, and noticeably had less money behind it than most of the other seasons seemed to (and even those had some wonky special effects at times, though Season 1 suffered the worst in this regard).
But theseason finale titled “Prophecy Girl” is an excellent episode, and perhaps the first time in the show’s run that its full potential started to be genuinely realized. The titular character faces genuine deathafter a prophecy states she’s destined to die, and she confesses her fears in the above quote to her Watcher/mentor Gilesin an emotionally vulnerable moment that stands as one of the show’s first (of many) tearjerking scenes.
8"They got the mustard out!"
On the complete opposite side of the spectrum to Buffy tearfully admitting she’s scared of death comes the declaration that “They got the mustard out,” once more from the Season 6 musical episode “Once More, with Feeling.”It might not sound like much quote-wise, but it’s one of the funniest lines of the show because it’s sungas a spectacular and grand musical number… that lasts just a few seconds, has characters the audience has never seen before standing outside a dry-cleaner, and simply contains those words dramatically sung twice.
It’s a non-sequitur, but only at first, because it’s also used to establish that the entire town of Sunnydale is under a spell that’s got people singing and dancing; not just the main characters. It’s a great way to sum up the extent of the “problem” being dealt with throughout the rest of the episode and is absurd and stupid enough to be hilarious and unforgettable, once heard/seen.
7Angelus: “That’s everything. No weapons, no friends, no hope. Take all that away, and what’s left?” Buffy: “Me.”
“Becoming (Part 2)” - Season 2, Episode 22 (1998)
For as great as Season 1’s finale, “Prophecy Girl,” was, the Season 2 finale, “Becoming (Part 2),” was even better. This wraps up everything from Season 2 perfectly and is an essential episode in establishingBuffy the Vampire Slayeras not just an entertaining and charmingly offbeat fantasy show, but genuinely up there among thegreats when it comes to TV dramasas a whole.
Buffy’s boyfriend, Angel, has been causing chaos as the malicious Angelus for multiple episodes at this point, and Buffy’s faced with the regrettable task of dealing with him; as is normal for the show, his continued existence has apocalyptic implications. Buffy’s distraught and alone while fighting Angelus, who taunts her and the way she’s seemingly lost everything. He thrusts a sword at her face after asking what she has left, she catches it in her bare hands, and confidently declares: “Me,” before swinging back into action and gaining the upper hand.It’s a moving and inspiring moment and another pivotal one for the titular characterand her arc throughout the series.
6"Cordelia, your mouth is open. Sound is coming from it. This is never good."
From Season 2’s finale to its opening episode, “When She Was Bad” is a generally more light-hearted hour of television that still does a good job of hinting at where the upcoming sophomore season will go. The title character is still affected by what happened in season 1’s “Prophecy Girl,” and appears somewhat out of character because of the trauma, further establishing the show’s surprisingly good commitment to continuity.
This behavior does lead to some humor, though, with Buffy sarcastically putting down popular girl(with a secret heart of gold) Cordelia, suggesting that Cordelia seldom has anything good to say. The character herself did become more fleshed-out and likable throughoutBuffy’ssecond and third seasons and then grew to become one ofthe best characters on the spin-offAngel, which aired five seasons following the conclusion ofBuffy’s third.
