Joss Whedon once revealed that an episode of BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER will be the best thing he’s ever done

Buffy the Vampire Slayer it’s one of those shows that I keep enjoying every time I watch it. It has become one of those comfort shows that I watch on a regular basis. The stories she told were so beautiful and funny, but there were also moments where the stories went in a very serious and intense direction.

Take 2001 Season 5 Episode 16 Episode 16 titled “The Body,” for example. This episode tore me apart when I first saw it, and only much later in my life would it hit me even harder. This is one of the most emotionally draining episodes of the entire series for me. It is also an episode that Sarah Michelle Gellar i can’t review. She previously said, “I’m so proud of it, but I can’t look at it. It’s too hard for me. I’m an only child. It’s just me and my mom. It was just a hard concept to grasp.”

In the episode, Buffy is devastated when she arrives home to find her mother, Joyce, dead on the couch from a brain aneurysm. The season seemed to lead to her death after she was diagnosed with a brain tumor in episode 8. She apparently recovered, but then episode 16 rolled around and the audience was shocked by her unexpected death her. The rest of the Scoobies try to pull themselves together and deal with their grief as best they can to be there for Buffy and Dawn during the extremely difficult time they were going through.

It was one of the most horrific and powerful episodes of the series and it didn’t involve anything to do with the supernatural or monsters.

Joss Whedon spoke about the episode in an interview with Metro, and explained how the episode was personal to him, saying, “My mother died when I was 27 in a car accident. But I didn’t really think about mining [the experience] until the third season. This is the moment [Buffy] he says “I don’t know”, he didn’t [dealt with this] Before. There’s a good kind of pain that her situation created that was particularly personal.”

She went on to say that this episode is the best thing she’s ever done and will ever do, saying, “I think [‘The Body’] it’s probably the best thing I’ve done and the best thing I’ll ever do. And I’m fine with that. You know, there are worse epitaphs.”

I’m just thinking back to that scene where Buffy finds her mother dead and worriedly utters, “Mom?” it’s super rough. It’s such a heartbreaking moment. The episode explored the devastating effects of pain and at the time I first watched the episode, it wasn’t something I could fully relate to. Then later in life, just a couple of years ago, my mom was diagnosed with brain cancer, and it’s something she’s still battling.

All these years later, this episode of Buffy has taken on a whole new meaning. I saw the story in a completely different way and it affected me so much more and my feelings about her are now much more complicated as my family and I are helping our mother through this horrible experience.

Then there’s the next episode which is even more messed up. That episode is titled “Forever” and sees Buffy’s sister Dawn attempt to resurrect Joyce using a necromancer spell. There was a moment in the episode where we see the shadow of the resurrected Joyce walk past a window, which made my heart sink and fill me with dread. Then we hear a knock on the front door and Dawn quickly finishes the spell just as Buffy opens the door. It was so intense!

Whedon went on to talk about the episode, saying, “It doesn’t give you anything. Death is the thing [Buffy] she can’t fight, but it also makes her meaningless. She doesn’t sit on many committees, she doesn’t have many hobbies, that takes away from her identity.”

What do you think of “The Body”?