20 Years On, Here's 5 Reasons Why Season 5 Of 'Buffy The Vampire Slayer' Remains One Of The Cult Series Best

It's been 20 years since the first episode of Buffy The Vampire Slayer's memorable fifth season. Airing between September 2000 and May 2001, Season five was the last season to air on Buffy's original network, The WB, before it moved to UPN for it's final two seasons.

Following Buffy's efforts to keep her new sister Dawn (The human form given to a mystical key) safe from a Hell-God named Glory, the season is remembered as one of the cult-classic's best.. Even if the majority of fans find Dawn an irritating addition to the cast.

Here's five reasons Buffy season five still holds up 20 years later.

1. A Well-Crafted Story Arc

For a while, some fans feared that Buffy was doomed to fall victim to the 'College Years Curse' that affects many shows originally set in a high school. Season Four, while containing some of the best individual episodes of the series (Hush, Pangs, etc) is widely considered to have the weakest story arc. Demon-hunting military operation the initiative failed to create an interesting story around them, leaving behind many plot-holes, and Adam, a modern-day Frankenstein's monster, didn't cut it as a big bad.

Thankfully, Season Five course course corrected in a big way. While Dawn is annoying, the storyline built around her, that of the mysterious Key and Glory's quest to obtain it and open a portal to Hell, is memorable and much loved. The episodes are wonderfully crafted, with Chekhov's Guns scattered throughout, such as the Buffy-Bot, a Troll's Hammer, and Dawn's visit to a local black magic practitioner. All these things and more come back to help or haunt Buffy and the gang in the final battle. And in fact, a seemingly minor character in one episode becomes one of the major villains of season six. This makes Buffy The Vampire Slayer season five a rare season of a show where very few episodes can be considered filler. Almost everything is important.

2. The Body

Season five's sixteenth episode, The Body, is considered by many critics to be not just one of the best episodes of Buffy, but one of the best TV episodes of all time. It maintains this status even now, nearly two decades from when it was first aired. The episode deals with the sudden death of Buffy's Mother, Joyce Summers, and the aftermath.

Joyce's death is unique in the Buffyverse in that it occurs by completely natural means. She is not killed by a vampire or a demon, but a brain aneurysm. Buffy runs through everything multiple times in her head, only to come to the painful conclusion that there is absolutely nothing she could have done to save her Mother. The episode contains no music, adding to the eerie realism. The Body has been praised as one of the most realistic depictions of bereavement ever seen on television, and the fact that neither Joss Whedon or Sarah Michelle Gellar scored Emmy nominations for the episode is seen by many as one of the biggest awards season snubs of all time.

3. A win for romantic diversity

In the late 90s to early 2000s, an onscreen same-sex kiss was cause for a 'very special episode' of a show. However, Joss Whedon did not want to sensationalize Buffy The Vampire Slayer's first same-sex relationship, the one between wiccans Willow Rosenberg and Tara Maclay. Because of this, the couple do not share a kiss onscreen until they have been together for nearly a year.

When the kiss did come, Whedon pulled a sneaky move on sensors. While Willow and Tara's first kiss does take place in a special episode, that episode was The Body. The heart-breaking events of the rest of the episode mean the kiss is not the sole focus, or even a major focus. It is written as a simple moment of comfort between a normal, loving couple. Willow and Tara broke further ground in season six as the first lesbian couple to be seen in bed together on Television.

While Tara does eventually fall victim to the unfortunate 'Bury your gays' trope, this does nothing to ruin her earlier status as a ground breaking character.

4. A Great Villain

Buffy The Vampire Slayer showcases many great villains throughout it's seven season run, but the Hell-God Glorificus, aka Glory, is one of the most memorable, and close to the top of the pile when it comes to the show's big bads. She gives Buffy the biggest challenge she faces so far, probably handing the Slayer more pre-finale defeats than any big bad before her. While the gang uses a merging spell to help Buffy defeat Adam in season four, Glory is the big bad with whom Buffy truly needs the help of her friends.

Glory strikes a perfect balance between funny and threatening, helped along with a memorable performance by Clare Kramer. She also carries the dubious distinction of being the only big bad whom the Scooby Gang fail to entirely thwart. While Glory herself is defeated her portal to Hell is already opening, prompting Buffy to sacrifice herself to close it. As such, Glory indirectly caused the Slayer's second death.

5. An Iconic Ending

As mentioned above, Buffy and the gang fail to stop Glory's portal from being opened with Dawn's blood. To spare her sister's life, Buffy chooses to sacrifice herself when she realises that, since Dawn was made from her, her own blood will also close the portal.

The scene is beautifully crafted, from the gorgeous music, Sarah-Michelle Gelkar's final voice over, and the utter devastation on the faces of Buffy's friends when they find her body. This was Joss Whedon's original planned ending for the series, and would have been the ending if UPN hadn't picked the show up for two more seasons.

While there is still plenty to love in seasons six and seven, if Buffy The Vampire Slayer had ended at season five, viewers would have been heartbroken, but satisfied.

That alone gives Buffy's fifth season it's place among the TV greats.