#40: "I owe you PAIN!"
5x19 - "Tough Love"
Ooo, such goosebumps when I first saw this moment. Glory relishing the buzz from sucking Tara's mind, then everything goes all dark and rumbly. The door flies open, and there's Willow. Floating. She just glides into the room while Glory's minions flee, and then Willow does the unthinkable -- she hurts Glory. Something nobody's been able to do. At all. That notion in and of itself is awesome, but it's the calm rage in how Willow does it that makes this moment for me. This is the first time we see the black eyes on her, and I have to say that I thought (and still do think) they look wicked. But the part I love best is her delivery of the line quoted above, right before unleashing enough power to juice California for a year.
#39: Blood Kin
5x06 - "Family"
With this episode, Tara's family life became the one that we knew the most about outside of Buffy's, which is kind of interesting when you consider the fact that the show had been on the air for five years and Tara herself hadn't even been there for quite one yet. I loved discovering it though, because it explained so much about why Tara was how she was ... or, perhaps more importantly, said so much about her character because of how she turned out despite her origins. The Maclays are not nice people. 'Nuff said. But these moments where Tara was dealing with her father were the ones that sold me on her. I'd liked her well enough up to this point, but listening to her father tell her how she's evil and watching all the conflict within Tara as she tries to figure out what to do, and that was pretty much it for me. Tara became a part of my Scooby family then and there, just in time for it to become official with the rest of the gang.
#38: Spike's Attack
4x07 - "The Initiative"
This moment is the companion to #89 ("Vampire Impotency"), and we see how I have a perpetual bias to the dramatic rather then the comedic. This moment works so well because it's so damned savage and scary. It looked like this was it for Willow, like Spike was going to seriously put some hurt on our girl. Buffy might possibly rescue her just in time or something, but either way, this looked like it. The scene is violent and intrusive, and reminds us that despite the ho-hum every-dayness we attribute to vampires and such on Buffy, they really are lethal creatures. Spike in particular. It occurs to me that this is the second time there's the threat/implication of rape in a scene between Willow and Spike (the first being in "Lover's Walk"), which just sort of adds a whole 'nother level of tension to this moment. Interesting.
#37: Perspective Guy
2x21 - "Becoming, part 1"
Nothing has ever fragmented the gang quite like Angel, and here's where it all comes to a screaming header. I'll say first of all that while Xander can be an unmitigated ass sometimes, seeing things in either black and white and never shades of grey, I think this one of the things that makes him so believable as a character. Which is why I love him in this moment, despite how self-righteous and way harsh he's being to everybody else. To Xander, it's always been pretty simple: vampires are evil. End of story. It's a lesson he learned the hard way back in "The Harvest", and he never ever forgets it. He barely tolerated Angel, but then he turned evil too and now Xander can't believe that he's hearing his friends talk about saving a killer. What's great though is that what he's saying is completely right. But while Xander stands out here, it's not just him that makes this moment rank so high. Everybody contributes in tense scene where every last one of them are selfish. Buffy wants Angel back. Xander wants the satisfaction of having always been right about Angel (and harbouring more than a little jealousy for the vampire). Giles wants Jenny's last wish fulfilled. Willow wants to be the one to harness the power and save the day (although you have to dig deep into her psyche for that one, since she's doing it for what appears to be the most selfless reason of all -- to help Buffy). Ironically, it's only Cordelia who doesn't appear to have any sort of ulterior motive in this fight, but she's really peripheral to the discussion; it's all about the Core. This is the kind of disagreement that really could have split them up for good because there are far too many moralistic differences at work here to be truly resolved. Love and pain may see them through in the end, but the images of Giles and Xander nearly coming to blows will always stick with me.
#36: Crying
2x14 - "Innocence"
I never quite empathize with Buffy as much as I'm probably supposed to. I like her okay, but she's not even close to being my favourite character. I can appreciate what's going on with her, and even feel a little bad, but it's rare that I truly feel her pain. When I do, though, it's usually in a huge way. This is one of those scenes where I feel so bad for her that if I watch it in just the right mindset, I get a sniffle or two. I think the credit for that has to completely go to Sarah Michelle Gellar, who somehow manages to let out so much anguish here that I think you have to be made of stone to not feel it.
#35: Close Your Eyes
2x22 - "Becoming, part 2"
And right on the heels of the last moment is this one. The emotion that this scene can stir is even more amazing because, by and large, just not a huge Buffy/Angel fan. That fact just goes to show how incredible this moment is, though. The look on Buffy's face when she realizes that Angel's really back and she has to kill him anyway is so ... I'm lacking a word. And then the horror at what she's done. As for Angel, his utter confusion both at where he is and why Buffy's just impaled him is probably the instance when I'm most sympathetic to the character. Everything in the Buffyverse changes with that sword thrust, and nobody is ever quite the same again.
#34: Reconciliation
4x21 - "Primeval"
The Scoobies splinter apart and come together again several times throughout the series, but I think that this one going down the elevator shaft is my favourite. Buffy and Willow's talk starts out awkward, but quickly becomes comfortably mushy once they realize that they both really want the same thing -- to stay friends, no matter what. It feels right, too, that while Willow and Buffy have to first embark on a deep conversation and talk about their feelings to ensure that everything between them is okay again, all it takes is a hug and a "We love you" to bring out the happiest Xander in Xanderville. Also, I just wanted to say that Willow's "Oh, falling now," line makes me laugh every time, although I don't think I could ever tell you exactly why.
#33: Talking to Tara
7x07 - "Conversations With Dead People"
I doubt very much that I have to justify why this moment made it into the Top 100. When I first saw this episode, Tara's death was still a raw thing. Watching Willow talking to someone she thinks is carrying messages from Tara just brought all the hurt back again. All the mentioning of some of their best times together, Willow trying desperately through her own tears to keep Tara from crying ... Arg. Just breaks my widdle heart. I've since wondered if the scene would have been better or worse if Amber Benson had actually returned, and was surprised to discover that I think it works better as is. A completely different layer of cruelty is added when the First tells Willow that she can't see Tara again because of what she did. And I must confess, I think Amber was right when she said it would just be too hurtful to see an evil Tara at that point. All speculation aside, however, these scenes are just naked pain -- pain which takes on even more substance when you rewatch them later knowing that Tara has nothing at all to do with this and Willow's denied even that brief little reconnection with her.
#32: All Growed Up
6x16 - "Hell's Bells"
It's Xander's wedding day, and best man Willow finds him all distraught and hiding in the kitchen. This moment is brief, but a wonderful one between the two of them. Will is so happy for him, and as for Xander, the way he clings to Willow like a lifeline as he tells her she only loves him half as much as he loves her gives me a big goofy grin. I utterly adore their friendship, and again state how happy I am that they were able to move to the point where they can, in fact, see each other in formal wear and just joke about the past.
#31: Standing, Reprise
6x07 - "Once More, With Feeling"
Amber Benson and Tony Head have such wonderful voices that sound incredible together. That alone could be enough to earn it a spot on the Top 100, but as it so happens, there's much much more. This moment is only partly about presentation; what I truly love about it is the content. Tara and Giles share a deep commonality here; they both are on the verge of leaving the people that they love the most in all the world. As they sing together, the words are different but the thoughts and emotions are the same, and each line builds on the one before it until you have a big ol' double decker pain sandwich. Tara's word choice in particular is poignant: "I can't adjust to this disgust, we're done, and I just wish I could stay." As always, Joss is the master when it comes to knowing his characters, and he is able to put so much into so few words. From the moment Tara begins to sing "Under Your Spell" again, now realizing the delicious irony, to the way Tony and Amber's voices entwine, to the final shot of Tara and Giles standing side-by-side singing to an oblivious Willow and Buffy, it's a thing of beauty.
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