Essential 5: Buffy the Vampire Slayer

Essential 5 will be a semi-frequent feature here on The Crooked Frame. The idea is that there are best of lists for pretty much everything, but very little in the way of a guide for what are the most important films/episodes in any given genre, TV show, movement, etc. I want to create a starting point for people who are interested in watching something, but don't know where to start. For example, as of a few years ago I had never seen a western, so when I decided to tackle the genre I looked all over for some sort of starting point. This didn't work out so well because some of the films which are most important to understanding the genre aren't among the greatest films. Consequently, I skipped over essential viewing like Stagecoach (1939) and The Great Train Robbery (1903) and missed a lot of what later westerns were responding to. I will present the films/episodes in the order I think they should be watched (usually chronologically) and give a little commentary (no spoilers). 

Buffy the Vampire Slayer is often derided for its cheesy dialogue, melodramatic plots, and ridiculous bad guys but that's missing the point. Buffy embraces everything inherent in being a genre, horror, vampire, teen, romance, gothic, feminist show. It explores so many different serious things in such lighthearted yet truthful ways that it's impossible to dismiss it once you give it a chance. The show is, on one level, incredibly satisfying with its simple monster of the week plots and harlequin romance arcs, but underneath has a lot to say about modern feminism and genre among other things.