BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER 5X16 REACTION | First Time Watching 

Anya "wished" that Joyce was not dead. She never wishes for anything because of her history. That is how powerful her feelings were.

This episode should have won multiple awards. No background music, no distractions. One of the best episodes on TV ever.

it was an absolute crime that sarah michelle gellar did not get an emmy for this episode

As a professor, my wife liked to use this episode in a class on death and dying. It's probably the most honest depiction of the actual experience ever produced on TV--and the lack of background music contributes to the "real" feel of a supernatural episode. It can be a rough episode to watch but I think it's worth it. A masterpiece. One thing I always appreciate about the Buffyverse is that actions do have consequences and the characters do grow and change and are affected by what they've been through.

Anya's reaction turns me into a sobbing mess every time.

One thing to note is that Anya actually said "I WISH Joyce didn't die", coming from her thats not just saying as it is, it really shows how much she cares

Joss specifically didn't want background music because, even if it's sad, music is comforting because it dictates to the audience how they are supposed to feel at a specific moment. Without it, there's nothing to manipulate the viewer's emotions so the true-to-life numbness sets in.

Anya *wished* that Joyce didn’t die. That’s not a word she uses lightly.

This hits so much harder after my own mom died. I don’t know if any other show captured the first several hours post mortem better than this. I didn’t break down sobbing, that came later. Rather I was in such a state of shock that my mind was running on autopilot. My dad and I had to wait around in case the police had any more questions while my uncle went with my mom to the hospital. What was I doing during that time? Watching RU-vid videos and playing games on my phone. Joss really captured how everything felt so surreal in those moments. Like the flashes of her getting to her mom in time, or the shot outside of the guy giving out the parking ticket-I now understand why all that was in there. I played out the same scenario in my head multiple times. And the parking ticket? Just shows how the rest of the world continues on while mine was grinding to a complete halt. It just felt so strange to me watching my RU-vid videos-everyone else was doing their normal uploads like it was a regular day while mine had turned upside down completely. It’s an episode I barely go back to for obvious reasons, but it’s a phenomenal one that I haven’t seen anything like before or since.

Love that you noticed the lack of background music. Music tells us what the director wants us to be feeling in scenes like this. The lack of music keeps us in that horrible state of numbness that you feel in the first few hours after a death. Everything about this episode - from the sound design to the lighting and camera angles - is meant to be harsh and uncomfortable. And yes, the tillow kiss was an historic moment for lesbian representation. Up until this point, there had been a few lesbian kisses, but all treated as a gimmick for more views, where the character was 'experimenting' for a single episode and then went back to straight relationships immediately afterwards. Essentially, you were allowed to show two women kissing once, but not show them in a relationship. (Rachel kissing a girl on FRIENDS with the smallest ever peck on the lips is the classic example.) This episode showed a loving, supportive relationship and a kiss which was about comfort which was completely revolutionary. Joss, Alyson and Amber fought hard for that moment. Joss threatened to quit the show entirely if the network cut it - the only time he ever made that threat.

Not just one of the best episodes of television in TV history, but also an iconic LGBT landmark. This is the first romantic LGBT kiss on television, yes. There were other lesbian kisses, always played up in commercials leading in and paired with a studio audience WOOOO or sexualized to draw in viewers. There was never a kiss between two LGBT people in a relationship before this episode and the studio REALLY didn't want it. It got to the point where Joss Whedon had to threaten to quit the show if they wouldn't let him air it for them to finally relent. And then the episode ended up being so good that there was essentially zero backlash in media from it because people could only talk about what a masterpiece it was. He waited to make the best episode of the series to toss it in there because he wanted it to just be normalized. To not be the climax of a "Very Special Episode" where it's a huge standout, but instead to just be a common thing that happens between two people who love each other. We now know he was a dick to work with for a lot of people and some of his sets were toxic af, but you gotta give props where they are due and he was a champion for a LOT of issues that no one else would touch.

Anya was 1,122 years old at this point and kept the company of other immortals. She's genuinely never had this situation come up in terms of grieving the loss of a loved one.

For me, this is the most honest and best episode of a television series of all time. And this in a supernatural show. The fact that no background music was used exposes the viewer to his own uncertain feelings. Because the score usually sets the mood and emotional state. If it weren't for the vampire in the autopsy chamber, which points out that Buffy can't abandon her calling even at this moment, this would be an art film. Anya's fruit punch speech brings everyone to tears.

I clicked on this so fast. This episode is so sad but definitely my top 5 Buffy episodes. The approach they took in filming this episode is masterful.

Sarah Michelle Gellar is truly remarkable and Emma Caulfield is just so good. Props to Kristine Sutherland who (odd as it sounds) played dead better than anything I have ever seen, especially as 'the body' has so much screen time.

I think the thing with Anya isn't just that she's portrayed as emotionless or callous usually, it's that she has had zero preparation by life to deal with grief. She doesn't know how. She's completely helpless and vulnerable in a deeply profound way. My fav Buffy episode, just a really fantastic piece of television.

i've watched Anya's monologue so many times and it STILL makes me bawl. Bravo Emma Caulfield

12:41 - I think a significant portion of viewers will agree that Anya's reaction to Joyce's death was the most heartbreaking.

I still think this is the best episode of television ever made.

Dawn’s reactions tend to hit me hardest. The anticipation leading into the breakdown in the hallway and that being framed to leave most of it to our imaginations is part of it, but that final “where did she go?” is absolutely heart wrenching. Anya’s scene is a close second to that, although it always seems a little weird to me that the 1,000 year old character is the born yesterday clueless about how the world works pov.

An absolutely brutal hour of television that hit like a sledgehammer to the heart. One of the best things Whedon's ever done, but it's incredibly difficult to watch even to this day.

10:30 Star Trek: Deep Space Nine had the first female-to-female kiss on American television in 1995. But Buffy was the first lesbian kiss by a "proper" couple in a relationship. That was 2001, and the writers had to fight so hard for that kiss. If this scene hadn't been anything else than grieving and giving comfort, the network would have stopped it.

Kassidy, the fact that you go to this episode without being spoiled for it is amazing in itself. Many rate The Body as the best episode of BTVS ever, I don't personally, however The Body is one of the greatest episodes of tv drama ever shown. Whedon is a master at torturing the viewers. The fact that his episode has no music, and when Buffy opens the back door and hears the children playing it is so real, that even when a person has a personal tragedy life goes on as normal for all other people, it is all very human and ordinary, this is why it is so incredible. So many people watching The Body, myself included, have had an almost exact experience to this, this is why it is so brilliantly written and directed. SMG puts in an incredible performance here, and it is criminal that she was not awarded for this. This is why S5 is amazing. However I think there is one more episode in this Season which even surpasses this. A brilliant heartbreaking finale unmatched in the Series. Season 5 was a Zenith for the show.

Buffy's "Mommy?" lives within the heart, soul and trauma of every Buffy fan. I went through a similar experience at age 12. The way the silence, the emptiness, the distant forms of all the other aspects of the life you once knew, encapsulates those moments is perfect. TRUST me!

This episode is considered one of the best of TV history.

This episode a masterpiece of TV. It’s like a work of art honestly. And it’s the best representation of dealing with grief in the immediate aftermath of losing a loved one. It portrays death in such a real and honest way.

Picture this. I'm deployed in Iraq. My wife sends me a few seasons of Buffy. So I plug in the first episode on my laptop and all the sudden I have an audience. So each night we're not on patrol we watch a few episodes of Buffy. A bunch of hard core soldiers watching BTVS. It was an amazing break from the reality of our situation. I still love the show!

13:54 Anya was a Vengeance Demon that grants wishes, So her saying "I wish that Joyce didn't die." is really her wishing that, Hoping that it'll work.

Anya saying " I wish that Joyce didn't die" seems like a very big deal. She has a very different knowledge of wishes than others have. Her willingness to say that out loud means a lot.

Anyanka is still learning how to be human again, which makes her somewhat niave and childlike in many regards. So she's basically learning what death is, again.

The hardest episode, the BEST episode. The one that makes us all cry, even for reactors. This is television at it's best. Surprising for a series that deals with a teen aged girl becoming an adult in terms of metaphor, but this is literally the epitome of good television.

I always felt that Ayna even though she was thousands of years old is very much a child here and was experiencing death like a child would.

I think "brutal" is the word you were looking for. This episode was brutal. Amazing, groundbreaking, incredibly well acted, but brutal.

I always feel bad for Brian. He has a great date with Joyce, is a true gentleman and sends her flowers the next morning, then... ghosted. Literally. Ouch.

Anya basically being a stand in for neurodivergent people gotta be one of my favorite things about this show

Yes, that was the first lesbian kiss on primetime cable television. Joss said it was important to show. But it was also important to show in a healthy, loving, and supportive way that wouldn't be fetishized. So they didn't do it in some overly romantic or sexual scene. They did it here, with Willow just needing support.

The best episode of the series. The emotions are so raw. And, yeah, Anya's breakdown is just devastating.

Mom, Mom, Mummy.... gets me every time!

Six Feet Under is another TV show who made grieving so real but apart from this show this is definitely one of the best episode from a TV show ever. Felt so real, you can really feel that heavy/numb feeling you get when you have to deal with the loss of a loved one.

Honestly every performance in this hits perfectly

This episode came out 7 years after my dad passed. Very similar situation, cept my father was still actively fighting the cancer. This episode was obviously written by someone who went through a similar situation. Everything felt real to me, and took me back to that place I was in 7 years prior. It devastated me, and still does to this day. An amazing feat of television.

This episode means a lot to me. They did an amazing job of capturing all the emotions of this situation. What Tara said about it always being sudden is right. My mom was sick for a long time but it still felt sudden when it happened.

One of my favorite episodes of tv ever. I also found Anya's reaction to be the most heartbreaking and it gets me every time even watching reactions. Love your reactions and look forward to the next one.

The one thing I think was a mistake was the vampire at the end. It was a distraction in an episode which otherwise had nothing supernatural. Even with that, I believe it is one of the best episodes of tv ever filmed.

I have lost both of my parents and this episode is spot on all the different ways people grieve. When my dad died, I acted like Dawn bc he died suddenly. My mom was in hospice at home, so we were expecting it. Yeah, I had to leave the room her body was in while we waited for the funeral home (no coroner bc we knew it was cancer). "I'm sorry for your loss" or "I know it sucks," are good things to say ime. "I understand how you feel," only works if you have lost a person as important to you as they just have.

Omg no matter how many times I see this I cry , specifically at Anya's part!

Such a painful episode to watch but still one of my absolute favourites. I cannot even begin to explain how incredible this episode is. I’ve written a recap for it that does it some justice but there’s no combination of words that can truly describe this masterpiece. It figures that for a supernatural horror show the most horrific thing that happens to our favourite characters would be something entirely natural and normal. It is impossible not to cry when watching ‘The Body’. Whether it be that remarkably visceral 3 minute long uncut performance from Gellar in trying to revive Joyce. Anya’s soul-crushing ‘I-don’t-understand’ monologue from an almost vocally hoarse Caulfield or Hannigan’s realistic anxiety attack where Willow just wants to find and wear that god damn blue sweater that Joyce liked. Or any other highly relatable and resonatable scene in this whole episode because all of it is just A++. This episode man. It’s so good but it’s so upsetting. And it’s like you can’t have one without the other. To get the goodness, you must have the sadness. To get the sadness, you must have the goodness. It’s so good because it’s so upsetting. And it’s so upsetting because it’s so good. It makes us all feel that negative space.

While it was bad that the networks would not allow a lesbian kiss on the air for so long, it's also kind of great that the first time we actually see Willow and Tara kiss, it is a relationshippy comforting kiss, rather than a sexy kiss. It very much more normalizes it as a relationship.

On TV and Cinema, quiet and lack of color gives the sensation of loneliness. And the lack of background music was supposed to give you an eerie feeling together with the colors. Like the world keeps moving, all colorful, but also the lack of sound gives you that you are alone with your thought's and having to constantly remember about the death of a loved one. The whole episode is so well crafted and thought out in every aspect of what grief feels like that it is an amazing piece that I still cry every time I watch or watch someone reacting to it because I remember feeling the same things before. It's a lot losing someone dear.

You know, two of the most raw and jarring things about ‘The Body’ are Willow’s hyperventilating when deciding on what clothing to wear and worrying that she can’t find that blue top that Joyce liked and Anya’s voice going hoarse during her monologue. - like those 2 acting performances from those 2 actresses … it’s just insane how visceral it is, how much emotion and desperation that is conveyed through the screen, how much you’re able to feel from them doing that, how it just stops all thought process and you’re just bombarded with sensation. Is it just me that cries like a fucking dam’s burst watching those two scenes? Every. Time. I. See. It. Like yeah, Gellar gets me too. But Hannigan and Caulfield are up there too for that episode. I mean… wow. No words. Just wow. That’s some god damn A class acting right there.

14:48...closure 😪 sometimes it doesn't strike you as real until you see the body. Or go to the funeral😭 sometimes people stay in a state of denial until you're proven that you can't deny it anymore

"Everyone dies alone. But if you meant something to someone, if you helped someone, or loved someone, if even a single person remembers you, then maybe you never really die."-The Machine from Person of Interest,( great show BTW highly recommended). Also there's an episode of Star Trek Deep Space 9 called Rejoined that aired in 1995 that showed a kiss between women, granted they were humanoid aliens but still.

I think that part of the reason they made it seem like she was going to die before, and then put everyone at ease to have it happen, is just like Tara says "It's always sudden". My mother died in the hospital with foreknowledge that she was going to die, and yet it was still more like this episode than if Joyce would have died in the hospital episodes, because that even when you know it's coming it's always sudden.

Anya's scene kills me every time. 😢

If you've ever lost anyone, especially a parent, this episode really hits home... but it makes you feel grief is understood, so even if painful, it's also comforting in a weird way. They captured what it feels like. They couldn't have pulled it off without an actor as good as Sarah Michelle Gellar - - the others were great too, but Sarah really did a perfect job.

This episode is the most heartbreaking and realistic portrayal of a death possible. Just brilliant.

I think Anya's reaction gets everyone. It's essentially a child's reaction; simply trying to understand something noi-one ever wants to talk to them about. I actually found myself tearing up from just before Buffy calls her Mom, The Body. Must have watched this episode somewhere in the hundreds of times, and I seem to tear up, at some point, nearly every time. No idea why, but hen I saw Willow & Tara kiss I actually began to cry, kerk

This episode is incredibly well done. And Sarah is absolutely fantastic. One of the best performances I've ever seen.

Emotionally intense and brings me tears every time I watch it.

The one thing not noticed was the importance of the words I wish that Joyce didnt die when Anya was speaking. For a thousand years Anyanka the vengeance demon granted wishes. She had quasaidivine powers as long as someone said the words I wish. She said I wish because she was hoping that someone would grant it. I wish wasnt a a random choice. It was a call out to powers to fix things. Powers that she knew were real. Powers that she used to wield.

I've seen every episode of this series probably a few dozen times no lie and this episode always makes me cry ESPECIALLY since my own mother passed 10 years ago from cancer.

I'm Autistic and definitely relate to Anya the most in this episode. ❤ I'm not good at understanding most social queues but especially things surrounding death and empathy.

Amazing episode - one of the best & I enjoyed your reaction. I just wanted to mention, as I didn't see it mentioned below, regarding the lack of background music/score. The story I had always heard was that during a previous shooting of an episode (not sure if in season 5 or 4) Sarah had made a comment to Joss after shooting a scene that even if he didn't ultimately like it in the edit - he would just add music to it so the audience would understand the emotion he wanted them to feel. Ad from that, Joss was always looking for a reason to not have music/score in an episode and as we saw - The Body was the correct episode to do so.

Anya just didn't*know* how. She's never been human before, now she is. Everything is still so new for her, being a human being. This episode was definitely a turning point for Anya. If you didn't like her or were indifferent to her, that speech alone changed all that.

I've been so excited/dread-filled for you to get to The Body... RIP Joyce

This was an Emmy-worthy episode that was completely ignored.

This is one of my favorite episodes of television, period. For many reasons. This was not the first lesbian kiss on US network television (the first was on LA Law in 1991). However, it was definitely one of the first ten in the US (In Britain, the first TV lesbian kiss was way back in 1974, on a TV series called Girl).

It's a hard watch but well done.. The most visceral representation of the immediate aftermath of the death of a loved one. Watching this episode again after I lost my mother, was quite the experience. Empathized a little too hard, but had a younger sibling to deal with and none of my mother's family live in this country, so I had to do all the things just like Buffy, and couldn't properly grieve at the time. TMI but this episode captures so much of the experience. The close ups and weird camera angles, the silence, and of course SMGs amazing job portraying it all... it all lends itself to put you in a similar headspace to the character/s. It's inspired.

Top 5 episode of the show. It’s supposed to be the opposite of “Hush” , where it was mostly music only..

best episode of tv ever. God knows how Jules reacts will deal with this when she gets to it

This isn't the story of Joyce's death, it's the experience of Joyce's death.

Anyas speech get me every time

All you can say to someone is, "I'm thinking of you."

😥 Anya make cry every time.

The decision to remove all non-diegetic sound from this episode was a genius creative move on Whedon's part. It really hammers home the harsh reality of the episode and makes it feel so much more real, especially if you've lived through the trauma of suddenly losing a loved one, and especially a parent.

There's not much, pleasure(if any) in the death, and in in the dying. Why put off for tomorrow, what can be down today. Some say tomorrow isn't promised, until the rising of the Sun. She is a baby day named Dawn. She dies with the setting of the Sun. So even though she's alive and well, and she's a welcome sight to see.We are always in morning. I must lament, because you asked. I left a comment, and I made myself, a mint julep.

Thank you.

Great reaction. This is probably the best episode of Buffy. But it's also the episode fans fear and hate. In FB communities a lot of fans say they won't rewatch The Body again and skip it as it's too raw. All you need to do is mention the line 'Mom. Mom. Mommy", and everyone instantly knows you're referencing The Body. I've been a fan since the series originally aired in the UK back n '97 and I still get choked. You did really well saying composed while viewing. Many YT reactors are an emotional wreck by the end credits and cut their reactions short, unable to further comment. The cast themselves were affected when filming. Like Buffy, Sarah Michelle Gellar was raised by her single mother and they are still very close. She didn't want to have an episode where she had face the thought of loosing own mother.

The part about waiting for the coroner's office to arrive is false. In California, once paramedics are called, they're required to transport the patient to hospital, where a doctor has to call time of death. Paramedics aren't permitted to make the call. But that would've ruined the story. And the flashback at the beginning was because Joss Whedon didn't want the credits to be running over the main story.

That vampire in the hospital at the end. That's right, this is Buffy the Vampire Slayer... It jolts us from the horrible reality of life into the safe safe land of TV World. What an amazing feat to remind us -- this is only a teen monster TV show!

Girl you never cry any episode.. face it you're dead inside ..your up bringing killed that part of you ...non criers are needed in life too so it's all great

I want you to notice that Anya, the ex wish demon, tried to make a wish.

I’ve watched this episode over a dozen times over the last 20 years and it’s still gut-punching! When Willow cries everyone cries.😭 The lack of background music was a perfect choice because during that initial shock the last thing you want to do is listen to anything. You can’t associate music with the dead. Plus it’s hard to appreciate it when your brain is shredded.

the 'be awhile' is normal...at times you have to wait for 2-4 h until someone comes to pronounce the person dead..the ambulance crews dont have (most countries) the right..

Uh oh… can I watch you watching this on public transit before work? Preparing to live dangerously…

Posting my BUFFY REWATCH recap for ‘The Body’. May contain spoilers. There were so many scenes that I wanted to write for, for my recap for ‘The Body’, and I realized that I wanted to focus on the individual reactions of the Scoobies especially. That of Willow’s, Tara’s, Xander’s and Anya’s reactions to the death of Joyce Summers in preparing to meet Buffy at the hospital morgue. I originally just wanted to write Willow’s reaction with the struggle of deciding on an outfit to wear, and how Tara comforts her when she has an anxiety attack over it..., but everybody’s reaction is completely different and I wanted to write for them all really because I wanted to explain all the incredible raw and real detail in them. Specifically how each reaction is consistent with the character’s overall human nature and way of dealing with difficult situations and circumstances. So it’s going to be incredibly long but I feel like if I miss anything out, I won’t be doing justice to such astounding acting performances by all the cast in these scenes because they’re what make this episode so damn fantastic. So I’m just going to quote the entire segment of the dialogue and interactions between the characters, and offer commentary in-between for the action. Then I will talk about each individual character reaction from my perspective and in my own words because there’s SO. MUCH. CHARACTER. DETAIL. THERE. Now we’re done with the quoting and the commentary of the scenes, I want to talk about the themes that are being shown or expressed by the characters both in their individual reactions and in their responses towards each other regarding the situation they’re in, and how it’s consistent with their character. Willow’s reaction: anxiety, insecurity, overthinking, irresolution Willow’s anxiety attack is the first reaction we get from the Scooby Gang. Everyone is anxious in these scenes, true. But her anxiety is on a level more closely related to somebody who does actually have an anxiety disorder. Her constantly changing clothing and struggle in deciding what to wear to the morgue, worrying how she’s going to be perceived by Buffy and Joyce, shows an anxiety disorder (OCD, particularly). She spirals and falls apart in the most obvious and physical way - through expression and appearance of self. She doesn’t know how to deal and that’s projected by not knowing how to look. The only way to calm Willow down is to take her out of her head in a physical way too. That’s why Tara kissing her was appropriate. Anyone that has anxiety needs physical touch to calm them down. They need the immediate tangible and tactile because there’s so much going on in their head that they feel trapped in it. People like Willow really have trouble with living in the present moment because their head is everywhere but in the now. Willow is a compulsive overthinker. The reason why ‘outfits’ are a big thing with her is because it’s her projection for her insecurities and anxieties. For not having any control over the situation she’s in. Xander’s reaction: blame, denial, aggression, dissociation Xander’s reaction is based on his sense of masculinity. He is trying so hard to remain put together and objective and down-to-business but he spirals and falls apart too. He disassociates from Anya and won’t explain anything to her when she asks him questions. He proceeds to blame Glory and the doctors in denial of Joyce’s passing away in order to feel better about not being able to do anything about it himself. And when that fails to help,... he punches the wall in anger because he can’t meet his emotions head on. What calms him down is feeling the physical pain from his bleeding hand - the internalized is externalized. Like Willow, he also needs a physical trigger to pull him out of the muck in his head. He has experienced such aggression throughout his upbringing that he doesn’t know how else to deal with difficult life situations other than in an aggressive way. Anya’s reaction: confusion, fear, naivety, distraction Anya’s reaction is akin to a young child’s reaction to the situation of someone passing away. Being newly human, it’s very much the same as being newly born and being in infancy with all the ‘first’ experiences that come with living as a mortal, and all the emotions involved with mortal living. Her reaction in that she literally doesn’t understand anything is the most jarring. Everyone was either ignoring her or getting on her case for asking questions. She just wanted an explanation for what doesn’t make sense to her at all. She spirals and falls apart when she gets attacked by Willow. Her monologue here is probably her greatest scene in all of her appearance in Buffy. It’s so raw and vulnerable and... human. What helps Anya is to distract herself. She clutches on to Willow’s stuffed animal to distract herself from her first ever emotional breakdown. Tara’s reaction: concern, understanding, familiarity, comfort Out of everyone, the only reaction that wasn’t negative was Tara’s reaction because she was so busy with comforting everyone else in their reactions. She remains neutral in her emotions, not indifferent to, in complete acceptance of the situation. She’s the only one that doesn’t spiral and fall apart and one would think the reason being is that she never really knew Joyce. That might be part of it - but actually, I’d say it’s probably down to that she’s experienced it all before with her own Mom. So she’s familiar with the settings, the environments, the reactions, the emotions so much that she can probably remain calm just because she’s done it all before and has to be strong for the rest of them. Saying that, she is quite a calm person anyway (which is remarkable given how much she’s been abused in her lifetime), so that probably helps out a lot too. All in all, ‘The Body’ is just an amazing work of visual performance art. The writing is incredible, the producing is incredible, the directing is incredible, the acting is incredible. It’s absolutely a TOP 10 episode and worth watching if you have the balls for it. The first time I watched it, I watched it with my mother, and I cried into her lap at the end of it, and didn’t move from it for - what must have been a good hour. And I vowed to myself in my hysterics that I would never watch it again. I was right there with these characters when I was watching these scenes. It was so visceral to me to watch them come apart and then come back together. I truly do love art/entertainment that represents and deals with the human condition.

So the most adult episode of Buffy is the same one where we learn that there is a Santa Claus! Irony!

I loved this episode but found its follow up episode '"Forever" to be much even better because it sets the tone for the new realities Buffy deals with in season 6

EVERYONE NEEDS TO SUSPEND RUDE COMMENTS ON HER REACTION TODAY… Out of respect for Joyce, please and thanks😂😢

So sad but also easily one of the best eps of tv ive ever seen

In the Wish Anya hinted to Giles she has murdered people by her own hands not just by wishes so we know she's seen death first hand but not like this

Can I just talk about this scene for a hot minute? I don’t think people realize how important it really is for more than just the first on-screen kiss part of it and therefore why it actually belongs in this episode. Willow is hyper-fixating on what type of clothing she’s going to wear to meet Buffy at the hospital, as it’s really the only thing she can control right now as everything else is falling apart around her. Her mind is panicking as she tries to think of all the meanings a piece of cloth can have while Tara tries to reassure her that it really doesn’t matter what she wears. But Willow is not listening as she tries to figure it all out. Willow is near to having a full blown panic attack in this scene. There is such turmoil going on in her head. So much distress and fear. So she externalises those emotions and those thoughts by worrying over what she should wear because that’s tangible. That’s something she has within her reach to grasp on to. Something she can control. She’s projecting the mental chaos. A way of dealing with an uncontrollable situation. And it’s bloody brillIant. Incredibly well performed by Alyson Hannigan. She absolutely nails what it’s like to experience deep levels of anxiety. The compulsive overthinking The intense feelings of loss of control. The hyperventilating. The shaking. The trembling. The crying. The worrying. The wandering back and forth. The physical freezing up. The none-deciding or non-concluding and around and around again. Over and over again. Just the complete irresolution of the whole experience of an anxiety attack. Until someone takes you out of your fucking insane chaotic head. SHE NAILS IT!!! Everything is so well performed, written, directed and produced in this episode. It’s probably the greatest piece of performance art I have ever seen in my life. But THIS scene. This scene hits fucking home for me. Gellar gets A LOT of praise for her performance and rightly so. But Hannigan’s is just as fantastic to me because she realistically portrays OCD the way Gellar realistically portrays PTSD. Through the experience of visceral reactions. In fact all the actors are really good at portraying deep levels of complex trauma all throughout ‘The Body’ that are worth mentioning and meriting. Praising. Regarding ‘The Kiss’. A lot of people do not like that Tillow’s first on-screen kiss was in this episode because it can’t be enjoyed in the same way it could if it was in another episode and thus it seems inappropriate to have it in ‘The Body’. Joss said that actually it was appropriate to put it here because it humanises their romantic/sexual relationship. It’s the way Tara just goes in for the kiss after first kissing her forehead, knowing it’s not going to be enough to calm her girlfriend down and the way Willow readily accepts. It’s a sweet kiss. One filled with compassion and reassurance. I disagree that it didn’t belong here. I definitely think this was the right way to have their first on-screen kiss because this couple is absolutely encapsulated in mutual validation. So it’s only right that their first on-screen kiss be used for that purpose. Validation. Tara’s aim is to comfort Willow, not to overstep her boundaries. Willow needs her presence all around her to take her out of her chaotic head. It’s being in her head that is triggering her anxiety to escalate into a panic attack. Tara intuitively knew that she needed to pull her away from that and the only way to do it was through physical sensation. It was right. When you kiss someone, you’re pulling their energy into yours and you’re transferring yours to theirs. I can imagine that Empaths are great lovers because of this and while it’s been pointed out that Tara isn’t an Empath herself, she clearly possesses the potential to be one because she can read energy and instinctively knows how to use her own energy to comfort and to validate someone else’s energy. That’s your basic definition and purpose of an Empath. To take away pain or negative energy through absorbing it into yourself. And Tara doesn’t just do that for Willow - her girlfriend. She does it for the others too. And ‘The Body’ best depicts her skill of empathy. If it was anyone else, yeah, maybe the kiss wouldn’t have been a good idea to put here. But because it is, I think it really works that it is here because it’s who Tara Maclay is. It’s her purpose in serving a narrative that doesn’t revolve around her but effectively makes her stand out among the rest. It wasn’t in bad taste to put their first kiss here. Quite the opposite. It humanises same-sex love.

I beleive this is the 1st lesbian kiss from an american tv show but Xena did it before Buffy and a number of british shows did as well.

I noticed you protected yourself by creating distance by saying "they killed her off", instead of just that she died, It was a sad and great episode. It definitely gives an intimate atmosphere choosing not to play background music.

The amazing part of this, was Anya, Former Vengeance Demon, WISHING Joyce was alive, given that as a Vengeance Demon she gave wishes, yet she cannot wish Joyce to be alive.

The blue sweater.... That G.D. blue sweater

Emma Caulfield (Anya) deserves so much more recognition and success than she has received.

I work in a mortuary... when dealing with family members I try extremely hard to not refer to the patient as a 'body'

Don’t need to imagine having to wait on a coroner… had to do it with my brother.

This is the one episode that gets me every single time I watch it. Sarah Michelle Gellar and, to a lesser extent, Michelle Trachtenberg play their roles to perfection in this episode. On Willow and Tara's kiss, I don't know if it's the first on-screen lesbian kiss. But it is definitely one of the first. That said the "first" your likely thinking of is Willow and Tara are the first on-screen lesbian couple.