Hush

It's been 11 years since this episode first aired (Buffy Season 4 Episode 10). It's always hard for me to commit to such choices but I think I can safely say that this is the single greatest hour of television ever created. I've just gone past this point in my re-watch of Buffy and I decided I'd post about it. If you ask me for a favorite TV program in general I would most likely say Firefly and give Buffy number 2, but best episode ever has to go to Hush. There's so many things to like about this episode.

First there's the Gentlemen (pictured) who are probably most iconic non-vampire monster in the entire history of Buffy. They're brilliantly realized with the actors bringing the excellent prosthetics to life with ease and creating a creepy and memorable performance.

It's position in the overall story is also a major factor. It's the culmination of many plot lines and the start of many new ones. I think part of the enjoyment now is from knowing what will happen from these events rather than the events themselves. Willow first meeting Tara or Buffy and Riley's first kiss would be major examples. On the first viewing they didn't mean so much but on repeat viewings knowing the tragedy both of those relationships will end with makes those moments incredibly bittersweet.

There have been quite a few experimental episodes of Buffy. The interconnected dreams of Restless, the musical Once More With Feeling or The Body which has no incidental music at all. However I think Hush is probably the most unique example. For a character driven drama it's an amazing feat to have nearly 30 minutes in the middle of the 45 minute run-time without any dialogue. It shows the talent of the writer and actors to tell the story so well without talking, it's no wonder this episode got Buffy's first Emmy nomination (for best original writing). Also a great episode for composer Christophe Beck who obviously had more to do than usual on this one.

For me no single episode of TV before or since has ever reached the same levels of fun, excitement and emotion.