"The Body" | Buffy the Vampire Slayer 5x16 | The Normies Group Reaction

[@sarahfemmenicole88]

"The ambulance is not for dead people". Spidey cut me to the core with that. I'm sending so many hugs, man.

[@kinagrill]

It's true, only the living enters them.

[@chaost4544]

Sarah Michelle Gellar's acting in this episode is phenomenal. One of the best acting performance of someone experiencing the unexpected death of a loved one.

[@kimberlyjeanne9456]

She has said it took hours for her to calm down and stop crying, she was so emotional

[@matthewquinn6172]

She should have won an Emmy for this. This is some of the best acting ever portrayed on television.

[@danikajayde8577]

I think in the extras on the dvds I believe it's says Sarah was even sick during filming of this episode. I can't remember if it's having commentary on during the episode or in an interview.

[@commonstragedy]

Emma Caulfield's scene was epic too. For me it was the most moving.

[@corystanish]

No music at all in this episode apart from the theme song! It's subtle but it makes a huge difference. Also the reason for the Christmas dinner flashback at the beginning is because Joss didn't want to opening guest star, etc. credits to be rolling over the scene where Buffy finds Joyce.

[@scottwallbank4794]

Absolutely. It's a fantastic choice by not informing the audience on how to feel in the scene.

[@JeshuaSquirrel]

In addition to the no music, the vampire fight was the most raw of any in the series.

[@AnaCVazquez]

Truly one of the best episodes of television. It's extremely realistic. The open sequence was basically one shot there's with very few cuts.

[@Thenormies]

Agreed, it was a masterpiece!

[@TheMightyZack]

Did you notice after the coroner tells Buffy Joyce is dead, the frame shifts to hide his eyes. I always took it as this is the first time Buffy feels small and powerless, so the man’s towering stature causes him to be out of frame.

[@descendfromgrace1]

It's called "Crowding the Frame" that and the over the shoulder shots to Buffy are designed to do that.

[@dragonpaulz_]

When watching this the first time, i understood it to represent buffys reaction of going into shock. She cant bring herself to even give attention to who is talking to her because shes not even sure what is happening around her is real.

[@skywalkerslegacy]

"Written & Directed by Joss Whedon" one of the greatest episodes of television ever made

[@chump6220]

sadly he sexually harassed many of the women he employed

[@MsKimifer]

Statistically, I knew one Normie would have had the experience of finding a dead parent. Spidey, you held it together very well. I went through all that "finding your dead dad" business too and the hanging out with the dead body part of that day was so surreal.

[@ericjohnson9623]

I have shown this episode to two different people who had to find their mom, neither with any warning or softening because "Spoilers!" I hate my younger self sometimes.

[@grazareth]

I'm so sorry you had to go through that, you have my sympathies ❤ No one should have to experience that - sometimes life really just sucks.

[@Darkstar72SR]

I was curious as to the paramedics leaving the body for the coroner so I looked up the law in California at the time the episode was occurring. What I found differed from what was shown. Apparently, once paramedics begin steps to resuscitate a patient, they are not supposed to stop and are required to transport said patient to the hospital while continuing their attempts at resuscitation. Only a doctor, after surveying the patient, can call time of death.

[@eschatological]

We had to sit with my dad for like 5 hours because he died at 4 in the morning. At least we knew it was coming and we were all there with him at the end.

[@dantheman8103]

@@Darkstar72SR I had the unfortunate fate of being the one to find my dad's dead body unexpectadley. The paramedics did call it like that but they stayed until a police officer showed up which apparently was procedure in that case and he stayed until my step-brother showed up so I wasn't alone. So I was skeptical then and more so now that they would have left her alone in the house with her mom like that, that just seems cruel especially for someone so young, but maybe it does happen.

[@dk240996]

The shot of the parking officer ticketing the car is just... perfect encapsulation of this episode. This life shattering event happens from Buffy and Dawn and their friends perspective, but life goes on around it, because it has to, because it doesn't care.

[@Madbandit77]

I wouldn't say "life doesn't care" because empathy and the mundane things make up life.

[@bensneb360]

This episode, with no exaggeration, is one of the best pieces of television ever… everything just comes together so perfectly for a realistic and heart wrenching story… it should get a retroactive Emmy someday for its greatness

[@Madbandit77]

With JW's rep, I highly doubt that and it's a shame.

[@bobapjok4241]

When Buffy goes from calling her Mom to "the body" and the realization of what she just said and in fact accepted was amazing

[@kinagrill]

And I guess it's also why the Paramedic said 'the body' as well because he is well aware that the part that made Joyce 'Joyce' was no longer there. No soul, no life, nothing. Just a shell was left.

[@ambergreenwood3687]

This is the best depiction of grief I've ever seen on screen. Every time I watch it I cry uncontrollably.

[@dantheman8103]

Which is why I hate this episode. I get a lot of people love it and several have said when they got older having seen this episode helped prepare them for grief later on and I am glad if that was the case for them. But I could barely get through this when it aired and have never watched it since even the multiple times I went through the series I always skip that episode. And having recently lost my father in an experience that was similar to how it played out on Buffy (too much so) I can't imagine I ever will. It does capture grief but that is why I hate it. I watch TV to be entertained not as a misey simulator. Just because I reacted strongly doesn't mean it was good in my opinion. I don't watch TV so I can feel as miserable as I do in the worst moments of my real life, nothing is enjoyable about that and I watch TV to enjoy it. Not saying obviously that people can't die and shows can't have sad moments. But there is a way to do that and not make people feel like they actually lost someone they love. Also while it may not be true, knowing what we know about Joss Wheedon now, I can't help but wonder if what he loved about this episode was that he could make people all over the world simultaneously feel horrible. Again, not shading anyone who praises this episode and know I am not in the majority. But "this was a great episode, I cry as if I really lost my own beloved mom" just isn't the endorsement for me some feel it is.

[@atheobald79]

I feel the opposite, I recently lost my mum in a very very similar way to how Buffy found Joyce and this episode while hard to watch helped me to deal with those feelings of grief and know that I wasn’t alone in feeling this way. I agree TV should be entertaining but it can also be used to heal and perhaps even provide comfort in the fact that this is something that most people will go thru at some point in their lives. I felt every emotion that Buffy went thru and if nothing else this episode showed me it was normal to have those reactions.

[@visarr]

Mickey's "This is single handedly the best episode of the series." Agree. Moreover, this is considered by many to be the finest hour in all of television.

[@jakelover1731]

Except by the Emmy's. 😑

[@TheBloobster]

He later in the review portion actually says "one of the best episodes of television, period"

[@dragonpaulz_]

Unironically this is one of the 2-3 best episodes of TV I've ever seen ever. It's criminal this episode didn't win any awards

[@jonathanmays8203]

I have always said that... It's my favorite episode of the series and of television

[@jadebel7006]

No...its not lool..yall just be making ish up lol

[@Shoofyou10]

I’m going to guess that when you started this “teen girl monster show” in season 1 that you could never have dreamed that it would get to the level that it has. One of the greatest episodes in television history. The most realistic portrayal of death in media. Just immaculately directed, edited, and acted. Just so powerful.

[@jp3813]

Many have been complaining that they've greatly underestimated this show. To the point that they were constantly laughing during the episode in which Ms. Calendar died.

[@itsjezzer]

I don't think I've ever seen the Normies this quiet during an episode of tv. Mickey was on the edge of his seat.

[@startingQB]

Literally

[@dinomyte77]

I had the pleasure of watching Buffy during its initial run and will never forget how much of a gut punch this episode was. I lost my mom when I was 17 and the circumstances were very similar to how Buffy found Joyce. From an acting & directing standpoint, this is my personal fave episode of the series (even though it’s one that I haven’t rewatched like I have other episodes).

[@Henrik_Holst]

Putting Willow and Taras first kiss in this episode prevented the network from being able to market it with "watch the racy episode where two girls kiss". And it was also a way to pass the scene through the network censors.

[@bernardsoul5186]

They said that in the discussion (and I'm starting to sound like a broken record because this ADD generation can't watch people talk for 15 minutes, even about a show they like)

[@Henrik_Holst]

@@bernardsoul5186 Sorry but you are wrong on both topics.

[@bernardsoul5186]

@@Henrik_Holst I forgive you, but that's incorrect

[@ezequielocampo3597]

@@bernardsoul5186 Man, just admit u are wrong.

[@JH-jw7pu]

⁠​⁠@@bernardsoul5186They speak about the kiss but the reasoning Henrik provided isn’t mentioned at all. Maybe instead of being blatantly ignorant, you work on your listening and comprehension skills a bit more.

[@Shoofyou10]

Buffy, the character, deals with death all the time but something that’s just a natural death like that is something that Buffy can’t fight. You can really feel how helpless Buffy must feel.

[@avr7120]

yup. shes usually a badass fighter with superstrength but on the phone to the woman she sounded like a little girl who just wants her mom

[@JeshuaSquirrel]

It's always different when it's your family. I learned recently that in large emergencies, first responders are allowed to make sure their family is safe first before helping others. That way they aren't distracted.

[@naynay3710]

You never get over being your mom's child. You never get over losing your mom. I'm 68 now. My mom died in 2003. I still want my mama.

[@dragonpaulz_]

Its kinda like superman and pa kent. All the strength and powers and status and allies, but buffy cant do anything to stop life from taking her parent away. The fabled Slayer who stands between the world and the evil trying to destroy it, and buffy is unable to remember how to do simple cpr when she learns her mother might be dead.

[@swedish_malin]

The standout episodes are usually directed by Joss himself, like Hush, Restless and The Body. Sarah was nominated for a TCA (Television Critics Association) Award that year for "Individual Achievement in Drama", alongside James Gandolfini (who won) and Edie Falco for The Sopranos, Martin Sheen for The West Wing and Chi McBride for Boston Public. Pretty spectacular company to be in! 😃

[@okiguess8103]

She was nominated for the Golden Globes for best Actress in a Drama Series

[@swedish_malin]

@@okiguess8103 Yeah, that was before The Body though. The Golden Globe nomination was announced in December, 2000, and The Body aired February 27, 2001. 😊

[@okiguess8103]

@@swedish_malin yeah, good for her

[@thepsion5]

I went through something very, very similar four years ago. I honestly feel like this captures it so well - the dissociation, fantasizing about their miraculous recovery, feeling completely displaced in time, feeling the excruciating silence after they're dead and you stand there and ask yourself "What the fuck do I do now?"

[@v4venom79]

They owe SMG an Emmy for this episode

[@alicequinn505]

The Emmy should go to the writers and production, SMG was great too, she's great in many eps.

[@seanmcmurphy4744]

Marketa nailed the feels at the moment when Buffy opens the back door and hears the neighbors. I had a moment like that. My father died when I was 13. My mother let me stay home from school, and I was wandering around numb in the yard when the garbage truck picked up the garbage. The sanitation workers gave me a cheery hello and I was stunned. I thought "The entire universe just turned upside down. How can they act like nothing has happened? How can they not know?"

[@BrittanytheVampireSlayer]

Thank you for being so considerate and posting these back to back. This episode is the only thing that holds up my rewatches of this show. Sometimes I'll pause before this episode for weeks because I'm literally not ready. Incredible moving performances from everyone.

[@israelparper6080]

I'm not sure how after watching many different reactions to this episode I still get tears when I watch it.

[@TheAnswerWillleaveyou]

This episode is a Masterpiece. One of the reasons I love this series.

[@MrMosteiros]

Just putting my 2 cents in, I will gladly watch a reaction video of just Chris & Pat watching this episode. Please make it happen.

[@reyr6868]

Chris posted his uncut reaction on the patreon already

[@skywalkerslegacy]

​@@reyr6868 where is it? I just went there and the uncut is the 5 of them

[@leora8278]

Definitely a well done episode. I love Anya's reaction just because she's still newly human and hasn't come to terms with human death and the fact that she'll die herself. She's like a child in that sense.

[@darkguardian50]

I think the best way to describe this incredible hour of TV is that its' unflinching. And for anyone who has lost someone close it feels incredibly real. Its not an episode I can stand to watch often but it is without question one of the finest hours of TV ever produced. There are many great lines in this episode and some incredible acting by everyone but I think the biggest nod has to go to Emma Caulfield. Anya's monologue about not understanding the senselessness of death is just devastating. The commentary from Joss on this episode is really enlightening and well worth a listen because he talks about how purposeful it was to highlight how differently everyone processes grief.

[@Calzaki]

The perfection in the fact that it's Anya who says "I WISH" 😢

[@commonstragedy]

Never noticed that before.

[@Calzaki]

@@commonstragedy and it's beautiful we can discover new details in work like this after all this time

[@AceofDymonds]

This is one of those episodes that gets etched into your brain watching it. Amazing hour of television with everyone bringing their best -- performances, cinematography, sound design with the complete lack of a soundtrack, all just fantastic, and the final result is so heartbreaking.

[@paulonius42]

This was the perfect group on the couch for this episode. I really appreciate the conversation you have afterward. Much love to Spidey.❤😢😢

[@vickster5001]

One of the best episodes of television ever made. The fact it didn't actually win any significant awards is criminal.

[@wile_e]

My first wife and I were together for 21 years. All that can be said about a long drawn out (15+ years) disease is that it does end suddenly. You're never ready for those actual moments.

[@Javi_alias_Xavi]

I remember watching this episode when it came out 20 years ago when I was in college. I didn't understand the reactions of some characters but boy... after u suffer some loss in ur own life u totally get it. Fun fact: I remember Amber Benson saying that Anya's speech was the best piece of dialogue in the whole show.

[@ejr87r]

One of the best episodes in TV history. The wild and silliness of last episode was needed to show how in just another "normal" day for Buffy something like this can just suddenly happen to any of us including the Slayer. The episode has no music and you guys need to listen to commentary tracks from writers on this episode, it's a fascinating listen and read about this episode as well. Yes that's the first Tara & Willow kiss onscreen and they had to fight for that. Just incredible episode.

[@arc7375]

Remember when in Season 4, Buffy said when her mom would see the bill for her college books, she’d have an aneurysm and said “I hope it’s a funny aneurysm”? Moral of the story: Don’t go to college. Also: it’s theorised that because Dawn’s existence had Joyce’s memories rewritten the most out of anyone, that she was the reason for the brain tumour and Joyce’s death.

[@pauldourlet]

This episode is considered one of the best ever on TV .The Cast and Joss were snubbed by the Emmys .

[@matte5705]

The silent scene of Michelle collapsing shot from behind the classroom glass is my favorite scene in Ll of Buffy

[@Stoney_17]

I think Anya’s line about “I wish Joyce wasn’t dead” holds a lot more weight when you consider that she was once a wish demon and knows the power the words “I wish” holds and saying it anyway. And her lack of understanding about Joyce’s death kind of presents us with a childlike response to death but coming from an articulate adult character.

[@anarudiaz]

When my Dad died, after the police came and confirmed he'd been gone for hours, we had to wait for the coroner for a long time. Me and my sisters sat with his body at least 5 or 6 hours. I thought sometimes that he was just sleeping, he looked so peaceful. It was really hard, but it was worse when they zipped him up and took him away.

[@cirrustate8674]

This episode, rightfully so, is not only considered one of the best episodes of Buffy, but one of the best episodes of television, PERIOD. This has been hailed as the best on-screen depiction of what life is like in the wake of the death of a loved one, and one of the best depictions of grief in media. The lack of a score really helped set the tone, as well. No music helping move your emotions, neither up nor down, causing you have to sit in the raw truth of what is happening. The sound of the chimes at Buffy's house, the noise of the kids playing outside, Dawn's experience at school before Buffy showed up, Xander getting a ticket for being double parked, even the vamp attack at the end, just goes to drive home the reality that the rest of the world doesn't stop just because of what happened. Which, in turn, enhances the grief and the sense of isolation such grief brings. This is truly a brilliant episode, and further demonstrates why Buffy still matters, why it's STILL considered one of the best shows ever.

[@crystalfire5564]

I just can’t get through even the first few minutes of this episode without the tears starting. It’s one of the best episodes of television ever.

[@Itsalongtime86]

Still a shame Sarah Michelle Geller doesn't even get an Emmy nomination for her performance, cuz the academy don't like mystery series back in the days. But She gets a golden globe nominee

[@Madbandit77]

You mean genre (sci-fi/horror/fantasy) shows. "The X-Files" has 62 Emmy nominations. So you're wrong.

[@kristinalfc5846]

​@Madbandit77 I think the fact that it started as 'teenaged girl with power kills vampires' and with Buffy being very silly a lot of the time, it wasn't taken as seriously as the X files which was very self-serious from the start

[@mlkj13]

@@kristinalfc5846Agreed. There was a stigma to BtVS back then. Consistently on critics best TV show lists but never recognized by the award circuit/industry as a serious show. Things change decades later.

[@kettitiled]

This episode really gets everything right about the immediate aftermath of loss. Uncomfortably and relentlessly real. And Spidey nailed the weirdness of having to just be there waiting right after it happens. I remember it taking like four hours for someone to take my mother away when she passed after a long illness, but at the time I'd thought it was because it was late at night. Where I grew up was a small enough town for everyone to know the proprietors of the two funeral homes within 15 miles, and more often than not the director and his assistant would personally attend to the removal. (Also, he was in my dad's graduating class, more small town shit). It's hard to watch this episode at any time in one's life - neither my mother nor I had yet lost a parental figure when we watched it as it originally aired and it was still fairly devastating - but it surely hits harder once you've had that magnitude of loss.

[@APhizzle]

I could not take my eyes off Spidey this episode…RIP to your father.

[@explodingplant2]

Whatever's to say about Whedon, he directed this one and re this episode: he did discover his mother, he based a lot of this episode on his experiences. Willow obsessing over her clothes when in reality what you're wearing doesn't matter. Before his mother's funeral, he found himself going from store to store to store because no one was selling a black tie. Micro-focusing, well it's probably a more accessible way to process grief that that's large. S̶o̶m̶e̶t̶h̶i̶n̶g̶ Someone that makes up that much of your life. This was a very hands-on directed episode. Shots like 2:45 the first responder being cut off and Buffy's response-frame being blocked by him, even more off center than Mr Robot shots, it's boxing Buffy in, making her small, and showing her disconnect from this person who is trying to relay information to her when she can't process it. There's no music in the episode. Partly to deal with "the boredom" of processing a loved one's death, partly because sad/happy/scary/etc music is cathartic. It releases emotions. And that's not what's happening here. Whedon's mentioned how he's seen death 'bring people together' on TV when he found in his experience, it just felt like an absence. Like negative space. There's off kilter, dutch angle shots, etc. e.g. how it's confusing processing death. Things are phrased uglier than normal ("are they going to cut the body open?" "I have to pee") commenting on the physicality of death. How a person becomes a physical thing. That's why the vampire fight is not heroic nor fun and Buffy kills it in one of the gorier ways possible. The fact that there still in a vampire in a non-supernatural episode and the fact that Xander does actually get a parking ticket at the end of the college room scene--that's like Buffy looking ill and clammy trying to catch a breath outside and you can hear children playing. The death of your loved one can stop your world but the rest of the world doesn't stop. 11:52 I got you Micky. When I saw that episode, it made me think of this one from Buffy. Those are the only 2x I've seen it.

[@DavidB-2268]

The opening Thanksgiving scenes were done because JW didn't want to have the credits running over the serious parts of the episode.

[@bhelliom3]

Coincidentally it provides an amazing contrast to the absolute heartbreak of the episode, and prevents the episode from starting with a gut punch (even though it does 1 minute later).

[@robynjoffe1494]

I would honestly love to see a reaction to this from Chris and Pat, but then, I really appreciate watching anyone react to this episode. There's something very cathartic about it. I remember being at my father's wake, and looking out the window at the street in front of the house, and the driveway, and wondering absently when he was going to be home. I knew he was gone, but nothing felt real at the same time.

[@marysmith-ku2sn]

The body is such a brilliantly honest and realistic depiction of the immediate stages of grief

[@raymondgilbert1341]

Different state laws handle death differently. In MS, for instance, the EMTs were not allowed to call death back when my grandfather died. They were required to take him to the ER even when they knew he was dead and have an MD call his death, so the body was never left in place like that. On another note, Emma Caulfield should be mentioned for her speech in Willow's room. I think it was the best dialogue in the whole episode. She knocked it out of the park.

[@AE-ow6mc]

I have rewatched this episode as many times as i have rewatched the entire series and it destroys me every time. I went through 7 tissues watching it again this time 😂 The way everything felt surreal in the first act was so spot on.

[@victorsixtythree]

Since I don't think you guys mentioned it, the episode was written and directed by Joss Whedon. (And, yes, it's quite a coincidence that he threw in Xander's line, "The Avengers gotta get with the assembling." a full 10 or 11 years before he would write and direct "The Avengers".)

[@VeeAllar738]

This episode is a masterpiece and heartbreaking. 22:18 and you're right, that's why they put the kiss in this episode. People were either grieving too much to notice/care or unable to bitch about it because of the rest of the episode

[@NanaAphesis]

For just that episode Christine Sutherland was "dead" literally for 8 days. Joss said it in an interview😮

[@kirstenstewart5758]

It was brutal and disturbing, but the episode is called The Body and so it mapped that final journey at its core, while showing the characters as they reacted around that. A true masterpiece in every respect and one of the reasons the show is still so beloved.

[@natashahiggitt6496]

The 2/3 minute single shot of SMG was the best scene in this show/ever. This episode never fails to make me cry!

[@cameirusisu1024]

no other episode of TV has so accurately captured this experience. What goes through your mind, the speed at which you think and create could ofs and what might have beens, the combination of numbness and raw emotion, of wanting to collapse, but having to cope....its a stunningly good, if difficult, episode of tv, and incredibly real.

[@DanY-gx2dv]

This episode inspired the Two Storms episode of The Haunting of Hill House. Incredible.

[@evaserration6223]

Buffy 4x1: "Can't wait for mom to see the bill for these books. I hope its a funny aneurysm!" 😬

[@minuette1752]

Yea, this is such a great episode. Anya always breaks me.

[@btvschosen2022]

They kept showing Joyce at the beginning of every scene because they wanted her to be part of everything. Even the camera following the doctor when he leaves the room and its a straight none stop shot to Buffy and the gang was to show you she was literally just in the other room. Sarah is brilliant in this episode, they all are. Joss has said this was similar to how he found his mum

[@derekfnord]

For my money, this is the best episode of TV ever made, from any series. It's riveting and perfect.

[@mtabor9459]

My mom died when I was 19. My reaction was like Anya's I just remembered thinking about all the things my mom would never do again like call to see if I made it work or hug me eat Cheetos together while watching TV. I'm almost 50 and still remember it like it was yesterday.

[@Macapta]

The fact my heart rate jumped when I saw this in my sub box speaks to the impact of the episode.

[@edwarmulfo363]

This was such a formative moment for television for me. And I almost skipped this reaction. My partner died in August. It was me and him and his family that didn’t consider me family because of the whole gay thing. I left the hospital and went to the airport and sat there for hours trying to go anywhere else. I know Joss wrote this episode based on his experience losing his mother. I can’t say that I learned anything new in this, my first time watching the episode since my partner died. But it does mean something to watch it with people, even just through the screen.

[@cerrobueno]

I know we're not allowed to give Joss Whedon any credit for anything anymore, but giving it all to Raymond Stella for this episode is a bit much!

[@SukmyPikachu]

No SMG got screwed. She deserved an award.

[@weirddeck4193]

Been waiting on this one for a long time

[@scarlettmi]

This episode was written & directed by Joss Whedon.

[@dannybolton6065]

This is hands down, one of my favorite episodes.

[@suncore598]

One of the best episodes in television history. The emotional acting, the lack of background music, the cinematography. Overall, an unflinching portrayal of grief and loss.

[@Talisguy]

I love Marketa's "what is this?" It's like she forgot what show she was watching, and that's pretty much the highest compliment you can pay the episode. It barely feels like you're watching narrative fiction, and the sudden intrusion of something fictional is incredibly jarring. And the vampire is framed in a way that really reverses the desensitization we have to their presence at this point in the show. He's extremely inhuman and unsettling, his fight with Buffy is very atypical in its desperation and ugliness (there's no effort at all given to making the fight look cool, it's just a struggle for survival with no hint of superpowers or martial arts training on either side) and it really underscores the unfairness of Joyce's death. In a world where life after death is so common that managing it is a daily job for Buffy, Joyce is still just gone. ... You start to understand why they kept burying people in the pet cemetery.

[@moramorandobianchi7093]

Some people dislike the vampire addition but this is exactly why I think it fits perfectly

[@grazareth]

I can empathize with the emotional reactions. My dad's been diagnosed with a serious type of cancer some months ago and while he's fighting like a champ the odds aren't in his favor - rewatching this episode (even in snippets) is giving me real anxiety now. My sympathies to anyone who has lost a loved one ❤ live sometimes just sucks.

[@1TutorialBoss]

The silence is so loud in this episode. Its so haunting but i love it

[@Shinobi_912]

Anya's questions were not only to know how to act in that situation, but to understand what it was that she was feeling, and (what could also happen to any of us) asking herself "Why did this happened?" trying to understand Great episode

[@gotgotgone]

Joss Whedon directed this episode, the dvd had commentary of this episode which was a great watch!

[@mikebalestra8348]

This episode still gets me 20+ years later 😢😢😢

[@moonlightflame7]

Really feeling for Spidey on this one, and anyone who has dealt with loss. This is an amazing episode but it feeling so real and raw can be tough to watch. 😭

[@Bornagain7202]

Out of the movies and series I've seen song death and mourning, this episode is the best ! The closest to realistic mourning.

[@christophtoifl6848]

One other noteworthy thing about this episode: There was zero music in the background! Joss said, music gives comfort to the viewer, he didn't want that. As you said, this episode is relentless...

[@zsk8301]

18:25 Getting deep with Spidey and Marketa. Thank you guys to share that.

[@hazarozgen6508]

When you guys first started watching Buffy, I commented under the first video "I can't wait for them to react to s5e12" and you were like, "oh boy, you're gonna have to wait a while." Well, the wait is over and I'm content :). Good reaction guys, you 'walked through the fire'..

[@kimberlyjeanne9456]

The realistic reactions in the episode were so spot on. Buffy feeling disconnected, Willow not knowing how to dress, Xanders anger, Anya was basically the child's view of death being so confused, Taras speech of death being sudden even if you know it's coming. I especially liked when the camera (Buffys view) focused on the EMT and Doctors mouths when they spoke to her, instead of looking at their faces. So accurate. Then Buffy still having to deal with a vampire which for her is just dealing with everyday issues regardless of her mom's death. The mundane tasks in the face os immense tragedy. Best episode for sure

[@notoriouslybratty]

One of Joss’ goals in an episode (that he writes and directs) is for as many characters to have a moment that showcases why we love them. He talks about in his commentary. He utilize minor characters well in his episodes because he loves all the characters he creates. He writes some of the best Tara scenes and for Lorne on Angel.

[@josephdavis9234]

Anya's breakdown is just... so real. Like, yes, this is what death Is. Death is more than just pain, more than grand dreams going unfulfilled. It's all the little things that make up life just... going away. It's when someone is never going to drink fruit punch ever again.

[@CheckersMcGavern]

So... funny/awkward/actually sad story: A while ago, a streamer friend of mine would do a "Buffy Night" on a regular basis. She'd host the video and we'd all re-watch the series together. Another friend of mine was curious about the show and I invited her to come by and watch an episode with us... ya know... to see if she'd like it. I thought it would be nice for her to get a little distraction/escapism because she had just lost her mother to cancer in the previous month. By the time I realized that THIS was the episode we were watching... it was already too late. She handled it much better than I expected but man... I felt so bad about it. All I could do is repeatedly apologize, say that it was just a horrible coincidence, and "I promise, the show isn't normally this heavy".

[@travisspazz1624]

Perhaps Whedon's best work as a director. 10/10 stone cold masterpiece!

[@ichigoxrukia02]

Anya's reaction is actually the one that made me cry.

[@killianlpc]

Guys, 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.

[@sdagoth3037]

This really was a relentless episode. But to me, it's crazy that the start of the episode was so accurate, with how the EMT's responded and then left the body for the coroner, but the morgue was so wrong. I used to to sometimes take bodies down to the morgue, and they got it all wrong; the hospital would never leave like a dozen bodies just laying there outside of a freezer. Especially not bodies they had already performed an autopsy on, jesus christ...

[@cameirusisu1024]

yeah, but normal morgues dont deal with the throughput of the sunnydale one, a volume of bodies only matched by that of midsomer.

[@sdagoth3037]

​@@cameirusisu1024 Then they would buy more coolers for the bodies.

[@startingQB]

Spidey said "That's a different person." I died lauging.

[@celticson]

This episode BROKE US ALL.

[@charmedoriginal5923]

Yes, we 100% need a Chris and Pat reaction to this episode. Maybe Marketa and/or Rana could join them to guide them through their grief during this episode.

[@hanaj]

This and Omar from the Wire suddenly dying comes out of nowhere. Even in a show with a lot of death.

[@alexh8613]

One of the greatest TV episodes...ever!

[@stevemccullagh36]

Simply one of the greatest episodes of television ever made.

[@tonyj9743]

How does a Sunnydale coroner not know to check every corpse for bite wounds?

[@TheBlarggle]

That's... a really good question.

[@mACS925]

easy he was paid off by the mayor and now w&h take care of it

[@kellygilbert736]

I have honestly been waiting for this episose. Its always so moving. For me personally, Anya's speech always makes me cry. I dont know why exactly, I think she just represents how children dont understand death and she sells it so well. Its a beautifully written, acted and directed.

[@BrianR246]

This episode is truly realistic. I had the same experience finding my dad passed away two years ago and this episode hits so much more deeply now. Joss didn't pull any punches on this one.

[@NelsonVlog66]

This episode should have been nominated for Emmys. Writing, directing, and acting(Sarah Michelle Gellar and Emma Caulfield).

[@katevand]

This was one of the first 3 episodes of the show I watched, I was so lost but I remember Tara and Willows kiss, that was a big moment for me. I think the show does a 90 degree turn here and we're off to the rest. It is one of the best episodes of the show, its about death in a show about death so close to home. I often think about Anya's speech when someone I love passes. I also think about Dawn's 'I still remember how to pee' a ton too when I tell my friends I'm going to the toilet, as silly as it is.