Can someone praise season 6? It was a very unusual season with some bad moves, but I can't think of a rawer "environment" where all the characters defects & traumas were explored and exposed for the viewers to see. Sarah and Alyson were nothing less than extraordinary this season. A fearless and cutting edge era, when it wasn't trendy to put anti heros with questionable behaviors at the forefront in mainstream television.

Just thinking of episodes such as "Bargaining I & II", "Normal Again", "Seeing Red" & "Villains" gives me chills!

Season 5 had "The Body" so it automatically wins by default

I can't believe people are listing Season 1 as their favorite.

Season 3 is my favorite and I also enjoyed 4 and 5. I think Seasons 1 and 7 are the worst.

2 and 3 were the shows glory days for a reason. 4 and 5 had great episodes (Hush, Body) but weren't great as a whole. After Joss left as show runner, it was painfully obvious and the scripts suffered. 6 and 7 are by far the worst seasons.

5 > 6 > 3 > 7 > 2 > 4 > 1

I love every season. I always thought seasons six and seven were great, but I get the hate for them now as I'm looking into it a bit more. Season five still slays though.

Season Six, just for that final episode

I agree except the beginning of Season 2 was slow and reminded of Season 1. It picked up by the time Kendra arrived and Jenny Calendar's storyline became more prominent.

Also, I think Season 4 and 5 suffered because Joss worked on Angel too. Speaking of Angel, I think the first three seasons of the show are overall better than any Buffy the Vampire Slayer season.

Season 2