I'm pasting this over from a different site that I contribute to (www.futurenoir.com):
"Buffy may have had it's lows, but did have some stunning episodes that actually elicited an emotional response in the viewer, and took risks with it's format:
Hush - an episode almost entirely without dialogue;
Once More with Feeling - a musical episode ;
Becoming, Part 2 - Buffy kills Angel, knowing he is no longer evil, to save the world;
The Gift - Buffy sacrifices herself rather than Dawn; watch the reactions of the gang afterwards;
Tabula Rasa - The gang lose their memories, and come to some odd conclusions about who they are; though Spike guesses his nationality correctly: Oh, listen to Mary Poppins. He's got his crust all stiff and upper with that nancy-boy accent. (everyone looking at him) You Englishmen are always so... (pauses) Bl**dy hell! (ticks off on his fingers) S***ing, blimey, sh*gging, knickers, b*ll*cks, oh God! I'm English!;
The Body - Buffy's mum dies; this is perhaps the most realistic depiction of the aftermath of a death that I have ever seen, and is a harrowing piece of television."
Apologies to AB for the (edited) swearing (that naughty Spike!). I just don't think that Dark Angel would ever have produced an episode 1/2 as good as any of the above. Oh - apologies about the lack of formatting on the above, but there doesn't seem to be a way to format text on AB!