User Reviews

In the entire Buffyverse, only two episodes make me cry every single time that I watch them: "Angel" season five's "You're Welcome" and "The Body." They just rip you apart. I don't even know how to describe this episode adequately. It is the most realistic representation of death that I've ever seen in any medium. The overwhelming silence of the episode, the helpless "now what do we do?" feelings of those left behind, the desperate need to blame someone... anyone... for the unexplainable. This isn't an easy episode to watch, but it takes the show to new artistic heights and shows what BTVS can do when it decides to tackle real life situations.

The plot of "The Body" is deceptively simple. You really need to see it to understand it's impact. Buffy arrives home to find Joyce dead on the sofa. She tries to shake her mother awake and, failing that desperately calls 911. But, Joyce is already cold. "The body is cold?" the emergency operator asks, quietly. Buffy is confused, "No, my mom." It's too late. The ambulance crew arrives and they tell Buffy that Joyce is gone. It was a brain aneurysm and there was nothing that anyone could do. They leave, promising that the coroner is on the way, but tell her not to touch the body. Buffy stumbles into the hallway, sick with shock and horror. Giles arrives and immediately rushes forward to help Joyce. Buffy, dazed and glassy eyed, shouts at him that they can't touch the body. Then, realizing what she'd said, she collapses into his arms.

The Scoobies react to the news in different ways. Xander is looking for an outlet for his anger and frustration. Anya is confused and asking questions like a child. Tara is trying to be strong for them. Willow is fixated on staying in control and selecting just the "right" shirt to wear to the morgue. Dawn blames Buffy and refuses to accept the truth. They head for the hospital. Dawn wanders off, determined to see her mother for herself. Tara tells Buffy that her own mother died when she was a teenager and that she understands some of what Buffy's going through. The rest of the Scoobies keep busy randomly buying snacks that no one wants. Buffy finally goes looking for Dawn. She finds her being attacked by a vampire, who has just risen in the morgue. Joyce's stretcher is uncovered as Buffy kills the vamp. She and Dawn stare at their mother. "It's not mom." Buffy whispers. Joyce is gone and all that's left is the body.

All of "The Body" is brilliant, but the part of the episode that always makes me break down is Anya. Her "why can't Joyce just get back into her body?" questions are so real and heartbreaking that I start crying every time I listen to her. The entire scene with the Scoobies in Willow's dorm room is perfect. Willow's desperation to get just the perfect outfit. Xander's raging at the doctors and Glory and any one else who could be to blame. Tara trying to keep them all calm. It all just so... Real. And Buffy's attempts to resuscitate her mother are painful in their shocking detail. BTVS is the only show I've ever seen that doesn't cut away when dealing with a death like this. We see everything. From Buffy trying to do CPR, to begging Joyce to wake up, to calling Giles, to the ambulance crew pronouncing Joyce dead, to Buffy's hopeless daydream of Joyce recovering, and finally to Buffy just staring out the back door as the world goes on with her mother.

Just a small complaint about the episode, I wish Spike had been in the Christmas flash black scene. He and Joyce always got along and I think it would have been nice if he'd been there.

My favorite part of the episode: Willow's search for her blue shirt. It's exactly the sort of small thing that people focus on when they're confronted with death. Plus, it fits in nicely with the color shirt that Tara's wearing in season six's "Seeing Red."

"She's cold." "The body is cold?" "NO, my mom. Should I make her warm?"

The light-hearted nature of the main plot of "I Was Made to Love You" seems designed to make Buffy's discovery of Joyce stand out in high relief. The manner in which the Scoobies easily deduce that April is a robot sends the message that these Slayerly activities, strange as they are, occur every day; even when people get hurt or even die, it fits within the mental/emotional framework Buffy and crew have for dealing with it.

From those last seconds on to the end of "The Body", each moment is pregnant with the sense of unreality we all experience when death hits too close to home. The glaring lack of sound; the light's offensive intensity; the spring day's peace against the emotional inner turmoil; the jarring leap from Buffy's flashback to Joyce's sightless eyes; the camera's sometimes erratic attention span, dizzying motion and apparent inability to narrow in on the focal point of the scene or even focus at all: all of these so effectively convey the disorientation that the writing and the acting are almost incidental to the artistry of the episode.

Almost. I'm not a fan of Sarah Michelle Gellar's movies, but her Buffy always did impress me, and her performance in "The Body" is nothing short of stellar. It's fairly difficult to convincingly play the discovery of a dead loved one, but I believed every second of it, from the painfully childlike "Mom? Mom? Mommy?" to her open-mouthed horror when she cracks one of Joyce's ribs during CPR (Slayer strength or daughter's panic, it doesn't matter), then when she first refers to her mother as the titular "body". The shock has never seemed more real to me in a television character.

I love Buffy's hysterical voice when she's giving the paramedics her mother's background info, and the way her wishful daydream of having arrived in time to save Joyce ends before she can even really finish it ("Oh Buffy, thank God you found me in ti--"). The moments after that, the boneless collapsing on the floor, staring out of the back door, listening to the wind chimes and the children playing, staring and mumbling uncomprehendingly when Giles arrives.

And then the rest of the Scoobies enter. Xander's need to have someone-or-thing to hit. Willow's frantic search for the perfect outfit. Tara's understanding comfort. This is the first episode in which we see Willow and Tara kiss. Anya's confusion at the permanence of mundane, human, natural-causes death sums up what we all think at these times, as does Willow's response: "And she'll never have eggs, or yawn, or brush her hair, not again, not ever, and no one will explain to me why!" "We don't know."

The arrival and dusting of that vamp was the creepiest in the entire seven-season run, to me. (Although, I thought they were supposed to be a little more disoriented when they first woke...)

Hell, I could go on like this forever. This episode is sublime in its concept, flawless in its execution, and powerful in its effect. The simplest way to explain it is this: the first few times I'd seen this episode, it moved me nearly to tears every time. Then I went through something vaguely like this - I guess you could say I was in the Xander-position (my drywall was better). Now every time I see this episode, I pretty much don't stop crying.

The most effective device in the entire episode, other than the total absence of soundtrack, is that every scene begins with an overhead view of Joyce, as the body undertakes the journey it has to go through once the person is gone.

"I wish that Joyce didn't die. Y'know, because she was nice...and now we all hurt."

This is one of the most powerful hours of television I've watched. Joyce's death came unexpectedly. After the tumor scare earlier in the season, it felt like she'd got through the worst of it. And this episode came out of nowhere, mid-season.

Whedon's use of light and audio in this one are exquisite. The awkward silences and pauses, the truncated dialogue, the characters being obsessed with minor, inconsequential details, all of it made it feel some real and textured. It was a riveting yet depressing experience to have.

And I can't say enough about the acting from Gellar and Trachtenberg. Their despair felt very realistic. Really everyone did a fabulous job (although I have to say, Hannigan is fairly one note as usual).

Maybe the best episode of Buffy after Hush, this isn't just top notch Buffy, this is top notch television.

I saw this episode shortly after my own mother passed away. I cried not just because it was a great Buffy episode, but because they so accurately conveyed what it's like to lose a parent. No matter how old you are, you can never fathom losing your parent. The one person in all the world who knows everything about you and loves you anyway. That person is gone and along with them, the safety and love and support they represent.

When Buffy asks Tara "Was it sudden?"(Tara's mothers death) and Tara answers "It's always sudden" I nodded in complete agreement. Though many taut Hush as the best Buffy episode, this one stands out in my mind as the very best.

Nicely done.

Episodes like this, show us just how good the writing/ directing teams were on this show. Its a real reality check, the lack of monsters makes it all seem to real and actually allows us to feel more remorse than if Joyce was killed by a demon. The vamp at the end was nice touch.

All of the character's have their own moments which really define their basic instincts. Buffy's is the hardest to watch. We see the most powerful woman in the world reduced to nothing.

The bit at the start where Buffy has a vision of Joyce being alive and then suddenly 'FLASH' its not real, that just shows that not everything in life works how we want.

When we see Dawn hear the news, its awful. We see her teacher crying at Dawn's reaction and to be honest that whole scene is gut wrenching.

The rest of the scoobies show their loyalty to Buffy and to Joice through their own uncontrollable sadness (its almost as though Joyce was the mum that each of them wished they had and that they weren't losing Joyce. They were losing MUM!)

Is it the most enjoyable Buffy episode? No. It's sad, and most of the time, I'd prefer to watch some of the scarier or funnier episodes. Is it one of the most heart-wrenching, undeniably well-made episodes of television ever created? No doubt. It's ironic that a show about the supernatural was able to create the most realistic depiction of death that I have ever seen, in any TV show or movie. Like others have already said here, it really is exactly the way it happens.

I first saw this episode when it originally aired, when I was in 8th grade. I was sad as I was watching it, but mainly shocked that they decided to kill off an important, recurring character, in a natural way. It wasn't until I watched it again this past summer, right after my grandmother passed away, that I was so moved that I cried. In fact, this is the only television episode that has ever made me cry. The part that really got me is when Anya breaks into tears as she's trying to explain her genuine confusion with the idea of death, a totally unfathomable concept to a former immortal demon. Another great scene is when Tara tells Buffy that she also lost her mother, when she was 17. Buffy asks Tara if her mother's death was sudden, to which Tara replies, "No. And yes, it's always sudden." She's saying that even if you are expecting it, death will still feel sudden.

Everyone's acting is superb, the dialogue is perfect, and the lack of music adds to the reality of the situation that the characters must endure. "The Body" is brilliant regardless, but I would definitely recommend viewing it if you have lost a loved one, which of course, most people have.

What makes this episode of Buffy so beautiful and so different is the fact that there are barely any monsters or demons of any kind and it focuses entirely on the character reactions to Joyce's death. Buffy's immediate reaction to finding the body is so real, so realistic and so shocking that it's a moment that will genuinely bring you to tears.

The lack of incidental music, being replaced by only realistic sound effects create an eerie and sad atmosphere and the episode becomes very artistic. It's also incredibly well shot; when Buffy speaks to the paramedic his face as framed out of the photo and we see only his chest and neck, highlighting Buffy's shock and confusion and her struggle to deal with what is happening.

My highlight is the moment when they manage to resuscitate Joyce and there appears to be a happy ending, before it is cruelly snatched away again, and the sequence turns out to have been all in Buffy's imagination, as some flicker of desperation and hope.

A dark and deeply sad episode, but one superbly written and shot that doesn't pander to the Buffy formula and breaks new ground. Buffy at it's very very best.

I'm echoing the sentiments of lajabless and orizano. I lost my mother not too long before this episode aired. I had actually come home from college for a week to deal with my parents' house (I lost my dad a few years earlier) and some paperwork...the business of death. On that particular Tuesday night, I was packing up my parents' bedroom; going through my mom's things to decide what to keep and what to give away. Within the first 5 minutes, I stopped, sat on the bed, and didn't move for the rest of the hour. I called my best friend crying as soon as the episode was over.

I remember that, shortly after my father passed, the mother of one of my friends died. Another mutual friend asked if there was anything anyone had said or done that I found particularly helpful. She said that she just felt at such a loss because she knew she didn't really understand and didn't know what to do. Were someone to ask me that today, I would tell them to watch "The Body". Joss obviously wrote from experience because every single detail was perfect. All the weird little things you notice (and all the big things you don't) when you lose someone, were there in the episode. Every character was, in a sense, just part of one grieving child. You're angry, you're confused, you're holding it together, you're disbelieving...

I recently watched "The Body" again, for the first time since it aired. I too was a bit scared to revisit it. I was also wondering if it truly was as great as I remembered, or if it was the situation behind my first encounter that made me feel so strongly. While my experiences will certainly always color my response to the episode, it's still amazing. Again, I was struck by the accuracy, the power, the emotion. In particular, two moments really, really get to me. One is Anya's speech; I bawled all over again. The other is Tara's response to Buffy's question about the death of Tara's mother (B: Was it sudden? T: No. And Yes. It's always sudden). My father died quickly and unexpectedly of a heart attack; my mother slowly from cancer. It is always sudden.

If you haven't experienced this type of loss yourself, watch "The Body" to understand. If you have personally experienced this type of loss, watch "The Body" to feel less alone and that someone really understands you.

To call this episode among the series' darkest and most heartwrenching hours not only in the show's history, but in television in general, is like saying 'the earth is big.' It is a quietly devastating look at death and grief, and one that truly deserves all of the acclaim from both fans and critics alike.

The episode also incorporates many of creator Joss Whedon's effective technical elements, from the lack of music to the disorienting effects of the camera shots, all of which truly put you in those moments in ways that have rarely - if ever - had such a tremendous effect. The first 10-15 minutes literally had me sobbing like I had never done before.

And the performances? Oh, boy do all of the actors shine here. Gellar gives what can be easily ranked among her best work. Her reactions to her mother's death are never less than heartwrenching, and I felt as if I was right there with her. Then, we see how Buffy's friends react to Joyce's passing, and they aren't entirely sure HOW to react. If there's one stand-out here, it's Emma Caulfield as Anya, who asks this question in a way that just feels absolutely REAL.

"The Body" has been hailed as one of television's finest hours, and the praise is more than deserved. Truly unforgettable.

I clearly must be the odd man out on this episode. I totally fail to see what everyone is raving about here. First of all, any time a show chooses to kill off one of its characters it stirs the emotional pot; that's to be expected. And for the most part, the way the writers chose to handle Joyce's death was adequate. But to be gushing over this episode as if it were the Holy Grail? I don't think so. Especially not when it came to SMG's acting. If anything, Anya provided the best insight into the whole mystery of death -- asking questions from the perspective of a former 1,000 + year old demon who's trying to deal with her current mortality and understand what "normal" human beings experience -- intellectually and emotionally.

But the whole thing with Willow picking out the clothes, Xander punching the wall and getting his hand stuck, etc. -- it's all over the top nonsense that gets caught up in a sea of stuttering and stammering. Never before in my life have I seen one show in which the 3 main characters stutter and stammer their way through their lines the way they do in BtVS. Giles, Tara, Willow -- one after the other after the other. It's tedious at best. And it totally detracts from the emotional content because it's so completely false and artificial. It might work if you're at a stutterer's convention. But for a TV series, it's just plain bad acting, writing and directing.

And adults talking in sing-songy little voices -- "and THEN...one SUMMER...at BAND camp"...can Alyson Hannigan EVER lose that ridiculous meter? She keeps re-creating that stupid American Pie character in everything she does, except maybe when she's "dark Willow. ENOUGH already!!

And that doesn't even get into the whole warped logic about how Joyce was NOT Dawn's mother, which doesn't just beg the question -- it cries out: how/why would there be such a total emotional breakdown on Dawn's part to begin with? These are the things that have bogged down BtVS for quite some time now, and apparently will continue to do so, with no discernible end in sight. Sorry...this episode is not even close to being the best show of the first 5 seasons.