If you’ve ever wondered which episodes made the biggest impression on the woman behind Willow Rosenberg, wonder no more. Alyson Hannigan recently opened up to Entertainment Weekly about her four all-time favourite Buffy the Vampire Slayer episodes — and honestly, her picks make total sense once you hear her reasons.
Hush (Season 4, Episode 10)
Alyson’s first pick is the legendary silent episode, and it’s easy to see why. “Hush” stripped away dialogue entirely and forced the entire cast to carry scenes on performance alone. For Alyson, it was a real acting challenge — and it’s also the episode where Willow first meets Tara. A huge moment for the character, delivered without a single spoken word between them. Brilliant television.
The Body (Season 5, Episode 16)
This one hurts every single time, and Alyson clearly felt the weight of it too. She singled out the deliberate absence of a musical score throughout the episode as what made it so powerful. “It was so disconcerting,” she said — which is exactly the point. Joss Whedon’s decision to let the silence do the work gave “The Body” a rawness that no amount of dramatic scoring could have matched. Still one of the most devastating hours of television ever made.
Ted (Season 2, Episode 11)
A slightly lighter pick, and one that’s a bit of a fan favourite for different reasons. Alyson loved filming this one because of the chance to work with the late, great John Ritter. The mini golf course scenes in particular clearly left a mark — and you can see why. Ritter was magnetic, and the episode has a genuinely unsettling energy that holds up really well.
Doppelgangland (Season 3, Episode 16)
And saving arguably the most personal for last — “Doppelgangland,” in which Willow comes face to face with her vampire self from the alternate universe. Alyson got to play two very different versions of the same character in the same episode, which is the kind of role any actor would jump at. But there’s an extra layer of meaning here too: this is the episode where she met Alexis Denisof, who played Wesley. “I had such a crush on him,” she’s said. The two eventually married in real life, which gives “Doppelgangland” a very sweet place in Alyson’s heart — and ours.
All four picks feel very true to who Alyson is as a performer — she gravitates toward the episodes that pushed her creatively or meant something personally. Great list. You can read the full piece over at Screen Rant.
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