Nicholas Brendon passed away, and it has many Buffy the Vampire Slayer fans looking back and remembering the best Xander-centric episodes from the show’s seven-season run. Of course, Brendan played the awkward and slightly nerdy Xander Harris, part of the Scooby Gang, and one of Buffy Summers’ (Sarah Michelle Gellar) closest friends and allies throughout the series. Along with Alysson Hannigan as Willow Rosenberg, the three core cast members were there from the start to the end of the series, and fans will always have their adventures to relive when remembering the career of Brendon, especially through his role as Xander.
While the show was mostly about Buffy Summers, here is a look at the seven best Xander-centric episodes from Buffy the Vampire Slayer.
7) “Halloween”
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For a show about vampires, demons, and monsters, it is shocking that Buffy the Vampire Slayer only had three Halloween episodes during its seven-season run. However, the best of the three allowed Xander Harris to become his most heroic. This is because there was a villain named Ethan Rayne, who showed up as a Chaos-worshipping warlock and long-time enemy of Giles. In the episode, he opens a costume shop, and anyone who wears the costumes he sells turns into the character they are dressed as.
This was bad for Buffy, who dressed like an 18th-century woman, and ended up as a damsel in distress. However, Xander bought a military soldier costume, and he got the rare opportunity to be the hero for a change. What is really great about this episode is that Xander recalls his “army training” in the future episodes, even though he was never in the military, and it was all from this one spell. Either way, it was a nice change to see Xander as the hero, charging into action.
6) “Hell’s Bells”
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“Hell’s Bells” is an Xander-specific episode where he and Anya Jenkins were supposed to get married, but he abandons her at the altar and refuses to go through with the wedding since he has a vision that he will become an abusive alcoholic like his father. This was one of the Xander episodes that really went deep into his psyche and delivered a more tragic story that had less to do with monsters than it did with his own personal trauma.
This allowed Xander to really look deep into his own soul, and even after he realizes the visions were a trick by a demon, he knows he isn’t ready to get married and doesn’t trust himself enough to commit himself to Anya. He shows his fear and insecurities here better than in almost any other episode, and that helps him shine, even though many fans still hold the action of leaving her at the altar against him.
5) “The Pack”
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Xander Harris got the chance to play the villain in the episode “The Pack,” and this gave him a chance to really lean into the reasons many Buffy the Vampire Slayer fans grew to hate him over the years. In this episode, Xander was possessed by predatory hyenas, and he does some atrocious things while not being in control of himself. As a Season 1 episode, this was a shocking look at who Xander could have been if he were a villain.
This was the one episode where Xander haters could see him in all his infamous glory, and while he was not in control of his emotions or actions, it did amplify some of his later toxic behavior on the show. The episode also had a shocking ending when only Giles knows that Xander remembers everything he did, adding to his already deep trauma and lack of self-worth.
4) “The Wish”
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For fans of Xander and Willow, one of the best Buffy the Vampire Slayer episodes that anyone can watch came in the Season 3 episode “The Wish.” This was a fantastically fun episode where Cordelia, angry at Xander after they break up, wishes that Buffy Summers had never come to Sunnydale, since she feels Buffy ruined her life by arriving. A new demon in town (Anya) grants her wish, which has horrifying consequences.
Since Buffy never arrived in Sunnydale, the vampires won and took control. Willow and Xander were both turned and were powerful vampires working for The Master, and seeing them vamp out as full villains was tremendously fun. While Vampire Willow returned in a later episode, this was the only place to see Vampire Xander, and their pairing was more fun than anyone could have imagined.
3) “The Replacement”
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“The Replacement” was supposed to help push Xander past his years of trauma and childhood abuse with a family who were less than supportive of him. It was also the residence where Nicholas Brendon’s real-life twin brother, Kelly Donovan, played his evil doppelganger. When the evil Xander begins to take control of his life, it causes all of Xander’s friends to wonder if he has changed forever.
This was a similar theme to “The Pack,” but instead of Xander turning evil by possession, he was replaced, and it set up the same idea of his friends growing to distrust their long-time friend. This was also a rare episode that showed Xander’s broken home life with his drunken parents fighting publicly for all to see. By the end, Xander agreed to move out on his own and attempt to escape the life he had always known. It was a turning point and an important Xander-specific Buffy the Vampire Slayer episode.
2) “Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered”
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The two best Xander-specific episodes were great for different reasons. One was the best Xander episode, and the other was the best episode of Buffy with Xander as the lead character. The one that was the best Buffy the Vampire Slayer episode with Xander, while not being his best performance, was “Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered.” This was the Season 2 episode that had a spell cast that made every woman in Sunnydale attracted to Xander, except for Cordelia.
Xander had Amy cast the spell after Cordelia broke up with Xander, thanks to peer pressure from her friends. He wanted Cordelia to be in love with him, but it backfired, and made everyone else (including Buggy and Willow) in love with him, while Cordelia didn’t change. The entire episode was fun, with all the women wanting to either kill Xander or protect him, including an unhinged Drusilla. Xander episodes don’t get better than this one when it comes to the overall Buffy mythos.
1) “The Zeppo”
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While “Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered” was the best Buffy the Vampire Slayer episode with Xander as the main lead, “The Zeppo” was the best episode for Xander as a character, and it is the highlight of his entire existence on the fantasy TV show. This was a Season 3 episode that had Xander feeling left out by the gang, so he decided to hang out with another student named Jack O’Toole. However, things get out of control when Jack raises some friends from the dead, and they decide to blow up the school.
The episode was named after Zeppo Marx, the least-known of the Marx Brothers comedy team, and Cordelia even tells Xander that he is the “Zeppo” of the Scooby Gang. There is a lot that happens in this episode, from Jack betraying Xander to Faith seducing him, only to humiliate him afterwards. The episode works hard to emasculate Xander, who connects more with women and is even sexually violated in this episode. However, what makes this stand out as the best Xander-specific Buffy the Vampire Slayer episode is that, after all this, he is still the one who charges into action, with the least power of anyone, to save his friends.
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