6. Him

Complete story — includes the ending

Dawn, Buffy, Willow and Anya fall in love with a high school quarterback as a result of a 'magic' jacket. Xander and Spike become reluctant roommates, but try to sort out the confusion. In 2023, Vox ranked it at #107 out of the 144 episodes on their "Worst to Best" list, saying it "isn't all that great on character exploration, since half the main cast spends the episode under a mind-altering love spell, but it is enormously fun." Rolling Stone ranked the episode at #87 out of the 144 episodes in honor of the 20th anniversary of the show's ending: "It's not consequential in the final season, but it's much-needed levity in an otherwise heavy Season Seven." Billie Doux, in a mixed review, called it very "funny, frothy, and well written.... Michelle Trachtenberg showed some serious range." Reviewer Noel Murray called it "fairly inconsequential" but added, "The staging of the last act of 'Him' is pretty crackerjack, with the four ladies' schemes taking place first in split-screen and then in a series of boffo gags." Dan Owen, awarding it 3 out of 5 stars, thought it "an enjoyable hour of BtVS, which got better once the fundamental issue started to grow in complexity.... I think this episode wasn't as funny as it thought it was," but its "silly, charming moments... held this amusing episode together." Entertainment Weekly praises Trachtenberg's "dramatic and comedic potential" and the "tongue-in-cheek storytelling" — "with split-screen action backed by a '70s soundtrack [1] and the pairing of reluctant partners Spike and Xander," all in all voting it a hilarious episode.