4. Help

Complete story — includes the ending

Buffy becomes a counselor at Sunnydale High and meets a girl who predicts her own death. Buffy learns that sometimes, whatever you do, you can't always stop bad things from happening. In 2023, Rolling Stone ranked this episode as #73 out of the 144 episodes in honor of the 20th anniversary of the show's ending. It has a higher rating than the similar " Reptile Boy," which ranked #139. The author of the list commented, "An episode centered around a high school student, a wacky cult of demon worshippers wanting to get rich, and Buffy swooping in to save the day. Color me Season One. The difference being that this isn't Season One anymore, and the show has evolved drastically, with Buffy thwarting the cult but losing Cassie afterward. The Scoobies are adults now, and they know the good guys don't always win." In their own list, Vox ranked this episode at #90 out of the 144, calling it "one of the most solid of season seven's high school–themed episodes... a nice, moody revisiting of the themes that early Buffy explored so well."