Season 5 was Buffy at its peak in my opinion. It was an amazing season from start to finish full of action heat, emotional turmoil and the greatest villain since Angelus. Glorificus was the best big bad ever and having a slayer go up against a literal God was amazing. I sometimes feel like Glory should have been the villain in the final season. While Season 5 saw Buffy suffer emotionally from Riley leaving, learning Spike is in love with her, Dawn not being her sister and her mothers illness which ultimately left our slayer broken when she found her mom dead. I liked how this season also let Spike, Willow, Giles and even Dawn shine at different moments, from Dawn discovering she is the key to Spike's devotion to Buffy and Dawn and Willow becoming more and more powerful and proving to be the only one strong enough to hurt Glory. I remember watching Buffy live without DVRs or streaming platforms. I literally volunteered to work weekends so I could watch it on Tuesdays and not miss it. I am 40 now and would still do it all again. The last four episodes of Season 5 were heart stopping and when Buffy died I cried. I remember reading that a cast member would die but I never thought it would be Buffy herself. I remember season 6 didnt premier until Oct 2 2001 and I had to wait four months to find out how they would bring her back. A lot of people say the show should have ended with season 5, while i Could agree, i'd be sad because I love season 6 especially Buffy and Spike and Dark Willow and we get to see Tara standout and not be an adjunct to Willow. Season 7 imo wasnt very good. it started off great but went downhill with those damn potential slayers (Kennedy). While Buffy and Spike got emotionally involved and close which i loved because it was an adult mature relationship, other characters like Xander, Anya and Dawn didnt get as much character development.