Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Season Five (2003)

''This is how many apocalypses for us now?'' wonders a weary Buffy (Sarah Michelle Gellar), as yet another doomsday lies in wait. The answer is, of course, too many to count, but don't let the Slayer's apparent burnout fool you: Anything but tired, Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Season 5 delivers some of the most perfect episodes in the series' history, culminating in the awesome finale, ''The Gift,'' in which Buffy sacrifices herself to save her sister -- and the world -- from the evil god Glory. It's also the season where our gal goes head-to-head with Dracula, gets a clone in the form of a Buffybot, and mourns the sudden death of her mother.

EXTRAS A handful of featurettes (''Natural Causes'' explores the show's rare inclusion of nonsupernatural death) and cast interviews (curiously all sans Gellar) make this visit to Sunnydale a solid A.