I think the main reason I thought of OMWF is that I don't have to get him hooked in one episode, I just need to make him realize he was wrong about the show being stupid and juvenile.

I would definitely suggest Passion for that. Not much juvenile about that ep. (Hush would also be a good choice, but if your friend is approaching it with that frame of mind, I think Passion better counters the preconceptions.)

Halloween is what grabbed me. I'd also say that Angel and School Hard are good ones.

Remind me, which one is Passion again? That's S2, right? Refresh me, I may have seen it.

I think Surprise/Innocence is perfect if you can lock em in for two hours.

FWIW, Surprise/Innocence did nothing for me until I knew the Buffy Angel Twoo Wuv tragic backstory.

I agree that "Hush" is probably the best stand-alone. "Crush" is the episode that made me go from "I watch this show once in a while but I don't see what the fuss is about" to a drooling fangirl, but i'm not sure it would work if someone had no idea what was going on.

Remind me, which one is Passion again? That's S2, right? Refresh me, I may have seen it.

It's the one where Angelus kills Jenny Calendar and tells Joyce he slept with Buffy. Very dark and twisted; one of my top 5 from S2.

Sean, I would vote against OMWF as a first episode. A friend and I were trying to convert another friend to watching Buffy right about the time OMWF aired. It wasn't the first episode that she saw, but it was close to it. Because she didn't have enough background to see what else was going on, even though she liked it, she mostly liked it because she thought it was funny.

The point of showing my fantasy-hating friend OMWF was to convince her that it wasn't a juvenile sci-fi show. (And I was drunk and wanted to sing.) And it worked in that regard. It just didn't make her care about the characters or what was going to happen next.

Passion and Hush are both great in that they are action-packed and don't dwell too much on the high school/college is hell thing.

Halloween hooked me but it is pretty teen-showish.

I'm starting to think that Anne or Band Candy, or possibly Anne followed immediately by Band Candy, might be good. There's a certain logic to using the very episodes that hooked me.

Would "Passion" do anything if someone didn't know the Buffy/Angel backstory? I agree it's a stunning achievement in writing, directing, and acting, but if you come into it not knowing who Angel(us) is...

I just remembered that a guy friend was completely hooked by Buffy vs. Faith in Graduation Day I. Like completely. I had been trying to get him to watch for months and he caught it on the TV at the gym and freaked right out.

So - if you must - go for the hot chick on chick factor.