Hush (Buffy The Vampire Slayer) - Reception

Reception

When the episode was originally broadcast in the United States on December 14, 1999, it received a Nielsen rating of 4.1 and a share of 7, meaning that roughly 4.1 percent of all television-equipped households, and 7 percent of households watching television, were tuned in to the episode. The episode placed fifth in its timeslot and 93rd among broadcast television for the week of December 13–19, 2001. It was the most watched program on WB that night, and the second most watched program that week, trailing 7th Heaven.

"Hush" was highly praised when it aired, not only for its riskiness in presenting viewers with extended silence, but for the frightening qualities of The Gentlemen. Robert Bianco from USA Today comments, "(i)n a medium in which producers tend to grow bored with their own creations, either trashing them or taking them in increasingly bizarre directions, Whedon continues to find new ways to make his fabulously entertaining series richer and more compelling. With or without words, he's a TV treasure." In the Ottawa Citizen, Chuck Barney writes, "I wondered if this enormously entertaining cult favourite would lose some starch once our favourite little slayer moved on to college. But happily, it continues to win us over with the way it deftly bounces between the genres of comedy, horror and romance. The recent silent episode (Hush) was brilliant." Alan Sepinwall in The Star-Ledger calls it a "magnificently daring episode", explaining "(w)hat makes it particularly brave is that, even when Buffy has been failing to click dramatically this year, the show has still been able to get by on the witty dialogue, which is all but absent after the first few scenes. Whedon finds ways to get around that, with several cast members—particularly Anthony Head as the scholarly Giles and Alyson Hannigan as nervous witch Willow—proving to be wonderfully expressive silent comedians."

Likewise, in the New York Daily News, David Bianculli states that the episode is "a true tour de force, and another inventive triumph for this vastly underrated series" Brian Courtis in Australia's Sunday Age agrees, and writes that "Hush" is "(c)lever, well-written and brightly directed ... Buffy at its best." Robert Hanks from The Independent in the UK writes that "Buffy the Vampire Slayer, in most weeks the funniest and cleverest programme on TV, reached new heights" with "Hush". Noel Murray in The A.V. Club calls it an "episode unlike any other, with a lusher score and some of the most genuinely disturbing imagery I've yet seen on Buffy." The episode was included among 13 of the scariest films or television shows by Salon.com, and justified by Stephanie Zacharek, who states it "scans just like one of those listless dreams in which you try to scream, and can't. Everybody's had 'em—and yet the way the eerie quiet of 'Hush' sucks you in, you feel as if the experience is privately, and unequivocally, your own."

"Hush" was the only episode of the entire Buffy series to be nominated for an Emmy Award in the Writing in a Drama Series category. It also received a Writers Guild of America Award nomination. Following the series finale in 2003, "Hush" continued to receive praise. Lisa Rosen in the Los Angeles Times states that the episode is "one of TV's most terrifying hours". Smashing Magazine counted "Hush" as one of the top ten television episodes that inspire creativity. Keith McDuffee of TV Squad named it the best Buffy episode in the series, writing "(i)f someone who had never seen Buffy (blasphemy!) asked me to show them just one episode of the show to get them hooked, this would be it". TV.com named it as the fourth most frightening episode in television history.

Jarett Wieselman of the New York Post listed the scene in which Buffy mimes staking The Gentlemen and its humorous misunderstandings by the other characters among the top five best Buffy moments, especially praising Sarah Michelle Gellar's (Buffy) comedic acting. Nikki Stafford, author of Bite Me! The Unofficial Guide to Buffy the Vampire Slayer writes "Hush" is "mind-blowing" and "one of the best hours of television ever". For Buffy studies scholar Roz Kaveney, the primary reason "Hush" was successful was the acting strengths of the central cast. "Hush" serves as Alyson Hannigan's (Willow) favorite episode of the Buffy series, and the one Nicholas Brendon (Xander) considers the most frightening. Series writer Jane Espenson stated the episode "redefined what an episode of television could do".