Buffy the Vampire Slayer

The Good;
All of it. My favourites would have to be Tara's song and 'Going through the motions' although Anya's solo is a belter. Always leaving them wanting more, certainly true of the Spuffers in the final scene. Also love Tara's uncontrollable jazz hands during 'I've got a theory' and the ballet of morning in the Summer's house.

The Bad; ? I think the weakest of all the songs is Giles' which I didn't really dig. No real fan of Spike's either.

Best line;
Giles; "Buffy needs backup"

Women good/men bad;
Xander's witches theory which he rapidly recants.

Jeez!;
Dawn getting the sack isn't nice.

Kinky dinky;
Sweet wants to claim Dawn as his child bride but Buffy volunteers to go instead. She's not interested in the handsome hostage she rescues in the graveyard. Parking ticket girl isn't wearing any underwear. Anya mentions that Xander's 'penis got diseases from a Shumash tribe' which might be the best lyric in history. Dawn's superb dancing with Sweet and his minions is extremely suggestive, MT really starting to become noticeably voluptuous as well as tall. Dawn's story about giving birth to a Pterodactyl must have pleased the Got-ficcers. Love Anya's two-piece nightie, Xander loving it in the night when he's 'warm in her tight....tight embrace' which he also describes as 'firm and supple' later. Buffy goes to 'pump Spike for information'. She ends up straddling him in a grave.

Captain Subtext;
Tara jokes that she's cured and 'wants the boys' who eye her up (don't blame them, Tara's corset certainly helps her already formidable cleavage). The end of her song where Willow's head disappears downwards as Tara floats is the filthiest bit of Buffy for, oh at least half a season. I'm sure Joss must have been tempted to do "You make me complete. You make me com..." then cut back to the Magic Shop but even the dumbest censor must have been able to spot that. Willow says she's not 'big with the butch'. Tara sings about 'Spreading beneath her Willow tree'. Dawn thinks Willow and Tara together is romantic and that she 'does know about this stuff'. Hmmmm? Of course the Willow/Tara sex scene is arguably rape, Willow's spell has interfered with Tara's mind and without it's influence she probably wouldn't consent to having sex with her. Sweet is 'tempted' to take Xander as his 'Queen' (well you know those Broadway types!) Anya is still a little jealous of Buffy saying Xander flees to her when things get tough.

Guantanamo Bay;
Spike wants to make the minion "Sing"

Apocalypses; 6

Scoobies in bondage:
Buffy: 8
Giles: 4
Cordy: 5
Will: 3
Jenny: 1
Angel: 4
Oz: 1
Faith: 3
Joyce: 1
Wes: 1
Xander; 1
Dawn; 3

Scoobies knocked out: Dawn comes-to on the pool table at the Bronze
Buffy: 16
Giles: 11
Cordy: 6
Xander: 9
Will: 5
Jenny: 2
Angel: 6
Oz: 3
Faith: 1
Joyce: 3
Wes: 1
Anya;2
Dawn; 2

Kills: one of the trio of vamps Buffy kills in the graveyard has the distinction of being her hundredth vamp (killed onscreen at least) plus their demon master
Buffy: 101 vamps, 41 demons, 6 monsters, 3 humans, 1 werewolf, 1 spirit warrior & a robot
Giles: 8 vamps, 2 demon, 1 human, 1 god.
Cordy: 3 vamps, a demon
Will: 6 vamps + 1 demon +1 fawn.
Angel: 3 vamps, 1 demon, 1 human
Oz: 3 vamps, 1 zombie
Faith: 16 vamps, 5 demons, 3 humans
Xander: 5 vamps, 2 zombies, 1 a demon,
Anya: 1 vamp and 1 a demon
Riley; 18 vamps + 7 demons
Spike; 5 vamps and 2 demon
Buffybot; 2 vamps
Tara; 1 demon
Dawn; 1 vamp

Scoobies go evil:
Giles: 1
Cordy: 1
Will: 2
Jenny: 1
Angel: 1
Oz: 1
Joyce: 1
Xander: 4
Anya; 1
Dawn; 1

Alternate scoobies:
Buffy: 6
Giles: 3
Cordy: 1
Will: 2
Jenny: 2
Angel: 3
Oz: 2
Joyce: 2
Xander: 3

Recurring characters killed: 10
Jesse, Flutie, Jenny, Kendra, Larry, Snyder, Professor Walsh, Forrest, McNamara, Joyce

Sunnydale deaths; 3 burnt to death by their dancing
93;

Total number of scoobies: 7
Xander, Willow, Buffy, Giles, Anya, Tara, Spike

Xander demon magnet: 5(6?)
Preying Mantis Lady, Inca Mummy Girl, Drusilla, VampWillow, Anya (arguably Buffy & Faith with their demon essences?), Dracula?

Scoobies shot:
Giles: 2
Angel: 3
Oz: 4
Riley; 1

Notches on Scooby bedpost:
Giles: 2; Joyce & Olivia, possibly Jenny and 3xDraccy babes?
Cordy: 1?
Buffy: 3 confirmed; Angel, Parker,Riley, 1 possible, Dracula(?)
Angel: 1;Buffy
Joyce: 1;Giles, 2 possible, Ted and Dracula(?)
Oz: 3; Groupie, Willow & Verucca
Faith:2 ;Xander, Riley
Xander: 2; Faith, Anya
Willow: 2;Oz and Tara
Riley; 3; Buffy, Sandy and unnamed vampwhore

Spike; good or bad?
Spike saves the day and earns his kiss

Dawn in peril; 6 as Buffy says "If Dawn's in trouble it must be Tuesday"

Dawn the bashful virgin; 5 horrified at the thought of being a demon bride.

Questions and observations;
Longest ever ep of Buffy. Contary to popular belief not the first musical ep for a fantasy series, Xena did it first (the terrific 'The Bitter Suite') and arguably Ally McBeal too. But altogether splendid. Note that the newspaper has the city council denying that monsters are involved, SD's open secret apparent. Again note that Buffy sings that 'Through the smoke she calls to me' as she makes her way to the Bronze, once again some sort of stronger link between Dawn and Buffy is suggested. Ironically in an ep where Tara takes Willow to task for magic abuse it's Xander who screws up everything. He is never brought to book for this, just as he's never called to account for his actions in Becoming Pt 2. In fairness it's hard to pick a Scooby who hasn't abused the supernatural and caused the deaths of innocent people? Note the look Tara gives Willow when she starts crying at Buffy's revelation, their rift forgotten.
One question, what is Buffy drawing in her notepad when Giles summons her for training in the teaser?
Marks out of 10; 10/10, legendary!

Once More, With Feeling-Sunnydale is alive with the sound of music as a mysterious force causes everyone in town to burst into full musical numbers, revealing their innermost secrets as they do. Add in the fact that some townsfolk dance so much that they simply burst into flame, and it becomes clear that the Gang must stop this musical menace.

Let's face it! "Once More, With Feeling" is a love it or hate it episode. Either you get it or you don't, either you love musicals or you don't! But even for those who find nothing special about this episode what so ever, one has to appreciate the vast amount of time and effort that went into the production of this episode. Sure, it's not the first musical episode to ever grace our TV screens (Xena actually had TWO musical episode prior to this one!) But the fact is, when Joss Whedon and his talented team of writers, producers, actors etc. get together for an experimental and challenging episode like this one, no other show does it better! "Once More, With Feeling" is much deeper than most people realize. Sure the plot for the most part is straight forward: another evil nasty is at work by making Sunnydale suffer his wrath but it's much more than that. Through beautifully written lyrics (written by Joss I might add, is there anything he can't do?) and lavish, wonderfully directed Broadway style performances, we once again watch our beloved characters grow and unleash their deepest, darkest secrets through song and dance. Yes, I know it sounds silly but it you've seen this episode, it's anything but. I think the only way to effectively review this whole episode is by going through each musical sequence one by one. After an already nicely directed opening sequence (with a new opening credit sequence), we see Buffy on a routine patrol:

"Going Through The Motions" is both hilarious musical number with some very depressing lyrics. Buffy feels she has nothing that motivates her anymore in her life to the point where she "going through motions" every day. Slaying, her sister, everything is becoming meaningless to her. While she's "alive" physically, she's dead on the inside. Even after saving that hilariously good-looking man, Buffy just don't care and her line says it: "I just want to be ALIIIVE!"

"I've Got A Theory/Bunnies/If We're Together" is the next number after Buffy goes to the magic song asking if anyone happened to busted into song the previous night like she did. To everyone's disbelief, they all did and they all begin singing their own theories about what could be behind it. The best part is without doubt Anya's rock solo about how the Bunnies being behind it. Got love the direction there with the strobs light, shaky camera work and random pyrotechnics! Lol Then it concludes with Buffy seeing about them facing whatever coming as long their together since it's always what they've done in the past. The main cast really does sound good when they sing as a collective unit and Anthony Stewart Head especially sounds awesome, which isn't surprising as we heard him sing on the series before and has done musicals before like "The Rocky Horror Picture Show". Also, I love the moment of Buffy checking out to see if the rest of the town is experiencing he same thing and we see the famous "They Got The Mustard Out!" sequence. It's just so random yet remarkable.

"Under Your Spell" is definitely my favorite number, which is a sweet serenade by Tara to Willow about her undying love for her. Not only does Amber Benson have a stunning voice and delivers the song brilliantly, but the song has some serious underlining subtext. If you think about it, Tara is literally under Willow's spell as she made her forget about their fight last episode and still doesn't know. It's kinda eerie seeing Tara so blissfully unaware of this and the end of the number seeing her...uhh...lifted in air by that bliss is a pretty sexually charged metaphor there! It's also hilarious the scene that takes place after when everyone is trying to shelter Dawn about what Willow and Tara are up, too but it's pretty obvious! It also turns out that all the singing and dancing has a consequence: you eventually burn into nothing! Uh Oh?

"I'll Never Tell" is Xander and Anya's duet about their domestic life, all the pros and cons about their living together as well as their future. Not to mention, the "Pangs" reference was priceless! Filled with humorous lines and silly dancing, "I'll Never Tell" is definitely the most lighthearted of the all the numbers, but it's still plenty entertaining. The next scene one again shows just how excellent Joss' direction is as well as how much work went into the episode as Giles, Xander and Anya walking down a street talking about the continuing problem at hand with other people in Sunnydale are performing their everyday lives like a women getting a parking ticket, a couple dancing in bliss and street sweeper tap dancing with brooms. It's just all so amusing and nicely shot.

"Rest In Peace" is Spike's unexpected serenade to Buffy and you just got to love him trying to get her out of his crypt before he started singing but him being too late. "Rest In Peace" is basically his feelings on his relationship or lack of one with Buffy. He just can't stand being around her and not being with her to the point where he wants her just to go away. It's pretty sad as Spike knows Buffy just spends time with him for information mostly and nothing else, she basically uses him and will do more so once they start sleeping together. Also you gotta love his last line "So your not staying then?"

"Dawn's Ballet/What You Feel", it's funny thinking that Dawn was about to sing about her latest issues when she's suddenly kidnapped...again. Her dance piece at the bronzes was nicely choreographed introducing us to the main baddie of the episode Sweet and his henchmen. Both looking very well made and I especially love the Pinocchio-like heads and hands they have. Joss' always creates the most inventive looking creatures. Sweet's little number is cool as he plans to take Dawn as his queen in the Underworld.

"Standing" is Giles' solo number and pretty much what you'd expect. Both the song's lyrics and Anthony Stewart's vocals are fantastic as we once again look into Giles' heart, feeling he is simply stopping Buffy from growing up and being an adult if he stays in Sunnydale, always being there for her. This leads into Tara, after finding out she had a fight with Willow from Dawn, coming into the Magic Shop searching for the truth. It's a heartbreaking moment when Tara realizes what Willow did to her, leading to "Reprise", a mixed number of Tara's song and Giles' song. Both Amber and Anthony really sound amazing together but what makes this sudden duet works is because both them realizing that both of them need to leave Buffy and Willow.

"Walk Through The Fire" is definitely the strongest number of the episode. Not only filled with powerful, thought-provoking lyrics, but the whole ensemble sounds great here, building to an awesome showdown at the bronze.

'Something To Sing About" is another heartfelt number with more brilliant lyrics about life and the challenges as well as complexity of it. It once again shows Buffy continuinghesitationtowards toward living life and it almost leads to her dancing to her death until Spike shows up to stop her to make her realize she has to live no matter how hard it is. Even Dawn reminds Buffy of what she once told her "The hardest thing in this world...is to live in it. You also gotta love the hilarious moment where Giles tells Anya and Tara to "back-up" Buffy, LOL.

After we find out Xander was the one who unleashed Sweet (Seriously Xander, a demons a demons, no matter how fun it sounds), the concludes with "Where Do We Go From Here?", a strong ending number with the ensemble which Spike justwalksout of half way. But not before Buffy catches up with him and they kiss for the first time! "THE END!"

Honestly, "Once More, With Feeling" is another achievement under Joss Whedon's belt! The main cast and the crew should be proud of thetremendouswork they did here. I swear it's a shame the Emmys have never given Buffy one award after all these ground-breaking episodes from this series. No show will ever challenge the foundations of TV again....or at least for a while.

Obviously I got into Buffy a little late in the game, having finally gotten around to watching it 14 years after it originally aired. Still, I've found the show as a whole to be very enjoyable and I've gone through the seasons pretty quickly. I've also found myself agreeing with the majority of fans on the episodes that are considered the best: "Hush", "The Body" and "Becoming pt. 2" for example. For that reason, I was excited to reach this episode, which, I was aware, is regarded by many as the absolute best of the series.



Maybe I'm just a bit hard to please because I'm a hardcore Broadway fan. I've seen over 40 musicals in my time and I must say that by comparison this one did not really impress. It might also be because I already know and love Joss Whedon's far superior musical "Dr. Horrible's Sing Along Blog" and was expecting this one to be on par. My main problem with this wasn't really the singing, which was mediocre at best for all but three or four of the characters. The episode as a whole just didn't work for me. The songs didn't seem to fit into the story as they do in Dr. Horrible or any other well executed musical. They felt more like diversions from the plot, merely thrown in because they could be. I didn't really find most of them particularly impressive either, though there were a couple that were enjoyable. There's just not really anything special about them. They sound generic for the most part and without significant vocal talent behind many of the numbers they just kind of fell flat.



Overall it was an alright episode, but I really don't see in it what so many other people seem to. I'd take a more serious episode like "Passion" or "Hush" over this one any day. This episode just felt a bit campy and out of context of the overall story and I found myself disappointed by the end of it.

Vastly overrated, I'd say the most overrated Buffy episode there is, Once More, With Feeling sees all of Sunnydale bursting into song. Buffy and the Scoobies must find a way to stop the evil force behind it lest the citizens will burn up from dancing.



You can hear it from the summary, can't you? This episode has something like the thinnest plot in Buffy history. The whole story screams 'Joss Whedon wanted to make a musical episode so he found the most obvious plotline possible'. The musical element does not make sense, the plot excuse is downright lame, and what could have been a masterpiece instead unfolds itself as an overlong display of poor vocal abilities. I guess that's the risk when you experiment. It's bound to happen when you are as artistic as Whedon is, a trait that made episodes like The Body phenomenal. But here it doesn't work. It could have – I have no suggestions as to what to do, but I'm certain it is possible to make a brilliant musical TV drama episode – but Whedon fails. The songs aren't really good and, as I mentioned, the plot is embarrassing. You could claim that the goofiness of the plot is exactly what makes it work – it is all intentional – but it still flops, as far as I'm concerned. I admit, Spike's Rest In Peace is a catchy song, though I don't see how a vampire would be resting in peace if it hadn't fallen in love. But there you go. There is some very nice humor, as always, though. Anya's sudden rock anti-bunny outburst made me laugh out loud, for instance. But apart from that, this episode does not lift itself out of the ordinary. Unless it's into the annoying.



Don't get yourselves excited if you're about to see this for the first time – 'cause you'll be in for a disappointment.

This is by far one of my most favorite episodes of the entire series. It was a great, light hearted, funfilled episode. This whole season was very dark but this was great. I love the songs and the lyrics in "I'll Never Tell" were hilarious. It is such a revealing episode. I loved Tara's song to Willow. That song was so beautiful and touching. The dancing and singing was performed well by the cast. The whole episode was amazing. I do wish that Alyson Hannigan would have sung a little more. This episode is a classic that can be veiwed time and time again.

If you could only pick just 1 song that you liked the best i couldnt do it. this was definately a one of a kind episode.Joss Whedon is the best at writing the lyrics to songs sang in this episode especially the one where Buffy confesses she was in heaven and how lifes a song you dont get to rehearse .James marsters song of Let me Rest in Peace was really cool and ive got a theory,ill never tell and "i touch the fire" were performed great i still sing these songs in the shower lol. This episode will never be forgotten

okay then, this show is all around cutting edge, but this episode is amazing, marvelous, magnifecent, and just better than the rest!!! All the songs were written very well too. i wasn't a fan of spike's singing voice, but tera's was very good. It was so very funny when (during the "i have a theory" song) anya started sing "i have a theory it could be bunnies they got them hoppy legs and twichey little noses and whats with all the carrots what do they need such good eye sight for anyway bunnies bunnies it must be bunnies" hilarious!!! and the end whare zander would be the demons queen was funny (i laugh just thinking about it)

Amazing. Joss weadon put all his strength in it and made the ultimate episode which others should be jealous about. The songs, the direction and the story are amazing. The best thing about this episode is that you learn more things about the characters. You have to see it. The best work from joss weadon.

"Every single Night, the same arrangement, I go out and fight the fight" is the opening words of the musical extravaganza, in which Xander tries his second hand at magic to fall flat. A musical demon is on the loose, and the whole of Sunnydale is a dinging, dancing stage for his pleasure. Everyone is affected, and are announcing their feelings, Buffy makes it known she wishes she was still dead, Anya and Xander are getting wedding jitters, and Willow and Tara are "Extremely Happy" With each other, and poor Dawn gets the blame for her cleptomania. A fantastic episode that other series (Scrubs etc) has followed.

Looking for fun? Cast of high school musical eat your heart out, and watch as the Scoobies break into song and dance in a must see episode for all Buffy fans!

One of the cleverest and funniest episode ever. A great storyline and some very catchy and well written songs, a lot of good fun is to be had by watching this episode! Extremely entertaining. With so many songs that you can't help but sing after you watch it! I love how the characters all get really into the song with added dancing, but when it concludes they are all like, especially Xander, "That was disturbing!" One of my personal favourite episodes of Buffy of all time, and that's saying a lot!

Much admired, and with good reason. I didn't love it for the singing ability in particular, but that's hardly the point!



The "cleverness" factor for me comes with the fact that the characters tend to be more honest when singing, e.g Xander and Anya's apprehension regarding their upcoming wedding and Buffy's closing revelation that they had pulled her out of heaven.



Giles realizes Buffy will never deal with her problems while he is there to help. Tara realises Willow has brainwashed her... In short a lot goes on and the effect is to advance the season plot and move it forward to a degree a single episode would not normally do.



Allied to the fact that the songs are well written and performed. The coreography seems fine (although i'm no expert) and the singing is as good as you would expect from a group of non professional singers.



To cast a musical episode within the confines of a sci-fi drama series is a notable achievement. The only episode of season 6 written by Whedon, and far superior to the rest of the season as a whole.

Well here we are then. The best episode of Buffy The Vampire Slayer, the best thing ever to be on television, the culmination of 6 years of Whedonesque experimentation, his second treatise on communication creates this: a depressing musical which is funny, moving, intelligent, asking as it does questions about the musical genre and life itself whilst being the pivot that Series 6 turns on, not so much developing the plot as breaking it "wide open", as Tara would say, whilst still providing an entertaining self-contained story. Unlike Giles's exposition song in Restless, here the songs force the plot forward and expose the inner thoughts of the characters, but still sound like songs, they work on their own merits, just as, for example, My Funny Valentine works on its own, not just as part of Babes In Arms - and this episode stands alone and as one of 22 episodes in a series.



We start with an overture montage as everyone goes about their daily business, except Buffy who is lolling around, before cutting to her during her now natural place at night, combating a demon ritual in the graveyard. Just as the whole concept of a tiny blonde girl fighting and quipping with vamps was revolutionary, now we have a tiny blonde depressed girl dancing and singing with vamps and demons in a bizarre twist on a musical opener. This is a soliloquy that the demons interject with feeder rhymes: "She aint got that swing!" Buffy: "Thanks for noticing". Instead of fighting around her, the vamps perform a two-step. In a neat role reversal, the tied up blond would-be-victim/playmate operatically asks: "How can I repay…" to which Buffy replies: "Whatever!", showing the extent of her ennui. Would Series 2 Buffy have rejected flirting from a cute guy? No. Would Series 2 have been this ambitious? I think not. As the fight finishes, Buffy is standing not in a musical cloud of dry ice or bubbles, but vamp dust. Genre busting? Genre fusing, I'd say. Buffy has the most songs in this episode, because she is the star and because she has the most to say, having kept schtum for so long. But what she has to say is the same thing over and over again: she is unhappy, she feels dead inside, having died and been resurrected makes life meaningless:

"Crawl out of your grave, you'll find this fight /Just doesn't mean a thing." After the solo, the group number. Straight away we find out the reason that no-one finds the singing unusual is because they're under a spell - a neat comment on regular musicals where spontaneous bursting into song to express oneself is also considered normal. Watching a musical is being under a spell for an hour or two where you believe everything that unfolds in front of you. The gang theorise on the cause of the all singing and dancing episode: Giles gets it right straight away: "A dancing demon!" Willow recollects Series 1 by considering the possibility that "some kid is dreaming – and we're all stuck inside this wacky Broadway nightmare" – we are reminded that Willow hates to be on stage and this feeds into Alyson Hannigan having very few lines to sing, and no solo. This is interesting as we never get to hear Willow's internal monologue; what are her power-crazed thoughts? Xander, not a natural singer, nonetheless shows his perfect timing with a mini-rap about witches before Anya steals the limelight with her rock rabbit interlude to the discomfort of the more introverted Giles and Willow. But nobody minds Buffy's change of tone – or key – as she claims, it doesn't matter. They'll work it out. It's what they do. Her macabre sense of humour kicks in as she points out that it's do or die: "Hey I've died twice". "What can't we do if we're together", the gang claim. They're united. Even if Anya does get the last word.



Next up is Tara's love song. After being checked out by a couple of college boys (there's absolutely nothing lesbians like more than being stared at by men), Tara claims that they see Willow in her, that Willow has made her. Of course, this is all highly ironic as Willow is trying to create a girlfriend in the image she wants and Tara is literally under Willow's spell. The scene is imbued with light and decorative dresses, indeed, the whole episode is brilliantly coloured down to the demon's suits, the theme of red and fire, and Xander and Anya in their dark pink and blue Doris 'n' Rock nightwear. Willow glows in Tara's light, even though Tara claims that it's reflected glory. She sings that she's "Spread beneath [her] Willow tree,", she can feel Willow inside, she's lost in ecstasy - Joss gets away with a lot in this episode, including the – ahem - levitation scene. The song is interrupted by Xander complaining about their absence and here we get another comment on the notion of the musical – a song doesn't usually end half way through. Similarly, when we think we're going to hear Dawn singing a plaint about being left alone, she is snatched by the hench-puppets. Even the demon in Going Through the Motions dies half way through his line: "She's not even half the girl she….ow". There's more filth in the next big number, the fantastic "retro-pastiche" I'll Never Tell. Whilst Anya talks of love and marriage and giving up her old life for Xander, he is more interested in being in her "tight….embrace" and her "firm yet supple….tight embrace", whilst Anya reference Pangs with "His penis got diseases from a Chumash tribe". Xander worries that he won't live up to Anya's expectations whilst Anya's vanity takes a-hold and she frets about getting old. The two love and dislike each other's habits at the same time, but feel that they cannot tell each other this which is, of course, ironic since they are telling. Like Tara, Anya needs to have a life of her own, to not create her identity through her relationship. She doesn't need to swap her name for his. As in I've Got a Theory, Anya displays her attention-seeking side by interrupting Xander's verse and "dancing crazy" to distract the audience from Xander (who does pretty well with the dancing for a heavy man). The two face the camera and address their individual complaints to the audience and in the next scene Anya complains to Giles that a wall was missing from their apartment, and it felt as if they were being watched; further commentary on the musical genre.



Just as conflicted as Anya and Xander are Spike and Buffy. "Sun sets and she appears," comments Spike. He claims that he has been immune from all the "songs and dancing around" – until he has something to sing about, his big American rock number. Their relationship is one-sided, she gives nothing to him, if she's not going to "misbehave", then he doesn't want her around. He accuses her of "whisper[ing] in a dead man's ear" – she has told him that she was in heaven because she thinks that he isn't real, he is just a walking corpse. Later they fight and fall into an open grave – Spike and Buffy are both the walking undead and her morbid humour shows itself again when she says that she's "pretty spry for a corpse". They are more similar than Spike knows.



Spike wants her to leave, but is disappointed when she does. Later on, he tries to decide whether to kill her, then save her, or vice versa, before then resolving to "help her out". He claims that Buffy doesn't know what she wants, but neither does he – his desire for her is still mixed up with violence. "I can't get my sweet release," he sings, but whether he's talking about sex or death, we don't know.



Meanwhile Dawn is letting the cat out of the bag re: Willow's forgetting spell (without even singing) and her teen lament is cut short as she is kidnapped by Pinocchio-headed accomplices with whom she performs a Clara and the Mouse King style attempt-to-escape dance before being taken to Sweet who launches immediately into his Mr Bojangles soft-shoe shuffle number. "Don't you like my style?" he asks as he flicks from shocking red to brilliant blue and goes on to explain through song the message of the episode:



"I'm the heart of swing

I'm the twist and shout

When you gotta sing

When you gotta let it out" He is emotion, he is feeling, he is expression, but, as he goes on to point out, sometimes it's better to keep those feelings under control – when everything is released then people are burnt up by their emotions. It destroys them. We need moderation, we need to understand that we all feel sadness sometimes; that it is an essential part of life. This series is about excess – Buffy and sex, Willow and magic/drugs, even Anya and her obsession with the wedding. "That's the penalty when life is but a song," points out Sweet: we can't have an overload of feeling all the time, life can't be a musical, we can't be happy all the time. Earlier, David Fury's mustard song reminded me of Earshot, when Cordelia's inner thoughts are the same as her external pensées. Some people have nothing to sing about, their thoughts are mundane. But the ones who spontaneously reveal their pent up thoughts are the ones who spontaneously combust. We get more filth as Dawn explains to Sweet that she can't go with him to his underworld lair: "What I mean, I'm 15, so this queen thing's illegal" whilst, oblivious to Dawn's plight, Buffy does gymnastics as a dancing back up (bringing to mind the Buffy film) to Giles's lament. He sings about how he's standing in the way of her adult development. He can't "play the father" because he is not her dad, but she is treating him as one in her delegation of Dawn's discipline. "What would I do without you?" Buffy asks rhetorically – according to Giles, she would be forced to live her life. She needs to be coddled less in order for her to learn how to cope. Tara joins in the lament as she realises what Willow has been up to and she and Giles both declare that they have to leave in order for their loved ones to grow as people. "I wish I could stay," they harmonise. Willow is oblivious to Tara's decision, Buffy doesn't even hear Giles's song – "did you just say something?" she asks. She is not paying attention to him. Or her sister - "Dawn's in trouble, must be Tuesday," (or Thursday in the UK) she states laconically. The gang, certain that they could do anything as long as they were together, start to argue, about magic, about whether Buffy should go alone, and Buffy, hurt by Spike's song, refuses to let him go with her. She starts off to the traditional place of singing and dancing, the Bronze, wearing red and black and singing about the fire freezing her, whilst Spike, smoking, carrying a torch, burns for her. To Buffy "save the day or maybe melt away" are "all the same". Death not being the end has made life, and her choices, meaningless. The second of her soliloquies only repeats the emotions of the first. The fire in oil drums and the town in disarray reflect Season 6's first episode when she rose from the grave, and Dawn in a fancy frock captured by a demon from another dimension also seems familiar. Buffy even offers to replace Dawn as she did at the end of S5, but for very different reasons here. "What if I kill you?" asks Sweet. "Trust me, won't help," Buffy replies. Life and death are the same, what does anything matter? The gang walk through the fire, delaying the choral chorus until the fire-truck zips past in a moment of brilliance and then: "Let it burn….let it burn!" Tara's refrain of "What can't we face if we're together" becomes ironic as Buffy complains that: "One by one they turn from me, I guess my friends can't face the cold". Arriving at the Bronze, Buffy glowing in red, heads for showtime and into the finale. Answering Sweet's question: "Isn't life a miraculous thing?" she echoes As You Like it: "Life's a show and we all play our parts….You can sing along," she teases us whilst looking into the camera. We are Buffy, we are! She moves into musical clichés: "Where there's life there's hope. Every day's a gift. Wishes can come true. Whistle while you work……so hard every day to be like other girls – to fit into this glittering world."



But there's nothing in the world that affects Buffy. She has had the lion's share of the songs, but she has nothing to sing about, nothing to be joyful about, nothing to look forward to but fighting and violence. "Life's a song you don't get to rehearse/And every single verse/can make it that much worse." In the best joke of the series, Giles tells Anya and Tara that Buffy needs back up and they rush to harmonise and sway gently in the background. Buffy has news for them: there's only something to sing about in life if you know that it ends, death exists to give life value, but not if we have to keep coming back. Buffy has another shock for her friends:



"There was no pain. No fear, no doubt till they pulled me out….of heaven!"



Willow's face collapses as she realises what they've done and the gang are too distraught to help as Buffy's emotions go into overdrive and her pent up emotion is released into a smoking frenzy of hysterical dancing. It is only (the very flammable) Spike, with his 200 years of experience, who stops her burning up by reminding her what life is about:



"Life's not a song. Life isn't bliss. Life is just this: It's living." And Dawn reminds Buffy of her own words as she flung herself into oblivion: "The hardest thing in this world is to live in it". Buffy's only way of getting through her pain is to live it. This is a familiar motif in Whedon's work – remember Buffy and the beer as she failed to get over Parker? Willow's disastrous spells as Oz left (coincidentally when Buffy first kissed Spike?) Life isn't fun and games, it's real and it's pain as well as pleasure. This is why we frequently see through this musical into semi-reality, Joss is reminding us that life isn't a musical, that even in this heightened genre, BTVS is still about Life, capital L. That just as the demons were a metaphor for high school, this musical is a metaphor for post-education finding oneself. To prove this further, the gang start on the coda which, on an episode running very long, they wonder when "The End" – will come. We have found out the truth from everyone ("All those secrets you've been concealing. Say you're happy now, once more with feeling!" says Sweet as he rejects Xander's reluctant offer to be his queen) and they have won the battle, but it's the ultimate of pyhrric victories. "Where do we go from here," the gang ponder. They believed Buffy's careless "What cant we face if we're together", but now they understand that they'll "go hand in hand but they'll walk alone in fear". But even in the gang's song about alienation, Buffy is alone. She runs after Spike, her saviour, and we get a true Hollywood ending as the curtains close on a kiss. We get our resolution but it's not the right one – it's something we've been waiting a long time for, but we know it's not going to end in "hugs and puppies". "This isn't, real but I just want to feel", says Buffy – she's still using him. Spike, a dead thing, says "You can make me feel" – it's unnatural for a corpse to be that way. The trumpets may cheer but this is not a happy ending. But it is entertainment.



But one thing we still want to know – did the Troika break into a three part harmony celebrating the Star Wars trilogy?

Amazing. There is a fantastic mix of humor, music, and adventure. The writing? Excellent. The dancing? Great. The songs? Perfect. The singing? Well, everything can't be perfect. This episode was a great why to get the truth out there without having it be a cheesy hugging and crying scene. It was really brillant. Plus Giles and Spike need to show off their voices somehow. There's no better way. The whole thing is heartwarming, even though it deals with some of Buffy's serious issues. I think this line's mostly filler. Overall, it was at least the best episode of the season, if not of the whole series.

This was seriously my fave episode of the entire series, i never get sick of watching it and know all the songs by heart..."i want the fire back" my fave song. Everyone did an incredible job..i was sceptical when i first heard that they were actually going to try this but i have to say Joss Whedon you are my hero, you did a musical episode that was neither lame nor cheesy.The whole episode revolves around the insecurities of each character being brought out into the open because they suddenly start singing about it.Without a doubt the best singer of them all is Anthony Stewart Head AKA Giles But each member of the cast brings it and none disappoint.

This is one of my all time favorite BTVS episodes. This is a very original episode where we see our favorite Scoobies sing and dance while they fight a dancing demon named Sweet.

When the gang least suspects it, and when they least one to, they break out in song, and share their most intimate feelings that have kept hidden.

We learn that both Anya and Xander are unsure about their up coming wedding. Tara learns that Willow has been messing with her memories. Buffy tells the gang that they didn't pull her out of hell, but out of heaven. Spike once again professes his love for Buffy. The demon Sweet must be stopped before he forces a marriage on Dawn.

This is just an all around great episode. The cast does a wonderful job singing as well. The songs are catchy and get stuck in your head very easily.

Words cannot describe this episode. Singing and Dancing. This episode does it all for both the Buffy fans and fair weather. I can watch this episode over and over. The music is fantastic and the story is playful. It really is well put together and fun to watch. The inner workings of each character is explord through song and you really get a better picture of who they are. In regards to story arcs, this episode does nothing, and that is a rare good thing. This episode can be watched out of order, even by people who have no real nowledge of watch the story aarc of the season is. Very good.

this is the best episode from buffy the vampire slayer that i've ever seen. i really love this show and i love music so making a musical episode really gets me. it's very creative for the writer of the show to come up with this worth watching episode. it's very impressive. the songs define the characters and what they feel and the actors themselves did a great performance. imagine slaying vampires and singing at the same time! it's clever how they incorporate the story as a musical and i think they really work hard for this and really thought this through.

Okay. let me just start off by saying: WOW! Very few television series have ever been able to pull off a 'musical' episode before, but 'Buffy the Vampire Slayer' does it really well.



I loved all of the songs that were on here (granted, some were better than others). Tara's song ('I'm Under Your Spell') is absolutely beautiful. She sings it so well. Buffy's song ('Life's A Show') is well done. One of the whole Scoobie gang's song ('Walk Through the Fire') is catchy, and has some revealing lyrics to it, like Buffy's 'Life's A Show'.



The main part of this episode that I loved was the fact that everyone's true feelings and emotions come out finally. We find out several new things about the characters (a memorable moment being in 'Life's A Show', when the Scoobie gang finds out that they pulled Buffy out of Heaven, not Hell).



All in all, this episode is one of the highlights of the series, along with 'Seeing Red' and 'Grave'.

I like the way this episode started off. It's nice to hear what actor's/actresses voices sound like. The first song, "Going Through The Motions", Sarah Michelle Gellar sang great. In this song Buffy reveals that things have been weird since she got pulled out of the ground. It's was a great way to start of the episode. My favourite part during the song "I've got a theory" is when Anya sings about the bunnies. My favourite song in this sepisode is when Tara sings "I'm Under Your Spell". Amber Benson has a lovely voice. I thought the funniest ssong in this episode was when Anya and Xander sing "I'll Never Tell". Emma Caulfield and Nicholos Brendon are good singers, but Emma is better. Spike singing "Rest in Peace" was excellent. I really enjoyed that. Giles singing was really good too in "Standing". Alyson Hannigan has good singing voice. Too bad she didn't have a big singing part in this episode.

When I first watched a Buffy episode ( I think it was one of the second season ) , I didn't understand what it is all about. But I qickly became addicted with the series, mostly because it is emotional yet funny, and with every creepy monster we can see how human the characters are.

Buffy was my secret for a while, I had thought I would never admit to anyone, how addicted I was. Then " Once more with feeling " came. I couldn't stop talking about the episode and the story and singing the songs. I showed the episode to my best friend, and he became addicted too!

I watched the show when it was on TV but stopped after the second season because school/training got in the way. Then I saw this episode on You Tube last summer and decided to watch all episodes leading up to that and when I got there I couldn't stop. The lyrics are excellent and the lines are ever as funny! I especially love Spike's song! Though I didn't really understand Sweet's power, was it that he made everyone sing their secrets, messing their lives up and then spontaneously combusting when they didn't have any more energy? Anyway, a really awesome episode in whole, my favourite in the entire series!

One of my favorite episodes.It's very creative.at first when buffy started singing,i though it was just something she'll do,guess not.the look on Wilow's face when she found out buffy was in heaven was quite sad,it was just devastating.

I never expected that Sarah had such a voice,not that i say she can't sing, her singing was just amazing!my favorite song is "I got a theory",especialy when Anya started singing about bunnies,couldn't help but laugh.in "i'll never tell", i like it when Anya started singing that Xander hides behind buffy and that he got beady eyes(not that i agree)every thing seem to rhime.Spike singing "rest in peace" suites him well,with the rock and all.when i first heard tara sing,i didn't know it was her voice.when i found, i was like oh...cool.i like the song,"standing", giles sang,i pretty much like all the songs anyway.from what i heard,Alyson and Michelle didn't want to sing,but i think they have great singing voices.and i will stop my rambling now.

The musical episode is by far my favorite episode of this wonderful series. Even though the episode on the whole was funny, it also shed some light on what the characters were thinking and feeling. Especially Buffy's solo towards the end about her experience in heaven. I loved Anya's bunny solo and the man who sang about his mustard stained shirt.(Well, his previously stained shirt anyway) =) Everyone basically had there only solo or duet other than poor Will. lol "His penis got diseases from a Shumash tribe!"



"There was no parking anywhere, I swear that hydrant wasn't there"



"Bunnies, bunnies, it must be bunnies.... or maybe midgets" lol Best episode of the series! =)

Once More With Feeling is without a doubt one of my favourite episodes of any television show. Of course, I've loved musicals since I as a young teenager saw my first musical on holiday in London, so that wasn't something I had to get past. Still, pre-watching I did had my concerns that suddenly doing a musical episode (after 100+ episodes) would ruin any credibility it might have had, but the mere fact that the musical-ness is actually integrated into the story takes care of that.



Another thing I love is its place within the story arc. They could easily have made an episode which worked entirely on its own and had goofy songs about the characters in general. Luckily Joss Whedon opted to write songs that gave real insight into the characters minds and what was going on with them (Buffy "going through the motions", Xander and Anya having doubts about their wedding etc.) and let them say things they wouldn't otherwise have done (Spike's love/hate feelings for Buffy, but most importantly Buffy's experience of Heaven), which means that the episode isn't just a fun filler, but actually serves to move things along.



And of course, last but not least, the actors. How incredible are they? Yes, I'm aware that they were by no means perfect, but this is where you need to get some perspective: First, none of these actors were hired for their singing voices. Second, considering that they are in fact playing characters who are not professional singers or dancers and are suddenly put under a spell which makes them sing and dance, I think it's perfectly reasonable that their performances are flawed. Taking those two points into account, I find every song absolutely listenable and enjoyable (and how fantastic is the song writing?! This from a man who couldn't play and instrument let alone write a song before this!). Sure I wouldn't buy an entire album with any of the actors except James Marsters (which I have in fact done) whose performance is the only one I find pretty flawless - the rest have moments - but then I guess his bits aren't too challenging range-wise. And Anthony Head, who has a pretty darn great voice. Of course I should mention Amber Benson here as well, who was rather amazing in her rendition of Under Your Spell (as well as the Under Your Spell / Standing reprise with Anthony). But really, every actor does such an amazing job with this thing - even Sarah who I've read the most complaints about; obviously she hasn't got the best singing voice, but I was able to enjoy her performance anyhow as 1) I honestly didn't feel she was terrible and 2) she still manages to bring a strength to her performance which makes up for what she lacks in technique.



Anywho, I think it's time to wrap this up as I feel I'm starting to repeat myself a little. Suffice it to say, I thoroughly enjoyed (and still do) this episode and its songs for what they are.

Once more with feeling is an episode really different from all the others...'couse is a musical!

I really love this ep...is full of touching moments/songs that made us understand better the way characters are developed.

While Buffy is moving to save Dawn and all the othes characters choose to go help her, they sing the same song as when they are in front of the demon who kidnapped Dawn. Are really important moments for them all 'couse Buffy admit in front of her friends that they brought she back not from Hell...but from Heaven! And they have to understand what they did...

I also like the end when Buffy and Spike kissed...I always liked Spike!

The best episode of a great serie!

A truly pivotal episode. By masking the dialogue with song, this episode, more than any of the others reveals much of the true thoughts and feelings of each member. Buffy's conflicting emotions when it comes to Spike and her sense of being disconnected with the world masked by her glib "hey I died twice!" retort in the opening scenes and later "pretty spry for a corpse". The most haunting moment probably Buffy's revelation to the group that they had in fact ripped her out from heaven. It culminates beautifully in Buffy and Spikes explosive union - sparks truly fly. Dawn's mistaken belief in her inadvertent involvement is slowly revealed in a truly brilliant way. When she is first "abducted" - this provided a truly creepy moment. We get a true sense of her pent up teenage angst and her increasing sense of being invisible to the others. It also deals with Willows continued spiral into the darkness due to the spell which she'd previously cast on Tara. The rosy picture of Xander and Anya's love with all the uncertainties of what marriage will bring and her hilarious fear of bunnies! Giles the ever concerned father figure who wants Buffy to progress without him. The more you watch this episode, the more it reveals of each character. A true classic!

So lets start with the one real thing that disappoints me so we can get onto the happy stuff. I wish Alyson Hannigan had done a little more singing. I mean all the other main character had their own song or a duet, Spike had 'Rest in Peace,' Xander and Anya had 'I'll Never Tell' and Giles had 'Standing in the Way.' I've heard that she herself has said she wishes that she'd done a little more, and I don't really see why she didn't, her voice doesn't even seem half bad. The few lines she does have are good ones though, I'd just liked to have seen that Willow wit in song. But you know she's Alyson Hannigan (squee!) she can just stand there and I'm happy and considering she goes all Darth Willow later this season I can forgive her.



So happy stuff. Well kind of happy stuff first. I'm happy they didn't give Dawn her own song, that they cut it off. To be honest I'd rather have heard her song about Maths that she sung at school because the start of the one she was going to have was pretty emo. Sorry Dawny, I love you, but I 'm happy they gave you the duet with Sweet instead. A teenagers song that starts 'Does anybody even notice, does anybody even care...' is not one I really want to listen to. So I'm glad they let her stick to her dancing with the pinocchio guys and her bit with Sweet.



I don't think I can choose a song I don't like, they're all amazing (apart from the start of Dawn's none song of course) and I find it hard to choose a favourite too. James Marsters and Anthony Steward Head are amazing singers, which we already knew since they do actually sing but even the others did great too. Amber Benson has an amazing voice, which surprised me. Speaking of Amber, you actually see her bumping into the metal posts when she's dancing during 'Something to Sing About' Poor thing.



Oh I'm glad they had Buffy finally tell them all she was in heaven during a song rather than in a normal episode, I think it would have been really depressing if she'd told them another time. You can tell from the look on everyones faces it would have been so hard to watch, especially from Willow's considering she was the one who brought her back. Plus having Spike turn up to tell her whats what when she does the whole dance of death helped.



Sweet actually points out Willow's power, which I like because she sounds so evil when he does notice it. I loved the twist, that Xander was the one who summoned him, plus it obviously gave them a way to get past killing the demon when they didn't really have time for it with all the singing. And of course, as a musical must end, a kiss and the curtains.



oh oh Giles singing 'Tell me!' is the best part of the final song, it's just perfect! I mean seriously, come on!

First of all Joss is a genius! This episode makes me smile every time I watch it. The fact that he dares to and can just write a whole musical episode and fit it in the rest of the story shows how talented Joss is. I was surprised (most of) the cast could sing that well. Especially Anthony Head and James Marsters. Kudos to them. Maybe I'm silly but I thought the Mustard song was hilarious. So was I'll Never Tell , the lyrics are funny and then Anya did this crazy dance. I couldn't stop laughing. The cast of Buffy preformed really good in this episode. This would be one of the best episodes I've seen in the Buffyverse.

i love it through and through and find Once More With Feeling to be the greatest thing to ever happen on television(along with Hush and The Gift of course),it is completely stunning,and highly original which is often lacking in tv genre shows like this,but Buffy alays manages to pull it off and remain one of the best shows (if not the best)show ever made.

the songs here are on top form,the cinematography is simply wonderful,and there is much wanted character development in store.

all in all this is one of the best episodes ever to be shown on television,and by far one of the best episodes from the show.

the best musical for a series ever made...bravo Joss.

Even though I normally don't like musicals very much, I loved this episode. All the songs were great, my favourites were I'll never tell, Walk through the fire and Going throught the motions. I actually downloaded this episode onto my computer so I can watch it over and over again. Not only did Spike and Buffy get together (still unsure how i feel about that), but we see everyone's true feelings as they burst out in song. The verses were catchy and almost everyone had a part. Also, when they sing, they tell some of their deepest darkest secrets which will affect some of the episodes to come. This is a much watch and it is entertaining from start to end. A true classic!