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6.7 Once More, With Feeling

Buffy: "Uh, so did anyone, ah, last night, you know... did anyone, um, burst into song?"

Freaking brilliant. If this episode doesn't get Joss Whedon an Emmy, nothing will.

Why was it brilliant? Because Joss got past the stumbling block of people bursting spontaneously into song by making the cause of it part of the story, and roping us in right at the beginning. Because it was a master stroke to have each character sing only the truth. And mostly because it covered every single major plot point they've been working on this season so far, and advanced the story to a brand new place.

Plot points, such as:

-- Buffy's depression after her actual-death experience ("I don't want to be / going through the motions") culminating with her telling everyone the painful truth at the end.

-- The cohesiveness of the gang, which may now be falling apart ("What can't we face if we're together").

-- The evil thing that Willow has done to Tara, in what was probably the best song ("I'm under your spell"). Such incredibly ambiguous lyrics illustrating the darkness between them, while they walk through that preternaturally sunny park in Ren Fair dresses on their way home to make love. And sexy? "Spread beneath my Willow tree?"

-- The problems with the Xander/Anya relationship ("I'll never tell"), especially illustrated by the lyrics, "The vibe gets kinda scary, like she thinks I'm ordinary, like it's all just temporary" and "Am I marrying a demon?" Well, yes, Xander, you are. Unless you back out, which I now see coming.

-- Dawn's increasing misbehavior. She only had a few lines to sing, but she did well with the dancing. And she even got to dance with the "Lord of the Dance -- not the scary one."

-- Giles coming to realize that Buffy will never become an adult while he's there to be her father ("Wish that I could stay here, but now I understand... I'm standing in the way"). This particular song brought me to tears, especially when Tara joined in and she and Giles were singing about leaving to Willow and Buffy, who couldn't hear them.

-- Spike's painful and unrequited love for Buffy, in what was the other candidate for best song ("Let me rest in peace"). It was obvious that Spike had reached his limit and couldn't handle it any more, because she's still rejecting him all the while that she keeps seeking him out. He tried so hard to get her out of his crypt before he started singing, didn't he? The look on his face when he did start singing was priceless.

So. Has Buffy suddenly realized that she's in love with Spike? No. I think Buffy is attracted to him and maybe always has been (there's that bad boy thing that she has) but I think she finally succumbed to Spike because she's desperate to feel anything at this point. He's there, he's gorgeous, he understands her and is still crazy about her, and she might think he's safe because he's not human. Will she ever really love him? Hard to tell; stranger things have happened. But I don't think so. Poor Spike.

A lot of love and attention went into every moment of this episode, and it shows in the details: like the bizarre credits; the fifties feel; the discordant note when Buffy sings the word "heaven"; the fire truck going by as the gang sings the word "burn"; even the hairy toes and skeezy cheeses.

The voices. Anthony Stewart Head, James Marsters, and Amber Benson in particular were all wonderful. Sarah Michelle Gellar, as usual, did a large part of this episode and even sang and danced well; she's so good at everything that I often take her for granted. And Emma Caulfield more than held her own, too.

Bits:

-- The "grr argh" at the end was sung.

-- Loved Anya and the bunnies. "They got them hoppy legs and twitchy little noses / and what's with all the carrots?"

-- Spike: "I hope she fries / I'm free if that bitch dies / I'd better help her out."

-- Why are baddies always putting Dawn in exotic dresses?

Wonderful, moving lyrics and serious moments:

-- Tara: "Willow, don't you see / there'll be nothing left of me."

-- Spike: "If my heart could beat / it would break my chest."

-- Buffy: "I touch the fire and it freezes me / I look into it and it's black / Why can't I feel? / My skin should crack and peel / I want the fire back."

-- Willow's face when she realized that she took Buffy out of heaven. I noticed that Willow didn't sing much, which was appropriate for her character since we still don't really know what's going on inside of her.

Other wonderful quotes:

Xander: "Respect the cruller. And tame the donut."


Xander: "Merciful Zeus!"

Man: "They got... the mustard... out!"

Dawn: "You will never believe what happened at school today."
Buffy: "Everybody started singing and dancing?"
Dawn: "I gave birth to a pterodactyl."
Anya: "Oh my god, did it sing?"

Tara: "I'm cured! I want the boys!"

Xander: "Somebody set people on fire? That's nuts!"
Anya: "I don't know. One more verse of our little ditty and I would've been looking for a gas can."

Spike: "I've seen some damn funny things in the last two days. A 600 pound Chirago demon making like Yma Sumac, that one will stay with you. I remain immune, happy to say. Drink?"
Buffy: "A world of no. So any idea what's causing this?"
Spike: "Oh. So that's all. You've just come to pump me for information."
Buffy: "What else would I wanna pump you for? I really just said that, didn't I?"

Buffy: "So. Dawn's in trouble. Must be Tuesday."

Anya: "Dawn may have had the wrong idea in summoning this creature, but I've seen some of these underworld child bride deals and, and they never end well. Well, maybe once."

Buffy: "I thought you wanted me to stay away from you. Isn't that what you sang?"
Xander: "Spike sing a widdle song?"
Anya: "Would you say it was a breakaway pop hit or more of a book number?"

Spike: "You should go back inside. Finish the big group sing. Get your kum-ba-yayas out."

I could do another few pages, but I'd better stop here. It's only Thursday and I've already watched this episode three times; the third time I even had the close captioning on so that I could catch every word. I think this is one of the best episodes of the entire series.

Five out of four stakes,

Billie





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