ONCE MORE WITH FEELING AGAIN AND AGAIN.

The Musical episode of Buffy The Vampire Slayer divides people into two camps: those who love it and those who hate it. I love the episode, "Once More With Feeling". It has to be one of those episodes that just make sense in a way where in other shows it is just a gimmick. My favorite songs have to be "Under A Spell", "Rest In Peace", and Anya's bunny bit in "I've Got A Theory". One song number I don't care for which is "I'll Never Tell". There are many great voices by the actors in this episode with Amber Benson being the best and Anthony Stewart Head coming in at a close second (with James Marsters not far behind). Sarah Michele Gellar signs better than Britney Spears (whom I don't think sings as well as SMG). There is even a web site dedicated to this episode (http://musical.chosentwo.com). Some people like me and others like Little Willow love this episode. Amber Benson just looks more attractive once I heard her signing voice and I stumbled upon The Essence of Amber (http://www.amberbenson.net) which is run by Little Willow (whom even has a shrine to her, but more on that later).



"Once More With Feeling" just leaves me giddy and happily the songs echo in my head over and over like some CD on continuous repeat.



Dawn looks cute as usual and one of the best faux pause moments has to be when the demon's servant comes with a message for the slayer and it looks like he may sing, but he speaks the message instead. A musical episode wouldn't work on Angel, but it works perfectly on Buffy The Vampire Slayer because this is a show that doesn't take itself seriously all the time and the cast have better singing voices than the cast of Angel. The musical episode plays out like an old musical from the 1940s or 1950s and the way The End pops up at the end of the episode confirms it even more. The songs move forward the plot and have the characters reveal some thing they rather not reveal. This is a special episode that ranks in the top four favorite Buffy episodes ("Hush", "The Body", and "Passion" being the other three). "Once More With Feeling" deserves a special DVD release because think of all of the behind-the-scenes footage that can be shown of it and imagine a commentary by Joss and the whole cast on the episode. Will Joss Whedon be able to top himself again with a special Buffy episode next year? Only Time will tell.



Now on to the question on why some love the episode and why others hate it. Some aren't big fans of musicals at all and some of those fans didn't like the episode at all while others just perfer Buffy to be a straight drama without people bursting into song for an entire episode. To others, the episode makes perfect sense and it fits in well with the serious drama of "The Body" and "Hush" where people can't talk. Joss Whedon pulls it off with a great degree of genius, but there are a couple of snafus in "Hush". If people have lost their voices, why are we able to hear them cry?! It's a minor nitpick of a great episode, but it is there. Now everything comes back to Little Willow who is adored by many on the internet for her great fan sites including The Essence of Amber which is endorsed by Amber Benson herself, The Slayground(http://www.slayground.net) , and official sites for writer Christopher Golden and Actor Danny Strong among others. There is a little web shrine to this web mistress (http://www.kibathediva.net/kibathediva/littlewillow). When she says thank you in a message in her forums that she moderates, it is almost like you hear her blushing over the internet. She has a true love for the sites she maintains and in her replies and posts. What is more that I can say that the those two simple words at the end of all classic movies? Just nothing at all.



this article is (c)2002 David Blackwell