Once More, with Feeling

Plot (From DVD Case): A demon named Sweet descends upon Sunnydale in search of Dawn, his arrival causing everyone to burst into song and dance - and eventually into flame.

Review: Out of all the episodes of "Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season Six", this has to be the must see episode. The episode is very similar to what "Xena Warrior Princess" did back in 1997 with the episode 'The Bitter Suite', taking the main character's hidden problems and having them face them through singing. This is the episode of Season Six where everything seems to come to its peak; Buffy begins to come to reality about being torn from heaven by her friends. Willow's growing addiction to magic is creating a gap between her and Tara. Xander and Anya are having doubts about their marriage. Dawn's habits of stealing are getting her in trouble, and Giles believes he is only standing in his slayer's way by staying in America. Plus, Spike's love/hate obsession with Buffy takes a shocking turn in the end.

Aside from being and awesome episode that digs into the character's psychologies, it also has clever and entertaining music. There is a track on this episode that everyone will like. All the actors have wonderful voices, and Joss Whedon writes magnificent lyrics for them to sing to. "Going Through the Motions", "I'll Never Tell", "Under Your Spell", and "Walk Through the Fire" are among the songs which you will hear. The episode is able to use the lyrics of the songs and make them humorous and heartbreaking.

This is a must-see episode for any "Buffy" fan. It is heartbreaking, emotional, funny, and overall well done. After watching 'Once More, With Feeling' you'll agree that "Buffy" is music to your ears.

Episode Air Date:

And it's still one of my favorite episode of TV ever. I recently went through the entire series for the first time in probably 15 years, and after a rocky first season, this show has held up incredibly well.

What's more impressive is that I'm usually not a fan of musicals or musical episodes of shows, but the songs were amazing, and fit the context of the turmoil Buffy was experiencing perfectly.

Hollywood in 2022 could learn a whole hell of a lot from this show. It showed it is not only possible to cover social issues without sacrificing the story, but how to do it in a way that actually benefits it.

Today, everything is so hamfisted that they're actually doing harm to the issues they claim to be representing.

I'm utterly furious and disappointed at the negative reviews posted here regarding this bright, delightful and different episode of BTWS. Joss Whedon is a brilliant director, hands down and this proves just right. The negative comment mostly consist of the unprofessional training of the actors, musical? best episode ever? To answer a few; I personally love this episode. Which series that have drama, comedy, action, horror give one episode fill with catchy songs and musical episode? NONE. Musical? I'm not a big fan of musical myself, but I adore Buffy and to see my beloved characters in different right, once; it's special. Best episode ever? okay, maybe the comments were exaggerated, but can you blame it?! I think people need to relax and grow up, to give 3 star rating to a memorable episode like this one is just retarded.

Bravo! BTWS forever :D

I'll be honest, I don't watch Buffy the Vampire Slayer regularly- not now or even really much when it was on more in syndication and in its original run- but I did watch it casually sometimes with friends, and did enjoy the occasionally corny fights and angsty teen drama thrown in (plus, Anthony Stewart Head is quite the cool mentor). I had never seen this episode either, but had heard a lot about it from my girlfriend who is a much greater fan of the series than I. An incentive finally came to watch the episode here, where it's all practically singing and dancing with all of the usual characters coming into the swing of things (by way of a spell of course), as the episode is now presented under the 'Buffy Sing-along' in certain theaters across the country (if it's not near your city or town, it might be soon, it just left NYC). I was expecting a jovial enough time with the audience participation, but nothing great. Needless to say I'm writing this comment mostly to covey how immensely entertained I was by the whole shebang.

Joss Whedon, who wrote and directed the episode, alongside his musical collaborators, really 'get' how to make the wonderful contrivances of musicals fitting for their own types in their show, and it's a feast for fans and still provides many great, up-beat, catchy, and funny songs all the way through. It also helps that the cast in this case is a knockout more often than not, even with Sarah Michelle Gellar not as the greatest singer out there (she had to take singing lessons to prepare for the episode apparently). It would be hard for me to explain to much to such casual watchers of the show like myself, but if you know all the continuity of season five and six then it's no problem. Basically, a spell is cast somehow, and everyone breaks into songs and sometimes dances too, and moreover it brings out the emotions that the characters have been hiding (i.e. Spike's love for Buffy, Giles reluctance with certain matters, Willow's own love- which is rather graphic when you put the lyrics into total context), and also conjures up some demons who have a leader who will make the spell-caster a Queen. The revelation of this, of course, is just another of the jokes.

While I'm sure I would've still had a good time watching the episode at home, it's recommended to try and catch the live show just as much. The episode gives so much for an audience to chew up and have fun with, especially late at night ala Rocky Horror, and it makes for grand silliness even when things seem darkest in the storyline and psychologies. The music, meanwhile, is keen and tight and rhythmic without being corny (I loved the Spike song, and even the power ballad from Giles was fun, plus the demon song & dance), and the lyrics strike up enough wit for three episodes. The dialog from Whedon is also top notch (i.e. "So, Dawn's in trouble... must be Tuesday"). And the whole time, when I wasn't laughing from the totally unexpected bits and complete adherence to cheerful whimsy, I had a big stupid smile on my face (if you see it live, by the way, feel more than free to sing-along with everyone else). While I wouldn't discredit that it has merit alongside the rest of the season, as a stand-alone episode it takes the cake, and even could compare with the likes of Singin in the Rain as a truly happiest musical time.

"Once More with Feeling" is one of the best episodes of modern television, period - musical or not, sci-fi show or not, part of the mediocre season 6 of "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" or not. When I first saw it, I was mesmerised. I happen to like a lot of the songs too, especially Giles' 'Standing', which was beautiful and touching. Joss Whedon created a masterpiece in the form of this episode with his songwriting skills (unexpected) and its wonderful plot. Lots of shows have a musical episode, but they are VERY risky. When "Oz" did it, it was fabulous as well, but understandably it is an easy thing to mess up. This episode should be revered and remembered for what it is.