Guest Starring: 
     
 Anthony Strewart Head: 
 (Giles) 
   
 Hinton Battle: 
 (Dancing Demon) 
   
 David Fury: 
 (Mustard Man) 
   
 Marti Noxon: 
 (Parking Ticket Woman) 
   
 Daniel Weaver: 
 (Handsome Young Man) 
   
 Scot Zeller: 
 (Henchman) 
   
 Zachary Woodlee: 
 (Henchman / demon) 
   
 Timothy Anderson: 
 (Henchman) 
   
 Alex Estronel: 
 (Henchman) 
   
 
 
  7. Once More, With Feeling.  
   
  A musical demon is in town, forcing all to sing about their deepest held secrets.  
   
  Great quotes:  
   
 
Tara sings about her love of Willow.
  • Buffy: "♪ I've been making shows of trading blows just hoping no-one knows; that I've been going through the motions..."
  • Buffy: "I'm not exactly quaking in my stylish-yet-affordable boots."
  • All: "♪ We have to try; we'll pay the price; it's do or die..." Buffy: "♪ Hey I've died twice!"
  • Anya: "Will you still wanna make me waffles when we're married?" Xander: "No, I'll only make them for myself, but by California law you will own half of them."
  • Anya: "♪ I talk, he breezes." Xander: "♪ She doesn't know what pleases." Anya: "♪ His penis got diseases from a Chumash tribe!"
  • Xander: "Ergo the weirdness."
  • Giles: "... the police were taking witness arias..."
  • Spike: "♪ I know I should go; but I follow you like a man possessed; ♪ There's a traitor here beneath my breast; ♪ and it hurts me more than you've ever guessed; ♪ If my heart could beat it would break my chest; ♪ but I can see you're unimpressed."
  • Tara: "... the whole musical extravaganza evil... some kind of lord of the dance, but not the scary one. Just a demon."
  • Dancing Demon: "♪ I
    Hinton Battle as the demonic dancer.
    can bring whole cities to ruin; and still have time to get a soft shoe-in. ♪ Something's cooking, I'm at the griddle; I bought Nero his very first fiddle."
  • Buffy: "I'm just worried this whole session is going to turn into a training montage from an 80's movie." Giles: "Well if we hear any inspirational power chords we'll just lie down until they go away."
  • Giles to Buffy: "♪ Your path's unbeaten, and it's all uphill; ♪ and you can meet it, but you never will; ♪ and I'm the reason that you're standing still..."
  • Buffy "♪ I touch the fire and it freezes me; I look into it and it's black; ♪ why cant I feel; my skin should crack and peel; I want the fire back."
  • Spike on Buffy: "♪ I hope she dies; I'm free if that bitch fries; I'd better help her out."
  • Buffy: "♪ Life's a song you don't get to rehearse; and every single verse; can make it that much worse."
  • Buffy: "♪ There was no pain; no fear no doubt; till they pulled me out; of heaven. ♪ So that's my refrain; I live in hell; cos I've been expelled from heaven. ♪ So give me something to sing about!"
  • Dancing Demon: "♪ All those secrets you've been concealing; say you're happy now, once more with feeling."
  
  Fantastic moments:  
   
 
Buffy sings about her loss of lust for life.
  • As Buffy saunters through the graveyard she sings "♪ Nothing seems to penetrate my heart!" at the same time as slaying a vampire. Good timing girl.
  • Tara's ballad to Willow is probably the most well-sung piece in the episode, the song has lots of covert - and wildly overt - sexual references "♪ I break with every swell; lost in ecstasy; spread beneath my Willow tree..." Willow disappears out of shot as Tara levitates off her bed, we cut quickly to Xander sitting in the magic shop "I bet they're not even working."
  • Everything about Anya and Xander's
    Xander and Anya sing about hidden marital fears.
    'I'll never tell' routine is just beautiful, from the lighting to the colours, art, décor, dancing, lyrics and design of their flat, nothing is out of place. The best bit about it is that Caulfield and Brendon look like they're having so much fun; that's the kind of vibe that carries through into the camera and on to screen.
  • The front page of the Sunnydale newspaper that Xander hold up has the headline 'Mayhem caused, monsters certainly not involved officials say.' Now that's post-modern comedy.
  • Hinton Battle's tap dancing is brilliant, almost makes me want to go and catch a show up the west end rather than sitting in front of the TV all day.
  • Giles's solo has very emotional lyrics, he sings about the fact that Buffy is unable to move on from her childhood because of his continuing parental influence. The decision to let one's protégé become independent is a difficult one, all parents hope they'll have the courage to make the right choices.
  • There's a great moment when Spike captures one of the dancing henchmen, he tells him "Go on, sing." The music kicks in, the camera zooms, and the henchman delivers a spoken monotone "My master has the slayer's sister."
  • The fire engine is beyond genius. As 'Walk through the fire' builds to a powerful finale and all the characters converge for the final battle the song's chorus holds back until the final verse "♪ We will walk through the fire; and let it burn!" cue fire engine.
  • Giles tells Ayna and Tara that Buffy 'needs back-up' they immediately run in and provide a dancing harmony to 'Something to sing about'.
  
  Duff Bits:  
   
 
  • I don't quite know what to make of Buffy and Xander's disdain of Dawn calling Willow and Tara's relationship 'romantic'. Surely these two liberal-minded young Californians don't harbour secret homophobic attitudes?
  • The revelation that in fact Xander summoned the dancing demon makes less than no sense; it doesn't even have any dramatic weight to balance this, it's just pointless. Surely he would have owned up far earlier instead of asking Giles what was going on and acting all stupid.
  • After this episode, BtVS was never as good as it used to be. If ever there was a clear case of 'jumping the shark' it is 'Once More With Feeling, almost as if the effort needed to go into the production of this episode was so much that the creative juices were sapped. The final song has the characters singing, "Where do we go from here?" a good question for the Scoobies and the production team alike.
  
  Dean's comments:  
   
 
Buffy, Tara and Anya dance in the show-stopping finale.
Fantastically silly, tongue-in-cheek, self-referential and seemingly always aware of the kind of response it was likely to receive from fans and critics alike, 'Once More With Feeling' represents the pinnacle of the creative force behind BtVS. It is an epic masterpiece of modern television, showing that anything is possible if one has a vision and is prepared to put in enough time to see it to conclusion. Admittedly the singing voices of the BtVS cast are not exactly up to Broadway standards, but that's hardly the point. The production, time and obvious care that has gone into the music, lyrics, choreography and overall design combine to ensure that the episode puts not a foot wrong throughout and deserves to be watched and taken seriously by everyone. The episode opens wonderfully; from the silly 1950s feel of the credits, the free breeziness of the overture and Buffy's heartfelt singing solo through the graveyard, the audience are dumped straight into a format they've never seen before. Just as we are struggling to come to terms with what is going on the episode becomes even more post-modern as Buffy briefly becomes the audience, asking quizzically "Last night did anybody, you know... burst into song?" We then progress through a series of different musical and stylistic genres as each of the main characters sing about their hidden secrets, unwillingly revealing their darkest thoughts to those from whom they would wish the secrets kept.
Xander and Anya in 'I'll never tell', the show's highlight.
From Buffy's incredibly silly - and at the same time deep - opening solo through Xander and Anya's brilliantly funny and camp duet all the way to the power of 'Walk through the Fire' and the heart-rending gloom of Buffy's show-stopping 'Something to sing about' (Gellar looks fantastic in her red velvet outfit), the writers succeed in wringing every last drop of emotion out of this turning point in the lives of their characters. The most important thing is that the episode is not out of place, each song is necessary and makes sense in terms of the on going plot and themes of this sixth season, Buffy's unwillingness to enjoy life, Dawn's emerging adulthood, Xander's fear of growing up, Willow and Tara's powerful relationship and Giles' knowledge that he has taught Buffy all she can learn from him. I've said all I need to really, this is simply one of the most imaginative, daring and entertaining productions that has ever been on TV; watch, enjoy.

Oh, did you want to know my favourite song? Probably 'Walk through the fire', although 'I'll never tell' has winning choreography, stunning colour, lighting and décor and is definitely the best routine.

 
   
 10/10 
 
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