Once More, with Feeling (Buffy episode)
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| Buffy the Vampire Slayer episode | |
|---|---|
| “Once More, with Feeling” | |
| Image:Buffy607.jpg | |
| Episode no. | Season 6 Episode 7 |
| Guest star(s) | Anthony Stewart Head (Giles) Hinton Battle (Sweet) Amber Benson (Tara) |
| Writer(s) | Joss Whedon |
| Director | Joss Whedon |
| Production no. | 6ABB07 |
| Original airdate | 6 November 2001 |
| Episode chronology | |
| ← Previous | Next → |
| "All the Way" | "Tabula Rasa" |
"Once More, with Feeling" is a musical episode of the television series Buffy the Vampire Slayer. It was written and directed by Joss Whedon, the creator of the show. The lyrics and music were also written by Whedon, with a score by Christophe Beck and arrangements by Beck and Jesse Tobias.
It was first broadcast (as the seventh episode of season six) by the United Paramount Network on November 6, 2001.
Contents |
[edit] Plot synopsis
[edit] Summary
A mysterious force impels Sunnydale residents into songs that reveal their true feelings and deep secrets; Buffy and Spike share a kiss.
[edit] Expanded overview
After an overture with some wordless scenes of Buffy and her friends taken from a normal day (simply named "Overture"), we see Buffy patrolling in a cemetery at night, but there is something wrong with her and with the demons she meets and kills: they are all singing and dancing. Buffy sings about her life after returning to Earth, and the way she feels detached from it ("Going Through the Motions").
The morning after, Buffy asks her friends if the same thing had happened to them, and it turns out it has. They suddenly burst into song again, first wondering what can possibly be the cause for this ("I've Got a Theory"), then, guided by Buffy, reasserting their ability to deal with it together ("If We're Together"). It seems that all the people in Sunnydale are forced to sing about their inner feelings, including a man (played and sung by series producer David Fury) praising his dry-cleaning ("The Mustard") as Buffy peeks out onto the street from the Magic Box, trying to figure out if they are the only ones affected, and a woman (producer Marti Noxon) whom Giles, Xander and Anya later pass by, who pleads with a police officer about the parking ticket he is giving her (aptly, "The Parking Ticket").
Later Xander and Anya sing together about things they would otherwise have never told themselves or each other, namely their fears about their coming marriage ("I'll Never Tell"), Tara sings a love song to Willow about the difference she's made in her life ("Under Your Spell") and Spike sings to Buffy about the tortuous nature of their relationship ("Rest in Peace").
In the meantime, Giles realizes that his continued presence encourages Buffy to remain emotionally dependent on him and thus, ironically, prevents her from recovering emotionally from the trauma of her death and resurrection; deciding that he should no longer act as a father to her lest she never mature, he decides to leave again and return to England for good ("Standing"). Tara finds out about a forgetting spell Willow had cast some days before to make her forget about a fight they had, and decides to break up with her. The two duet about it as they look at Buffy and Willow respectively, the two of whom are distractedly chatting ("Under Your Spell/Standing (Reprise)").
It seems that a new demon in town, Sweet, is responsible for all the singing. Unfortunately, some people are singing and dancing so much that they spontaneously combust, due to the dramatic release of their pent-up emotions.
Sweet has Dawn kidnapped by his minions as she laments the way her life is ("Dawn's Lament") and taken to the Bronze ("Dawn's Ballet"), as he thinks she is the one who summoned him, and intends to take her to the Underworld and make her his queen ("What You Feel").
Discovering this through one of Sweet's minions, the gang question what to do next. Xander, Anya and Willow are eager to help save Dawn, but Giles insists that Buffy should go alone; Willow's suggestion of a confusion spell is quickly put down by Tara. Spike, dismissing Giles' stubbornness, offers to back Buffy up, but Buffy takes him to task regarding his wish for her to stay away from him, and a humiliated Spike skulks away, telling her he hopes she will dance until she burns. Buffy leaves alone, once again singing about her inability to feel, as both a conflicted Spike and the Scoobies express their desire to fight along with her, accompanied by Sweet, who summons them in song ("Walk Through the Fire"). Arriving at the Bronze, Buffy starts to sing and dance defiantly, again expressing her current condition and the hardships of being the Slayer, when she finally reveals to Sweet and her friends that, by resurrecting her, they had pulled her out of Heaven and not out of a hell dimension as they thought. Then, just when she is close to dancing to the point of burning, in a somewhat suicidal effort, Spike arrives and helps her recover, and telling her the only way to mend her wounds is to carry on living, 'so one of us is living' ("Something to Sing About").
Applauding, Sweet prepares to leave with Dawn, but it turns out that it is not Dawn who had summoned him, but Xander--who had not understood the implications--leading to the demon giving up on the queen matter and just vanishing away, telling the group to express their thoughts, "once more with feeling" ("What You Feel (Reprise)"), which they do, questioning the pyrrhic victory they've achieved and what to do next ("Where Do We Go from Here?").
The episode ends with Spike and Buffy kissing, as the curtains fall, as predicted in the previous song's final verse, as the chorus swells one last time ("Coda").
[edit] Production details
- The majority of the footage of "I'll Never Tell" was shot in just one take. Other scenes, notably the parking meter aria immediately following, are long, continuous takes that are unusual in their complexity, at least by television standards.
- This is the longest episode of Buffy the Vampire Slayer ever — 50 minutes long, as opposed to the usual 42 minutes. It ran past the regular hour intentionally, with the extra time never being again released or rebroadcast until the DVD sets were produced.
- This is unique amongst Buffy episodes as it was shown in letterbox format, had different opening credits and title music, and the monster in the Mutant Enemy Productions logo sang his "Grrr, Arggh!" in falsetto (by creator Joss Whedon).
- This episode took two weeks to rehearse dance numbers, record songs, and film (although, unusually for Buffy, it was filmed in "bits and pieces" — the various sections were recorded between other episodes in Season 6).
[edit] Translations
Titles:
- Spanish title: Otra vez, con más sentimiento (literal translation)
- French title: Que le spectacle commence ("Let the Show Begin")
- German title: Noch einmal mit Gefühl (literal translation)
- Italian title: La vita è un musical ("Life Is a Musical")
- Finnish title: Vielä kerran tunteella (literal translation)
- Swedish title: En gång till, med känsla (literal translation)
[edit] Quotes
- Xander: You're the cutest of the Scoobies,
- With your lips as red as rubies,
- And your firm yet supple... tight embrace!
- Giles: I was able to examine the body while police were taking witness arias.
- Spike: Don't be a stupid git.
- Giles: When I want your opinion, Spike, I'll... I'll never want your opinion.
- Giles: She needs backup...Anya...Tara...
- [Anya and Tara step in to provide backup singing in "Something to Sing About".]
- Anya: It has to be stopped. It was like we were being watched, like there was a wall missing from our apartment. Like there were only three walls and not a fourth one. [Anya in reference to her and Xander's duet - also a reference to breaking the fourth wall]
- Willow: I think this line's mostly filler.
- Woman: I've been having a bad, bad day/ Come on, won't you put that pad away/ I'm asking you, please no!/ It isn't right/ It isn't fair/ There was no parking anywhere/ I think that hydrant wasn't there/ Why can't you let it go?/ I think I've paid more than my share/ I'm just a poor girl, don't you care?/ Hey, I'm not wearing underwear... [The Parking Ticket Song]
- Buffy: Well, I'm not exactly quaking in my stylish, yet affordable boots, but there's definitely something unnatural going on here. And that doesn't usually lead to hugs and puppies.
[edit] Trivia
- Although he is never named in dialog or lyrics, the demonic villain of this episode is called Sweet per the episode's closing credits and the shooting script.
- Joss Whedon had wanted to create a musical episode since the first season of Buffy, but wasn't allowed to until the show was moved to a more lenient network, UPN. Another reason for his delaying the musical episode is revealed in his DVD commentary for the episode, where he reveals that if he had placed the episode in season four, it would have occured only briefly after the Xena: Warrior Princess musical episode and would have appeared far less original. Supposedly, the episode "Hush" is located where the musical episode would have originally been placed.
- When Buffy asks the Scoobies if they had burst into song the previous night, they reveal that they each had but only thought it had happened to themselves. Giles was playing his guitar and singing at the hotel when he heard a backing orchestra accompany him and the room service staff performing synchronised dancing. He previously played "Behind Blue Eyes" by The Who at an espresso bar in the episode "Where the Wild Things Are" and "Free Bird" by Lynyrd Skynyrd at home in "The Yoko Factor". Willow and Tara started singing whilst doing the dishes after dinner; there was a whole verse about cous cous. Xander and Anya had been arguing when their words started rhyming and they presumably started singing. Xander finds the whole thing disturbing, yet Willow seems to enjoy it. Ironically, it was Xander who summoned the demon responsible, and Willow, who has stage fright, sings only backing vocals and a few sparse solo lines.
- Anya is very concerned that her duet with Xander, "I'll Never Tell", is a retro pastiche and isn't likely to become a 'breakaway pop hit', reflecting the trend of musicals often featuring songs that become popular after being covered by singers other than the original castmembers. She also asks Spike if his song, "Rest in Peace", was a breakaway pop hit 'or more of a book number'.
- Buffy's line, "Dawn's in trouble. Must be Tuesday", is a reference to UPN, who was currently airing Buffy on Tuesday nights. Buffy also aired on Tuesday nights on the WB for the majority of its run.
- Xander's line, "Respect the cruller. And tame the donut!" is a reference to a line from the film Magnolia.
- Spike's line, "Finish the big group sing. Get your kumbaya-yas out," is a reference to both the song "Kumbaya" and to the Rolling Stones album Get Yer Ya-Ya's Out! The Rolling Stones in Concert.
- The original airing of "Once More, with Feeling" received 5.4 million viewers.
- The scene featuring Amber Benson's musical number, "Under Your Spell", featured heavily-implied sex between two females, and was edited out during the episode's first broadcast in conservative countries like the Philippines and China.
- Action figures of Buffy Summers, Anya Jenkins, and Dawn Summers were produced, based on this episode.
- In a press interview Amber Benson admitted to dancing into a pole during the backup dance at the Bronze. The viewer can see her laughing as she steps back (this occurs during the lyric "and every single verse / can make it that much worse" within "Something to Sing About").
[edit] Cultural references
- The Music Man - At the end of the episode, Spike says to Buffy, "The day you suss out what you do want, there'll probably be a parade. Seventy-six bloody trombones." This is a reference to the song Seventy-Six Trombones, from the Meredith Wilson musical The Music Man.
- Rent - Joss Whedon gained lots of musical inspiration from musicals such as the rock-edged Rent by the late Jonathan Larson. It has been said by Whedon that the song "Walk Through the Fire" partly came from the line "Walking through fire without a burn" from the Rent song "I Should Tell You".
- Pinocchio (1940 film) - When Spike is unable to stop the henchman, and he escapes, Spike mutters "Strong. Someday he'll be a real boy". This is a reference to the story of Pinocchio.
- West Side Story - The song "Walk Through The Fire" is often said to be inspired by "Tonight" from West Side Story[citation needed]. Whedon, however, says he prefers to think of it as inspired by the La Resistance medley from the South Park movie, itself a pastiche of musicals and, in La Resistance's case, directly parodies One Day More from the musical Les Miserables.
- Singing in the rain - the song "I`ll never tell" performed by Xander and Anya ends with both of them collapsing laughing into a sofa. This quotes the song and dance number "Good morning", where Gene Kelly, Donald O`Connor and Debbie Reynolds end the number in exactly the same fashion.
- The Love for Three Oranges by Sergei Prokofiev - a theme from the overture of that opera is quoted in Buffy`s opening number "Going Through the Motions", both by her and by the dancing vampires behind her. The original opera is a surrealistic fairy-tale, and may well set the tone for the entire episode.
[edit] Acting and singing
- Sarah Michelle Gellar said she "hated" making this episode (in particular the complicated singing and dancing she had to perform for "Something to Sing About").
- James Marsters has some musical experience as he was the lead singer and guitarist for his own rock band formed by his friends, Ghost of the Robot.
- Anthony Stewart Head also has some musical experience. He was once the lead in a British production of The Rocky Horror Show and also starred in the London production of the musical Chess. He released a solo album, Music for Elevators, with small guest appearances by James Marsters, Alyson Hannigan and Amber Benson, and a song by Joss Whedon.
- Joss discovered his actors could sing during a wine-charged Shakespeare reading at his house. He later fashioned his songs around each actor's ability and amount of comfort with their talent. This is why Alyson Hannigan only sings a few sparse lines in this episode.
- Writer/producer Marti Noxon makes her first on-screen appearance on Buffy as the singing woman receiving a parking ticket. Similarly, executive producer/writer David Fury makes his first appearance as the man who joyously proclaims how the mustard stains were removed from his shirt. Both actors later reprised their roles for the episode "Selfless" in the following season, in a short song explaining exactly how the mustard stains were created.
[edit] Regular cast
- Sarah Michelle Gellar as Buffy Summers
- Nicholas Brendon as Xander Harris
- Emma Caulfield as Anya
- Michelle Trachtenberg as Dawn Summers
- James Marsters as Spike
- Alyson Hannigan as Willow Rosenberg
[edit] Guest cast
[edit] Supporting cast
- Timothy Anderson as Henchman
- Hunter Cochrane as College Guy #2
- Alex Estronei as Henchman
- David Fury as Mustard Man
- Marti Noxon as Parking Ticket Woman
- Matt Sims as College Guy #1
- Daniel Weaver as Handsome Young Man
- Zachary Woodlee as Demon/Henchman
- Scot Zeller as Henchman
[edit] Music
All the actors sing their own parts without having another singer dubbing their voices (although for "What You Feel", Michelle Trachtenberg had to dub her own voice during post-production when her lines proved to be unclear). Joss Whedon had originally planned to have Buffy's rhythmically complex song "Something to Sing About" dubbed by professional vocalist Jewel, but Sarah Michelle Gellar stepped up to the challenge for the climactic number. All the regular cast are featured in significant solos except Alyson Hannigan (Willow), who had asked Whedon to limit her singing role. In response, Whedon gave Willow an amusing fourth-wall-breaking line for one of her three short solo parts: "I think this line's mostly filler". (Hannigan's reluctance to sing had actually been made part of her character, as was shown in first-season episodes "The Puppet Show" and "Nightmares".)
The opening sequence is completely changed from its usual form, featuring a 26-second main theme whose rock and dark atmosphere was eliminated through its use of percussion in the background and a stereotypical light drum sequence at the end of the theme, similar to the conclusion of heroic classical films.
The song "I've Got a Theory", despite being primarily humorous, both reintroduces old themes of previous episodes and foreshadows events yet to come.
- Giles is the first to present a theory as to what is going on; ironically, his idea that it could be a 'dancing demon', which he dismisses quickly, turns out to be true.
- Willow suggests that 'some kid is dreaming, and we're all stuck inside his wacky Broadway nightmare', a reference to the events of "Nightmares".
- Xander makes a faux pas by saying it could be "some evil witches" in front of Willow and Tara.
- Anya reinforces her fear of bunnies, as she blames the singing on them ("Bunnies", a short heavy metal section inside "I've Got A Theory").
- Buffy sings "I've died twice", as that happened in final episodes of season 1 and season 5.
[edit] Critical and viewer response
The episode was actually nominated for an Emmy, but, due to a misprint, was left off the official ballot sent out to voters. This was fixed with an addendum, but it was too late, as many voters had already returned their ballots. The episode, and Buffy along with it, are almost as famous for not winning an Emmy as other shows are for winning one.
Numerous critics placed the episode on their "alternative Emmy" lists and it continues to win plaudits. It was recently voted the 13th greatest musical of all time in a poll conducted by the British TV channel, Channel 4 [1]. It has always been a firm favorite among fans.
[edit] CD track list
A music CD has been released, featuring the entire score and some additional tracks, namely the demo of "Something to Sing About", sung by Joss Whedon and his wife Kai Cole, and three pieces of music from other popular episodes by regular composer Christophe Beck. The art for the CD — also used as cover for related items, such as the script book, the DVD and the poster — is by popular comic book artist Adam Hughes. The booklet includes liner notes by Whedon, the lyrics for the songs, and pictures from the episode.
| Track | Title | Time |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | "Overture / Going Through the Motions" | 02:57 |
| 2 | "I've Got a Theory / Bunnies / If We're Together" | 02:22 |
| 3 | "The Mustard" | 00:18 |
| 4 | "Under Your Spell" | 02:55 |
| 5 | "I'll Never Tell" | 04:01 |
| 6 | "The Parking Ticket" | 00:45 |
| 7 | "Rest in Peace" | 02:46 |
| 8 | "Dawn's Lament" | 01:19 |
| 9 | "Dawn's Ballet" | 01:12 |
| 10 | "What You Feel" | 03:01 |
| 11 | "Standing" | 02:10 |
| 12 | "Under Your Spell / Standing — reprise" | 01:35 |
| 13 | "Walk Through the Fire" | 03:44 |
| 14 | "Something to Sing About" | 04:40 |
| 15 | "What You Feel — reprise" | 00:46 |
| 16 | "Where Do We Go from Here?" | 01:53 |
| 17 | Coda | 00:40 |
| 18 | "End Credits (Broom Dance / Grr Argh)" | 00:31 |
| 19 | "Main Title" | 00:26 |
| 20 | Suite from "Restless" | 05:02 |
| 21 | Suite from "Hush" | 06:54 |
| 22 | Sacrifice (from "The Gift") | 02:55 |
| 23 | "Something to Sing About" (demo) | 04:27 |
[edit] Technical information
Other technical differences between this episode and the normal ones are its running time (50 minutes and 52 seconds instead of the usual average of 43 minutes) and its format: the episode aired in letterbox format.
Because of the running time, UPN only aired the full, unedited episode once — delaying the start of the following program (a U.S. pilot of "Iron Chef" hosted by William Shatner). Unfortunately serious technical glitches plagued UPN's broadcast feed to some of its affiliates in the U.S. Eastern and Central time zones when the episode aired on November 6, 2001. In the case of one UPN affiliate, WKBD TV in Detroit, the only "glitch" involved a few seconds where the picture "froze" during "Sweet's" initial meeting with Dawn. At UPN's insistence, Joss Whedon supervised the editing of the full length episode into a more advertiser-friendly standard length. UPN never aired the full length episode again, opting instead for the shortened version. The shortened version is also the one that airs in syndication on FX. The editing eliminated parts of certain songs, including Buffy singing "If We're Together" and several bars of "Walk Through the Fire." Loss of certain dialogue resulted in a confusing ending for the audience, with Sweet abruptly announcing "Big smiles everyone, you beat the bad guy," with little apparent cause.
This "one time only" dispensation to air a longer format is not unprecedented for Whedon and Buffy. A first season episode, "The Puppet Show", enjoyed only a single airing (on May 5, 1997) of an amusing closing credits scene in which Xander, Buffy, and Willow perform in their school's talent show.
In an unusual effort to garner Emmy support, 20th Century Fox had the full length episode pressed onto special DVDs shortly after its airing for distribution with the industry trade publication Daily Variety. Regular DVD series collections also include the full length episode.
Also available for sale is the original script book (ISBN 0-689-85918-X). Besides the actual screenplay the book features pictures from the episode, articles, sheet music for all the songs and a behind the scenes.
Finally, after pressure from fans, a single (Region 2) DVD has been released in Europe (two editions: in English for the United Kingdom and in German for Germany).
David Fury, producer and writer of the show (who also appeared in the episode as the man excited they got the mustard out) asked Whedon if he could document it, and shot about 40 hours of behind-the-scenes material; part of this material is available on the Season Six DVD set.
All of the Region 1 DVDs have French and Spanish versions, and the songs are done in French and Spanish too.
[edit] Continuity
- Anya's line "His penis got diseases from a Chumash tribe" refers to the season 4 episode "Pangs", in which a Native American spirit infects Xander with a cornucopia of various diseases, including syphilis.
- Willow's line "I've got a theory / Some kid is dreamin' / And we're all stuck inside his wacky Broadway nightmare" refers to the season 1 episode "Nightmares", in which the nightmares of Sunnydale residents start to come true due to the condition of a young boy lying in a coma.
[edit] Timing
- Stories that take place around the same time in the Buffyverse:
| Location, time (if known) | Buffyverse chronology: Fall 2001 - December 2001 (non-canon = italic) |
|---|---|
| L.A., 2001 | Buffy/Angel novel: Cursed |
| L.A., 2001 | A3.01 Heartthrob |
| Sunnydale, 2001 | Buffy UPN promos: Scooby Gang talk about Buffy |
| Sunnydale, 2001 | B6.01 Bargaining, I |
| Sunnydale, 2001 | B6.02 Bargaining, II |
| L.A., 2001 | A3.02 That Vision Thing |
| Sunnydale, 2001 | B6.03 After Life |
| L.A., 2001 | Angel book: Sanctuary |
| L.A., 2001 | A3.03 That Old Gang of Mine |
| Sunnydale, 2001 | B6.04 Flooded |
| L.A., 2001 | A3.04 Carpe Noctem |
| Sunnydale, 2001 | Buffy comic: Reunion |
| Sunnydale, 2001 | B6.05 Life Serial |
| L.A., 2001 | A3.05 Fredless |
| Sunnydale, 2001 | Buffy graphic novel Willow & Tara: Wilderness |
| Sunnydale, 2001 | Buffy book: Blood and Fog |
| Sunnydale, 2001 | B6.06 All the Way |
| Sunnydale, 2001 | Buffy graphic novel: Note from the Underground |
| L.A., 2001 | A3.06 Billy |
| L.A., 2001 | Angel anthology book:The Longest Night |
| Sunnydale, L.A., Monster Island, 2001 | Buffy/Angel novel: Monster Island |
| L.A., 2001 | Angel book: Endangered Species |
| L.A., 2001 | Angel book: Impressions |
| Sunnydale, 2001 | B6.07 Once More, with Feeling |
| L.A., 2001 | A3.07 Offspring |
| Sunnydale, 2001 | B6.08 Tabula Rasa |
| L.A., 2001 | A3.08 Quickening |
| Sunnydale, 2001 | B6.09 Smashed |
| L.A., 2001 | A3.09 Lullaby |
| Sunnydale, 2001 | B6.10 Wrecked |
| L.A., 2001 | A3.10 Dad |
| Sunnydale, 2001 | B6.11 Gone |
| L.A., 2001 | A3.11 Birthday |
| Sunnydale, 2001 | Buffy graphic novel: Creatures of Habit |
| Sunnydale, 2001 | Buffy graphic novel: Death of Buffy: Withdrawal |
| Sunnydale, 2001 | B6.12 Doublemeat Palace |
| L.A., 2001 | A3.12 Provider |
[edit] External links
- BBC episode guide
- Buffy Body Count synopsis of "Once More, with Feeling"
- AHoleintheWorld.com - OMWF Lyrics
