ONCE MORE WITH FEELING; need I say more?

[Saturn 5]

ONCE MORE WITH FEELING
The Good;
All of it. My favourites would have to be Tara's song and 'Going through the motions' although Anya's solo is a belter. Always leaving them wanting more, certainly true of the Spuffers in the final scene. Also love Tara's uncontrollable jazz hands during 'I've got a theory' and the ballet of morning in the Summer's house.
The Bad; ? I think the weakest of all the songs is Giles' which I didn't really dig. No real fan of Spike's either.
Best line;
Giles; "Buffy needs backup"
Women good/men bad;
Xander's witches theory which he rapidly recants.
Jeez!;
Dawn getting the sack isn't nice.
Kinky dinky;
Sweet wants to claim Dawn as his child bride but Buffy volunteers to go instead. She's not interested in the handsome hostage she rescues in the graveyard. Parking ticket girl isn't wearing any underwear. Anya mentions that Xander's 'penis got diseases from a Shumash tribe' which might be the best lyric in history. Dawn's superb dancing with Sweet and his minions is extremely suggestive, MT really starting to become noticeably voluptuous as well as tall. Dawn's story about giving birth to a Pterodactyl must have pleased the Got-ficcers. Love Anya's two-piece nightie, Xander loving it in the night when he's 'warm in her tight....tight embrace' which he also describes as 'firm and supple' later. Buffy goes to 'pump Spike for information'. She ends up straddling him in a grave.
Captain Subtext;
Tara jokes that she's cured and 'wants the boys' who eye her up (don't blame them, Tara's corset certainly helps her already formidable cleavage). The end of her song where Willow's head disappears downwards as Tara floats is the filthiest bit of Buffy for, oh at least half a season. I'm sure Joss must have been tempted to do "You make me complete. You make me com..." then cut back to the Magic Shop but even the dumbest censor must have been able to spot that. Willow says she's not 'big with the butch'. Tara sings about 'Spreading beneath her Willow tree'. Dawn thinks Willow and Tara together is romantic and that she 'does know about this stuff'. Hmmmm?. Sweet is 'tempted' to take Xander as his 'Queen' (well you know those Broadway types!) Anya is still a little jealous of Buffy saying Xander flees to her when things get tough.
Guantanamo Bay;
Spike wants to make the minion "Sing"
Scoobies to the ER;
Missing scenes;
Apocalypses; 6
Wheldon Cliches (with kind permission from Boo)

Scoobies in bondage:
Buffy: 8
Giles: 4
Cordy: 5
Will: 3
Jenny: 1
Angel: 4
Oz: 1
Faith: 3
Joyce: 1
Wes: 1
Xander; 1
Dawn; 3

Scoobies knocked out: Dawn comes-to on the pool table at the Bronze
Buffy: 16
Giles: 11
Cordy: 6
Xander: 9
Will: 5
Jenny: 2
Angel: 6
Oz: 3
Faith: 1
Joyce: 3
Wes: 1
Anya;2
Dawn; 2
Kills: one of the trio of vamps Buffy kills in the graveyard has the distinction of being her hundredth vamp (killed onscreen at least) plus their demon master
Buffy: 101 vamps, 41 demons, 6 monsters, 3 humans, 1 werewolf, 1 spirit warrior & a robot
Giles: 8 vamps, 2 demon, 1 human, 1 god.
Cordy: 3 vamps, ½ a demon
Will: 6 vamps + 1 demon +1 fawn.
Angel: 3 vamps, 1 demon, 1 human
Oz: 3 vamps, 1 zombie
Faith: 16 vamps, 5 demons, 3 humans
Xander: 5 vamps, 2 zombies, 1½ a demon,
Anya: 1 vamp and 1½ a demon
Riley; 18 vamps + 7 demons
Spike; 5 vamps and 2 demon
Buffybot; 2 vamps
Tara; 1 demon
Dawn; 1 vamp

Scoobies go evil:
Giles: 1
Cordy: 1
Will: 2
Jenny: 1
Angel: 1
Oz: 1
Joyce: 1
Xander: 4
Anya; 1
Dawn; 1

Alternate scoobies:
Buffy: 6
Giles: 3
Cordy: 1
Will: 2
Jenny: 2
Angel: 3
Oz: 2
Joyce: 2
Xander: 3

Recurring characters killed: 10
Jesse, Flutie, Jenny, Kendra, Larry, Snyder, Professor Walsh, Forrest, McNamara, Joyce

Sunnydale deaths; 3 burnt to death by their dancing
93;

Total number of scoobies: 7
Xander, Willow, Buffy, Giles, Anya, Tara, Spike

Xander demon magnet: 5(6?)
Preying Mantis Lady, Inca Mummy Girl, Drusilla, VampWillow, Anya (arguably Buffy & Faith with their demon essences?), Dracula?

Scoobies shot:
Giles: 2
Angel: 3
Oz: 4
Riley; 1

Notches on Scooby bedpost:
Giles: 2; Joyce & Olivia, possibly Jenny and 3xDraccy babes?
Cordy: 1?
Buffy: 3 confirmed; Angel, Parker,Riley, 1 possible, Dracula(?)
Angel: 1;Buffy
Joyce: 1;Giles, 2 possible, Ted and Dracula(?)
Oz: 3; Groupie, Willow & Verucca
Faith:2 ;Xander, Riley
Xander: 2; Faith, Anya
Willow: 2;Oz and Tara
Riley; 3; Buffy, Sandy and unnamed vampwhore
Spike; good or bad?
Spike saves the day and earns his kiss
Dawn in peril; 6 as Buffy says "If Dawn's in trouble it must be Tuesday"
Dawn the bashful virgin; 5 horrified at the thought of being a demon bride.
Questions and observations;
Longest ever ep of Buffy. Contary to popular belief not the first musical ep for a fantasy series, Xena did it first (the terrific 'The Bitter Suite') and arguably Ally McBeal too. But altogether splendid. Note that the newspaper has the city council denying that monsters are involved, SD's open secret apparent. Again note that Buffy sings that 'Through the smoke she calls to me' as she makes her way to the Bronze, once again some sort of stronger link between Dawn and Buffy is suggested. Ironically in an ep where Tara takes Willow to task for magic abuse it's Xander who screws up everything. He is never brought to book for this, just as he's never called to account for his actions in Becoming Pt 2. In fairness it's hard to pick a Scooby who hasn't abused the supernatural and caused the deaths of innocent people? Note the look Tara gives Willow when she starts crying at Buffy's revelation, their rift forgotten.
One question, what is Buffy drawing in her notepad when Giles summons her for training in the teaser?
Marks out of 10; 10/10, legendary!

[gumgnome]

One of the essays in the excellent book, "Seven Seasons of Buffy: Science Fiction and Fantasy Authors Write About Their Favourite Show" distinguishes two kinds of Buffy fans: those who love "Once More With Feeling", and those who don't. Like the author, I am quite happy to dismiss the views of the second camp on anything Buffy-related. Just how can you not love this episode!? Every song has its place for me, although my favourite is the melding of Tara's and Giles':

Wish I could trust that it was just this once
But I must do what I must
I can't adjust to this disgust
We're done and I just
Wish I could stay

Fantastic! Also, Sweet's song is just brilliant and introduced us (well, me at least) to a man with the best name ever, Hinton Battle.

I agree that the Scoobies have all probably meddled with magics that have led to innocent deaths, but this one does irk with me. Even when Xander knows that people are dying, and seems distraught about the situation, he doesn't confess that he's behind it all? Whenever spells have gone ka-plooey in the past (like in "Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered"), the guilty party usually 'fesses up pretty quickly, but here there's just a damp squib of an apology at the end with no further consequences.

[CourtneyDax]

Note the look Tara gives Willow when she starts crying at Buffy's revelation, their rift forgotten.

It wasn't entirely forgotten. Tara was sympathising for Willow because she knows Willow is absolutely devastated to find out she's caused her best friend so much pain. Willow was the driving force for the ressurecction of Buffy so I couldn't imagine the guilt I would feel to do that to my best friend.
You can't forget that Tara, despite everything, still loves Willow very much. When you love someone that much, you make excuses for them. But, in the next episode, we see Tara deal with Willow's magic control issues so Tara didn't entirely forget about it.

That was disjointed, but do you get what I'm saying?

[Jaz ♀♀]

Nov 27, 2009 19:42:08 GMT -5 CourtneyDax said:

That was disjointed, but do you get what I'm saying?

Disjointed, very. But i got it.

As for the episode....it was definitely legendary!!! 10/10

[Saturn 5]

Oh I take your points, the betrayal is still there but for now Tara's love and empathy for Willow overcomes her anger

[Randi Giles]

The Best Episode Ever!!! I have to say I took really hard when you said Giles song was the weakest. It really hurts cause it one of my favorites. As the biggest Spike fan though I have to say.....I agree. I liked the song, but it wasn't my favorite. I'm still hurting over Giles comment. I love Giles and Tara's duet. I also love the ending when Spike and Buffy are in sync and that's it. The ending was so perfect of course. By the way I'm going to duck and cover from the Willow fans when I say it was best that Aly chose not to sing too much in this episode. Lve her acting, but not the greatest singing voice.

[Saturn 5]

Apparently SMG wasn't keen on her voice too but I think she does a fine job