Buffy The Vampire Slayer
"Once More With Feeling"
Episode Air Date 11/06/01

Wow. Wow. Wow!

Here I was prepared to be let down because I was so excited about this episode but I was not able to be disappointed. The episode met every hope and expectation. Those of you without much experience in theater may not appreciate that this was the best opening night ever! It had the high energy, backstage stress (let's assume), and few awkward moments that every opening night has. Call it opening night because I plan on watching it again and again in the coming weeks.

First the few and minor flaws:

There was no consistency about when someone's singing was heard and remembered by those around them.

A couple of the songs seemed fragmented, as if Whedon had two great songs but didn't have time for both of them so he merged them into one disjointed song.

The ending was a little too clean and neat.

Ok. Now onto over-excited rantings about how great the episode was.

Those that wrote this episode off as a cheesy attempt at ratings as we enter sweeps (you know who you are) will be sheepishly wrong. The episode was so much more than random singing and dancing. The existing story lines were skillfully woven into musical confessions with exceptionally witty lyrics.

The storylines are not forgotten, just happening to be accompanied by the occasional song and dance. Not only does this supposed gimmick not inhibit the story, but the songs are further used as a means of confessing things that otherwise wouldn't have been said. Whedon has avoided the stale "musical episode" (as Ally McBeal attempted two seasons ago) and made this one truly enjoyable, without leaving the viewer feeling like they just said goodbye to their favorite show.

This week's script had a bit more innuendo than usual. It seems the characters weren't the only ones saying more than normal. This was most obvious in the scene with Willow and Tara and Xander's omissions in his song with Anya.

Whedon really outdid himself this week. With a few blockbuster movies (let's ignore Alien: Resurrection; Whedon does), two hit television shows, and a very enjoyable and successful comic book (Fray), one might expect that he could not be more talented. Tonight's episode proved that he can compose music and write lyrics to a variety of musical genres.

Buffy The Musical was well worth the extra nine minutes.

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Sharon Goodson