This is probably my favorite episode because it isn’t a cliche musical and the actors are actually singing. It would make sense that not all would have great voices. And so much is revealed during the songs.
Right - a demon is making everyone in town burst into song. It makes sense that they wouldn't all have great singing voices, it's just their voices being forced to sing and reveal their thoughts in their songs.
I like how the singing and dancing were actually part of the story. Like you said, a plot device. Singing for no particular purpose wouldn't have made sense.
@@gungho1284 That's why I actually like that musical episode too. I'm not really a fan of musicals. I liked Grease, and the musical episodes of Buffy and Xena, and Dr Horribles Sing Along Blog. Other than that not really. Though I didn't care too much for the second Xena musical episode. Singing was still part of the plot, but it felt more of a forced plot for that purpose, and most of the time they sang it wasn't SPECIFICALLY part of the plot reason for singing. I mean it was more "so it put them in the mood to sing". It was tollerable though.
This is THE episode that inspired every other TV show musical after. It wasn’t the first musical episode (they go back to I Love Lucy’s ‘The Operetta’ in 1951, if not before. And it wasn’t even the first to resolve major plot points in a musical, Xena did that in its third season. But it’s where EVERYTHING came together. It’s also, empirically, the best episode of any TV show ever. How can I say that? Because it’s the only TV show in history that is so beloved that it has been performed live in public 100s if not 1000s if not tens of 1000s of times and what other episode of TV can you say that about??
@@BoboftheOldeWays No i get that. WHat i'm saying is that just becuase fringe groups put on an unofficial (original creatives not getting any residuals for their art) retelling- of a piece of art, does not make it the best. Grease 2 is not the best sequel/movie because people do that. Rocky Horror is not the best musical because people put on shows of it. Unofficial shows happen all over the world in a range of art. I would argue, it's a sign that it's a brilliant episode. I would argue that it could be the best musical TV episode ever for that reason. Or that the Buffy fandome is really strong. But IMO, the best episode of TV ever is a bit of a stretch- for that reasoning.
Amber (Tara), Anthony Stewart Head and James Marsters are pretty much the only ones who could properly sing anyway which is why they sound so much more natural. I will say tho Emma and Nicholas sing well too, in their song their harmonising together sounds so good And the guy who plays Sweet is such a good singer
Is Tara thinking of breaking up with Willow? ' 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'
This episode works if you listen to it without thinking it's a musical. And it has many, many, cross reference to Buffy and the world of musical. Of course that's not for everybody, but don't let the musical thing stop you from enjoying what is considered one of the best episode of the show (not because it's a musical, but because the last 10 episodes were building up to this one, plotwise)
That's the best credit for this episode, being that they didn't hire replacement singers for some of the characters. It's more real anyway as a musical curse forcing you to sing is not dependent on you being a professional quality singer.
Yeah, Sarah didn't originally want to sing because she was too embarrassed and so they were going to have a replacement. But then she saw the script and how important it was, and learned they'd have auto tune to help her sound better, and decided she *had* to do it because it was such a big moment. Michelle asked to have her singing kept to a minimum so they played on her dance skills and gave her that dance scene.
Now you know why so many commenters a couple of reactions back were all puzzled by your thumbnail, "I Have a Theory"! Love it or hate it, this is arguably the best "musical episode" ever done in television history. Unfortunately, it led to a rash of copycats in other dromedy series, and most musical episodes are frankly cringe-worthy. This one was not only clever and entertaining, it actually moved forward major portions of the season arc. [EDIT: Yes, all the actors sang their own parts. IMO, both Amber Henson and Tony Head are very competent singers. As is James Marsters, who has actually fronted a band for years. And I nearly forgot Marti Noxon, in the parking ticket lamentation!]
And Emma Caulfield used to be a dancer. You could see that in some of her parts. But totally. The I Have A Theory thumbnail earlier this week threw me off. But it got me really excited because I knew this one was almost here.
Staff cameos - David Fury, one of the producers is the mustard stain man, Marti Noxon, one of the writers, is the parking ticket lady. One thing to remember about James Marsters' singing - James is an American actor singing in the accent he uses as an English vampire.
Fury was a writer too. His first appearance on screen was in that Angel episode where there's two W&H guys assembling an Ikea-like alter for sacrificing lots of goats.
@@gungho1284 They both were writers/producers (actually the same thing in TV) and, by that point, number 1 and 2 in the chain of command when Joss wasn't there.
Even though they aren’t all amazing singers, I’m so glad they all sang. I remember Xena did a musical episode and they dubbed a professional singer over Gabrielle. It was so odd and took the emotion out of things because you couldn’t connect to the character.
This is my favourite episode ever. IUnusally for musical episodes this moved the plot along and wasn't just a pause. Outside of James, Tony & Amber, Sarah actually has a pretty good voice.
I think Amber Benson, James Marsters and Anthony Stewart Head actually have experience singing. They had a lot of bad jokes. But the fact they had a musical and worked it into the plot was unique.
Though not the first musical episode of a show ever, as some think it is, it is regarded as one of the best. But that of course does not mean you have to like ;) And though the singing is not over all perfect, this makes actual sense as part of the story, since they are only normal people singing because of some demon. However, the writing of the songs is really good! It takes many typical musical tropes parodies on a meta level, letting unrealistic musical elements clash with real life. Also it is really important for the story. It was nicely set up with Ania and Xander that the songs make you say things you actually wanted to hide from others. And only with that, it made sense, that Buffy would tell the others about having been in heaven and in the end kissing Spike.
I’m going to need for you to just watch this episode again, just by yourself and popcorn 🍿 and a drink and truly enjoy it. This episode was probably the first time that I ever seen a non musical show do a musical 100% correct. And I think we definitely notice that you had a strong coffee, love your reactions.
@@karazor-el9596 yea she's weird, she doesn't seem to like anything most people like and she's sadly not very observant, she misses a lot of the subtle things. I like to watch her reactions though because it's like watching a train wreck, you can't look away, at least I can't
you do need some sense of whimsy and fun to enjoy this episode. and most of the entire rest of the show, start to finish, come to think of it. why are you watching this?
I love this episode so much. It accomplishes so much with the plot of the series and sets it up for a lot of conflict and plot progression. Also, the Willow and Tara duet was a sex scene that managed to show so much and so little at the same time. Especially for the time. And I love Spike's song Rest in Peace
Rather than cut this episode to the usual running time, the network decided to let it run over, shifting the rest of the schedule that night to accommodate it. A lot of people who'd set their recorders to stop on the hour were surprised. BTW, the parking ticket lady is Marti Noxon, one of the show's writer- directors.
My favorite episode of BtVS ever! Love musicals but often musical episodes in TV are a bit forced - not this one! Thought this was brilliantly written, with creative original songs for every character that really drove the series story & character arc. Even though only 3 cast members were trained singers (Giles, Tara, Spike), everyone else did the best they could. Sarah at first wanted her singing dubbed. Then she found out Buffy would reveal she was in heaven & decided she didn't want someone to say/sing those words bc they were too important! So she got 2 vocal coaches & trained & prepped for this for a while.
Listening to the ‘Once More, With Feeling’ soundtrack. You actually pick up a lot that you don’t while watching. For instance how fucking high Amber Benson’s voice is in ‘Where Do We Go From Here’ This chick be singing in the 6th octave yet she’s apparently a Mezzo Soprano. Holy shit. She’s honestly the best singer in this. Amber Benson is almost entirely in head voice in ‘Under Your Spell’ and all throughout the musical episode. She has very few modal/chest register vocals. So it makes sense why she gets a solo love song. I would say she’s either a Light-Lyric Soprano or a Soubrette. Doubtful she’d be a Coloratura, although she can most definetly get up there where only the higher tier Soprano’s are comfortable going. A5 and above. As a classically trained Soprano vocalist myself - I would pin her as a Light-Lyric since she can still get pretty low when needed. Quite the range on her. I swear the only characters that can sing in 'Once More, With Feeling' is Tara, Spike and Giles. Xander and Anya are flat. Willow sings out through her nose. An Buffy is out of tune. It's hilarious really,... 😂🤣
This is the best musical episode of any tv show and this is one the most important to say a lot about characters and meaningful this season. You can rewatch then season 6. Perfectly written and way to characters to reveal secrets by songs.
So interesting that you're a musical fan and didn't care for the musical parts in this episode. It's the opposite for me where I'm not usually a musical fan, but I loved this episode.
Yeah, that's Amber Benson singing. Everybody did their own singing-Whedon insisted on it. ASH of course sang professionally on the stage in London and James Marsters had his own rock band. The rest of them, well it's a mixed bag.
TH-cam shows some songs of the band "Ghost of the Robot", the band of James Marsters. Anthony Stewart Head and Amber Benson sang in a Rocky Horror Remebrance Show th-cam.com/video/-LH43hTh5KI/w-d-xo.html (sorry for the bad video quality)
The fact that you got to this point without being spoiled for this episode is amazing in itself. A lot of shows that do musical episodes never get it right, and it offers very little to the plot. This however is the exception. Not only is this an innovative episode in term of plot and foreshadowing, it's a damn good 'musical'. The songs are really good and well structured, and just work so well in the episode. There is also great comedy in the episode with the lyrics. Of course the massive reveal for the group is Buffy telling them she was dragged out of Heaven, Spike already knew this of course, and then Dawn repeats to Buffy 'the hardest thing in this world is to live in it' the exact words Buffy said to Dawn in The Gift S5 Finale. Spike getting fed up with singing is very funny towards the end, but what an ending when Buffy follows him. It was brilliantly done, and now with Buffy and Spike kissing, the whole direction of the show takes a strange turn with some brilliant, but disturbing episodes to follow. Love the reaction again. This really was a brilliant episode, Lorne from Angel would have loved this.
I was young when this show originally aired and caught most of it outside the last couple seasons via reruns but I remember being in borders and seeing a cd for once more with feelings and being so beyond excited. I hadn’t even seen this episode, didn’t know it existed and was just so pumped about everyone singing. Bought it wo a second thought and even now can prolly sing every word of it. It’s also still part of my physical cd collection.
Love this episode. Its a great way for it to be revealed all that has been happening to the characters, as they had no control over hiding how they felt. I cant see any other way all their secrets would come out.❤
James voice when he sings is like heavenly honey to my ears🍯 Even 'sun sets and she appears' sounds beautiful 10:35 And this 'You just love to play the thought that you might misbehave' while he's sliding his gaze down her body does things to me. He is good I also like how Michelle is dancing, it's very elegant
@@terrystickland219 since she tried ballet it makes sense for her to show it. She has an esthetic, there is a move that she does with her legs, when they hold her and she is moving straight legs in front of her, that was good
Both ‘The Bitter Suite’ and ‘Once More, With Feeling’ are really unprecedented for their time in TV. Even though Xena’s musical episode came first in 1998, both Buffy and Xena take the credit for musical episodes becoming pop culture in TV. But they also did the unthinkable by cleverly, not only coincide with the plot, but further it along in that they both have the characters spill secrets and make confessions which aid to evolve respective character arcs and tell a story that has them begin again in new and interesting ways. In ‘Once More, With Feeling’ Buffy confesses she was pulled out of heaven by her friends. Forcing the Scooby Gang, Willow in particular, to process this information and grapple with the seriousness of it. In ‘The Bitter Suite’ Xena confesses that she killed Ming Tien. Forcing Xena to beg for forgiveness from Gabrielle so she can pass through the waterfall. Thereby reconciling and reuniting them, making their relationship stronger so they can battle the real enemy. All of this is done in song. Cheesy? Sure. But clever at the same time. The creators knew that talking about these subjects and themes would be heavy on the audience watching and listening, so addressing them in music was a way of making what was heavy subject material much lighter. And at the same time, they also knew that music is meant for honest expression. So really, how else would or could it work? They ultimately made the right decision. As cheesy or silly as it may look on the surface, they achieved what few have… Going deeper without drowning. This is why these two musical episodes remain staples in TV history. It is not just because they’re musicals. It’s because they’re musicals with depth. They could have just been some silly entertainment for the cast to have fun with and show off their talent and nothing more. Instead they were much, much, much more than that. They were artistic genius. They were performance art. And you will find it difficult to truly understand either of these shows without them. As my soul brother Sweet put it: “Now, we’re partying. That’s what it’s all about.”
The way I stayed up until after 2am here in Australia hoping you'd drop this reaction 😂👏👏 I love how the lyrics of the songs progress the plot... absolutely brilliant ❤ Maybe watch it again so you can fully take in everything that's said through the songs.
I think this is one of the best eps, but I still love your reaction, especially your attention to Buffy. I never paid much attention to her before, or any of the other main hero type characters in shows, but you're right in everything you say about her. While I hate musicals, I think this one was excellent, and I actually like the real voices of the characters, who aren't professional singers, but it just adds to their personality, you know?
I don't give you grief, I mean the actors except for Giles and Amber (Tara) are the only one who are musically trained. But I wasn't surprised you didn't feel the musical. While most of us loved it, you being you would not be feeling it. Quite typical reaction
Watch the behind the scenes of this episode, stream the soundtrack a couple of times and then rewatch and you will be loving this episode in no time. I guarantee it.
I love the ending, if you listen to the group sing before buffy goes to spike they sing "the curtains close on a kiss god knows" then they close the curtains on their kiss ❤
This is definitely one of my top 3 favorites. I was rewatching the songs on TH-cam when it recommended me my first reaction video, so this episode is why I'm here!
It is just you 🙂 This is regarded by most as the best episode of the series. Personally, I liked that none of the singing was dubbed. Lots of interesting trivia in this episode. Cameos by writers / producers David Fury (mustard out guy) and Marti Noxon (fire hydrant lady). The 3 minions were also the 3 demons Buffy fought in the cemetery, and the three dancing street cleaners behind Marti Noxon. Also ASH's brother, Murry Head, had a big pop hit in the 80's called One Night in Bangkok.
Very surprised you didn't like it. I've watched a lot of reactions to this and yours has been the only negative one from a BTVS fan. One other was someone who just watched it because she likes musical episodes of shows. Didn't know the show. It's in my Top 5 episodes of Buffy. As for the cast not being great singers, that is to be expected. The only ones who had experience I think were JM who was in a band, AH, and AB. I was also surprised you didn't remark about how much the lyrics were plot-related. I thought they were great. To each their own though.
After al the credits for the music, songwriting, choreography, people still ask, "this is a musical?" I lived through that whole craze for doing musical episodes and I never got into it. Except for this one, and Xena's. The one for Xena was done before this and deserves more credit than it gets. Although Joss supposedly wanted to do a musical episode very early on, but WB wouldn't let him. Moving to a new network made it possible. Buffy's lines about touching the fire and all she can feel is the cold, how she's empty inside and just wants to feel something is a lot like what Angel said before he had sex with Darla, wanting to feel something besides the cold It's not love, it's despair sex.
Buffy plots are literally the epitome "be careful what you wish for" and the Spuffy shippers still keep wishing. lol 20:20 - Better be careful with blasphemy like that, lmao. OMWF is the most well liked episode of the entire series. Largely considered the best, followed closely by The Body and then Hush.
It's kinda disappointing that you didn't like it but liking it is subjective I guess... Believe it or not this is one of the most popular episodes of Buffy after The Body and The Gift. I personally love this episode. It's Top 3 for me and I know all the songs
I loved this episode - and I am NOT a fan of musicals in general. In normal musicals, people breaking into song breaks my suspension of disbelief as it were, because in most people's lives, almost nobody spontaneously breaks into song rather than talking. (Musical theater people excepted.) But in this episode, there's a demon at fault, and our characters KNOW that this is weird, but they can't stop themselves. It makes sense from a plot perspective, it gives the show an opportunity to reveal the various fears and secrets they have been hiding, in a supernatural way that means now everything is out in the open and everyone has to decide how to handle these revelations. I think it is a stroke of genius, and the cast put in extra effort to pull it off, even where it took them out of their comfort zone. I liked it the first time I watched it, but after getting the behind the scenes stuff, I loved it on rewatches. :)
Same as you I wasn’t keen on it first time as not a big musical fan probably just wanted my weekly fix of Buffy and the gang but the more I’ve watched it the better it gets thanks for the honest reaction
you know usually someone like Spike is absolutely not my type. I am not attracted to bad boys in rock style, usually it just doesn't work for me. But he is the epitome of such image and he makes you love what you were previously indifferent to. Somehow his magic works this way 😄
I think TV musicals are kinda a different genre that have to be seen appart of 'normal musicals'. Ofcourse you do not have a cast of fully trained singers and the way you have to structure the plot, as its not a standalone thing, has to be very different. But out of all the TV musicals (excluding full msuical shows) this is one of the best, as it mixes the two elements 'serialized TV show' and 'musical' comperably well and actually menages to use the medium song in unique ways, to push the story forward in ways not logically possible through normal dialouge. But I think its deffinitely an episode that gets better over time, not in the least because of you getting used to some of the untrained singing.
Anthony Stewart Head, and James Marsters both had musical careers with albums, so makes sense that you'd pick them out as the best singers. Amber Benson I believe, while not known as a singer, has been trained or took classes, thus why she also is better than the main cast. Who, no they aren't great, but given that the rest of them have zero training (other than to do this one episode) did pretty good.
This is considered one of the best episodes of Buffy. it is intersting that you clearly disagree and that's ok. For me, I do consider it one of the best, probably top 5. I like Fool for Love, The Gift, The Body, and Passion more.
So going back to the flower (Lethe’s Bramble). Does Tara have to have it on her or near her for the spell to take effect or is it just enhancing the effect? I’m assuming the spell itself is something different altogether which could be Willow’s own creation as someone already suggested. But the flower might just be an ingredient to enhance its power or reach as far as the memory altering/erasing goes. Perhaps the spell is just to make Tara forget but the flower is for literally mind-controlling. As in thought and emotion reform. Changing the mental/emotional state. I.e. while the spell is the intention, the flower is the roofie drug. It’s what’s keeping Tara in a state of mental inebriation so long as it’s on her or near her. As if she was just constantly drinking a substance that is keeping her forgetting things. In the book Tara is reading it says that Lethe's Bramble is a type of magical flower used for augmenting spells of forgetting and mind control. So the flower is just augmenting the spell that Willow cast whatever that spell was. The spell could be ‘Tabula Rasa’. Latin translation: clean slate. But Lethe’s Bramble has Greek origin. Lethe is one of the rivers of Hades whereby if you wade through it or drink from it, you instantly and completely forget. This flower is very interesting for me. And it’s the evidence Tara needs to know for certain that Willow is using magic on her. An actual spell leaves no trace of evidence. But something to augment it can. Also… just in case people don’t know what I mean when I use the term “roofie” as it’s not a very common term. And thus why I say “magical roofie” “Roofie gets its name from one of the most common types of date rape drugs, Rohypnol. This is a benzodiazepine prescription pill that will leave you confused, forgetful and unable to move your body. The effects of this drug can be felt in 30 minutes.” But you know; just using a spell to simulate 2 out of the 3 effects mentioned is just as good. Thus… Lethe’s Bramble is a magical roofie. It’s a date-rape drug. It’s intended for the purpose of mind-controlling or gaslighting the victim.
Once again Xander does something wrong on SO MANY LEVELS (actually causes innocent people to DIE) And he not only doesn't apologize but also no one even scolds him. He's never held accountable. But god forbid, if Buffy doesn't apologize for something each episode those Scoobies' heads will explode. (Unfortunately, not literally in a couple episodes!)
The point is, he didn't do anything wrong. Sweet's magic makes people tell the truth, but during the song "I have a theory" he didn't say anything about having summoned the demon. And the only person missing from that song is Dawn. It was Dawn who summoned Sweet and Xander outsmarted him!
To fully get all the little things one must view this episode several times. Like the reference to The Music Man (Spike: "76 bloody trombones"), or before Anya and Tara start dancing and singing backup for Buffy (Giles: "She needs backup. Anya? Tara?"). Oh, and the mustard man and the parking ticket lady were David Fury and Marti Noxon, both main writers on the show together with Whedon.
I love Kass "predicting" Willows spell misfire... then trying to making the whole musical thing Willow's fault through mental gymnastics. It was fun. Was not my fave episode to watch the first time, but it may grow on you, or not but both are valid. It is a favourite to watch reactors respond to as it is pretty unexpected and off the hook.
The only ones with actual musical experience, as I recall, were Anthony Stewart Head, Amber Benson and James Marsters. (Maybe a bit of Emma Caulfield). SMG herself did a bunch of training for it because it wasn't thing she had experience with prior. For her inexperience she turns in a stellar job since it was her first time doing that. Giles and Spike both have great skillz.
@@karazor-el9596 i'm going to go with... neither. (altho the episode _is_ a masterpiece, the fact that she didn't feel it doesn't mean she understood less of it than the average viewer.)
TARA: “I know exactly what they see in me. You.” KASSIDY: “Was that meant to be sexual?” Well, no. Not really. But she is unnaturally horned up all throughout this musical number. Hence the sex scene. It’s like the spell Willow put her under lowers her inhibitions because she wouldn’t be like this otherwise. Well… she would be if they never fought and she never got angry I guess. But I feel like something a little extra was put into that spell to make her this way. I consider this whole musical number a sexual violation. It shouldn’t be happening while Tara is under Willow’s spell and it wouldn’t be if she wasn’t given recent events of them fighting. This song has a double-entendre to it. It’s much darker than it sounds or looks because Tara is not herself. Her autonomy is stripped away from her. I don’t know if I’d call it mind control but there is definitely mind-state or emotional state altering going on where it really would make no difference if it was mind control because the result is the same. It’s ironic because the song, in her perspective, is about how she’s now able to be herself in ways she wasn’t because Willow came into her life and loved her and helped her come out of her shell. But her singing this and doing all of this lovestruck stuff is not her being herself at all. Not with true context anyway. She’s missing her true mental autonomy. So there’s a contradiction going on here that makes this entire musical number so fucking dark because it’s like she’s singing when she doesn’t actually have a voice or a choice to use it. Her voice is silenced. This should be an angry song. It should be a song about disappointment and disgust in Willow. It shouldn’t be happy and loveydovey. She shouldn’t be wanting to get in bed with Willow. She should be a mile away from her. They should be physically separated and estranged. It’s actually really awful. I can listen to the song because Benson does sound great but I can’t watch the visuals alongside it. It’s too much for me. I can’t stomach the deception. Tara shouldn’t be this way at this moment in time. But the fact she is makes this musical number dark. It’s framed as romantic, cute and sweet. But there’s nothing romantic, cute or sweet about date-rape.
is it really date rape if you are in a committed relationship though? I am not excusing what Willow did, I am just wondering if that is the best way to describe it.
@@Nexusofgeek absolutely, yes. It doesn’t matter whether you’re in a relationship or not. If you do not consent or can’t consent or do not want to consent to having sex or any kind of physical intimacy with someone… it’s rape/sexual assault. Makes no difference what relation the rapist has to you. What makes the difference is whether it’s your choice. Whether you will it or not. This is not Tara’s choice because Tara does not have the capability to choose in this moment. Or rather - she can choose but her choice is invalid because it’s not what she would choose if she wasn’t under a spell. Tara’s mental and bodily autonomy is disregarded all throughout and therefore it’s a mental and sexual violation what’s happening here. It’s rape by deception. Wiki: “Rape by deception is a situation in which the perpetrator deceives the victim into participating in a sexual act to which they would otherwise not have consented, had they not been deceived. Deception can occur in many forms, such as illusory perceptions, false statements, and false actions.” Tara thinks everything is fine between her and Willow because she can’t remember anything happened between them that made them not fine as the memory of the fight has been erased from her mental state and therefore her subsequent anger and disappointed over it has been altered. She’s now suddenly happy with her when she should still be angry because they haven’t resolved the fight - Willow has just magically wiped it from Tara’s mind. As soon as Tara realizes that Willow has done this - any physical or even emotional intimacy between them is immediately negated because she did not will it to happen. It only happens because she wasn’t aware that she was deceived into making it happen. It’s basically like Willow just slipped a GHB into her drink and possibly an ecstasy pill along with it. The Lethe’s Bramble spell effects her in the same way it would if she just consumed a date-rape drug.
Hmmm… the only person I’ve known to dislike Dru, and now the only one to “not feel” this musical… very unusual! Glad you enjoyed the episode even if you weren’t into the musical. Also, very happy you’re staying true to yourself, great reaction as always! 👍
I think tht just maybe you weren't in the mood for this. Just wasn't feeling it. Actually, this is, in my opinion, one of the finest things that has ever been aired. Joss wrote all the music - and retained the whimsy, but also managed to endanger all the relationships by injection of the Truth. No, this is one of the fan favorites, and for good reason.
The key is in the lyrics. You seemed more focused on the quality of the singing and didn't seem to actually digest the meaning behind the lyrics. This is one of the most, if not the most, revelatory episode of Buffy.
This was one of the first musical episodes on modern television and was a big hit. It is generally seen as the standard for a musical television episode. The actors are not all singers and a couple have stated they cannot sing, but they could not recast the show for one episode. This episode is also many fans favorite due to how the plot moved along and also the high quality of the musical numbers. I'm guessing you may have had a better experience if somebody had given you some background information prior to viewing it to set your expectations.
Yeah I actually love that some of their voices aren’t great!!! It doesn’t take me out of it with a dubbed in professional voice, you know? Like it’s really as if the characters started singing and you heard their unpolished, real voices! I think that’s cool. I feel like in musical episodes, they either write the songs so they just kinda talk theatrically/jokingly, only give proper songs to the better singers or dub in professionals.
I will say, I was surprised that you weren't feeling the episode. All good - that is what TV gives us - a new episode to watch if we weren't feeling the last one. I would be curious to know (which we can never know) if you had known it was a musical episode before watching - would that have changed your viewing perspective. When this aired originally - we all knew this was a musical episode - we were all ready for it. & for most - it was love at first note of song.
This is probably my favorite episode because it isn’t a cliche musical and the actors are actually singing. It would make sense that not all would have great voices. And so much is revealed during the songs.
Right - a demon is making everyone in town burst into song. It makes sense that they wouldn't all have great singing voices, it's just their voices being forced to sing and reveal their thoughts in their songs.
What set this apart from all other musicals is that the singing was acknowledged by the characters and also actually a revelatory plot device.
I like how the singing and dancing were actually part of the story. Like you said, a plot device.
Singing for no particular purpose wouldn't have made sense.
In the Xena episode, they knew they had to sing. And it was revelatory to the ongoing story.
@@gungho1284 So, the formula works, if done properly. Make the music inclusive to the story.
@@gungho1284 That's why I actually like that musical episode too. I'm not really a fan of musicals. I liked Grease, and the musical episodes of Buffy and Xena, and Dr Horribles Sing Along Blog. Other than that not really. Though I didn't care too much for the second Xena musical episode. Singing was still part of the plot, but it felt more of a forced plot for that purpose, and most of the time they sang it wasn't SPECIFICALLY part of the plot reason for singing. I mean it was more "so it put them in the mood to sing". It was tollerable though.
but she talked over all the songs so she did not get the storyline
For me having some of the cast not be the best singers worked in this episode favor. Since it’s supposed to be ordinary people getting enchanted.
great point. That is what I thought so too in rewatches, especially since Marti Noxon and Fury also sing but they are just regular Sunnydale citizens.
This is THE episode that inspired every other TV show musical after. It wasn’t the first musical episode (they go back to I Love Lucy’s ‘The Operetta’ in 1951, if not before. And it wasn’t even the first to resolve major plot points in a musical, Xena did that in its third season. But it’s where EVERYTHING came together. It’s also, empirically, the best episode of any TV show ever. How can I say that? Because it’s the only TV show in history that is so beloved that it has been performed live in public 100s if not 1000s if not tens of 1000s of times and what other episode of TV can you say that about??
It's not performed legitimately in public. The same thing happens with Grease 2 or Rocky Horror Picture Show.
Lol.
@@keshaponso2034 Grease 2 and Rocky Horror were not TV shows tho.Which was the point.
@@BoboftheOldeWays No i get that. WHat i'm saying is that just becuase fringe groups put on an unofficial (original creatives not getting any residuals for their art) retelling- of a piece of art, does not make it the best. Grease 2 is not the best sequel/movie because people do that. Rocky Horror is not the best musical because people put on shows of it.
Unofficial shows happen all over the world in a range of art. I would argue, it's a sign that it's a brilliant episode. I would argue that it could be the best musical TV episode ever for that reason. Or that the Buffy fandome is really strong.
But IMO, the best episode of TV ever is a bit of a stretch- for that reasoning.
It's in my opinion the most overrated TV episode ever
Amber (Tara), Anthony Stewart Head and James Marsters are pretty much the only ones who could properly sing anyway which is why they sound so much more natural. I will say tho Emma and Nicholas sing well too, in their song their harmonising together sounds so good
And the guy who plays Sweet is such a good singer
Hinton Battle is a three-time Tony winner. en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hinton_Battle
Sweet = Hinton Battle, three-time Tony winner. Yeah, he can sing.
I feel like people leave out Emma Caulfield, but I thought she was pretty good in this episode. At least compared to most of the others.
@@AshleyG24601fan Yeah, she was the best of the ones who didn't have an actual background in singing.
Yeah, Amber Benson was unexpectedly amazing in this episode!
Amber, Anthony, and James had the best singing voices...but extra props to James for pulling it off in a fake accent
Is Tara thinking of breaking up with Willow?
' 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'
This episode works if you listen to it without thinking it's a musical. And it has many, many, cross reference to Buffy and the world of musical. Of course that's not for everybody, but don't let the musical thing stop you from enjoying what is considered one of the best episode of the show (not because it's a musical, but because the last 10 episodes were building up to this one, plotwise)
They offered to have someone sing for Sarah, but she didn't want someone else to give the big reveal.
I would be embarrassed if someone else, I believe they said Jewel, sings for me and I just open my mouth while everyone else sings on their own
she did fine herself not a great singer but a nice singing voice
That's the best credit for this episode, being that they didn't hire replacement singers for some of the characters. It's more real anyway as a musical curse forcing you to sing is not dependent on you being a professional quality singer.
Yeah, Sarah didn't originally want to sing because she was too embarrassed and so they were going to have a replacement. But then she saw the script and how important it was, and learned they'd have auto tune to help her sound better, and decided she *had* to do it because it was such a big moment.
Michelle asked to have her singing kept to a minimum so they played on her dance skills and gave her that dance scene.
Also when she sings heaven it's supposed to be off key on purpose
"Wasn't feeling the musical"... You're absolutely entitled to your feelings and opinions, but so am I, and I just, I can't....
Now you know why so many commenters a couple of reactions back were all puzzled by your thumbnail, "I Have a Theory"!
Love it or hate it, this is arguably the best "musical episode" ever done in television history. Unfortunately, it led to a rash of copycats in other dromedy series, and most musical episodes are frankly cringe-worthy. This one was not only clever and entertaining, it actually moved forward major portions of the season arc. [EDIT: Yes, all the actors sang their own parts. IMO, both Amber Henson and Tony Head are very competent singers. As is James Marsters, who has actually fronted a band for years. And I nearly forgot Marti Noxon, in the parking ticket lamentation!]
And Emma Caulfield used to be a dancer. You could see that in some of her parts. But totally. The I Have A Theory thumbnail earlier this week threw me off. But it got me really excited because I knew this one was almost here.
That's Amber "Benson" of course 🙂
@@tbessie D'Oh! Damn thee, fat-finger! 🙂
Staff cameos - David Fury, one of the producers is the mustard stain man, Marti Noxon, one of the writers, is the parking ticket lady.
One thing to remember about James Marsters' singing - James is an American actor singing in the accent he uses as an English vampire.
Fury was a writer too. His first appearance on screen was in that Angel episode where there's two W&H guys assembling an Ikea-like alter for sacrificing lots of goats.
@@gungho1284 They both were writers/producers (actually the same thing in TV) and, by that point, number 1 and 2 in the chain of command when Joss wasn't there.
They're both better singers than the main cast XD
Marti Noxon wasn't just a writer on Buffy, she was the showrunner for the last two seasons.
Even though they aren’t all amazing singers, I’m so glad they all sang. I remember Xena did a musical episode and they dubbed a professional singer over Gabrielle. It was so odd and took the emotion out of things because you couldn’t connect to the character.
No it didn't because they found a good voice match for her and Renee was still acting the emotions which she always does superbly
I really wish they spent a lot more time preparing for it. The episode would be a lot more lied if it wasn't so rough.
This is my favourite episode ever. IUnusally for musical episodes this moved the plot along and wasn't just a pause. Outside of James, Tony & Amber, Sarah actually has a pretty good voice.
I think Emma's voice is pretty good too. Somewhat strident and not always perfectly in tune, but clear and strong, which fits her character.
Every line means something. The songs are extremely thought out.🙌🏼
Except for that one line that was only filler. 😁
Like every single musical??
Easily the best episode ever, never heard someone react and say ugh not a musical... lmao it was so powerful the songs were amazing
You are the first person I've ever seen not LOVE this episode.
I've watched this episode like 25 times and still I cried with the "Under Your Spell" reprise
poor Tara...
Yeah, seriously a fantastic reprise
I think Amber Benson, James Marsters and Anthony Stewart Head actually have experience singing. They had a lot of bad jokes. But the fact they had a musical and worked it into the plot was unique.
Though not the first musical episode of a show ever, as some think it is, it is regarded as one of the best. But that of course does not mean you have to like ;)
And though the singing is not over all perfect, this makes actual sense as part of the story, since they are only normal people singing because of some demon. However, the writing of the songs is really good! It takes many typical musical tropes parodies on a meta level, letting unrealistic musical elements clash with real life.
Also it is really important for the story. It was nicely set up with Ania and Xander that the songs make you say things you actually wanted to hide from others. And only with that, it made sense, that Buffy would tell the others about having been in heaven and in the end kissing Spike.
I’m going to need for you to just watch this episode again, just by yourself and popcorn 🍿 and a drink and truly enjoy it. This episode was probably the first time that I ever seen a non musical show do a musical 100% correct. And I think we definitely notice that you had a strong coffee, love your reactions.
she dos'nt need to anything she did'nt like try moving on
"The Bitter Suite" from Xena: Warrior Princess was the blueprint for this episode. As for the reactor, she probably just didn't like the songs.
@@jp3813 I completely forgot about Xena music episode, I was so young when I saw on tv, but you’re definitely correct.
@@killermery The soundtrack is actually uploaded on Joseph LoDuca's playlists.
@@karazor-el9596 yea she's weird, she doesn't seem to like anything most people like and she's sadly not very observant, she misses a lot of the subtle things. I like to watch her reactions though because it's like watching a train wreck, you can't look away, at least I can't
you do need some sense of whimsy and fun to enjoy this episode. and most of the entire rest of the show, start to finish, come to think of it. why are you watching this?
Ditto!
"Maybe it's just me" Yep, It's just you hon.....
That’s the mother of all musicals. No kidding
Wow, that took a while for her to notice that Anthony Stewart Head is also a good singer.
to be fair it takes her a while to notice a lot of things
@@Nexusofgeek Yeah, but I tried to avoid saying that.
@@Nexusofgeek LOL Ain't that the truth!!!
I love this episode so much. It accomplishes so much with the plot of the series and sets it up for a lot of conflict and plot progression. Also, the Willow and Tara duet was a sex scene that managed to show so much and so little at the same time. Especially for the time. And I love Spike's song Rest in Peace
Rather than cut this episode to the usual running time, the network decided to let it run over, shifting the rest of the schedule that night to accommodate it. A lot of people who'd set their recorders to stop on the hour were surprised.
BTW, the parking ticket lady is Marti Noxon, one of the show's writer- directors.
She was great and I wanted to hear more of the parking ticket song. lol ..Totally surprised me.
@@illuminotme825 I mean the official song is a little bit longer at least.
Also the mustard stain guy is writer David Fury.
@@nicoopala6261 wait there's an official song?? Like off a soundtrack? 🤦♂
@@illuminotme825 yeah, look it up. should be on yt as well. it is still short though.
Oh My God. This happened. We are here.
My favorite episode of BtVS ever! Love musicals but often musical episodes in TV are a bit forced - not this one! Thought this was brilliantly written, with creative original songs for every character that really drove the series story & character arc. Even though only 3 cast members were trained singers (Giles, Tara, Spike), everyone else did the best they could.
Sarah at first wanted her singing dubbed. Then she found out Buffy would reveal she was in heaven & decided she didn't want someone to say/sing those words bc they were too important! So she got 2 vocal coaches & trained & prepped for this for a while.
Listening to the ‘Once More, With Feeling’ soundtrack. You actually pick up a lot that you don’t while watching. For instance how fucking high Amber Benson’s voice is in ‘Where Do We Go From Here’
This chick be singing in the 6th octave yet she’s apparently a Mezzo Soprano.
Holy shit. She’s honestly the best singer in this.
Amber Benson is almost entirely in head voice in ‘Under Your Spell’ and all throughout the musical episode. She has very few modal/chest register vocals.
So it makes sense why she gets a solo love song.
I would say she’s either a Light-Lyric Soprano or a Soubrette.
Doubtful she’d be a Coloratura, although she can most definetly get up there where only the higher tier Soprano’s are comfortable going. A5 and above.
As a classically trained Soprano vocalist myself -
I would pin her as a Light-Lyric since she can still get pretty low when needed.
Quite the range on her.
I swear the only characters that can sing in 'Once More, With Feeling' is Tara, Spike and Giles.
Xander and Anya are flat.
Willow sings out through her nose.
An Buffy is out of tune.
It's hilarious really,... 😂🤣
The way I checked YT hourly waiting for this to drop 😂
Starting out pretty negative for the most beloved episode of this entire series...
Me too. I love this episode
Aww this was disappointing.
And she biffed it.
@@LeshaAnnshe biffed your expectation, not her reaction.
She chews his lips. She bites it. Are you trying to eat him, girl? lol That was a fierce kiss.
Maybe she secretly wants to be a vampire.
@@Girl4Music maybe 😊 and maybe the lips are also delicious 😜😄
@@Junejane4 That too 😂👌
This is the best musical episode of any tv show and this is one the most important to say a lot about characters and meaningful this season. You can rewatch then season 6. Perfectly written and way to characters to reveal secrets by songs.
I don't really like musicals, but this is my favorite episode of the whole show.
So interesting that you're a musical fan and didn't care for the musical parts in this episode. It's the opposite for me where I'm not usually a musical fan, but I loved this episode.
Well - Anthony Stewart Head is also pretty good which is not surprising considering that he's a professional singer.
Yeah, that's Amber Benson singing. Everybody did their own singing-Whedon insisted on it. ASH of course sang professionally on the stage in London and James Marsters had his own rock band. The rest of them, well it's a mixed bag.
I thought Whedon offered a ghost singer to SMG, but she insisted on singing.
TH-cam shows some songs of the band "Ghost of the Robot", the band of James Marsters. Anthony Stewart Head and Amber Benson sang in a Rocky Horror Remebrance Show th-cam.com/video/-LH43hTh5KI/w-d-xo.html (sorry for the bad video quality)
I'm not a fan of musicals, but I love this one. You should watch it again and pay more attention to lyrics.
I don't like musicals either, and this one is no exception. Not everyone is going to like it.
@@samjohnson7869 Is it technically a musical if they are forced to sing?
lol, she talked over the entire first lyrics/lines
No, this is not "A" musical episode. It's *THE* musical episode.
:)
The fact that you got to this point without being spoiled for this episode is amazing in itself. A lot of shows that do musical episodes never get it right, and it offers very little to the plot. This however is the exception. Not only is this an innovative episode in term of plot and foreshadowing, it's a damn good 'musical'. The songs are really good and well structured, and just work so well in the episode. There is also great comedy in the episode with the lyrics. Of course the massive reveal for the group is Buffy telling them she was dragged out of Heaven, Spike already knew this of course, and then Dawn repeats to Buffy 'the hardest thing in this world is to live in it' the exact words Buffy said to Dawn in The Gift S5 Finale. Spike getting fed up with singing is very funny towards the end, but what an ending when Buffy follows him. It was brilliantly done, and now with Buffy and Spike kissing, the whole direction of the show takes a strange turn with some brilliant, but disturbing episodes to follow. Love the reaction again. This really was a brilliant episode, Lorne from Angel would have loved this.
I was young when this show originally aired and caught most of it outside the last couple seasons via reruns but I remember being in borders and seeing a cd for once more with feelings and being so beyond excited. I hadn’t even seen this episode, didn’t know it existed and was just so pumped about everyone singing. Bought it wo a second thought and even now can prolly sing every word of it. It’s also still part of my physical cd collection.
It's one of my very top episodes of the series, but to each their own. It's utterly brilliant because each line tells so much about these characters.
Love this episode.
Its a great way for it to be revealed all that has been happening to the characters, as they had no control over hiding how they felt.
I cant see any other way all their secrets would come out.❤
James voice when he sings is like heavenly honey to my ears🍯 Even 'sun sets and she appears' sounds beautiful 10:35
And this 'You just love to play the thought that you might misbehave' while he's sliding his gaze down her body does things to me. He is good
I also like how Michelle is dancing, it's very elegant
Michelle begged not to have to sing too much, and she has a background in ballet, so Joss wrote it to play to those strengths.
@@terrystickland219 since she tried ballet it makes sense for her to show it. She has an esthetic, there is a move that she does with her legs, when they hold her and she is moving straight legs in front of her, that was good
Giles is definitely the best singer. Also, you should rewatch the episode on your own so you don't talk through it. You'll enjoy it more. 😉
She talked over more than one highlight, though she couldn't know that not having seen it before.
She should watch it as many times as necessary for her opinion to align exactly with yours.
@@asperhes Isn't that what all the training in corporate America is supposed to achieve?
She missed so much cuz she was too focused on the singing. She's comes off as snotty
Both ‘The Bitter Suite’ and ‘Once More, With Feeling’ are really unprecedented for their time in TV. Even though Xena’s musical episode came first in 1998, both Buffy and Xena take the credit for musical episodes becoming pop culture in TV. But they also did the unthinkable by cleverly, not only coincide with the plot, but further it along in that they both have the characters spill secrets and make confessions which aid to evolve respective character arcs and tell a story that has them begin again in new and interesting ways.
In ‘Once More, With Feeling’ Buffy confesses she was pulled out of heaven by her friends. Forcing the Scooby Gang, Willow in particular, to process this information and grapple with the seriousness of it. In ‘The Bitter Suite’ Xena confesses that she killed Ming Tien. Forcing Xena to beg for forgiveness from Gabrielle so she can pass through the waterfall. Thereby reconciling and reuniting them, making their relationship stronger so they can battle the real enemy.
All of this is done in song. Cheesy? Sure. But clever at the same time. The creators knew that talking about these subjects and themes would be heavy on the audience watching and listening, so addressing them in music was a way of making what was heavy subject material much lighter. And at the same time, they also knew that music is meant for honest expression. So really, how else would or could it work? They ultimately made the right decision. As cheesy or silly as it may look on the surface, they achieved what few have… Going deeper without drowning. This is why these two musical episodes remain staples in TV history. It is not just because they’re musicals. It’s because they’re musicals with depth. They could have just been some silly entertainment for the cast to have fun with and show off their talent and nothing more. Instead they were much, much, much more than that. They were artistic genius. They were performance art. And you will find it difficult to truly understand either of these shows without them.
As my soul brother Sweet put it: “Now, we’re partying. That’s what it’s all about.”
The way I stayed up until after 2am here in Australia hoping you'd drop this reaction 😂👏👏
I love how the lyrics of the songs progress the plot... absolutely brilliant ❤ Maybe watch it again so you can fully take in everything that's said through the songs.
Definitely just you.
What a bummer of a reaction. Didn't think anyone could be immune to the charms of the best musical episode of all time. Oh well.
I think this is one of the best eps, but I still love your reaction, especially your attention to Buffy. I never paid much attention to her before, or any of the other main hero type characters in shows, but you're right in everything you say about her. While I hate musicals, I think this one was excellent, and I actually like the real voices of the characters, who aren't professional singers, but it just adds to their personality, you know?
I don't give you grief, I mean the actors except for Giles and Amber (Tara) are the only one who are musically trained. But I wasn't surprised you didn't feel the musical. While most of us loved it, you being you would not be feeling it. Quite typical reaction
Spuffy was probably my favorite thing in Buffy rewatching as an adult.
This is the best musical episode on any TV show ever. All the songs were so meaningful to the characters unlike with most songs in this kind of thing.
Songs in musicals have no meaning.
Is that what you just said?
Wow.
Watch the behind the scenes of this episode, stream the soundtrack a couple of times and then rewatch and you will be loving this episode in no time. I guarantee it.
Stream the soundtrack!?? Absolutely not, for me. These songs are baaad.
She just needs to watch it 39 more times and she's guaranteed to love it. Her opinion must coincide with yours or she's just wrong.
@@asperhes 🤣
I love the ending, if you listen to the group sing before buffy goes to spike they sing "the curtains close on a kiss god knows" then they close the curtains on their kiss ❤
This is definitely one of my top 3 favorites. I was rewatching the songs on TH-cam when it recommended me my first reaction video, so this episode is why I'm here!
Anthony Stewart Head is a West End musicals actor (UK Broadway). This is widely considered one of the best musical TV episodes ever made so....yeah.
It is just you 🙂 This is regarded by most as the best episode of the series. Personally, I liked that none of the singing was dubbed. Lots of interesting trivia in this episode. Cameos by writers / producers David Fury (mustard out guy) and Marti Noxon (fire hydrant lady). The 3 minions were also the 3 demons Buffy fought in the cemetery, and the three dancing street cleaners behind Marti Noxon. Also ASH's brother, Murry Head, had a big pop hit in the 80's called One Night in Bangkok.
It's not just her. I find this episode incredibly overrated. It's refreshing to see a reaction like this.
Very surprised you didn't like it. I've watched a lot of reactions to this and yours has been the only negative one from a BTVS fan. One other was someone who just watched it because she likes musical episodes of shows. Didn't know the show. It's in my Top 5 episodes of Buffy. As for the cast not being great singers, that is to be expected. The only ones who had experience I think were JM who was in a band, AH, and AB. I was also surprised you didn't remark about how much the lyrics were plot-related. I thought they were great. To each their own though.
After al the credits for the music, songwriting, choreography, people still ask, "this is a musical?" I lived through that whole craze for doing musical episodes and I never got into it. Except for this one, and Xena's. The one for Xena was done before this and deserves more credit than it gets. Although Joss supposedly wanted to do a musical episode very early on, but WB wouldn't let him. Moving to a new network made it possible.
Buffy's lines about touching the fire and all she can feel is the cold, how she's empty inside and just wants to feel something is a lot like what Angel said before he had sex with Darla, wanting to feel something besides the cold It's not love, it's despair sex.
Buffy plots are literally the epitome "be careful what you wish for" and the Spuffy shippers still keep wishing. lol
20:20 - Better be careful with blasphemy like that, lmao. OMWF is the most well liked episode of the entire series. Largely considered the best, followed closely by The Body and then Hush.
Spoiler for comic
Buffy and spike seemed pretty happy in the comic. So some wishes come true.
It's kinda disappointing that you didn't like it but liking it is subjective I guess... Believe it or not this is one of the most popular episodes of Buffy after The Body and The Gift. I personally love this episode. It's Top 3 for me and I know all the songs
disappointing yes, but not surprising. She's a bit of a killjoy. But she likes the Spuffy angle so maybe that is enough to keep her invested.
@@Nexusofgeek Definitely a killjoy. I agree but I like that she is honest. Plus she uploads her reactions to TH-cam fast AF
I want that suit. It's awesome.
One of the best episodes of television ever.
This is a fan favourite and I feel the same as you, not MY favourite. I dont like musicals, BUT, I love the stories in this episode
James Marsters ( spike) and Anthony Stewart Head ( giles ) are both professional singers in addition to acting.
I loved this episode - and I am NOT a fan of musicals in general. In normal musicals, people breaking into song breaks my suspension of disbelief as it were, because in most people's lives, almost nobody spontaneously breaks into song rather than talking. (Musical theater people excepted.)
But in this episode, there's a demon at fault, and our characters KNOW that this is weird, but they can't stop themselves. It makes sense from a plot perspective, it gives the show an opportunity to reveal the various fears and secrets they have been hiding, in a supernatural way that means now everything is out in the open and everyone has to decide how to handle these revelations. I think it is a stroke of genius, and the cast put in extra effort to pull it off, even where it took them out of their comfort zone.
I liked it the first time I watched it, but after getting the behind the scenes stuff, I loved it on rewatches. :)
James and Tony are both trained singers who perform/ed in their own bands.
Same as you I wasn’t keen on it first time as not a big musical fan probably just wanted my weekly fix of Buffy and the gang but the more I’ve watched it the better it gets thanks for the honest reaction
That kiss is literally everything.
Spike is the reason for my taste in men . 😩
oof babe, don't settle for rapist monsters
@@Isaaaa_Belle you’re reading way too deep into this comment. I was in middle school watching this show….. I hope you have a better day
you know usually someone like Spike is absolutely not my type. I am not attracted to bad boys in rock style, usually it just doesn't work for me. But he is the epitome of such image and he makes you love what you were previously indifferent to. Somehow his magic works this way 😄
Yeah, the director said "put everything into that kiss," and they did.
@@alicequinn505
well, it is a musical after all.
I think TV musicals are kinda a different genre that have to be seen appart of 'normal musicals'. Ofcourse you do not have a cast of fully trained singers and the way you have to structure the plot, as its not a standalone thing, has to be very different. But out of all the TV musicals (excluding full msuical shows) this is one of the best, as it mixes the two elements 'serialized TV show' and 'musical' comperably well and actually menages to use the medium song in unique ways, to push the story forward in ways not logically possible through normal dialouge. But I think its deffinitely an episode that gets better over time, not in the least because of you getting used to some of the untrained singing.
Anthony Stewart Head, and James Marsters both had musical careers with albums, so makes sense that you'd pick them out as the best singers. Amber Benson I believe, while not known as a singer, has been trained or took classes, thus why she also is better than the main cast. Who, no they aren't great, but given that the rest of them have zero training (other than to do this one episode) did pretty good.
This is considered one of the best episodes of Buffy. it is intersting that you clearly disagree and that's ok. For me, I do consider it one of the best, probably top 5. I like Fool for Love, The Gift, The Body, and Passion more.
I'm curious as to what her Top 5 are if Restless and OMWF are not in it.
Don't forget. Willow had sex with Tara who wasn't able to make a consensual decision to have sex. She was manipulated... Don't forget.
A dancing demon?
No, something isn't right, there.
So going back to the flower (Lethe’s Bramble). Does Tara have to have it on her or near her for the spell to take effect or is it just enhancing the effect? I’m assuming the spell itself is something different altogether which could be Willow’s own creation as someone already suggested. But the flower might just be an ingredient to enhance its power or reach as far as the memory altering/erasing goes. Perhaps the spell is just to make Tara forget but the flower is for literally mind-controlling. As in thought and emotion reform. Changing the mental/emotional state. I.e. while the spell is the intention, the flower is the roofie drug. It’s what’s keeping Tara in a state of mental inebriation so long as it’s on her or near her. As if she was just constantly drinking a substance that is keeping her forgetting things.
In the book Tara is reading it says that Lethe's Bramble is a type of magical flower used for augmenting spells of forgetting and mind control.
So the flower is just augmenting the spell that Willow cast whatever that spell was. The spell could be ‘Tabula Rasa’. Latin translation: clean slate. But Lethe’s Bramble has Greek origin. Lethe is one of the rivers of Hades whereby if you wade through it or drink from it, you instantly and completely forget.
This flower is very interesting for me. And it’s the evidence Tara needs to know for certain that Willow is using magic on her. An actual spell leaves no trace of evidence. But something to augment it can.
Also… just in case people don’t know what I mean when I use the term “roofie” as it’s not a very common term. And thus why I say “magical roofie”
“Roofie gets its name from one of the most common types of date rape drugs, Rohypnol. This is a benzodiazepine prescription pill that will leave you confused, forgetful and unable to move your body. The effects of this drug can be felt in 30 minutes.”
But you know; just using a spell to simulate 2 out of the 3 effects mentioned is just as good.
Thus… Lethe’s Bramble is a magical roofie. It’s a date-rape drug. It’s intended for the purpose of mind-controlling or gaslighting the victim.
Once again Xander does something wrong on SO MANY LEVELS (actually causes innocent people to DIE) And he not only doesn't apologize but also no one even scolds him. He's never held accountable. But god forbid, if Buffy doesn't apologize for something each episode those Scoobies' heads will explode. (Unfortunately, not literally in a couple episodes!)
The point is, he didn't do anything wrong. Sweet's magic makes people tell the truth, but during the song "I have a theory" he didn't say anything about having summoned the demon. And the only person missing from that song is Dawn. It was Dawn who summoned Sweet and Xander outsmarted him!
Dawn just stole the necklace that Xander LEFT OUT after summoning Sweet. He wanted to "find out if they get a happy ending."
she missed so much of the story by talking over the storyline, that they sing lol
IT IS FINALLY HERE
To fully get all the little things one must view this episode several times. Like the reference to The Music Man (Spike: "76 bloody trombones"), or before Anya and Tara start dancing and singing backup for Buffy (Giles: "She needs backup. Anya? Tara?").
Oh, and the mustard man and the parking ticket lady were David Fury and Marti Noxon, both main writers on the show together with Whedon.
You can tell when a reacter doesn't have a true musical ear because they suck at understanding musicals.
Willows face at the Heaven reveal gets me all the time 😢
I love Kass "predicting" Willows spell misfire... then trying to making the whole musical thing Willow's fault through mental gymnastics. It was fun.
Was not my fave episode to watch the first time, but it may grow on you, or not but both are valid. It is a favourite to watch reactors respond to as it is pretty unexpected and off the hook.
and of course this reactor dumps all over it. Saw that coming
The only ones with actual musical experience, as I recall, were Anthony Stewart Head, Amber Benson and James Marsters. (Maybe a bit of Emma Caulfield). SMG herself did a bunch of training for it because it wasn't thing she had experience with prior. For her inexperience she turns in a stellar job since it was her first time doing that. Giles and Spike both have great skillz.
The dancing demon Sweet was played by Hinton Battle, three time Tony winner.
Yep musical in THIS show is great! One of my favorites 😍 and Giles, tara spike are amazing singers !!! Also buffys voice is cute so works for me 😊
This episode was a masterpiece. It flew right over the reactor's head.
or she's just more intellegent than you
@@karazor-el9596
i'm going to go with... neither. (altho the episode _is_ a masterpiece, the fact that she didn't feel it doesn't mean she understood less of it than the average viewer.)
@@sirmoonslosthismind She'd have to not talk through the dialogue and songs to actually understand it
TARA: “I know exactly what they see in me. You.”
KASSIDY: “Was that meant to be sexual?”
Well, no. Not really. But she is unnaturally horned up all throughout this musical number. Hence the sex scene. It’s like the spell Willow put her under lowers her inhibitions because she wouldn’t be like this otherwise. Well… she would be if they never fought and she never got angry I guess. But I feel like something a little extra was put into that spell to make her this way. I consider this whole musical number a sexual violation. It shouldn’t be happening while Tara is under Willow’s spell and it wouldn’t be if she wasn’t given recent events of them fighting.
This song has a double-entendre to it. It’s much darker than it sounds or looks because Tara is not herself. Her autonomy is stripped away from her.
I don’t know if I’d call it mind control but there is definitely mind-state or emotional state altering going on where it really would make no difference if it was mind control because the result is the same.
It’s ironic because the song, in her perspective, is about how she’s now able to be herself in ways she wasn’t because Willow came into her life and loved her and helped her come out of her shell. But her singing this and doing all of this lovestruck stuff is not her being herself at all. Not with true context anyway. She’s missing her true mental autonomy.
So there’s a contradiction going on here that makes this entire musical number so fucking dark because it’s like she’s singing when she doesn’t actually have a voice or a choice to use it. Her voice is silenced. This should be an angry song. It should be a song about disappointment and disgust in Willow. It shouldn’t be happy and loveydovey. She shouldn’t be wanting to get in bed with Willow. She should be a mile away from her. They should be physically separated and estranged. It’s actually really awful.
I can listen to the song because Benson does sound great but I can’t watch the visuals alongside it. It’s too much for me. I can’t stomach the deception.
Tara shouldn’t be this way at this moment in time. But the fact she is makes this musical number dark. It’s framed as romantic, cute and sweet. But there’s nothing romantic, cute or sweet about date-rape.
is it really date rape if you are in a committed relationship though? I am not excusing what Willow did, I am just wondering if that is the best way to describe it.
@@Nexusofgeek absolutely, yes. It doesn’t matter whether you’re in a relationship or not. If you do not consent or can’t consent or do not want to consent to having sex or any kind of physical intimacy with someone… it’s rape/sexual assault. Makes no difference what relation the rapist has to you. What makes the difference is whether it’s your choice. Whether you will it or not.
This is not Tara’s choice because Tara does not have the capability to choose in this moment. Or rather - she can choose but her choice is invalid because it’s not what she would choose if she wasn’t under a spell.
Tara’s mental and bodily autonomy is disregarded all throughout and therefore it’s a mental and sexual violation what’s happening here. It’s rape by deception.
Wiki: “Rape by deception is a situation in which the perpetrator deceives the victim into participating in a sexual act to which they would otherwise not have consented, had they not been deceived. Deception can occur in many forms, such as illusory perceptions, false statements, and false actions.”
Tara thinks everything is fine between her and Willow because she can’t remember anything happened between them that made them not fine as the memory of the fight has been erased from her mental state and therefore her subsequent anger and disappointed over it has been altered. She’s now suddenly happy with her when she should still be angry because they haven’t resolved the fight - Willow has just magically wiped it from Tara’s mind. As soon as Tara realizes that Willow has done this - any physical or even emotional intimacy between them is immediately negated because she did not will it to happen. It only happens because she wasn’t aware that she was deceived into making it happen.
It’s basically like Willow just slipped a GHB into her drink and possibly an ecstasy pill along with it. The Lethe’s Bramble spell effects her in the same way it would if she just consumed a date-rape drug.
The actor who plays Spike was the lead singer in a band at the time. Not sure if he still is.
Hmmm… the only person I’ve known to dislike Dru, and now the only one to “not feel” this musical… very unusual! Glad you enjoyed the episode even if you weren’t into the musical. Also, very happy you’re staying true to yourself, great reaction as always! 👍
I hate this episode, but I hate musicals in general...not everyone likes it
@@samjohnson7869 Just curious, what do you hate about it?
Still wish I was capable enough to figure guitars for rest in peace
Dang, you're one of the only reactioners i've seen that didn't love this episode. It's such a fan favourite! But each to their own, ya know.
I miss Liam's reactions!!
I think tht just maybe you weren't in the mood for this. Just wasn't feeling it. Actually, this is, in my opinion, one of the finest things that has ever been aired. Joss wrote all the music - and retained the whimsy, but also managed to endanger all the relationships by injection of the Truth.
No, this is one of the fan favorites, and for good reason.
When is she EVER in the right mood though! lol
The key is in the lyrics. You seemed more focused on the quality of the singing and didn't seem to actually digest the meaning behind the lyrics. This is one of the most, if not the most, revelatory episode of Buffy.
This was one of the first musical episodes on modern television and was a big hit. It is generally seen as the standard for a musical television episode. The actors are not all singers and a couple have stated they cannot sing, but they could not recast the show for one episode. This episode is also many fans favorite due to how the plot moved along and also the high quality of the musical numbers. I'm guessing you may have had a better experience if somebody had given you some background information prior to viewing it to set your expectations.
I've been waiting for this my all time favorite episode of Buffy the vampire slayer
Yeah I actually love that some of their voices aren’t great!!! It doesn’t take me out of it with a dubbed in professional voice, you know? Like it’s really as if the characters started singing and you heard their unpolished, real voices! I think that’s cool. I feel like in musical episodes, they either write the songs so they just kinda talk theatrically/jokingly, only give proper songs to the better singers or dub in professionals.
Xander has the worst luck. Praying Mantis Lady. Incan Mummy Girl. This dude.
I will say, I was surprised that you weren't feeling the episode. All good - that is what TV gives us - a new episode to watch if we weren't feeling the last one. I would be curious to know (which we can never know) if you had known it was a musical episode before watching - would that have changed your viewing perspective. When this aired originally - we all knew this was a musical episode - we were all ready for it. & for most - it was love at first note of song.