The Legacy of Buffy the Vampire Slayer Episode “Once More with Feeling”

By Damon Martin – Editor/Lead Writer
Follow on Twitter @DamonMartin

From the very beginning when Joss Whedon created Buffy the Vampire Slayer for TV, he had one long-term idea in mind that would not be an easy sell to any network—he wanted to do a musical episode.

Now musicals are a piece of fabric that blends elements from stage and song, combining the two into one grand exclamation of entertainment. Rarely, however, have musicals ever come to television outside of full stage productions like West Side Story.

Whedon had a vision in his head that one day he would produce a Buffy musical episode, and during the production on season 5 of the show he felt like this would be the time.

So for the better part of six months he wrote and composed an entire soundtracks worth of material, interweaving storylines and lyrics pertinent to the show, and unveiled it all to producer Gareth Davies, complete with a full script, a CD of the songs performed by Whedon and his wife, and all of the orchestral accompaniments.

Needless to say, Davies was floored by Whedon’s commitment to making a Buffy musical episode happen. It was then Whedon’s job to sell this idea to his cast, which wasn’t an easy task considering most of the actors and actresses on the show had no formal music or dance training to fall back on for this type of production.

Actress Alyson Hannigan specifically asked for a small amount of lines due to her fear of singing or dancing much in the episode.

Even show star Sarah Michelle Gellar had reservations about doing the show, and at one point Whedon even suggested a voice double for the actress. She admitted in an interview with the BBC about the episode that Whedon’s idea struck such an emotional nerve she started to cry because these scenes would mark some major moments for the character throughout the season.

Ultimately, Gellar and the rest of the cast signed off on making the show a reality.

On November 6, 2001, Buffy the Vampire Slayer episode 7 of season 6 debuted and in that single moment, television history was made with one of the most creative, daring and brave efforts that has ever happened.
The episode focused around a dancing demon accidentally summoned to Sunnydale, and when he’s around everyone can’t help but to burst into song and dance. The numbers performed throughout the episode were elaborate and choreographed to perfection.

Lyrically, the songs played a major part in the revelation of some important storylines that unfolded during the episode. Buffy’s lack of emotional attachment to the world since being brought back from the dead by her friends takes center stage, while Spike’s undying love for her is an emotional back drop with hints of passion, and laced with rage.

Some songs during the show sounded like poppy, radio friendly hits while others like the duet “I’ll Never Tell” pitting Xander (Nicholas Brendon) with his bride-to-be Anya (Emma Caulfield) was a funny comedic addition to an overall fairly serious episode.

The themes played throughout were painted with emotional overtones like Giles belting out the song “Standing” with lyrics like “I wish I could play the father and take you by the hand, wish I could stay here, but now I understand, I’m standing in the way”, which was a foreboding tune to him realizing that he was stunting Buffy’s own growth since her return, and just an episode later he left the show.

The group numbers really were the standout performances during the episode. From the opening tune sung in the Magic Box called “I’ve Got a Theory” (which quickly transitioned to Anya’s fear of bunnies all the way to a happy ditty about the team working together and how they could solve any problem) to the best feature during the hour-long broadcast, which was the song “Walk Through the Fire”.

Every song easily got stuck in your head, and before long everyone was singing along.  The episode was met with critical glee due to Whedon’s daring chance to do a musical where no show like this had ever gone before.

Salon.com columnist Stephanie Zacharek summed it up beautifully when writing about the show back in 2001:

“Once More, With Feeling” was just a little more than an hour’s worth of television, but its gently layered tones suggest something infinitely more complicated than either your standard contemporary musical or your standard contemporary TV episode. It’s an all-singing, all-dancing full-moon fever dream. Now that’s entertainment.

The folks from the New York Post were equally as complimentary towards the episode

Most numbers are delightful and contain enough surprises that to describe them would be dampening part of the joy. Buffy [is] smart and surprising in so many ways, is no Cop Rock — and that’s a compliment

The episode broke the rules, broke down the traditional walls of how far a show like this could go, and still stands out as one of the best moments in the history of Buffy the Vampire Slayer.

Once More With Feeling and the Legacy Today

The Writer’s Guild of America just recently released its list of the 101 best written shows in TV history. Buffy the Vampire Slayer came in at No. 49 overall, but no one episode was singled out as the show’s best.

While there were plenty of heart wrenching moments in the show (who can forget when Buffy’s mom dies) as well as extremely well written and acted episodes (the season 2 finale springs to mind as well as another daring effort with the silent but deadly episode Hush), Once More with Feeling stood out because not only did it serve as a pivotal episode during the season, but it also took chances that no one had done before.

Almost exactly a year after the episode aired, Rounder Records released the soundtrack to Once More with Feeling, featuring all of the songs sung by the cast. The soundtrack is still regarded as a must have for any Buffy fan out there.

Now more than a decade later the show still has an impact on those that loved it most.

In 2012, singer Kate Nash took to the stage at Hackney Attic to perform the entire soundtrack to Once More with Feeling along with her friends and a backup band. Cameras were on hand to capture the magic, and here are a few of the standout performances:

I’ve Got a Theory

Walk Through the Fire

Where Do We Go From Here (followed by the theme from Buffy)

Back in 2009, Malcolm Rollick did a full stage production of the episode with music, actors, and singing in a small theater setting

At San Diego Comic Con in 2011, the final act on the closing day on Sunday in the famous Hall H was a special sing along karaoke version of the episode, introduced by actor Nicholas Brendon, who even did a special live verse from one of his more famous lines from the show (It could be witches, some evil witches. Which is ridiculous cause witches they were persecuted, Wicca good and love the earth and women power and I’ll be over here). He didn’t quite get through it the first time, but still made the effort to make sure and get it right before he left the stage.

The energy of the crowd was amazing as every person in the hall sang along with Whedon’s words and music, and even interjected some extra moments of comedic hilarity (every time Dawn speaks the entire audience would shout “Shut up, Dawn!”).

It was a special way for the Buffy fans to come together for the screening, while also saying goodbye to another year at San Diego Comic Con

Personal Attachment

I’m sad to say that I didn’t actually watch Buffy while it was on the air. During the biggest chunk of the time that the show was airing, I was in college and didn’t spend much time watching television in those days (I did however see the original Buffy movie in theaters so there!).

Once college was over, I remember hearing about how great the show was so I picked up the first season on DVD and watched it over the course of about two days. I then proceeded to buy every other season and fired through them all over a matter of weeks.

At the mark for season 6 after doing some exploring about the show online, I heard about a musical episode of Buffy, and even I was quite skeptical about what I would witness. When it was over, I was immediately on my computer looking to download the soundtrack and still to this day have the playlist on my iPod.

I was also lucky enough to attend the screening during San Diego Comic Con in 2011, and remember how much fun it was to watch the episode with a hall full of dedicated Buffy fans all singing and cheering along. When it was over, I remember a certain sadness washing over me because not only had the screening come to an end, but with that so did the 2011 San Diego Comic Con.

It was my first year attending the annual convention, and after hearing so much for so long about how everyone should attend at least one of these, I was in that same group praising the experience as one of the best times in my life.

To this day, whenever I hear the Once More with Feeling soundtrack, a smile creeps across my face and I’m brought back to that moment in Hall H singing along loudly with my fellow Buffy fans just enjoying a great piece of television history together.

There are those songs that we listen to after a break-up, and those songs that we blast at full volume when we are most angry. For me, the soundtrack to Once More with Feeling is truly something that brings happiness and joy whenever I hear the songs.

And the reason that I’m professing my love for this particular episode on a date that holds no significance to the airing of the broadcast or some kind of anniversary once again comes back to a personal moment for me.

Just recently, my girlfriend decided to sit down and watch the entire series of Buffy the Vampire Slayer for the first time. I’ve sat with her for a lot of the episodes, especially my favorites throughout the series. But when season 6 rolled around, I almost made it an event for the Once More with Feeling episode.

With surround sound blasting at 1am in the morning, we watched the episode together as I fought the instinct to sing along the entire time and when it was over I knew she felt the same way I did the first time I watched it.

Once More with Feeling is a unique episode that’s as fun as it is important to the series as a whole, with musical numbers that will get stuck in your head for days and that’s not even a bad thing! If you haven’t watched Buffy the Vampire Slayer, you’re truly missing out on some of the best television writing, acting and directing ever, but make sure to enjoy the rare qualities of an episode like Once More with Feeling when it comes time to watch.

Shortly after, you will be singing along.