|
|
|
Buffy the Vampire Slayer— | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
efore the season started, it appeared that bringing Buffy (Gellar) back to life in the season premiere would be a snap compared to pulling off Buffy the Musical, as UPN has been billing it. But the brilliant Whedon has managed to do the impossible by coming up with the best Buffy episode since his Emmy-nominated episode "Hush."
In "Once More with Feeling," Buffy is going through the motions as she patrols the cemetery. Of course, when she bursts into song and the vampires and a demon sing and dance along, she suspects something isn't quite right. The next day at the Magic Box, everyone admits they found themselves singing uncontrollably as if they were in a musical, with rhyming lyrics and musical backup.
Just as they begin discussing the possibilities, a group song pops out and they sing about their theories as to who might be causing all the singing and dancing. After the musical number is over, they discover that everyone in Sunnydale seems to be affected.
However, what the gang discovers is that they are being forced to sing their most private secrets to each other. They find themselves unable to keep their feelings from coming out. Worse yet, people are burning to death from the inside out, and there seems to be some connection. Indeed, there are dark forces at work in the form of a demon (Tony Award-winner Hinton Battle), and it's going to be a hot time in Sunnydale if the Slayer and the Scoobies can't figure out a way to stop him.
That's vampiric entertainment!
Last year, fans wondered how Joss Whedon could possibly top his previous seasons, only to see him come out with his best season yet, as Buffy took on a god. What could he possibly do this year to top that? Based on the episodes so far, it looks like that forces the Scoobies will battle this season are much more dangerous than any before, as the characters faces challenges within themselves.
In "Once More with Feeling," everything comes to a head in a spectacular episode that's funny, touching and revealing, and all to the tune of catchy song-and-dance numbers. As a group, the cast does a surprisingly good job in the musical department as they sing and dance their own numbers. But holding the glue of the episode together is the fabulous Broadway star Battle as the demon who casts his musical spell over Sunnydale. Battle's demon is one of the best villains the series has come up with yet.
However, what makes this one of the finest Buffy episodes is the script, songs and music, all written by Whedon. Presented in letterbox format, with more than a dozen songs and only about eight minutes of dialogue, the story is moved along by the music. Each song holds a truth for the singer as it explores the depth of their relationships with the other characters. All that sounds heavy, and some of it is. But "Once More with Feeling" is full of comic moments too, which is what Buffy does best—balance the humor and the drama in a fantastic way.
In the tradition of "Hush," Whedon has created a situation that is completely true and real within the Buffy universe and one that forces the characters to reveal their most private feelings. There's no doubt that the characters will never be the same. They lost their innocence last year when Buffy died. This year they're truly growing up, with all the good and bad things that come with that process. Luckily for us, we get to watch them every step of the way.
Whedon took his first vacation in five years and ended up writing the songs for this episode. While someone probably needs to redefine the word "vacation" for the man, if this is the result of some time off, then Buffy fans everywhere are the richer for it, and he should have another "vacation" as soon as he can manage it. — Kathie
Also in this issue: The One, The X-Files, Monsters, Inc., The Tick and Mind Meld
|
 |
|
| Home |
Copyright © 1998-2006, Science Fiction Weekly (TM). All rights reserved. Reproduction in any medium strictly prohibited. Maintained by scifiweekly@scifi.com. |
