It's finally here!! And a few days early too :) i got sick so I couldn't watch Wednesday this week, so I was like I'm not gonna make you guys wait until Friday lol Hope you enjoy :)
the best episode of the sixth season? Pretty close. It's not a coincidence TV Guide named it one of the best episodes in TV history. I still have the soundtrack. Also, that was not the extras singing that was Marti Noxon and the producers. I think the UPN censors were more forgiving than the WB ones
Ok I know it wasn't your intent to come off as a jerk, but the demon simply not wanting to take Xander isn't homophobic. He even says it's tempting but no thanks. If the demon doesn't like men it's just his preference. It's like the people who try to say that men who don't want to date trans people are transphobic, when really they just don't want to date them.
@@tehcoolemu I'm sure she didn't mean it in a hurtful way. Saying that because a man didn't want to sleep with a man, therefore he hate gay people, isn't good. It's a preference, not a prejudice.
I’m a musical theatre major, and regardless of Buffy being my favorite show, this is hands down the BEST TV musical episode. Not only is it well written, it is NECESSARY to further the plot. All of the secrets were revealed because they couldn’t lie in the songs, so there was incredible plot progression (that is almost never the case in TV musical one off episodes). It’s one of my favorite episodes of television EVER.
@@shercahn I love the Xena musical too ❤, I think one difference may be that xena writers used existing songs and other musicals content and just changed the words…..for Buffy it was an original score, I think it’s so amazing to write a whole musical and have it work so well.
@@MarioMarioD80 Adam Sherman, the choreographer, can be seen as one of the dancing sweepers, in the scene with Giles, Xander and Anya. I believe that was also pointed out in the commentary.
I think Buffy not being able to hear Giles singing when he was in the same room is a great example of musical logic. You just kinda have to go with it. If you question it too much, it all falls apart. 😂
There were a lot of people, including me, who said 'oh good, a musical episode!' under the false impression that musicals are always happy. In actual fact, the conceit of musicals is the characters sing when the emotions get too intense for usual lines. The title "Once More With Feeling" has at least a triple-meaning.
"Instead of blaming the darkness, you bring in the light." - Eckhart Tolle Tara really is one of those people who just completely forgets about her own pain when others are in pain. They should have made her an Empath if not a demon. Or both. A demon Empath would be cool.
It’s also why she was the perfect one for Buffy to tell about her and Spike. She was so compassionate and supportive to Buffy and didn’t look disgusted or judge her
Tara singing "You make me believe" vs "You made me believe" might be one of the best callbacks/writing I've ever witnessed. It hits so hard. Walk Through the fire is the best song in the episode and might be one of the best scenes in the series. Emma Caufield had a youtube channel for a bit and I got her to sing a christmas song on helium.
There is such a light/dark double entendre with the song ‘Under Your Spell’. Literally every line Tara sings in the song and the reprise of it has a double-meaning.
I think too many people are so awed by it being a musical, that they miss that this is really the core plot crunch point of the season. Every character has some secret crisis, flaw, or difficulty they've been dealing(or not dealing) with, and this is where everything finally comes out into the open.
I legit start every Buffy reaction channel with the sole purpose if making it to this episode and seeing the reaction. Some are 3 years in and haven't made it yet. 😅 It's a lot of patience but it's TOTALLY worth it to get here and watch you enjoy this masterpiece! I'm so glad you loved it!🥰🥰🥰
Yeah, every Buffy reactor I find has a short list of much watch reactions and this is at the top. It's up there with Hush as one of the best BtvS episodes ever. Which is really impressive since I'm not a big fan of S6 in general.
Part of the reason this episode is so amazing is the absolute murderer's row of singing talent. Anthony Head had played Dr Frank N Furter on stage in The Rocky Horror Show. James Marsters had a side gig a rock singer in clubs. Amber Benson was a revelation and the demon was played by three time Tony award winning Broadway legend Hinton Battle.
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. We’ll see what Sofie thinks. I think she’ll immediately pick out Benson’s voice type. But I’m saying Light-Lyric Soprano based on her singing performance in this episode
Anthony Head also has an album out. Music For Elevators. And several Buffy cast appear on the album with him. James Marsters and Amber Benson both sing, and Allison Hannigan has a voice-over.
27:14 Allison Hannigan Ladies and Gentlemen. The look of Absolute Horror on Willow's face as she realizes what Buffy is saying deserves all the Awards.
One thing (of many) I adore about this episode is how cleverly it makes use of everyone's talents. The songs are exactly the sort of songs you should write if you're a good writer with basically no songwriting experience (heavy on character material and clever wordplay.) The actors with the best voices get the lion's share of the solo singing, while the weaker voices are always supported by other singers or allowed to get by on things they're very good at. Michelle Trachtenberg gets a dance number, Nicholas Brendon's song segments are tailored to his skills as a comedian (he's got nervous patter down to an art,) Alyson Hannigan just acts her heart out - and, notably, she's the only person whose secrets are revealed without her baring her soul in song. ...And now I'm remembering "when you sing, your bare your soul" and I'm sad that Lorne didn't make a guest appearance. I don't care that you wouldn't have been able to fit him into the episode.
@@Guardian582 spoiler Can't be the same place as his people don't have music in their world. Perhaps to cause trouble and bring a little fun, the demon called to him as a child.
I'm so glad you laughed at Anya's line. I feel like "oh my God, did it sing?" is basically the pinnacle of human comedy but it never gets the same reaction I had to it.
When you pretty much lost your mind near the end of “Walk Through the Fire” I knew you were my people. When the fire trucks zoom by I get goosebumps no matter how many times I’ve seen it!
Haha, I remember when WandaVision episode 2 aired and there was so much speculation swirling around the character Dottie - because she was played by Emma Caulfield AND there was a BUNNY in the episode. LOL.
Not enough people talk about the fact that Tara almost certainly would not have been intimate with Willow during this episode if she remembered their fight about magic. So not only was the memory wipe a violation of her mind, but also her body.
THANK YOU! I have literally written a huge ass post about it today but UA-cam will not let me post it as a comment here. But thank you for acknowledging what needs to be acknowledged. WILLOW RAPED TARA!
No one seems to talk about the fact that Xander caused an innocent persons death (the guy that burned to death dancing). Absolutely love this episode though.
@@dneill8493 SPOILERS Kinda funny you mention that because I’ve always acknowledged that the only Scoobies to not kill anyone in this show is Xander and Tara. But I guess Xander did indirectly.
@@dneill8493 yeah it makes sense why he is so invested in asking Giles if the combustion and the singing are connected when they are walking. He is acting anxious about the results.
There’s still so much detail to pick up from it after all these years. Like how almost every lyric in ‘Under Your Spell’ is a double entendre of love vs abuse. How it’s literally narrating the fact Willow is magically roofying Tara but also being a declaration of Tara’s love for Willow. It’s so damn dark. I mean just the first verse alone… 🎶 I lived my life in shadow Never the sun on my face It didn't seem so sad, though I figured that was my place Now I'm bathed in light Something just isn't right🎶 These lyrics literally tell you Tara is under the influence of something that makes her sudden expression of adoration for Willow really sinister because something isn’t right about it.
You're not wrong about this one having rewatch value. There are scenes where there are several things going on at once, and it's hard to pick up all of it on your first time through. There are also nice little touches, like an instrumental motif from "I'm Under Your Spell" playing in the background when Tara is researching the flower and discovers that she is, literally, under Willow's spell. You can also watch Xander's reactions to things throughout, knowing now that he's the one who set it all into motion. Unrelated note: I love how Willow's literal "filler" line winds up being one of the most memorable lines of the whole episode.
Sarah Michelle Gellar didn't want to do the singing for her character but when she found out that all the others were actually singing their parts themselves, she didn't want to be the only one who didn't do her own singing.
Actually, what I saw in an interview was that prior to creating this episode they had gotten together as friends for karaoke nights. They knew that Giles and Tara had amazing voices. Willow wasn't really into singing and didn't feel comfortable. Buffy was an okay singer. But since she's the lead character they were thinking of hiring an actual recording artist to sing her parts. But Buffy wanted to do her part so she had some voice coaching lessons so she could sing her parts
@@christiesegovia1064 Those nights were actually over at Joss's house. At the time he had a lot of the cast over for dinners and because a lot of them would sing he got this idea to do the musical. James Marsters talked about it quite often in interviews and such. I don't think Sarah was thrilled with the idea but went along since so many of them were on board and excited for it.
What I heard is that SMG initially did not want to sing but once she found out Buffy would be revealing that she was in heaven, she felt it had to be her voice for real and not a double. She hired two voice coaches and trained around the clock to nail it.
It was SO refreshing watching a reaction video to this episode with someone who had context. Ive watched this episode over 40xs and I still love every moment of it. To see someone elses pure joy brought me so much joy. ♡
Thank you, Lexi, for continuing to post your reactions on You Tube. Several others have given up on "Buffy" or slowed to a crawl. I admire your discipline in dealing with the YT powers.
This, The Body and Hush are often considered something of a trilogy. 3 of the best episodes in the series and 3 episodes that all do atypical and interesting things with the sound design. Hush: No dialogue for the lions share of the episode The Body: No background music and largely ambient sounds amplified Once More with Feeling: One of the first musical episodes Obviously all the songs are great, but Buffy's lines about walking through the fire and "I just wanna feel" always gets to me.
Why do people keep saying that this one of the first musical episodes? I Love Lucy, The Dick Van Dyke Show, The Honeymooners, Happy Days, Chicago Hope, Xena, Daria, Ally McBeal, they all had musical episodes before Buffy. There was even Cop Rock a decade earlier.
The very thing about Giles this episode is that he's realising Buffy does not really care about anyone right now, even her own sister. She's handing off most of the actual matters of interacting with her sister to Giles because it's convenient but she does not really care. She ignores his advice and his attempts to help her which is highlighted by her not hearing his song. Even with Dawn having been kidnapped Buffy doesn't really care. Last time Dawn was kidnapped was the S5 finale and Buffy movedheaven and earth for her, but now she's just going through the motions and she has not even had a single more serious or empathic moment with her sister since she got back. She treats her more like a nuisance to be handed off for someone else to care about than anything. It's no different with Giles really because every interaction with him so far has ended with him essentially cutting him off right after he provides help. And from his point of view all Giles did in this season is keep enabling her behaviour. In this case he was hoping that wanting to save Dawn would be one thing to essentially wake Buffy up. And while he is not handling it well he is right in that Buffy basically does not really care right now. She genuinely can't stand the people around her because of what happened to her. Even with trying to save Dawn here Buffy just went through the motions hoping to burn dancing.
Exactly this, his big mistake however is that he doesn't realize that this is all down to depression and thus misdiagnoses it as a side effect of him having been too much the adult in the room hindering her growth from childhood.
@@Henrik_Holst I mean it's absolutely both. Her depression enhances the other issues all the more and his presence is a convenient enabler for her to not really deal with her issues. He is misjudging on how to solve it tho, assuming Buffy would be better off without his support.
@@MyFeuerFrey I would say "almost". When inside the kind of depression that she is there isn't really an enabler so it doesn't really matter what he does or doesn't do, but one cannot judge him for not knowing that since he is not a trained professional in psychiatry.
I believe even if wrecked Dawn is a minor and absolutely feels Buffy not being there. Giles sees this and knows Buffy will regret it if she doesn't learn to balance the trauma and at least her sister, let alone what it could do the people she helps. Personally I'd say, Buffy, I'm covering finances and we'll all pitch in on Slay work, especially Willow who owes you the most, you start being a mom to your sister and the rest work on you. We'll talk about work again in 6 months. But same time, I see why he thought this was the wake up she needed. Probably thought the inevitable crash would only hasten it.
And none have even come close. As the commenter above mentioned, “Bitter Suite” (it’s “Bitter Suite,” NOT “Bittersweet”), was the non-musical show that popularized the trend of making a single musical episode. And it’s because “Bitter Suite l” is/was fantastic and is probably the SECOND best musical episode ever made… but even it doesn’t hold a candle to “Once More with Feeling.”
Honestly, this is hands down the best episode of Buffy. There are many contenders but when I've seen it, I was speechless. Songs are sooo damn good and the best thing is that most of the cast are involved in music somehow and are great singers.
She is a magic powerhouse, she probably had the plant in her bedroom just for the smell and when she got the fight with Tara she acted emotionally and not thinking. The point is, for me, it was the first time she did and it backfired on her spectacularly. If she did it regularly it would become a planned act and would make Willow evil not just a fool. If she did it regularly, she would just erase Tara memory again and again.
@@painlord2k Lexi's ahead on patreon, so this isn't a spoiler - she *does* try to wipe Tara's memory again in the very next episode. The only reason it doesn't stick is because the spell went awry and then got reversed. The fact that she has a giant bag of Lethe's bramble in the house ready for this suggests that this wasn't an isolated incident. She has a stockpile of memory-wiping herbs in the house, and that plus the fact that her first reaction to discovering that Buffy was suffering from crippling depression was to go "I can fix that, I know a mind-wiping spell" suggests that she's gotten far, *far* too comfortable solving problems by wiping people's memories. We don't even know that Tara was the only person she did it to before trying to wipe Buffy's memory. I honestly wouldn't be surprised, given the unhealthy coping mechanisms for distress she's been developing, if she sometimes wiped her *own* mind of guilt and shame and anxiety - maybe that's even how this started - but I don't buy for a second that last episode was the first time she did this.
@@Talisguy Willow is just high empathy: she feels the pain of her friends and she feel the need to stop it without considering the consequences of her actions: With Tara was "she is upset" with Buffy was "she is depressed because she was in Heaven" Of course it is the easy way out not the wise way out. It is no different from a person taking painkillers for every small pain and ending a drugs addicts.
@@painlord2k But in this case, it’s Willow giving Buffy & Tara the drugs, without their knowledge or consent. Not to mention her then taking sexual advantage of Tara while she’s drugged. It’s absolutely horrific behavior. If another character had done something like that, the fandom would’ve (rightfully) lost their minds. I mean, another character does do something (in my opinion) a fair bit less horrible than that. An impulsive act, not premeditated, not taking advantage afterward & the fandom did go crazy. Some wanted that character never to return, yet Willow does far worse & gets a total pass.
"Wish I could trust that it was just this once, but I must do what I must. I can't adjust to this disgust. We're done, and I just wish I could stay." 10/10
Your guess about Alyson Hannigan not wanting to sing is correct, and also applies to Michelle Trachtenberg. Neither wanted to sing, so Alyson got her "filler" line, and Michelle did the dance.
Going to a Buffy sing-a-long and getting to see Once More With Feeling on the big screen with 500 other Buffy fans will always be one of my most favorite things I ever got to do in life. It was such a shame when they were shut down and I've always hoped some one would be able to revive this event.
Wonderful, isn't it? One of the best (and earliest) musical episodes. It's just glorious and even managed to work round Alyson's issues with singing fairly well.
I always thought the reason for Buffy not hearing Giles during his solo, was because Giles thinks (as he expresses in the song) that Buffy doesn't need him/ his advice anymore, that he stands in the way of Buffy becoming more independent, that she doesn't need to listen to him anymore. Hence Buffy's reply right after Giles stops singing : "Did you say something?"
I think there's a difference between songs that are meant to communicate feelings and songs that represent actual conversations.When the Scoobies sing"I've Got a Theory"they are _discussing_ what could possibly be causing the current situation...only through a song.When Tara sings to Willow she's not just _thinking_ about her feelings for her,she's _communicating_ them to her.When Giles sings he's not talking _to_ Buffy,he's _thinking out loud_ why he feels like he should leave.When Anya&Xander sing,they're *literally* expressing their inability to communicate with each other so it wouldn't make sense for them to really"hear"each other because that would mean _communicating._ Which is a sad irony considering Xander's _whole_ purpose while casting the spell was to give people the opportunity to communicate better and without filters with each others!;-P
@@Nicamon Yeah, it's not uncommon in musicals for others to hear or not hear the songs depending on the plot. So naturally musical causing magic would enforce those same rules magically. The same way it can make everyone know the lines and sing and dance in harmony.
To me it followed that theme of her not really paying attention to things around her, to not really be living or listening to anything. She's overlooking the obvious for dwelling in her own pain of being dragged back into a hard life after knowing such a deep peace.
@@afry6400 it fit in but it was also what was explained in this thread that musicals have always had the two types of songs. Those that represent communication between people and those that represent the thoughts in someone's head that only they can hear. I think this episode had more of these songs than any musical I can think of probably because so many people were keeping secrets and not talking to each other. It took me a while to get the right googles words but this type of song is called "inner monologue" songs.
This is easily one of my very favorite single episodes of any television show. It's not just a well executed musical episode, but it's also so freaking DARK. All of the characters' deepest secrets that they've been hiding from their friends are revealed and it ends on a "holy cow, what now??" (or a "Where do we go from here?" if you will.) Also, I think of this episode as being a sort of sequel to "Hush", at least thematically. In 'Hush', no one was communicating properly until everyone STOPPED talking. In 'Once More With Feeling" everyone is forced to communicate their true feelings - but through song, and everyone's secrets are revealed. Love it! (Also, WOW your pre-episode summary (4:50) of all the conflicts that all of our main characters are going through was so spot on...and relevant for the episode. Nice!)
Nah. She looked up that memory spell for Buffy in case she wanted to make her best friend forget about Hell. I’m 100% sure that’s why she knew that spell.
@@salyx yeah, I’d be more inclined to believe this than her constantly erasing Tara’s memories every time Tara disagreed with her about her use and abuse of magic. But it could be possible she was doing both.
I can’t see Willow using the mind erase on Tara all the time. Even in the scene, she sees the flower and the look on her face is one of sudden inspiration, like “hey, I can do this spell; I should try it.” She doesn’t have a look like someone who’s done it before.
That last scene is probably one of my favorites scenes in the show. Just the fact that right before that they sing the line "the curtains close on a kiss" and the harmonies Spike and buffy did with their voices, like everytime I watch it, it feels like it's my first time watching it its just so good, I love this show.
9:48 This is why i love your reactions. Most people dont include my favorite joke of the entire show and i was starting to think i was crazy. I just the way Emma delivers that line 🤣. So glad you liked the episode
Lexi, this is the first time I've watched you and I enjoyed your reaction immensely. This is such a great episode and one of the first musical episodes that made other series jump on the bandwagon, but this one is head and shoulders above most of the rest because all the songs move the plot along. Great reaction - I loved your excitement, your enthusiasm and your thoughts and speculations. Having watched this one, I'm tempted to go back to the beginning and watch you from the start. :)
You can follow her from the beginning without hesitation. At worst, test on an episode that is important to you. For my part, I always test a Recator on the episode PASSION. So I know quickly if it will do it for me
@@reenmomo4501 Thanks for the confirmation. I've already watched Welcome to the Hellmouth and The Harvest and enjoyed them, so I think I'm going to enjoy her style. It's funny, I do the same thing with a reactor I'm not familar with re watching paticular episodes to see how they react before I commit. I often watch The Zeppo to see what they make of an episode that is so off the wall. :)
I'm so glad that you reached this point and have shared the journey. This is probably my single favorite episode of television and I'm so happy when a reactor gets to this point so that I can experience it again through new eyes. Plenty of comments have already covered all the goodness of the episode, so I'll simply say thanks.
this is literally one of TVs greatest episodes of all time, of any show. it's just insane how great it is on so many levels, it advances several storylines, references past episodes and all that while friggin singing!
FYI The dry cleaning singer is David Fury, one pf the producers of the show. And the parking ticket girl singer is Marty Noxon, another producer of the show.
22:20 "I'm not having fun anymore". I just realized that this was a perfect representation of the downside the show was depicting. Everything seems so great with the singing and dancing at first, Lexi even asks why we can't not solve this and keep it like this forever. And we find out that peopel end up burning up. Then we have the show itself with the three part act switching to the songs being darker or depressing later. The feel of the show displaying the same physical result we see.
Major props to you for being able to fully listen to the lyrics, it's very easy to get lost in the songs/excitement and alot of people tend to miss certain moments and truths/feelings spoken in this episode so yeah good job it was a delight to watch your reaction!!
The fact that you got to this point without being spoiled for this episode is amazing. 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. 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. It's a great episode with brilliant innovation, but still feel it is somewhat overrated by Buffyverse fans compared to other episodes in the show.
Watch Lexx-Brigadoom available on UA-cam. That is a very good musical episode that stands alone as one of the very best. Almost as good as Buffy but done in a totally different way.
I loved The Magicans first and second musical episodes as well. The first did it without original music number, some were appropriate to what was happening and others weren't. But it had a good reason for the singing. I can't remember what was the reason why for the second episode although I did love that one as well. But neither of those episodes were the kind of musical that Buffy had. All of the Buffy songs were written to forward the plot and fit so well and were basically the same as all the musical movies. Songs where only the singer could hear that were the thoughts of the singer. Songs that forward the plot.
I guess the bigger issue is that most shows struggle to keep it ''in universe'' so to speak, so it always feels novelty. The musical here is actually happening to the characters, and I wonder if this helps towards the passion and sincerity behind the writing and production.
This episode was so special that it went on for some time after the hour was up. (I forget how many - 10 minutes longer?) They had to make negotiations with the network. I remember being a fan of the show, and just breaking down crying at the end... my favorite show had a tricky episode, and they NAILED it. All that talent came together in what I consider the best single episode of TV ever.
It's always so satisfying watching a newbie watch this ep without them being spoiled,it's a joy to watch through your eyes. Glad you loved it so much. Fun times to come?
You want to sing-a-long? You can. The DVD has the option to show the lyrics with the bouncing ball. There have even been live stage sing a long shows of this episode.
I never liked musicals and I was very skeptical, when I saw it for the first time. But now, I'm the biggest fan of this episode. It's great you paid close attention to the lyrics.
Hats off to your moderators (yourself, if that's the case). It would be hard to keep someone completely unaware of this episode. I know people who have never watched the show who were aware that Buffy had a musical episode. Hush, The Body, this episode, and I suppose the finale, are by far the most famous episodes. Like many of your followers, I was anxiously waiting for you to get to this episode.
i just realised (after watching this a million times lmao) that tara figured out that the flower was related to her memory loss so quickly that she definitely knew what it did when she found it under her pillow but because willow put it there and she trusts her so much she just thought it was a cute gift from the woman she loves. ouch ouch ouch
See that’s the thing though. For her to put it together so quickly like that, it must have been happening frequently. She must have been constantly finding that flower and keeping it on her assuming it’s just a romantic gesture… when it’s actually what’s keeping her forgetting fights she’s having with Willow about her abuse of magic. And then each time this happens and Tara’s all lovey dovey with Willow again, they’re physically intimate and Willow just… doesn’t care about what Tara’s real wishes and thoughts and feelings are. I mean it’s not just erasing Tara’s memories. It’s also erasing her autonomy because her thoughts and emotions are being altered and reformed. Tara should be angry with Willow. And because she can’t remember why she should be angry with her anything of a sexual nature that happens between her and Willow is immediately negated. Null and void. It’s just one horrific revelation after another the deeper you go into this. 😖 It’s domestic abuse It’s coercive control It’s gaslighting It’s mind control It’s sexual assault It’s date-rape It’s many horrible things all rolled into one which makes it absolutely horrific. I mean when you really understand what’s going on with this whole situation,… everything you (and Tara) are initially excited about and love seeing… you suddenly realize “Oh god, this is actually not a good thing. It’s evil.” And it hits you so hard because you suddenly GET IT. You suddenly understand that Willow’s been raping Tara all this time. I mean gently and lovingly but nevertheless… it is rape/sexual assault because Tara has not fully consented to it. How can she when she’s not fully informed about her own anger at Willow? That’s what Willow took from her. Her autonomy. Her ability to fully consent to sex. Willow knows Tara cannot truly give consent.
GREAT reaction. You were taken by surprise and reacted so strongly in every direction. This episode was so entertaining yet so much information came out.
The BTS video for this episode is worth its own watch. There's so much neat stuff to watch 18:35 Michelle Trachtenberg wasn't a trained singer, but had ballet background. So they gave Dawn a dancing routine instead of a song :D
this is my favorite episode of the entire series. seen it too many times to count: sing along edition, commentary, just watching the musical numbers, learned the choreo as well as the lyrics. SO GOOD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
This is definitely at least among the best Buffy episodes. All great music and all original! And it wasn’t at all a fluff episode, it had major development or at least five important relationships in the show… Xander and Anya reveal their fears, Tara learns of Willow magicking her, Giles explains he feels his being a crutch for Buffy is interfering with her ability to live life and be an adult, Buffy explains she was torn from heaven (big Buffy-Willow development), and Buffy kisses Spike (just to feel something, but still!) So much packed into one episode it’s crazy, and the soundtrack is incredible. Definitely my favorite TV show musical episode ever as well. Great reaction! Looking forward to the rest of your reactions as always.
I wish I could have Buffy amnesia and experience the whole show again. The whole series is made of feels. Mostly pain, sweet sweet pain. You will cry and love every minute of it. The writing is so brilliant, I never experienced show with so clever writing from the text to subtext. I basically rewatch the series or at least specific episodes once a year. I do not need any other series in my life :D
This is one of my favorite episodes of any show I've seen. The lyrics are so clever and the way the show used the songs to advance the all the storylines this season is just so well done. Plus the songs are so catchy I'll have them bouncing around my head for a few weeks after this.
Wow this is my FAVORITE episode of the series. It brings tears to my eyes it’s so great. This is one of those episodes that I can’t WAIT to see reactors react to! Thanks for your awesome reaction!
The best thing about a Joss episode is that there is rarely a waste moment on screen. Everything is setting up something else plot or character wise. There is a moment for all characters to shine and of course a couple of dirty jokes.
I have seen so many people reacting to this episode and finally I've seen a reaction just like mine when I first watched it! The emotions, the smiles, the excitement... I'm so happy you love it as much as I do! Thank you Lexi for never disappointing! Love u
An amazingly well-crafted episode. The writers gave us everything we wanted through a surprise, and at the same time weaved in points to be sad and feel dread about. Talk about kicking you while you're down and feeling happy. Yes, the episode was about Buffy, but all the other characters had their fantastic moment to shine.
I love the background of this episode. Mustard guy is so funny. The parking ticket is so real and the street sweepers dancing in the background *chefs kiss*. I love fire trucks driving in the background of let it burn. It's so good!
I am SOOOO happy I found your channel with this show. This is my favourite Buffy show. You are hilarious in your reactions, so great. I found myself reacting to your reactions, like we were in the same room. Great job.
Loved seeing you experience this iconic episode for the first time - and you GOT EVERYTHING! You noticed so many details that took me several viewings to pick up on. Brava! And yes, not only is the music good, but the entire episode not only advances but also accelerates the plot and character arcs of this season. The demon, Sweet, was played by Hinton Battle, a veteran Broadway character actor who has won two Tony awards for “Sophisticated Ladies,” and “The Tap Dance Kid,” and who was the original Scarecrow in “The Wiz.” Getting him was a real coup.
Finally, the musical episode. I have been waiting and counting down the episodes till you got here to watch my favorite episode of all time, when this episode first came out my brother bought like a few sound track copies for us family members for Christmas on CD of this musical. And just this last year while looking up the musical here on youtube is how I first discovered "Reaction Videos" so you and all the other reaction channels I follow here on youtube have Buffy the musical to thank. I love this episode and I love your reaction. Merry Christmas and Happy New Years!
This episode is one of my favorites on the show, and in tv history ! When I first watched it (when it first aired) it was just so groundbreaking, because it popularised the tv show musical episode. I mean... With good reasons !! XD The fact that it helps with the plot that much, is what makes it not only a musical episode, but the best one I've ever watched. All the songs are originals and made to convey what the characters are feeling deep inside. Hence 'once more with feeling'. And they all reveal their secrets to others or the viewer. It's just so well done, and I love this episode so much
Oh no, you missed the little surprise at the end of the credits 😂😍 Regardless, that was an amazing reaction. Can't believe you catched all the lyrics AND commentated on your first time watching this episode.
The guy singing about the mustard is David Fury, one of the main series writers. The parking ticket lady is Marti Noxon, another series writer who later became a co-executive producer of both “Buffy” and “Angel.”
Hinton Battle played the demon, whose name was Sweet. He's one 3 Tony Awards in the category of Featured Actor (which I think is the equivalent to winning a Best Actor Oscar). He's appeared in other TV shows & in movies.
It's finally here!! And a few days early too :) i got sick so I couldn't watch Wednesday this week, so I was like I'm not gonna make you guys wait until Friday lol Hope you enjoy :)
Feel better!
the best episode of the sixth season? Pretty close. It's not a coincidence TV Guide named it one of the best episodes in TV history. I still have the soundtrack. Also, that was not the extras singing that was Marti Noxon and the producers. I think the UPN censors were more forgiving than the WB ones
Ok I know it wasn't your intent to come off as a jerk, but the demon simply not wanting to take Xander isn't homophobic. He even says it's tempting but no thanks. If the demon doesn't like men it's just his preference. It's like the people who try to say that men who don't want to date trans people are transphobic, when really they just don't want to date them.
@@stevenrod100 I'm pretty sure she was joking. I highly doubt she actually thinks it's homophobic to not be queer.
@@tehcoolemu I'm sure she didn't mean it in a hurtful way. Saying that because a man didn't want to sleep with a man, therefore he hate gay people, isn't good. It's a preference, not a prejudice.
Craziest thing ever in the history of Buffy here in this episode. A demon that isn't into Xander. How? What? How?
Three excellent questions
😂
That is an excellent point
Oh come on, it still counts! They were engaged for a second before Sweet reconsidered
He wasn't a bug. 😆
I’m a musical theatre major, and regardless of Buffy being my favorite show, this is hands down the BEST TV musical episode. Not only is it well written, it is NECESSARY to further the plot. All of the secrets were revealed because they couldn’t lie in the songs, so there was incredible plot progression (that is almost never the case in TV musical one off episodes). It’s one of my favorite episodes of television EVER.
This is the reason musical episodes made a come back and why Glee even happened (for good or for ill)
YES and even by normal musical standards, aside from potential confusion of why some of this is happening, it's in my top 5 overall.
IDK, Xena's is pretty epic too (and was done before this one).
@@shercahn Xena's musical isn't credited by dozens of other writers as the reason they thought they could pull it off in their show.
@@shercahn I love the Xena musical too ❤, I think one difference may be that xena writers used existing songs and other musicals content and just changed the words…..for Buffy it was an original score, I think it’s so amazing to write a whole musical and have it work so well.
"Is this a special episode?" Why yes. Yes it is. ^_^ It's "Depression: The Musical" and it's sublime!
LOL perfect description.
"This is so good. I hate it."
The guy sing about the mustard was writer David Fury, and the the woman getting the parking ticket was executive producer Marti Noxon.
Wow did not know that about Marti Noxon. Her singing was great!
One of the best features of this was that they didn't bring in extras for those roles instead bringing in members of the team.
That's true and Marti's final song lyric to get out of the ticket is "Hey I'm not wearing underwear".
its all in the dvd commentary. the dance choreographers were also dancing in the background somewhere
@@MarioMarioD80 Adam Sherman, the choreographer, can be seen as one of the dancing sweepers, in the scene with Giles, Xander and Anya. I believe that was also pointed out in the commentary.
I think Buffy not being able to hear Giles singing when he was in the same room is a great example of musical logic. You just kinda have to go with it. If you question it too much, it all falls apart. 😂
I took it as she is so not connecting that she just didn't notice it.
@@jilliandiamond3358 that makes sense too!
Little known fact: This episode has the best door kick in all media. Ever.
I wholeheartedly agree. Buffy has leveled up!
That door doesn't just swing open from the kick. It's blown right off the hinges and just flies into The Bronze.
There were a lot of people, including me, who said 'oh good, a musical episode!' under the false impression that musicals are always happy. In actual fact, the conceit of musicals is the characters sing when the emotions get too intense for usual lines. The title "Once More With Feeling" has at least a triple-meaning.
I love how, despite their dispute, Tara rushes to Willows side to comfort her, when Buffy reveals she was in heaven.
"Instead of blaming the darkness, you bring in the light." - Eckhart Tolle
Tara really is one of those people who just completely forgets about her own pain when others are in pain.
They should have made her an Empath if not a demon. Or both. A demon Empath would be cool.
@@Girl4Music I think she's an empath, but in human form like the rest of us ♥
@@mosovanhe yeah. Agreed. She had the gift.
It’s also why she was the perfect one for Buffy to tell about her and Spike. She was so compassionate and supportive to Buffy and didn’t look disgusted or judge her
'It's so good!-I hate it!" Yes. This is absolutely the best response.
Tara singing "You make me believe" vs "You made me believe" might be one of the best callbacks/writing I've ever witnessed. It hits so hard.
Walk Through the fire is the best song in the episode and might be one of the best scenes in the series.
Emma Caufield had a youtube channel for a bit and I got her to sing a christmas song on helium.
There is such a light/dark double entendre with the song ‘Under Your Spell’. Literally every line Tara sings in the song and the reprise of it has a double-meaning.
@@Girl4MusicDo you think there’s a double entendre to “spread beneath my willow tree”? Hmmm. I don’t see it.
@@mattburgess5697 no, that line is pretty on the nose. Definitely no doubts as to what that could mean.
@@mattburgess5697😂❤🎉
Can't find it, so much💨☠️🕳️⚰️🪦for that forever on the Internet theory.
"The curtains close on a kiss God knows" I love how the song tells you the ending before it happens.
hahahaha, holy shit I never thought of that, the brilliance of this just keeps on giving
From a writers aspect this was a perfect way to get these hard truths out without overloading the audience.
Exposition goes down a lot easier in song.
I think too many people are so awed by it being a musical, that they miss that this is really the core plot crunch point of the season. Every character has some secret crisis, flaw, or difficulty they've been dealing(or not dealing) with, and this is where everything finally comes out into the open.
Seasons 6 is an exploration of depression which is why it feels so real and visceral. It's my favorite season.
I believe you meant "Seasons 2-7" They're all about depression.
@@jemal999season 4 dont have nothing sad or depressing
@@jemal999all those seasons are
This is like the hardest kept secret for first time viewers! We can all breathe now, knowing it wasn't spoiled for you!
I legit start every Buffy reaction channel with the sole purpose if making it to this episode and seeing the reaction. Some are 3 years in and haven't made it yet. 😅 It's a lot of patience but it's TOTALLY worth it to get here and watch you enjoy this masterpiece! I'm so glad you loved it!🥰🥰🥰
Yeah, every Buffy reactor I find has a short list of much watch reactions and this is at the top. It's up there with Hush as one of the best BtvS episodes ever. Which is really impressive since I'm not a big fan of S6 in general.
Same. And then I missed it because my notifications got turned off. Here now, though, and it was worth everything.
@@xyex Yea I'd say my top 3 are this episode, Hush and The Body, which is excellent in a much darker way than the other 2.
Part of the reason this episode is so amazing is the absolute murderer's row of singing talent. Anthony Head had played Dr Frank N Furter on stage in The Rocky Horror Show. James Marsters had a side gig a rock singer in clubs. Amber Benson was a revelation and the demon was played by three time Tony award winning Broadway legend Hinton Battle.
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.
We’ll see what Sofie thinks. I think she’ll immediately pick out Benson’s voice type. But I’m saying Light-Lyric Soprano based on her singing performance in this episode
Anthony Head also has an album out. Music For Elevators. And several Buffy cast appear on the album with him. James Marsters and Amber Benson both sing, and Allison Hannigan has a voice-over.
James Marsters has a band called Ghost Of the Robot. They're pretty good.
Yes. They already had Musical experience
27:14 Allison Hannigan Ladies and Gentlemen. The look of Absolute Horror on Willow's face as she realizes what Buffy is saying deserves all the Awards.
If you play it in slow motion you can see the moment her heart breaks.
To quote the Simpsons. :)
One thing (of many) I adore about this episode is how cleverly it makes use of everyone's talents. The songs are exactly the sort of songs you should write if you're a good writer with basically no songwriting experience (heavy on character material and clever wordplay.) The actors with the best voices get the lion's share of the solo singing, while the weaker voices are always supported by other singers or allowed to get by on things they're very good at. Michelle Trachtenberg gets a dance number, Nicholas Brendon's song segments are tailored to his skills as a comedian (he's got nervous patter down to an art,) Alyson Hannigan just acts her heart out - and, notably, she's the only person whose secrets are revealed without her baring her soul in song.
...And now I'm remembering "when you sing, your bare your soul" and I'm sad that Lorne didn't make a guest appearance. I don't care that you wouldn't have been able to fit him into the episode.
If they made it a special two parter about how Lorne knew the guy.
@@barbarabaker1457 now thats interesting, i wonder if they either come from the same place or just have the same talent
@@Guardian582 spoiler
Can't be the same place as his people don't have music in their world. Perhaps to cause trouble and bring a little fun, the demon called to him as a child.
I'm so glad you laughed at Anya's line. I feel like "oh my God, did it sing?" is basically the pinnacle of human comedy but it never gets the same reaction I had to it.
When you pretty much lost your mind near the end of “Walk Through the Fire” I knew you were my people. When the fire trucks zoom by I get goosebumps no matter how many times I’ve seen it!
That was difficult to time, and Joss was basically thrilled when it happened on cue, I believe they only had the one take of it..
Haha, I remember when WandaVision episode 2 aired and there was so much speculation swirling around the character Dottie - because she was played by Emma Caulfield AND there was a BUNNY in the episode. LOL.
Not enough people talk about the fact that Tara almost certainly would not have been intimate with Willow during this episode if she remembered their fight about magic. So not only was the memory wipe a violation of her mind, but also her body.
THANK YOU! I have literally written a huge ass post about it today but UA-cam will not let me post it as a comment here. But thank you for acknowledging what needs to be acknowledged. WILLOW RAPED TARA!
No one seems to talk about the fact that Xander caused an innocent persons death (the guy that burned to death dancing).
Absolutely love this episode though.
@@dneill8493 SPOILERS
Kinda funny you mention that because I’ve always acknowledged that the only Scoobies to not kill anyone in this show is Xander and Tara. But I guess Xander did indirectly.
@@dneill8493 yeah it makes sense why he is so invested in asking Giles if the combustion and the singing are connected when they are walking. He is acting anxious about the results.
@@Girl4Music Yeah Xander didn't mean to, but his actions directly resulted in a person's death. Just like Faith.
I met James Marsters at Dragon Con. He shook my hand and the world around me disappeared 😂
Im meeting him in June!! I'm so excited and a nervous wreck 🤣🤣 I might pass out
I met him at AwesomeCon in D.C. several years ago, and he was one of the kindest people ever.
Damn that was beautiful 😂
I never get done seeing people reacting to OMWF for the first time. It’s an absolutely stellar episode and how musical episodes should be done.
There’s still so much detail to pick up from it after all these years. Like how almost every lyric in ‘Under Your Spell’ is a double entendre of love vs abuse. How it’s literally narrating the fact Willow is magically roofying Tara but also being a declaration of Tara’s love for Willow.
It’s so damn dark.
I mean just the first verse alone…
🎶 I lived my life in shadow
Never the sun on my face
It didn't seem so sad, though
I figured that was my place
Now I'm bathed in light
Something just isn't right🎶
These lyrics literally tell you Tara is under the influence of something that makes her sudden expression of adoration for Willow really sinister because something isn’t right about it.
under your spell has a double meaning since Tara is literally under willows spell
I love that double meaning. So sweet and romantic, then also so ominous. Expert writing and storytelling.
This number broke my heart on the first watch, because my immediate thought was that Tara had no idea that Willow was literally mind controlling her 😭
Under the spell is my jam
that gets hammered home when she sings it again when she finds out about the spell
also the thing where she sings "you make me CUMplete"
"There was no pain..." might be my favorite moment in the whole series.
IKR? Such a heartbreaking moment...
It's feels like she's about to burst out in song.
Us: That's because is about to
You're not wrong about this one having rewatch value. There are scenes where there are several things going on at once, and it's hard to pick up all of it on your first time through. There are also nice little touches, like an instrumental motif from "I'm Under Your Spell" playing in the background when Tara is researching the flower and discovers that she is, literally, under Willow's spell. You can also watch Xander's reactions to things throughout, knowing now that he's the one who set it all into motion.
Unrelated note: I love how Willow's literal "filler" line winds up being one of the most memorable lines of the whole episode.
Sarah Michelle Gellar didn't want to do the singing for her character but when she found out that all the others were actually singing their parts themselves, she didn't want to be the only one who didn't do her own singing.
Actually, what I saw in an interview was that prior to creating this episode they had gotten together as friends for karaoke nights. They knew that Giles and Tara had amazing voices. Willow wasn't really into singing and didn't feel comfortable. Buffy was an okay singer. But since she's the lead character they were thinking of hiring an actual recording artist to sing her parts. But Buffy wanted to do her part so she had some voice coaching lessons so she could sing her parts
@@christiesegovia1064 Those nights were actually over at Joss's house. At the time he had a lot of the cast over for dinners and because a lot of them would sing he got this idea to do the musical. James Marsters talked about it quite often in interviews and such. I don't think Sarah was thrilled with the idea but went along since so many of them were on board and excited for it.
What I heard is that SMG initially did not want to sing but once she found out Buffy would be revealing that she was in heaven, she felt it had to be her voice for real and not a double. She hired two voice coaches and trained around the clock to nail it.
The fact that she just says one word..."Forget" and the spell manifests, is scary powerful!!!
It was SO refreshing watching a reaction video to this episode with someone who had context. Ive watched this episode over 40xs and I still love every moment of it. To see someone elses pure joy brought me so much joy. ♡
Thank you, Lexi, for continuing to post your reactions on You Tube. Several others have given up on "Buffy" or slowed to a crawl. I admire your discipline in dealing with the YT powers.
This was THE BEST reaction to the Buffy Musical ever. I can tell how much you love the characters. Thanks for posting.
Lexi reacting to the Buffy musical is the best way to end the year! Been dying to see you react to this.
And we’re starting the new year with tabula rasa
@@TheLexiCrowd Great!!
This, The Body and Hush are often considered something of a trilogy. 3 of the best episodes in the series and 3 episodes that all do atypical and interesting things with the sound design.
Hush: No dialogue for the lions share of the episode
The Body: No background music and largely ambient sounds amplified
Once More with Feeling: One of the first musical episodes
Obviously all the songs are great, but Buffy's lines about walking through the fire and "I just wanna feel" always gets to me.
Why do people keep saying that this one of the first musical episodes? I Love Lucy, The Dick Van Dyke Show, The Honeymooners, Happy Days, Chicago Hope, Xena, Daria, Ally McBeal, they all had musical episodes before Buffy. There was even Cop Rock a decade earlier.
The very thing about Giles this episode is that he's realising Buffy does not really care about anyone right now, even her own sister. She's handing off most of the actual matters of interacting with her sister to Giles because it's convenient but she does not really care. She ignores his advice and his attempts to help her which is highlighted by her not hearing his song. Even with Dawn having been kidnapped Buffy doesn't really care. Last time Dawn was kidnapped was the S5 finale and Buffy movedheaven and earth for her, but now she's just going through the motions and she has not even had a single more serious or empathic moment with her sister since she got back. She treats her more like a nuisance to be handed off for someone else to care about than anything. It's no different with Giles really because every interaction with him so far has ended with him essentially cutting him off right after he provides help. And from his point of view all Giles did in this season is keep enabling her behaviour. In this case he was hoping that wanting to save Dawn would be one thing to essentially wake Buffy up.
And while he is not handling it well he is right in that Buffy basically does not really care right now. She genuinely can't stand the people around her because of what happened to her. Even with trying to save Dawn here Buffy just went through the motions hoping to burn dancing.
Also Buffy isn't moving forward, growing into a responsible adult.
Exactly this, his big mistake however is that he doesn't realize that this is all down to depression and thus misdiagnoses it as a side effect of him having been too much the adult in the room hindering her growth from childhood.
@@Henrik_Holst I mean it's absolutely both. Her depression enhances the other issues all the more and his presence is a convenient enabler for her to not really deal with her issues. He is misjudging on how to solve it tho, assuming Buffy would be better off without his support.
@@MyFeuerFrey I would say "almost". When inside the kind of depression that she is there isn't really an enabler so it doesn't really matter what he does or doesn't do, but one cannot judge him for not knowing that since he is not a trained professional in psychiatry.
I believe even if wrecked Dawn is a minor and absolutely feels Buffy not being there. Giles sees this and knows Buffy will regret it if she doesn't learn to balance the trauma and at least her sister, let alone what it could do the people she helps. Personally I'd say, Buffy, I'm covering finances and we'll all pitch in on Slay work, especially Willow who owes you the most, you start being a mom to your sister and the rest work on you. We'll talk about work again in 6 months. But same time, I see why he thought this was the wake up she needed. Probably thought the inevitable crash would only hasten it.
This wasn't a musical episode, it was THE musical episode. All shows after just tried to make theirs live up to this one
Exactly!
Even though Xena had a musical ep before Buffy
And none have even come close. As the commenter above mentioned, “Bitter Suite” (it’s “Bitter Suite,” NOT “Bittersweet”), was the non-musical show that popularized the trend of making a single musical episode. And it’s because “Bitter Suite l” is/was fantastic and is probably the SECOND best musical episode ever made… but even it doesn’t hold a candle to “Once More with Feeling.”
Honestly, this is hands down the best episode of Buffy. There are many contenders but when I've seen it, I was speechless. Songs are sooo damn good and the best thing is that most of the cast are involved in music somehow and are great singers.
For me, the creepiest part is that Willow had the spell ingredient in her bedroom. Like it's something she uses...maybe not every day, but regularly.
She is a magic powerhouse, she probably had the plant in her bedroom just for the smell and when she got the fight with Tara she acted emotionally and not thinking.
The point is, for me, it was the first time she did and it backfired on her spectacularly.
If she did it regularly it would become a planned act and would make Willow evil not just a fool.
If she did it regularly, she would just erase Tara memory again and again.
@@painlord2k Lexi's ahead on patreon, so this isn't a spoiler - she *does* try to wipe Tara's memory again in the very next episode. The only reason it doesn't stick is because the spell went awry and then got reversed. The fact that she has a giant bag of Lethe's bramble in the house ready for this suggests that this wasn't an isolated incident. She has a stockpile of memory-wiping herbs in the house, and that plus the fact that her first reaction to discovering that Buffy was suffering from crippling depression was to go "I can fix that, I know a mind-wiping spell" suggests that she's gotten far, *far* too comfortable solving problems by wiping people's memories. We don't even know that Tara was the only person she did it to before trying to wipe Buffy's memory. I honestly wouldn't be surprised, given the unhealthy coping mechanisms for distress she's been developing, if she sometimes wiped her *own* mind of guilt and shame and anxiety - maybe that's even how this started - but I don't buy for a second that last episode was the first time she did this.
That might be the creepiest part but it’s not the worst part. The body rape is the worst part.
@@Talisguy
Willow is just high empathy:
she feels the pain of her friends and she feel the need to stop it without considering the consequences of her actions:
With Tara was "she is upset" with Buffy was "she is depressed because she was in Heaven"
Of course it is the easy way out not the wise way out.
It is no different from a person taking painkillers for every small pain and ending a drugs addicts.
@@painlord2k But in this case, it’s Willow giving Buffy & Tara the drugs, without their knowledge or consent. Not to mention her then taking sexual advantage of Tara while she’s drugged. It’s absolutely horrific behavior.
If another character had done something like that, the fandom would’ve (rightfully) lost their minds. I mean, another character does do something (in my opinion) a fair bit less horrible than that. An impulsive act, not premeditated, not taking advantage afterward & the fandom did go crazy. Some wanted that character never to return, yet Willow does far worse & gets a total pass.
57 minutes. Girl. You get it
Edit: Also "oh my god I'm cured" is possibly my favorite line from the entire medium of television
I fought over a month with youtube so i could keep it at this length 😉
@@TheLexiCrowd Oh my, well won then! Congrats on keeping it.
"Wish I could trust that it was just this once, but I must do what I must. I can't adjust to this disgust. We're done, and I just wish I could stay."
10/10
And why is it so disgusting for Tara?
Well, because she was literally raped.
Your guess about Alyson Hannigan not wanting to sing is correct, and also applies to Michelle Trachtenberg. Neither wanted to sing, so Alyson got her "filler" line, and Michelle did the dance.
Going to a Buffy sing-a-long and getting to see Once More With Feeling on the big screen with 500 other Buffy fans will always be one of my most favorite things I ever got to do in life. It was such a shame when they were shut down and I've always hoped some one would be able to revive this event.
FWIW, DragonCon does this every year.
Wonderful, isn't it? One of the best (and earliest) musical episodes. It's just glorious and even managed to work round Alyson's issues with singing fairly well.
I hope that if she ever watches that other show that she won’t remember this comment. 👀
@@LordHyena it didn’t really spoil anything other than that there’s a musical episode: don’t worry.
Definitely the best, but not one of the earliest. I Love Lucy already had a musical episode 35 years earlier.
@@LordHyena Thanks - fixed that.
@@DaveF. Thanks for your consideration! 🙂
I always thought the reason for Buffy not hearing Giles during his solo, was because Giles thinks (as he expresses in the song) that Buffy doesn't need him/ his advice anymore, that he stands in the way of Buffy becoming more independent, that she doesn't need to listen to him anymore. Hence Buffy's reply right after Giles stops singing : "Did you say something?"
I think there's a difference between songs that are meant to communicate feelings and songs that represent actual conversations.When the Scoobies sing"I've Got a Theory"they are _discussing_ what could possibly be causing the current situation...only through a song.When Tara sings to Willow she's not just _thinking_ about her feelings for her,she's _communicating_ them to her.When Giles sings he's not talking _to_ Buffy,he's _thinking out loud_ why he feels like he should leave.When Anya&Xander sing,they're *literally* expressing their inability to communicate with each other so it wouldn't make sense for them to really"hear"each other because that would mean _communicating._ Which is a sad irony considering Xander's _whole_ purpose while casting the spell was to give people the opportunity to communicate better and without filters with each others!;-P
@@Nicamon Yeah, it's not uncommon in musicals for others to hear or not hear the songs depending on the plot. So naturally musical causing magic would enforce those same rules magically. The same way it can make everyone know the lines and sing and dance in harmony.
@@Logan_Baron Exactly.
To me it followed that theme of her not really paying attention to things around her, to not really be living or listening to anything. She's overlooking the obvious for dwelling in her own pain of being dragged back into a hard life after knowing such a deep peace.
@@afry6400 it fit in but it was also what was explained in this thread that musicals have always had the two types of songs. Those that represent communication between people and those that represent the thoughts in someone's head that only they can hear. I think this episode had more of these songs than any musical I can think of probably because so many people were keeping secrets and not talking to each other.
It took me a while to get the right googles words but this type of song is called "inner monologue" songs.
This is easily one of my very favorite single episodes of any television show. It's not just a well executed musical episode, but it's also so freaking DARK. All of the characters' deepest secrets that they've been hiding from their friends are revealed and it ends on a "holy cow, what now??" (or a "Where do we go from here?" if you will.)
Also, I think of this episode as being a sort of sequel to "Hush", at least thematically. In 'Hush', no one was communicating properly until everyone STOPPED talking. In 'Once More With Feeling" everyone is forced to communicate their true feelings - but through song, and everyone's secrets are revealed. Love it!
(Also, WOW your pre-episode summary (4:50) of all the conflicts that all of our main characters are going through was so spot on...and relevant for the episode. Nice!)
Nah. She looked up that memory spell for Buffy in case she wanted to make her best friend forget about Hell. I’m 100% sure that’s why she knew that spell.
Now THAT actually makes sense!
@@salyx yeah, I’d be more inclined to believe this than her constantly erasing Tara’s memories every time Tara disagreed with her about her use and abuse of magic. But it could be possible she was doing both.
I can’t see Willow using the mind erase on Tara all the time. Even in the scene, she sees the flower and the look on her face is one of sudden inspiration, like “hey, I can do this spell; I should try it.” She doesn’t have a look like someone who’s done it before.
I’m now subscribed to this theory
@@josephlamicela1996 yeah, but she doesn’t hesitate at all. So you can at least assume that she was thinking about it for awhile.
That last scene is probably one of my favorites scenes in the show. Just the fact that right before that they sing the line "the curtains close on a kiss" and the harmonies Spike and buffy did with their voices, like everytime I watch it, it feels like it's my first time watching it its just so good, I love this show.
No, not you too. Its Spuffy Lexi. SPUFFY :)
Also, this is one of the episodes where the Mutant Enemy logo at the end changes
Thank you!!!! Hate to say it but Bike is just so wrong. It's Spuffy Spuffy SPUFFY!!!! 😂
Alley bullied me into saying Bike
@@TheLexiCrowd oh Alley! Not cool at all with the bullying. It's always been Spuffy 💘
9:48 This is why i love your reactions. Most people dont include my favorite joke of the entire show and i was starting to think i was crazy. I just the way Emma delivers that line 🤣. So glad you liked the episode
Lexi, this is the first time I've watched you and I enjoyed your reaction immensely. This is such a great episode and one of the first musical episodes that made other series jump on the bandwagon, but this one is head and shoulders above most of the rest because all the songs move the plot along. Great reaction - I loved your excitement, your enthusiasm and your thoughts and speculations. Having watched this one, I'm tempted to go back to the beginning and watch you from the start. :)
You can follow her from the beginning without hesitation. At worst, test on an episode that is important to you. For my part, I always test a Recator on the episode PASSION. So I know quickly if it will do it for me
@@reenmomo4501 Thanks for the confirmation. I've already watched Welcome to the Hellmouth and The Harvest and enjoyed them, so I think I'm going to enjoy her style. It's funny, I do the same thing with a reactor I'm not familar with re watching paticular episodes to see how they react before I commit. I often watch The Zeppo to see what they make of an episode that is so off the wall. :)
Such a fantastic episode. I’ve seen it many, many times & each viewing just reinforces how brilliant it truly is.
I'm so glad that you reached this point and have shared the journey. This is probably my single favorite episode of television and I'm so happy when a reactor gets to this point so that I can experience it again through new eyes. Plenty of comments have already covered all the goodness of the episode, so I'll simply say thanks.
this is literally one of TVs greatest episodes of all time, of any show. it's just insane how great it is on so many levels, it advances several storylines, references past episodes and all that while friggin singing!
FYI The dry cleaning singer is David Fury, one pf the producers of the show. And the parking ticket girl singer is Marty Noxon, another producer of the show.
Definitely recommend Sarah Z’s video about why this the best musical episode out there, she breaks it down really well
ua-cam.com/video/NRHTtrbUWjs/v-deo.html
Lexi yelling at all the voices in her head to shut up when Giles starts singing is hilarious and adorable.
22:20 "I'm not having fun anymore". I just realized that this was a perfect representation of the downside the show was depicting. Everything seems so great with the singing and dancing at first, Lexi even asks why we can't not solve this and keep it like this forever. And we find out that peopel end up burning up. Then we have the show itself with the three part act switching to the songs being darker or depressing later. The feel of the show displaying the same physical result we see.
Major props to you for being able to fully listen to the lyrics, it's very easy to get lost in the songs/excitement and alot of people tend to miss certain moments and truths/feelings spoken in this episode so yeah good job it was a delight to watch your reaction!!
The fact that you got to this point without being spoiled for this episode is amazing. 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. 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. It's a great episode with brilliant innovation, but still feel it is somewhat overrated by Buffyverse fans compared to other episodes in the show.
Watch Lexx-Brigadoom available on UA-cam. That is a very good musical episode that stands alone as one of the very best. Almost as good as Buffy but done in a totally different way.
I loved The Magicans first and second musical episodes as well. The first did it without original music number, some were appropriate to what was happening and others weren't. But it had a good reason for the singing. I can't remember what was the reason why for the second episode although I did love that one as well. But neither of those episodes were the kind of musical that Buffy had. All of the Buffy songs were written to forward the plot and fit so well and were basically the same as all the musical movies. Songs where only the singer could hear that were the thoughts of the singer. Songs that forward the plot.
I guess the bigger issue is that most shows struggle to keep it ''in universe'' so to speak, so it always feels novelty. The musical here is actually happening to the characters, and I wonder if this helps towards the passion and sincerity behind the writing and production.
This episode was so special that it went on for some time after the hour was up. (I forget how many - 10 minutes longer?) They had to make negotiations with the network. I remember being a fan of the show, and just breaking down crying at the end... my favorite show had a tricky episode, and they NAILED it. All that talent came together in what I consider the best single episode of TV ever.
It's always so satisfying watching a newbie watch this ep without them being spoiled,it's a joy to watch through your eyes. Glad you loved it so much. Fun times to come?
Hands down the best episode of the entire run of the show, Spike’s solo the best song in an episode full of fantastic songs
You want to sing-a-long? You can. The DVD has the option to show the lyrics with the bouncing ball.
There have even been live stage sing a long shows of this episode.
Hmm... Subtitles?
@@Kratos-GodOfWar It might be a dvd extra, but it's a Karaoke style thing with a bouncing ball keeping time with the music time over the "subtitles"
I never liked musicals and I was very skeptical, when I saw it for the first time. But now, I'm the biggest fan of this episode. It's great you paid close attention to the lyrics.
I am glad I gave this a chance. With the spoiler in the title, I nearly skipped it, but it was a blind reaction.
9:34 David Fury
14:54 Marti Noxon
32:00 14 songs.
The parking ticket woman is Marti Noxon and the mustard guy is David Fury both writers and producers of the show
Hats off to your moderators (yourself, if that's the case). It would be hard to keep someone completely unaware of this episode. I know people who have never watched the show who were aware that Buffy had a musical episode. Hush, The Body, this episode, and I suppose the finale, are by far the most famous episodes.
Like many of your followers, I was anxiously waiting for you to get to this episode.
i just realised (after watching this a million times lmao) that tara figured out that the flower was related to her memory loss so quickly that she definitely knew what it did when she found it under her pillow but because willow put it there and she trusts her so much she just thought it was a cute gift from the woman she loves. ouch ouch ouch
Why would you do this to me
See that’s the thing though. For her to put it together so quickly like that, it must have been happening frequently. She must have been constantly finding that flower and keeping it on her assuming it’s just a romantic gesture… when it’s actually what’s keeping her forgetting fights she’s having with Willow about her abuse of magic. And then each time this happens and Tara’s all lovey dovey with Willow again, they’re physically intimate and Willow just… doesn’t care about what Tara’s real wishes and thoughts and feelings are. I mean it’s not just erasing Tara’s memories. It’s also erasing her autonomy because her thoughts and emotions are being altered and reformed. Tara should be angry with Willow. And because she can’t remember why she should be angry with her anything of a sexual nature that happens between her and Willow is immediately negated. Null and void.
It’s just one horrific revelation after another the deeper you go into this. 😖
It’s domestic abuse
It’s coercive control
It’s gaslighting
It’s mind control
It’s sexual assault
It’s date-rape
It’s many horrible things all rolled into one which makes it absolutely horrific.
I mean when you really understand what’s going on with this whole situation,… everything you (and Tara) are initially excited about and love seeing… you suddenly realize “Oh god, this is actually not a good thing. It’s evil.” And it hits you so hard because you suddenly GET IT. You suddenly understand that Willow’s been raping Tara all this time.
I mean gently and lovingly but nevertheless… it is rape/sexual assault because Tara has not fully consented to it. How can she when she’s not fully informed about her own anger at Willow? That’s what Willow took from her. Her autonomy. Her ability to fully consent to sex. Willow knows Tara cannot truly give consent.
GREAT reaction. You were taken by surprise and reacted so strongly in every direction. This episode was so entertaining yet so much information came out.
For 25 years ive watched this many many times. Ive even got the soundtrack.
The BTS video for this episode is worth its own watch. There's so much neat stuff to watch
18:35 Michelle Trachtenberg wasn't a trained singer, but had ballet background. So they gave Dawn a dancing routine instead of a song :D
this is my favorite episode of the entire series. seen it too many times to count: sing along edition, commentary, just watching the musical numbers, learned the choreo as well as the lyrics. SO GOOD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
This is definitely at least among the best Buffy episodes. All great music and all original! And it wasn’t at all a fluff episode, it had major development or at least five important relationships in the show… Xander and Anya reveal their fears, Tara learns of Willow magicking her, Giles explains he feels his being a crutch for Buffy is interfering with her ability to live life and be an adult, Buffy explains she was torn from heaven (big Buffy-Willow development), and Buffy kisses Spike (just to feel something, but still!)
So much packed into one episode it’s crazy, and the soundtrack is incredible. Definitely my favorite TV show musical episode ever as well.
Great reaction! Looking forward to the rest of your reactions as always.
This episode is among my very favorite episodes of ANY television show.
I wish I could have Buffy amnesia and experience the whole show again. The whole series is made of feels. Mostly pain, sweet sweet pain. You will cry and love every minute of it.
The writing is so brilliant, I never experienced show with so clever writing from the text to subtext. I basically rewatch the series or at least specific episodes once a year. I do not need any other series in my life :D
This is one of my favorite episodes of any show I've seen. The lyrics are so clever and the way the show used the songs to advance the all the storylines this season is just so well done. Plus the songs are so catchy I'll have them bouncing around my head for a few weeks after this.
Wow this is my FAVORITE episode of the series. It brings tears to my eyes it’s so great. This is one of those episodes that I can’t WAIT to see reactors react to! Thanks for your awesome reaction!
The best thing about a Joss episode is that there is rarely a waste moment on screen. Everything is setting up something else plot or character wise. There is a moment for all characters to shine and of course a couple of dirty jokes.
Yeah that Tara 's "complete" part lolo, I still can't believe joss wrote all these songs, then again, he did wrote the theme song for Firefly
Thanks for such a happy reaction. One of my favourite episodes. ❤️
I have seen so many people reacting to this episode and finally I've seen a reaction just like mine when I first watched it! The emotions, the smiles, the excitement... I'm so happy you love it as much as I do! Thank you Lexi for never disappointing! Love u
An amazingly well-crafted episode. The writers gave us everything we wanted through a surprise, and at the same time weaved in points to be sad and feel dread about. Talk about kicking you while you're down and feeling happy. Yes, the episode was about Buffy, but all the other characters had their fantastic moment to shine.
I wasn't sure if you were going to like this one but I am so happy you loved it! This reaction is everything I ever dreamed of
I love the background of this episode. Mustard guy is so funny. The parking ticket is so real and the street sweepers dancing in the background *chefs kiss*. I love fire trucks driving in the background of let it burn. It's so good!
Anthony Head is also a musician. Music for Elevators is the name of his album from 2002. I love him in the movie Repo! The Genetic Opera from 2008.
The best episode of any show.
YES! The reaction the whole fandom waits for everytine someone starts buffy
I am SOOOO happy I found your channel with this show. This is my favourite Buffy show. You are hilarious in your reactions, so great. I found myself reacting to your reactions, like we were in the same room. Great job.
Loved seeing you experience this iconic episode for the first time - and you GOT EVERYTHING! You noticed so many details that took me several viewings to pick up on. Brava!
And yes, not only is the music good, but the entire episode not only advances but also accelerates the plot and character arcs of this season.
The demon, Sweet, was played by Hinton Battle, a veteran Broadway character actor who has won two Tony awards for “Sophisticated Ladies,” and “The Tap Dance Kid,” and who was the original Scarecrow in “The Wiz.” Getting him was a real coup.
Finally, the musical episode.
I have been waiting and counting down the episodes till you got here to watch my favorite episode of all time, when this episode first came out my brother bought like a few sound track copies for us family members for Christmas on CD of this musical.
And just this last year while looking up the musical here on youtube is how I first discovered "Reaction Videos" so you and all the other reaction channels I follow here on youtube have Buffy the musical to thank.
I love this episode and I love your reaction.
Merry Christmas and Happy New Years!
One of the greatest episodes of television ever. Top to bottom brilliant!
This episode is one of my favorites on the show, and in tv history ! When I first watched it (when it first aired) it was just so groundbreaking, because it popularised the tv show musical episode. I mean... With good reasons !! XD The fact that it helps with the plot that much, is what makes it not only a musical episode, but the best one I've ever watched. All the songs are originals and made to convey what the characters are feeling deep inside. Hence 'once more with feeling'. And they all reveal their secrets to others or the viewer. It's just so well done, and I love this episode so much
Oh no, you missed the little surprise at the end of the credits 😂😍
Regardless, that was an amazing reaction. Can't believe you catched all the lyrics AND commentated on your first time watching this episode.
The guy singing about the mustard is David Fury, one of the main series writers. The parking ticket lady is Marti Noxon, another series writer who later became a co-executive producer of both “Buffy” and “Angel.”
ur the only reactor ive seen yet to really appreciate this episode the way it deserves ♥️
Check out SofieReacts.
@@visarrshe's great, she hasnt gotten to this episode tho if im right
@@visarr she hasn’t posted it to UA-cam yet though.
Finally, you're at the best episode of anything ever.
Hinton Battle played the demon, whose name was Sweet. He's one 3 Tony Awards in the category of Featured Actor (which I think is the equivalent to winning a Best Actor Oscar). He's appeared in other TV shows & in movies.
Best Featured Actor for the Tony Awards is equal to Best Supporting Actor for the Oscars.
GREAT reaction! I had a crappy day, and you made me laugh. I had such a great time. Isn't it wonderful? And it is endlessly rewatchable.