Regular viewers of "Buffy The Vampire Slayer" were not warned of Joss Whedon's surprising decision to parody musicals. Those who had read the series' companion books had an idea that the concept had been considered in the past, but when Whedon sprang it on the viewing public for the first time on November 6, 2001, the effect was jolting.

The series was at a point where it was difficult to guess what would come next. Issues were at a critical juncture. Buffy had been brought back from the dead by well-meaning friends who did not realize that they pulled her out of "heaven". Buffy was dealing with a life back in the material plane that lacked the euphoric qualities of her after-life, while at the same time, keeping these feelings from her friends for fear of the guilt they would feel. Spike was in love with Buffy, the one person he knew would never love him back. Xander and Anya were engaged, but Xander was haunted with visions of his parents' miserable marriage. Tara felt Willow's obsession with magic was spinning out of control like a drug problem, while Willow believed Tara was being too controlling. Dawn was constantly in trouble due to a lack of any real parental guidance. And the one adult role model, Giles, knew that if he coddled the group much more, then they'd never mature.

Most television series drop the ball at this point and fall back on tried and tired methods of pushing the plot along for the rest of the season. A few smart production staffs can usually find some pivotal point to resolve a few of the issues as quickly and cleanly as possible, while stringing the others along in cliff-hanger fashion until the end of the season.

Whedon went where no one expected.

As these critical issues bubbled below the surface, ready to explode at any moment, Whedon threw in a musical parody.

Many great writers understand that too much tension can kill a story; the readers or viewers become desensitized to tension after a while. As such, a little comedic break helps relax the audience just enough so that the next point of tension packs the intended punch. By the inclusion of a musical parody, titled "Once More With Feeling", Whedon showed he understood the timing of the series perfectly. With a plot that couldn't be easily discerned at this point in the series and characters who were near a breaking point, Whedon released some of the tension, moved the plot forward, and resolved some of the character issues with a single episode that poked fun at the clichés, corny dance routines, and reused structures of a typical Hollywood musical. But unlike those clunkers where the characters act as if people running around singing and dancing in co-ordination was typical and not at all out of the ordinary, Whedon takes a more intelligent route, and through the course of the episode explains why it's a musical, and not just that, the characters themselves see their behavior as unusual and disturbing. You see, someone has summoned a demon to Sunnydale, one who causes all within a certain vicinity to burst out in dance and song, and the Scooby Gang has to destroy this demon because if the victims' emotions are too repressed and they sing and dance for too long, they will be unable to stop singing and dancing until they literally burst into flames. Plus, who can spend the rest of their life singing about the dry cleaners removing mustard from their shirts.

Shot in widescreen, and done in classic Hollywood musical lettering and layout with the regular theme transformed into a peppy orchestra number, the opening title was the first indication that this episode would be different from the others. Next we see Buffy on a typical patrol, when she suddenly breaks out in song. Those who hate musicals may have quickly dismissed this episode at this point, but the moment the viewer listens to what Buffy is singing, it becomes evident that this may be one of the more serious episodes concerning character development. Buffy's recent return from what she thinks may have been Heaven has left her in an uninspired state and simply "Going Through The Motions." This physical world appears less vibrant to her now and she's lost a bit of her edge. At this point, Spike is the only one who knows her secret, and all others remain blissfully in the dark.

Next, we see the Scooby Gang in The Magic Box as they piece together that something strange is going on in Sunnydale. Quick flashes compiled into a short song, complete with "happy hands" and a vibrant rock-number break-out by Anya who's convinced that evil bunnies are behind this, followed by giddy love girls Willow and Tara who leave the shop and perform the musical-movie required "love song in the park". One great discovery about this scene filled with butterflies, birds, and dancing participants is that Amber Benson (Tara) can actually sing quite well. Her voice showed strength that others of the cast lack.

Whedon features a typical Hollywood dance routine when Anya and Xander sing of their worries concerning their up-coming marriage and life there-after. Their moves have extravagant flair, with plenty of spins and use of the objects in the room, as we learn the depth of their fears. Using a structure that most use to show off their hired dancers, Whedon gives us a much deeper peak into the souls of two characters who spend a lot of time on the periphery and serve as the comedy providers during serious scenes.

It's comes as no surprise that Spike performs the rock opera styled song "Rest in Peace". Buffy visits him in his tombly home, and as always now, the sight of her tears at Spike's unbeating heart. In typical Spike fashion he denies that he is affected by this spell on Sunnydale, but then breaks into his song. This number offered another cast member surprise as James Marsters' voice is perfectly suitted for rock songs, especially those of the time when rock operas were popular.

It isn't until nearly the half-way point of the episode that Whedon surprises us with a potentially heart-breaking twist. Regular viewers learned of Anthony Stewart Head's (Giles) excellent singing ability a couple of seasons earlier, and recently learned that he felt Buffy and the rest of the Scooby Gang were handling adult life as well as he could expect, but with Giles' song, we learn that he believes he is standing in the way of their maturity. Like a mother bird who one day has to push her chicks out of the nest so they can learn to fly, Giles realizes that as long as he's around for them to come to, the gang will never learn to fly on their own. Despite his intense parental love for Buffy and her friends, Giles knows he must leave them and allow them to survive or fail on their own.

While Giles' heart is breaking at this realization, Tara has pieced together clues, with Dawn's unknowing help, that indicate Willow has been casting spells to alter Tara's memory, i.e., Willow has erased memories of their fights. Considering that everyone in Tara's life before Willow has tried to control her through mental manipulation, and that her sanity was temporarily striped from her by Glory, Tara is deeply hurt. She too realizes that the best course of action may be to leave now before things get worse. In a show of musical writing talent, the song writers are able to combine the chorus of Giles' song with that of Tara's song in a beautiful shot which shows both Tara and Giles as they struggle with the decisions they've made, and then combine both songs into one new song that features the themes of both.

When it becomes time to rescue Dawn and face the demon who has brought this musical explosion on Sunnydale, Giles insists Buffy should go alone, despite her friends' willingness to help. Buffy must find her own way, and must rediscover the fire within that makes up the theme of this episode. Whedon message is simple: Life without an inner fire, inner passion, or purpose is not life at all. Those who watched a few of the previous episodes of Buffy realize that she has only been going through the motions, and not living the life her friends brought her back to live.

She leaves on her own to face the demon, and on the way while walking streets that are reminiscnet of scenes from "West Side Story", begins to sing of her feelings once again, except this time, part of Giles' teachings sink in, and she understands what she has to do, and more importantly why she has to do it - she must walk into the face of danger, "Walk Through The Fire", because she is The Slayer and she cannot fight her destiny. In the meantime, Giles and the rest of the gang realize that it is part of their destiny to work with the Slayer - they too must participate because it has become a part of who they are. The fire within herself that Buffy must find also exists within them and they can no more ignore it than Buffy can.

The Scooby Gang finds Buffy just as she has started facing off with the demon with her own song. In classic Whedon-pun style, Giles tells Anya and Tara that Buffy needs back up. They rush in behind her and perform as back up vocalists and dancers. Buffy gets caught up in her own repressed emotions and nearly dances herself to death - she has held her secret too long, and even though she has just revealed it to the gang, the emotions are still pent up. It is Spike who saves her, the only one of the gang who until this moment knew her secret. They share a bond now they hadn't before - loss of spirit and passion. Because of the chip in his head, Spike can no longer do what he loved to do most - feed. Because Buffy has glimpsed heaven and is now stuck on this plane, she can no longer feel the euphoria she felt before. And it is Spike who delivers the message of the episode, the one Buffy needs to hear and understand. Life is about living, and you go on despite the setbacks because that is all you can do.

Once the demon learns that Dawn is not the one who summoned him (Xander raises his hand on this one), and she can therefore not be his wife, the demon leaves them with their issues exposed. The entire gang then breaks out into one last song together, a song that summed up their dilemma both before and after this episode. "Where Do We Go From Here?" Because now, even though their feelings are exposed to those around them, there is still a tough time ahead. Learning of another's feelings is only part of the battle, the rest is learning how to deal with those feelings. More is exposed and out in the open, but the pain and the dilemma remains. "Understand we go hand in hand, but we walk alone in fear. Where do we go from here?"

Now that Spike is returned to his normal self, he chooses in Spike-fashion not to participate in this last song and walks out of the Bronze into the alley. Quite to his surprise, Buffy follows him and sings a few more of the pertinent lines of her song. Spike combines his lyrics with her as they close the distance between each other, and Whedon leaves us with a final shot of Spike and Buffy kissing for the first time, orchestra blaring the typical Hollywood style closing-kiss shot music.

This ending carried the shock that it was supposed to, at the same time, regular viewers could see this as inevitable upon retrospect. A good plot is one that has many unexpected twists and turns, but one that when looked back at, the twists and turns make perfect sense from a character perspective. "Once More With Feeling" is a great example of this. While Buffy and Spike's first kiss came as a surprise, when one realizes what they shared in common, their ability to confide in each other, and each one's tendency to crave that which they cannot have, this moment is just as it appears - inevitable.

In a nod to the musical genre, our protagonist has finally found her lover and both will live happily ever after. But as we know, Whedon-style won't allow them to live happily ever after. Theirs is a doomed relationship, much like Buffy's relationship with Angel. He is a vampire, known for his past brutalities. She is a vampire slayer, unarguably the best vampire slayer who has ever lived. And unlike Angel, Spike doesn't have a soul, it is his chip which stopped him from killing, not his conscience.

The question "Where do we go from here?" is one the characters are asking themselves - and the viewers are wondering about as well. Due to her own personal fears about what she has become and out of fear of her friends' reactions, Buffy knows she must keep this relationship secret. An additional difficulty comes when she realizes that this forbidden relationship with Spike is the only thing that feeds her inner fire. And Whedon leaves the audience wondering if it is the passion for those forbidden objects that keeps us alive. Is it the pursuit and not the obtaining? Do we sometimes crave the very things that could destroy us? The answer could be "yes". It is only by looking in the face of death and destruction that we learn to appreciate our life. We know in our hearts that it shouldn't take that kind of self-destruction, but it sometimes does. And it is through the lessons of the next episodes that Whedon answers the question "Where do we go from here?" His answer is a simple one - where you go isn't as important as who you are and who you love, because the destination for all of us is eventual death, so enjoy the only thing you can call your own - the journey of your life.

Copyright 2003 by Michael Peeples. No portion of this essay may be reproduced by any means without express written consent of the author.