“Once More, with Feeling"

 

Episode 7 of Season 6

 

“Where do we go from here?”

​

Original US airdate: November 6th, 2001

Rewatched: May 12th, 2023

​

• Writer: Joss Whedon

• Director: Joss Whedon

• Guests: Anthony Stewart Head, Hinton Battle, Amber Benson

​

As explained in the DVD commentary, the Buffy musical is very much a part of season 6, exploring the themes that will continue to be important until the end of the series. In this sense, it fits with both “Restless” and “Hush”, episodes different from the norm, but still fully part of the story arc. Like “Restless”, this episode explores the emotions the Scoobies are facing now that they are fully into adulthood, and like “Hush”, exploring how something out of the ordinary, like silence or singing, can lead to greater communication. And that is the essence of this episode. All the characters are able to communicate what they have been keeping to themselves.

​

Buffy sings “Going Through the Motions” first. Here, she sings about her lack of connection to life since her return, how she’s just been going through the motions, ending by noting that she just wants to feel alive. The next morning, at the Magic Box, it turns out everyone burst into song the night before. Their research turns into the song “I’ve Got a Theory / Bunnies / If We’re Together”. Various theories are presented in song, including Anya’s wonderful rock solo about how it must be bunnies, before Buffy sings that it doesn’t matter. At first, Giles seems to realize that Buffy not caring is not a good sign, but with everyone else joining in and with the refrain of “What can’t we face if we’re together”, Giles eventually joins in. While much of the song is positive, they’ve faced a lot and always come out on top, Buffy’s emphasis on not caring is concerning.

​

With research in full swing, Tara and Willow escape to spend time together and Tara sings “Under Your Spell”, her ode to how loving Willow has changed her. This rendition is fully positive, with Tara noting how Willow’s love has helped her grow as a person and witch. A less positive relationship song is sung the next morning by Xander and Anya, “I’ll Never Tell”, where both sing about their love for each other, but also their fears about marriage, in particular Anya’s fears about growing old and Xander’s fear that he won’t be enough for Anya. This song clearly indicates that if the two want it to work, they need to communicate. But they haven’t. When Buffy goes to visit Spike that evening for information, the third relationship song is sung. This is Spike’s “Rest in Peace”, where Spike calls Buffy out on always turning to him since her return, pointing out that she’s using the feelings she knows he has for her, and only finding him safe to confide in since he’s not really a Scooby.

​

Dawn’s song, which is cut short when she’s kidnapped, is sung after we see much Dawn has been shoplifting recently. It’s called “Dawn’s Lament” and has two lines: “Does anybody even notice / Does anybody even care”, giving us a good idea of where Dawn is at the moment. However, Sweet, the demon who has been causing the singing (also causing some people to internally combust through excessive dancing) sends his henchmen to kidnap Dawn. He’s sure she summoned him, and once Sunnydale has burned, he’ll take Dawn to hell. He’s not concerned that Buffy is Dawn’s sister. In fact, he wants Buffy to come, and he wants to see her burn.

​

Back at the Magic Box, Giles asks Buffy if she talked to Dawn about Halloween, but Buffy is a bit glib, saying she thought Giles took care of it. While training, Giles sings “Standing”, where he expresses that he thinks he’s standing in Buffy’s way because if he is there, she can rely on him. Tara then arrives at the Magic Box. Dawn, before being kidnapped, had said that she was happy Tara and Willow made up. But Tara can’t remember a fight. She realizes the flowers she found under her pillow, and that she pinned to her sweater, may be part of a spell. She looks it up at the shop and finds that Willow cast a forgetting spell. She reprises “Under Your Spell”, but this time it’s not positive. She notes that she can’t believe Willow did this, not after what’s she’s been through, most likely an illusion to both Glory draining her mind and her family lying to her about the demon inside her. It’s clear that Willow is using magic not just to fight evil, but to make everything in her life go as she wants to it. Tara and Giles end up singing a duet (Giles reprising “Standing”) in which they both decide they need to leave. Tara cannot stay with Willow if she’s going to use magic on her, and Giles wants to leave to give Buffy the freedom to be an adult.

​

When Sweet’s minion comes to tell Buffy Dawn is at the Bronze with him, Giles sends Buffy alone, or rather tells her she must decide. Buffy heads off alone, singing “Walk Through the Fire”, which underlines her lack of feelings since her return, but despite her issues, she must save her sister again. This song becomes an ensemble song as first Spike heads out to help (although first he sings that he hopes she burns, then that he better save her, showing he still has some mixed feelings about his feelings), and then the other Scoobies join. The Scoobies sing mostly about how backing Buffy is what they always do and they’re not going to give up on her just because she’s been a bit off.

​

At the Bronze, Buffy sings “Something to Sing About”, while also dancing her heart out. This song revisits many of the feelings expressed in the first song, but after the Scoobies arrive, Buffy drops the bombshell. She was done. They should have let her stop being the Slayer. They pulled her out of Heaven. She can’t be happy because being alive is hell. The Scoobies are shocked, particularly Willow, who cries. In fact, they are so upset by the news that they don’t step in when Buffy’s dancing starts causing her to smoke. With Buffy moments aways from bursting into flames, Spike steps in and saves her. He tells her she needs to live. Dawn then reiterates the line that Buffy told her before she jumped to her death: “The hardest thing in this world is to live in it.” So, Buffy’s secret is out and both she and the Scoobies will have to reckon with it.

​

Sweet wants to leave with Dawn, but she says she didn’t summon him. She just found his talisman while cleaning and forgot it. It turns out Xander summoned him, and Sweet skips town without taking Xander to hell to be his bride. Overall, I feel that this is the weakest moment in the episode. Xander says he summoned the demon because he thought they needed to be cheered up and didn’t expect the repercussions. But Xander has been in this game too long not to know, and ultimately, his summoning of Sweet caused several deaths, which Xander seems to take lightly (and why didn’t Xander tell anyone as soon as he heard people where dying???) It just seems so out of character. While the Scoobies have a lot of capacity to forgive bad actions that come from good motives, this does not seem to really fit that category.

​

So, they saved the day, sort of. They end by singing “Where Do We Go from Here?”, which is self-explanatory and is the big question of this season. Spike cuts out of the song early, and Buffy follows him outside. They reprise “Walk Through the Fire” and “Rest in Peace”, and end in a kiss, with the final line, “Where do we go from here” being sung by the Scoobies over the kiss and curtain closing. Buffy has finally decided to cross a line and start a relationship with Spike, which may not be the healthiest of choices. Everything Spike sang about still holds true. Buffy doesn’t love him. She’s been using him. Kissing him is just one more way to use him. But it is still a great finish to the musical.

​

To sum up, there are great songs. And great emotions, underscoring the main themes, feelings and fears of the Scoobies that they will need to face as they enter adulthood. Where do they go from here?

​

Finally, in fun facts, David Fury and Marti Noxon sing two songs in this episode as well. Fury sings an ode to the dry cleaners getting the mustard out and Noxon tries to sing her way out of a parking ticket. Like many other cast members, they prove to be good singers. It should be noted, however, that Sarah Michelle Gellar and Alyson Hannigan do not have the greatest of voices. Hannigan was able to avoid much singing, but Gellar wasn’t. Finally, Hinton Battle as Sweet was great. He needed to come back and sing more.

​

​

“Tabula Rasa"

 

Episode 8 of Season 6

 

“I can’t do this without you.”

​

Original US airdate: November 13th, 2001

Rewatched: May 18th, 2023

​

• Writer: Rebecca Rand Kirshner

• Director: David Grossman

• Guests: Anthony Stewart Head, Raymond O’Connor, Amber Benson

​

After last week’s singing, things are not okay. Tara, Anya, Xander and Willow meet to discuss their role in Buffy’s unhappiness. As Xander says, “We didn’t wreck. We didn’t know.” But Willow claims that they should have known, and that she was being selfish. Willow thinks the best course is to fix everything with magic. But Tara is not amused, saying “I can’t believe that we are talking about this again. You know how powerful magic is, how dangerous. You could hurt someone. You could hurt yourself.” This then turns into a confrontation between Tara and Willow about Willow’s spell two episodes ago. Tara feels violated and Willow uses her claims of love to avoid blame. Tara then tells Willow “But you don’t get to decide what is better for us, Will. We are in a relationship. We are supposed to decide together.” And Tara is not wrong. Willow is using magic to help herself, not others, and to fix everything to her wishes, even Tara, even though they are supposed to be partners. Willow agrees not to use magic for a week in a last-ditch effort to save her relationship.

​

Giles tells Buffy he’s leaving. It does not go over well. Buffy feels that she can’t do life without Giles, especially now that he knows what she is going through, but Giles tells her “You can. That’s why I’m going. As long as I stay, you’ll always turn to me if there’s something that comes up you feel you can’t handle, and I’ll step in … Because I can’t bear to see you suffer.” At the end of this episode, Giles will leave Sunnydale, leaving Buffy to be an adult and parent all on her own.

​

Buffy also rejects Spike. Despite their kiss, Buffy doesn’t want to have a relationship with him. Their discussion of the future of their relationship while Buffy is patrolling is cut short by a loan shark looking for the kittens Spike owes him. Buffy helps save Spike, wondering why she does it. If he were gone, her life might be easier.

​

But then, Willow does a spell anyways, to make Tara and Buffy forget. It backfires, however, and everyone forgets everything. On waking up in the Magic Box with no memory, the Scoobies try to piece their lives together. Thanks to IDs, keys to cash registers, and necklaces with names, Xander, Willow, Tara, Giles Anya, and Dawn find their names (but Xander thinks he’s Alexander). However, Anya and Giles assume they are engaged, as they own the shop together. Willow was wearing Xander’s coat and assumes they’re together, and that since she and Tara both go to UC Sunnydale, they must be study buddies. Spike, wearing a tweed suit (last seen in “Restless”) labelled with the name Randy, assumes he’s Giles son due to both being British. Buffy can’t find her name, and names herself Joan, but does figure out Dawn is her sister. When the loan shark finds them, Buffy figures out she has superpowers, something that makes her very happy.

​

She and Spike head out to fight the loan shark, while Willow, Tara, Dawn and Xander hit the sewers to find a way to the hospital. Anya and Giles stay to try to use magic, and to protect the cash register as Anya did in “Triangle”. Anya, unfortunately, only manages to summon a bunch of bunnies, which she is still afraid of, and a few other unhelpful things, and to argue to with Giles, who she feels compelled to take vengeance on, foreshadowing her return to being a vengeance demon later this season. Clearly the two were never meant to be together. Buffy continues to enjoy her hero status, although she is rightly freaked when Spike gets his vamp face in the fight. However, Spike decides he must be a vampire with a soul who helps the helpless, a parody of Angel. The gang in the sewers has to fight off a vampire, too, and through repeated contact with Tara, Willow starts to think she might be kind of gay (in a throw-back to a line from “Doppelgängland”).

​

But the crystal that Willow used for her spell breaks in the fight in the sewers and it’s clear what happened. Tara leaves, leaving behind a devastated Willow and Dawn (one more loss for Dawn; it’s hardly a wonder she’s having issues). Giles leaves. Buffy is alone at the Bronze dealing with her pain when Spike arrives. Although she tries to ignore him, they end up kissing again. It’s not a great start to a healthy relationship, really. And on a final note, while Willow was able to feel her love for Tara without her memory, it’s interesting that Anya and Xander didn’t. On the one hand, the two did not share the intimate climbing into sewers moment that Willow had with Tara, or the falling on you during a fight moment, either, but it could also be a further sign of their issues. For all the characters, after a brief moment of childhood, adulthood as returned full force. 

​

​

“Smashed"

 

Episode 9 of Season 6

 

“You came back wrong.”

​

Original US airdate: November 20th, 2001

Rewatched: May 26th, 2023

​

• Writer: Drew Z. Greenberg

• Director: Turi Meyer

• Guests: Danny Strong, Adam Busch, Tom Lenk, Elizabeth Anne Allen, Amber Benson

​

In this episode, we get another look at the Trio and their comic-book-style antics when they use a freeze ray to steal a diamond. This, however, is mere background noise to the issues facing Buffy and Willow.

​

Tara has moved out, and Willow is sad. However, in a moment of insight, she figures out how to return Amy, still living as a rat in Willow’s room, to her human form. Once Amy gets over the shock of what she’s missed (high school, prom, etc.), the two bond over the usage of magic. And hit the town to use magic for fun and their own gain. Buffy seems unconcerned that Willow has a new partner in magic. Xander and Anya are concerned. In fact, Anya notes that it’s the level-headed responsible people who can really get out of control when they taste power and darkness.

​

Buffy is having trouble understanding the extent of Willow’s issues since she’s dealing with her own. First, that she’s back from the dead. In this episode, Spike finds out he can hurt Buffy without triggering his chip, leading him to tell Buffy that she came back wrong, triggering a worry in Buffy that she isn’t right and won’t be alright.

​

Then, there’s Buffy’s relationship with Spike. She tries to shut down Spike at the beginning of the episode, but Spike’s love is very selfish. He claims that “it’s only a matter of time before you realize I’m the only one here for, pet. You got no one else!” And while Spike may be right that Buffy’s return has left some distance between her and the Scoobies, and she isn’t able to tell Willow about her relationship with Spike although she tries to in this episode, Spike is ultimately wrong and trying to base their relationship on very unhealthy footing. As a side note, Buffy may be having difficulties opening up about her kissing Spike since she kept heaven a secret. She’s got used to bottling things up and is continuing to do so. However, both Buffy and Angel show that keeping things to yourself is never good, so it is worrying that Buffy cannot share her feelings with her friends.

​

Spike, having learned he can hurt people again (or so he thinks), goes out to hurt people. He corners a girl in an alley and talks himself into drinking from her. It’s interesting that it takes some doing. Spike does not have a soul, and many of his actions in his relationship with Buffy are tainted by his lack of soul (i.e., his very selfish love), but still, he was reticent to kill someone, which may show a type of conditioning like in Clockwork Orange. He may not have a soul and may not ultimately care about people, but he’s been on the side of good for a year and it’s made it harder for him to carry out killings himself. However, it turns out the chip still works. Just not on Buffy. Spike confronts Buffy as she is leaving the Magic Box and the two fight. They fight their way into an abandoned house, where the fight turns into kissing. Which turns into sex. This is not gentle, loving sex, but tear-the-house-down sex. They end up in the basement with the house crumbling around them.

​

This episode is aptly named, as both Buffy and Willow seem to be smashing their lives to pieces through their actions. Buffy’s inherently unhealthy relationship with Spike and Willow’s with magic reflect the difficulties of growing up and how many make the wrong choices, at least at first. Hopefully, both can learn and grow from these bad choices.

​

​