Season 6, Episode 7 | Aired: 6 November 2001 | Written by: Joss Whedon | Directed by: Joss Whedon
A demon called Sweet compels Sunnydale’s population to sing and dance, expressing truths they would otherwise not say. People are spontaneously combusting from dancing too long. The episode is a fully composed original musical — Joss Whedon wrote every song — and it is extraordinary. It also tells the audience what every character has been hiding. Buffy reveals she was in heaven. Willow and Tara’s relationship is strained. Giles realises he has to leave for real. Spike sings. The episode ends with Buffy kissing Spike, and the season’s direction becomes clear.
What Happens
Sweet (Hinton Battle) was summoned by Xander by accident. He’s collecting a bride. He takes Dawn. The Scoobies must rescue her, in song. In the process: Buffy sings about being “going through the motions”; Tara learns Willow altered her memory; Giles recognises he’s crippling Buffy by staying; Anya and Xander duet about their unspoken fears about the wedding; Spike sings “Rest in Peace” with genuine fury at what Buffy’s doing to him. The finale: Buffy on a stage, singing about the end, dancing herself toward death. Spike pulls her back. She kisses him. Curtain.
Key Moments
“Standing” — Giles’s realisation, mid-song, that he has to leave. “Rest in Peace” — Spike’s, the sharpest lyric in the episode. “Something to Sing About” — Buffy’s climactic number, where she reveals the heaven truth to everyone who didn’t already know. The final kiss. All of it.
Monster / Villain
Sweet — who is mostly irrelevant. The songs are the episode’s mechanism and its point.
Notable Quote
“Life’s a show and we all play our parts / And when the music starts / We open up our hearts.” — the reprise, the whole cast, acknowledging everything the episode has surfaced.
Where It Fits
Once More, with Feeling is the finest hour of Season 6 and one of the greatest episodes the show produced. It does the work of several regular episodes simultaneously, through song, and every piece of it lands. Essential viewing for any fan of the show, and worth watching even by people who haven’t seen a single other episode.