164-566: The Album The Score Radio Sunnydale Once More, with Feeling Angel : The Buffyverse or Slayerverse is a media franchise created by Joss Whedon . The term also refers to the shared fictional universe in which the TV series Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel are set. This term, originally coined by fans of the TV series, has since been used in the titles of published works, and adopted by Joss Whedon ,
328-440: A fourth wall ." Albright asserts that Anya's constant preoccupation with her and others' performances indicates that she has serious doubts about her future supporting role as Xander's wife. Giles' truth, according to Whedon, is that he realizes he must not "fight my kid's battles or my kid will never grow up", which he sings in "Standing" while he throws knives at Buffy as part of her training. Whedon remarked that this touch "is
492-481: A state of trance ; or it may be no more than the messenger of the human being, a real animal or a familiar spirit , whose intimate connection with its owner is shown by the fact that any injury to it is believed, by a phenomenon known as repercussion, to cause a corresponding injury to the human being. Werewolves were said in European folklore to bear tell-tale physical traits even in their human form. These included
656-522: A zoot suit -wearing, tap-dancing, singing demon. He tells Dawn that he has come to Sunnydale in response to her "invocation", and he will take her to his dimension to make her his bride when his visit is complete but when Dawn reveals that her sister is the Slayer, he sends his minions to challenge her to rescue Dawn ("What You Feel"). At the Magic Box, Giles recognizes that he must stand aside if Buffy
820-517: A "disorder of the brain". Although there were continuing reports of extraordinary wolflike beasts, they were not considered to be werewolves. One such report concerned the Beast of Gévaudan , which terrorized the general area of the former province of Gévaudan , now called Lozère , in south-central France. From 1764 to 1767, it killed upwards of 80 men, women, and children. The part of Europe which showed more vigorous interest in werewolves after 1650
984-483: A "failure to communicate, lack of trust, [and the] inability to envision or create a viable future". Miscommunication is worsened or sustained through multiple episodes and seasons, leading to overwhelming misunderstanding and critical turning points for the characters, some of whom do not recover. "Once More, with Feeling" propelled the story arc for season six by allowing characters to confess previously taboo issues to themselves and each other. Whedon commented that he
1148-417: A color in the visible spectrum , a conscious decision by the costume designer. The couples in the group wear opposite colors (Giles in green and Buffy in red, Anya in blue and Xander in orange, Tara in yellow and Willow in purple), and Rhonda Wilcox interprets the color-coding and choreography to represent the "tension between the individual and the group". The characters as a chorus sing "The curtains close on
1312-415: A common man, Lycaon wants to test if he is really a god. To that end, he kills a Molossian hostage and serve his entrails to Zeus. Disgusted, the god turns Lycaon into a wolf. However, in other accounts of the legend, like that of Apollodorus' Bibliotheca , Zeus blasts him and his sons with thunderbolts as punishment. Pausanias also relates the story of an Arcadian man called Damarchus of Parrhasia, who
1476-441: A deal to Sweet: she will take her sister's place if she cannot kill him. When asked by Sweet what she thinks about life, Buffy gives her pessimistic take on its meaning ("Something to Sing About"). When the others arrive, she divulges that Willow took her from heaven, and Willow reacts with horror at realizing what she has done. Upon divulging this truth, Buffy gives up on singing and dances so frenetically that she begins to smoke — on
1640-444: A frank and unflinching expression of lesbian romance. Buffy the Vampire Slayer was the first show in U.S. television history to portray a long-term lesbian relationship among the core cast of characters. Previous televised depictions of lesbian relations were primarily limited to single "coming out" or "lesbian kiss" episodes , showing lesbian-identified characters as affectionate but not erotic. Tara and Willow demonstrate throughout
1804-417: A friendship of sorts. She has been confiding in him; prior to this episode, he is the only one to whom Buffy has revealed that she was in heaven. Throughout Buffy the Vampire Slayer , music serves as a narrative tool, integral to character development and action. The mood is set by music, characters discuss it, and writers use it to emphasize differences between generations. In an essay on the use of music in
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#17327720623471968-437: A gift / Wishes can come true / Whistle while you work ..." While singing, she kills Sweet's minions with a pool cue. Whedon attempted to make the song tuneful yet chaotic to express the main point of the episode. It transitions suddenly into her desire to be like normal girls, then changes again, slowing the tempo as she challenges Sweet not to give her a song, but "something to sing about". Musicologist Amy Bauer categorizes
2132-512: A heavenly dimension. In The Psychology of Joss Whedon , Mikhail Lubyansky writes that, although Buffy's first step toward re-engaging with her life is telling the Scoobies the truth in the song "Something to Sing About", she does not find meaning again until the end of the season. In his essay "A Kantian Analysis of Moral Judgment in Buffy the Vampire Slayer ", Scott Stroud explains that Buffy, as
2296-402: A hereditary condition manifesting itself in excessive hair growth. Woodward dismissed the possibility, as the rarity of the disease ruled it out from happening on a large scale, as werewolf cases were in medieval Europe. Woodward suggested rabies as the origin of werewolf beliefs, claiming remarkable similarities between the symptoms of that disease and some of the legends. Woodward focused on
2460-544: A kiss, God knows / We can tell the end is near", moments before Buffy runs out to kiss Spike and the show closes with actual curtains. As Spike and Buffy kiss, a swell of music accompanies them, similar to the ending of Gone with the Wind . Lyrics sung moments before, however, forecast the uncertainty of the relationship between Spike and Buffy, as well as their contrasting reasons for initiating any romance; Spike wants to feel love from Buffy, while she simply wants to feel. When
2624-671: A marginal one, accusations of lycanthropy being involved in only a small fraction of witchcraft trials. During the early period, accusations of lycanthropy (transformation into a wolf) were mixed with accusations of wolf-riding or wolf-charming. The case of Peter Stumpp (1589) led to a significant peak in both interest in and persecution of supposed werewolves , primarily in French-speaking and German-speaking Europe. The phenomenon persisted longest in Bavaria and Austria, with persecution of wolf-charmers recorded until well after 1650,
2788-411: A mother figure to hide behind. Anya also avoids the truth by burying herself in wedding plans without thinking critically about what being married will entail; instead she considers Xander an accessory to her desired lifestyle. Of all the characters, Anya is the most preoccupied with the style of singing and songs, demanding to know if Spike sang "a breakaway pop hit, or a book number", and asking Dawn if
2952-530: A note". Tony Johnston in The Sunday Herald Sun writes that Gellar "struggles on some of her higher notes, but her dance routines are superb, Michelle Trachtenberg's Dawn reveals sensual dance moves way beyond her tender years, and James Marsters' Spike evokes a sort of Billy Idol yell to disguise his lack of vocal proficiency [...] The rest of the cast mix and match like ready-made Broadway troupers." Johnston counts "I'll Never Tell" as one of
3116-469: A paltry outstanding music direction nomination. Nice for the musical directors. A stake through the aspirations of writer/director Joss Whedon, the beating creative heart of Buffy , the only TV writer brave and clever enough to use horror as one great big wonderful metaphor for growing up [...] 'Once More, with Feeling' is TV of a different sort, something that comes along once in a lifetime and should not be buried but celebrated and rewarded." The episode
3280-505: A powerful but ethical witch. Tara has previously expressed concern at Willow's use of her emergent magical powers for trivial or personal matters. In the preceding episode (" All the Way "), Willow cast a spell to make Tara forget an argument about her abuse of magic. In the same episode, Dawn, who has been stealing from stores, including Anya's magic shop, lies to Buffy and goes on a clandestine and almost deadly date. Left to take care of Dawn after
3444-526: A regular composer for the series, filled in the overture and coda and composed "Dawn's Ballet". Whedon is a fan of Stephen Sondheim , and used him as the inspiration for much of the music, particularly with the episode's ambiguous ending. Cast member James Marsters (Spike) said, "Some of Joss' music is surprisingly complicated. Maybe it's a Beatles thing. He doesn't know enough to know what he can't do and he's smashing rules." The episode's musical style varies significantly. Buffy's opening number, "Going Through
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#17327720623473608-407: A startling demonstration that creator Joss Whedon has a facility with lyrics and melody equal to the one he's demonstrated for the past six seasons with dialogue, character and plot twists. Rather than adopt the 'Hey, wouldn't it be wacky if we suddenly burst into song?' approach practised by Ally McBeal , the Buffy musical was entirely organic to the series' labyrinthine progression." Johnston in
3772-496: A tail. After returning to their human forms, werewolves are usually documented as becoming weak, debilitated and undergoing painful nervous depression. One universally reviled trait in medieval Europe was the werewolf's habit of devouring recently buried corpses, a trait that is documented extensively, particularly in the Annales Medico-psychologiques in the 19th century. Various methods for becoming
3936-544: A true demon. Many demons in Buffy are shown to be inherently evil and solely interested in causing suffering, death, and harm. Other characters challenge this notion however, with demons such as Clem and Lorne who appear to be basically good. In the Buffyverse , long ago, a group of shamans once used the essence of a demon to produce the First Slayer . She was banished from her own village and forced to fight
4100-470: A visual tribute to Disney: as Buffy stakes a vampire, it turns to dust that swirls around her face. Whedon chose the most complicated scene, with the most dancers and choreography in the classic style of musical theater, to accompany an 18-second song ("The Mustard") "to get it out of the way" for more personal numbers later in the episode. Stephanie Zacharek of Salon.com considers this "brilliant because it frees even people who hate musicals to settle into
4264-494: A way to him on the set. Spike's "Rest in Peace" is also a rock song, which Whedon wrote after completing the episode's first song, Tara's "Under Your Spell", a contemporary pop song with radio-play potential. Xander and Anya's duet—the most fun to shoot but difficult to write, according to Whedon —is inspired by Fred Astaire – Ginger Rogers comedies as evidenced by the silken pajama costumes and art deco apartment setting. Musically,
4428-726: A wolf, prowling, he crossed. For him in Polotsk they rang for matins early at St. Sophia the bells; but he heard the ringing in Kiev. The situation as described during the medieval period gives rise to the dual form of werewolf folklore in Early Modern Europe. On one hand the Germanic werewolf, which becomes associated with the witchcraft panic , and on the other hand the Slavic werewolf or vlkolak , which becomes associated with
4592-429: A woman (series writer and producer Marti Noxon ) protesting a parking ticket ("The Parking Ticket"). That evening, Buffy visits Spike, who angrily tells Buffy to leave him alone if she will not love him ("Rest in Peace"). Dawn tells Tara she is glad that Tara and Willow have made up after their argument. Since Tara has no recollection of an argument, she suspects that Willow has used magic to alter her memory. She goes to
4756-517: A woman has been reported who during episodes of acute psychosis complained of becoming four different species of animals. The beliefs classed together under lycanthropy are far from uniform, and the term is somewhat capriciously applied. The transformation may be temporary or permanent; the were-animal may be the man himself metamorphosed; may be his double whose activity leaves the real man to all appearance unchanged; may be his soul , which goes forth seeking whomever it may devour, leaving its body in
4920-521: A year a man was chosen by lot from the Anthus' clan. The chosen man was escorted to a marsh in the area, where he hung his clothes into an oak tree, swam across the marsh and transformed into a wolf, joining a pack for nine years. If during these nine years he refrained from tasting human flesh, he returned to the same marsh, swam back, and recovered his previous human form, with nine years added to his appearance. Ovid also relates stories of men who roamed
5084-713: Is McCone (1987). A few references to men changing into wolves are found in Ancient Greek literature and Folklore . Herodotus , in his Histories , wrote that according to what the Scythians and the Greeks settled in Scythia told him, the Neuri , which was a tribe to the north-east of Scythia , were all transformed into wolves once every year for several days and then changed back to their human shape. He added that he
Buffyverse - Misplaced Pages Continue
5248-473: Is a fictional construct created by hundreds of individual stories told through TV, novels, comics and other media. It began with the first episodes of the Buffy the Vampire Slayer television series in 1997 and expanded with the spinoff TV series Angel in 1999. The popularity of these series led to licensed fiction carrying the Buffy and Angel labels. Outside of the TV series, the Buffyverse has been expanded and elaborated by various authors and artists in
5412-481: Is a towering achievement [...] The show may be anchored by existential weightiness, it may be painted with broad, supernatural brushstrokes, but in the end, this coming-of-age story, filled with angst and alienation, is more real than any other so-called teen drama [...] So let's add another line of gushing praise: 'Once More, with Feeling' is rhapsodic, original, deeply affecting, and ultimately, transcendental. Quite simply, television at its best." The episode
5576-595: Is a widespread concept in European folklore , existing in many variants, which are related by a common development of a Christian interpretation of underlying European folklore developed during the medieval period . From the early modern period, werewolf beliefs spread to the New World with colonialism . Belief in werewolves developed in parallel to the belief in witches , during the Late Middle Ages and
5740-486: Is an individual who can shape-shift into a wolf , or especially in modern film, a therianthropic hybrid wolf-like creature, either purposely or after being placed under a curse or affliction, often a bite or the occasional scratch from another werewolf, with the transformations occurring on the night of a full moon . Early sources for belief in this ability or affliction, called lycanthropy , are Petronius (27–66) and Gervase of Tilbury (1150–1228). The werewolf
5904-480: Is distinguishable from the real world in that it contains and engages with supernatural elements, although only a small proportion of the human population is aware of these phenomena in canon. In regards to its presentation of morality, many elements of the Buffyverse are introduced as being either good or evil, and they are usually linearly handled as such. However, certain instances in the plot call fall under and are handled as more ambiguous or grey areas. A few of
6068-716: Is explored in Sabine Baring-Gould 's work The Book of Werewolves is that werewolf legends may have been used to explain serial killings . Perhaps the most infamous example is the case of Peter Stumpp , executed in 1589, the German farmer, and alleged serial killer and cannibal , also known as the Werewolf of Bedburg. Common Turkic folklore holds a different, reverential light to the werewolf legends in that Turkic Central Asian shamans after performing long and arduous rites would voluntarily be able to transform into
6232-649: Is inferred from the Middle Low German variant and was most likely borrowed into Old Norman garwa(l)f ~ garo(u)l , with regular Germanic – Romance correspondence w- / g- (cf. William / Guillaume , Wales / Galles , etc.). The Proto-Slavic noun * vьlko-dlakь , meaning "wolf-haired" (cf. * dlaka , "animal hair", "fur"), can be reconstructed from Serbian vukòdlak , Slovenian vołkodlȃk , and Czech vlkodlak , although formal variations in Slavic languages (* vьrdl(j)ak , * vьlkdolk , * vьlklak ) and
6396-414: Is most commonly portrayed as being indistinguishable from ordinary wolves, except for the fact that it has no tail (a trait thought characteristic of witches in animal form), is often larger, and retains human eyes and a voice. According to some Swedish accounts, the werewolf could be distinguished from a regular wolf by the fact that it would run on three legs, stretching the fourth one backwards to look like
6560-482: Is not convinced by the story but the locals swear to its truth. This tale was also mentioned by Pomponius Mela . In the second century BC, the Greek geographer Pausanias related the story of King Lycaon of Arcadia, who was transformed into a wolf because he had sacrificed a child in the altar of Zeus Lycaeus. In the version of the legend told by Ovid in his Metamorphoses , when Zeus visits Lycaon disguised as
6724-416: Is the most technically complex episode in the series, as extra voice and dance training for the cast was interspersed with the production of four other Buffy episodes. It was Whedon's first attempt at writing music, and different styles—from 1950s sitcom theme music to rock opera—express the characters' secrets in specific ways. The episode received critical acclaim, particularly for the organic integration of
Buffyverse - Misplaced Pages Continue
6888-495: Is to evaluate and eliminate demonic beings, rendered Spike harmless by implanting a microchip in his head that causes him intense pain when he attacks humans. However, the chip does not affect him when he harms demons and he now often fights on Buffy's side, after at first fighting just for the pleasure of brawling. His motivations changed when, in the fifth season, Spike realized he had fallen in love with Buffy. She initially rejected him, but just before her death they had begun to form
7052-649: Is to face her responsibilities in caring for Dawn instead of relying on him ("Standing") and Tara finds a picture of the Lethe’s bramble flower Willow used to cast a spell on her in a book of magic. Giles and Tara separately resolve to leave the people they love, respectively Buffy and Willow — Giles wants to leave Buffy for her own good, while Tara wants to leave Willow because she has become horrified by Willow's magical manipulation of their relationship ("Under Your Spell"/"Standing" (reprise)). When one of Sweet's minions tells Buffy about Sweet holding Dawn at The Bronze, Giles forbids
7216-494: The Angel episode "Untouched") both seem to have been born with their powers. Drusilla had psychic powers as a human before becoming a vampire, though their origins are never explained. Others, like Marcie Ross from the episode " Out of Mind, Out of Sight " or the trio of Nerds, gain their powers by other magical, non-magical, or "scientific" means. Connor is also a human with supernatural powers, similar to those of vampires, because he
7380-477: The Buffyverse , the Watchers' Council historically exists to offer guidance to the Slayer; assisting them by supervising their training and by researching existing and possible demonic or supernatural threats. Notable Watchers include Rupert Giles , Watcher of series protagonist Buffy, and Wesley Wyndam-Pryce , who takes over temporarily in season 3. While most of humanity in the Buffyverse seems oblivious to
7544-721: The Buffyverse , the last Old One to leave this dimension fed off a human, and in the process, their blood mixed. The human's body was left without a soul, and a demon took its place. Rupert Giles details that the resulting creature "bit another, and another, and so they walk the Earth", creating what became known as Vampires. Some elements of traditional vampire mythology are used in the Buffyverse , while others are abandoned. The elements, rules, and customs held by Buffyverse vampires are as follows. Killing Methods Vulnerabilities Features As within historical werewolf mythology, werewolves are people who suffer from lycanthropy . In
7708-739: The Buffyverse , the term "demon" is inexact; it has been applied to just about every creature that is not a god, robot, unmodified human, or standard terrestrial animal. Some classes of creature, such as Vampires and Old Ones, are commonly known as "demons" but are not always referred to as such. Portrayed within the Buffyverse , there are many kinds of demons of many differing natures and origins. Some demons are shown to live and reproduce on Earth (the Bezoar in " Bad Eggs "), but others are extraterrestrial (the Queller demon in " Listening to Fear "), extradimensional ( Lorne on Angel ), ex-humans ( Anya Jenkins
7872-458: The Buffyverse , werewolf characters are shown to have an "animal side" which either complements or clashes with their "human side". They transform on the full moon of each month, as well as on the day before and the day after. Some werewolves have shown the ability to gain control/achieve harmony between their human and bestial sides (such as Oz and his teacher in the comics). Prominent werewolf characters include Oz, Veruca , and Nina Ash . In
8036-657: The Old Brittonic place-name Viroconium (< * wiroconion , 'place of man-dogs, i.e. werewolves'), the Old Irish noun ferchu ('male dog, fierce dog'), and the medieval personal names Guurci ( Old Welsh ) and Gurki ( Old Breton ). Wolves were metaphorically designated as 'dogs' in Celtic cultures. The modern term lycanthropy comes from Ancient Greek lukanthrōpía (λυκανθρωπία), itself from lukánthrōpos (λυκάνθρωπος), meaning 'wolf-man'. Ancient writers used
8200-678: The Sunday Herald Sun says, "There is just so much to this marvellously cheeky episode that suggests the show can take any route it pleases and pull it off", while Debi Enker in The Age comments, "Whedon demonstrates yet again what Buffy aficionados have known and appreciated for years: that his wit, playfulness and readiness to take a risk make his television efforts rise way above the pack." Steve Murray in The Atlanta Journal-Constitution characterizes
8364-468: The early modern period . Like the witchcraft trials as a whole, the trial of supposed werewolves emerged in what is now Switzerland , especially the Valais and Vaud , in the early 15th century and spread throughout Europe in the 16th, peaking in the 17th and subsiding by the 18th century. The persecution of werewolves and the associated folklore is an integral part of the " witch-hunt " phenomenon, albeit
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#17327720623478528-441: The meeting of both eyebrows at the bridge of the nose, curved fingernails, low-set ears and a swinging stride. One method of identifying a werewolf in its human form was to cut the flesh of the accused, under the pretense that fur would be seen within the wound. A Russian superstition recalls a werewolf can be recognized by bristles under the tongue. The appearance of a werewolf in its animal form varies from culture to culture. It
8692-469: The pterodactyl she facetiously says she gave birth to also broke into song. Anya and Xander's duet is the only song in the episode to address the audience directly. During the long single-shot scene when she and Xander talk over each other insisting to Giles that evil must be at play, Anya refers to the audience, saying "It was like we were being watched ... Like there was a wall missing ... in our apartment ... Like there were only three walls and not
8856-418: The "Scooby Gang". These include Xander Harris ( Nicholas Brendon ), a young man without particular strengths or talents, but devoted to Buffy and her calling, and Willow Rosenberg ( Alyson Hannigan ), a young woman who has grown from a shy but gifted student into a strong woman and powerful user of magic. They are mentored by Buffy's " Watcher ", Rupert Giles ( Anthony Stewart Head ), a paternal figure since
9020-550: The "wolf-men" of Germanic paganism had carried, the associated beliefs and practices had been successfully repressed after Christianization, or if they persisted, they did so outside of the sphere of literacy available to us. We have sources other than those mentioned above. Such examples of werewolves in Ireland and the British Isles can be found in the work of the 9th century Welsh monk Nennius . Female werewolves appear in
9184-636: The 20th century became part of the horror and fantasy genre of modern popular culture . The Modern English werewolf descends from the Old English wer(e)wulf , which is a cognate of Middle Dutch weerwolf , Middle Low German warwulf , werwulf , Middle High German werwolf , and West Frisian waer-ûl(e) . These terms are generally derived from a Proto-Germanic form reconstructed as *wira-wulfaz ('man-wolf'), itself from an earlier Pre-Germanic form * wiro-wulpos . An alternative reconstruction, * wazi-wulfaz ('wolf-clothed'), would bring
9348-763: The 20th century, wolf attacks on humans were an occasional, but still widespread, feature of life in Europe. Some scholars have suggested that it was inevitable that wolves, being the most feared predators in Europe, were projected into the folklore of evil shapeshifters. This is said to be corroborated by the fact that areas devoid of wolves typically use different kinds of predator to fill the niche; werehyenas in Africa, weretigers in India, as well as werepumas (" runa uturuncu ") and werejaguars (" yaguaraté-abá " or " tigre-capiango ") in southern South America. An idea
9512-854: The Elder. Augustine explains that "It is very generally believed that by certain witches spells men may be turned into wolves..." Physical metamorphosis was also mentioned in the Capitulatum Episcopi , attributed to the Council of Ancyra in the 4th century, which became the Church's doctrinal text in relation to magic, witches, and transformations such as those of werewolves. The Capitulatum Episcopi states that "Whoever believes that anything can be...transformed into another species or likeness, except by God Himself...is beyond doubt an infidel.' In these works of Roman writers, werewolves often receive
9676-685: The French use the term " gerulfi" to describe what the English call "werewolves". Melion and Biclarel are two anonymous lais that share the theme of a werewolf knight being betrayed by his wife. The German word werwolf was recorded by Burchard von Worms in the 11th century and Bertold of Regensburg in the 13th century, but is not recorded in all of medieval German poetry or fiction. While Baring-Gould argues that references to werewolves were rare in England, presumably because whatever significance
9840-553: The Germanic compound closer to the Slavic meaning, with other semantic parallels in Old Norse úlfheðnar ('wolf-skinned') and úlfheðinn ('wolf-coat'), Old Irish luchthonn ('wolf-skin'), and Sanskrit Vṛkājina ('Wolf-skin'). The Norse branch underwent taboo modifications , with Old Norse vargúlfr (only attested as a translation of Old French garwaf ~ garwal(f) from Marie's lay of Bisclavret ) replacing * wiraz ('man') with vargr ('wolf, outlaw'), perhaps under
10004-765: The Irish work Tales of the Elders , from the 12th century, and Welsh werewolves in the 12th to 13th century work, Mabinogion . Germanic pagan traditions associated with wolf-men persisted longest in the Scandinavian Viking Age . Harald I of Norway is known to have had a body of Úlfhednar (wolf-coated [men]), which are mentioned in the Vatnsdœla, Haraldskvæði, and the Völsunga saga , and resemble some werewolf legends. The Úlfhednar were fighters similar to
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#173277206234710168-438: The Magic Box to consult a book, leaving Dawn alone. Dawn, contemplating a collection of objects that she has stolen , including the charm that summoned Sweet, starts to bemoan that no one seems to notice her ("Dawn's Lament"), but is soon seized by a group of minions. They take Dawn to The Bronze, where her attempt to escape transforms into an interpretive dance with them ("Dawn's Ballet") before she meets Sweet ( Hinton Battle ),
10332-459: The Motions", Buffy sings that she feels as though she is playing a part: "nothing here is real, nothing here is right". The song introduces the character's emotional state but also removes the barrier between the actor and the audience, as Gellar the actor portrays Buffy, who feels she is merely playing the part of the Slayer. This hints to the audience that the episode's musical format is strange to
10496-565: The Motions", was influenced heavily by the Disney song " Part of Your World " sung by Ariel in The Little Mermaid . Whedon wanted to use a similar opening in which the heroine explains her yearning. While singing her song, Buffy fights three vampires and a demon who themselves break into a choreographed dance; Whedon wanted this to be fun but not distracting. The song ends with chord influences from Stephen Schwartz's Pippin and
10660-473: The Slavic "werewolf" tales. The 11th-century Belarusian Prince Vseslav of Polotsk was considered to have been a werewolf, capable of moving at superhuman speeds, as recounted in The Tale of Igor's Campaign : Vseslav the prince judged men; as prince, he ruled towns; but at night he prowled in the guise of a wolf. From Kiev, prowling, he reached, before the cocks crew, Tmutorokan . The path of Great Sun, as
10824-859: The Swiss Vaud region, werewolves were convicted in 1602 and in 1624. A treatise by a Vaud pastor in 1653, however, argued that lycanthropy was purely an illusion. After this, the only further record from the Vaud dates to 1670. A boy claimed he and his mother could change themselves into wolves, which was not taken seriously. At the beginning of the 17th century witchcraft was prosecuted by James I of England , who regarded "warwoolfes" as victims of delusion induced by "a natural superabundance of melancholic". After 1650, belief in lycanthropy had mostly disappeared from French-speaking Europe, as evidenced in Diderot's Encyclopedia , which attributed reports of lycanthropy to
10988-484: The United States on November 6, 2001. "Once More, with Feeling" explores changes in the relationships of the main characters, using the plot device that a demon—credited as "Sweet" but unnamed in the episode—compels the people of Sunnydale to break into song at random moments to express hidden truths. The title of the episode comes from a line sung by Sweet; once the characters have revealed their truths and face
11152-423: The actors and characters. According to Buffy essayist Richard Albright, the lack of polish among cast members' singing voices added to the authenticity of their breaking out into song for the first time in the series. Whedon included self-conscious dialogue and references about the characters being in a musical and showed their reluctance toward song and dance, so that the audience would feel more comfortable with
11316-660: The audience. In October 2007, after a dispute with the Screen Actors Guild over unpaid residuals , 20th Century Fox pulled the licensing for public screenings of "Once More, with Feeling", effectively ending official Buffy sing-alongs. Whedon called the cancellation "hugely depressing" and attempted to influence the studio to allow future showings. Werewolf In folklore , a werewolf (from Old English werwulf 'man-wolf'), or occasionally lycanthrope (from Ancient Greek λυκάνθρωπος , lykánthrōpos , 'wolf-human'),
11480-487: The berserkers, though they dressed in wolf hides rather than those of bears and were reputed to channel the spirits of these animals to enhance effectiveness in battle. These warriors were resistant to pain and killed viciously in battle, much like wild animals. Úlfhednar and berserkers are closely associated with the Norse god Odin . The Scandinavian traditions of this period may have spread to Kievan Rus' , giving rise to
11644-468: The cast on dance sequences. Michelle Trachtenberg (Dawn), who is trained in ballet, requested a dance sequence in lieu of a significant singing part, and Alyson Hannigan (Willow), according to Whedon, begged him not to give her many lines. Sarah Michelle Gellar (Buffy) told the BBC that "It took something like 19 hours of singing and 17 hours of dancing in between shooting four other episodes" and she
11808-438: The central character throughout the series, is torn between her desires and her duty, in a Kantian illustration of free will vs. predeterminism , symbolized by her responsibility as a Slayer and her adolescent impulses. In earlier seasons, this takes the form of simpler pleasures such as dating and socializing, interspersed with defeating evil forces. It reaches a climax in the ultimate sacrifice when Buffy offers to die to save
11972-497: The characters to confess truthfully, with the exception of Willow, it does not resolve the behavior that demanded confession in the first place. At the end of the episode, Buffy kisses Spike, initiating a romance that she hides from her friends. Their relationship lasts until the end of the series, marked for a time by Buffy's loathing of him because he has no soul. Her relationship with Spike, however, allows her to feel lust and attraction, which she yearns for after being pulled back from
12136-483: The chorus number "If We're Together", beginning the song by persuading others to join in one by one, as if each is convinced that she is still invested and in charge, and their strength as a group is infallible. Although she asks in verse "Apocalypse / We've all been there / The same old trips / Why should we care?", all the Scoobies join her, including Giles despite his suspicions that Buffy is no longer interested in her life. Secrets reveal themselves steadily throughout
12300-479: The climax from different locations for different reasons, reminiscent of the " Tonight Quintet " from West Side Story . When they all sing the chorus at once to the line "We will walk through the fire / And let it — burn", two fire trucks race behind the Scoobies as they proceed to the Bronze. Whedon called the shot the "single greatest thing we ever did". Each of the singers in this song, which "marries soft rock to
12464-502: The clues they needed to establish all the nuances of the relationships between characters. Davies commented that the intricacies of filming this episode were "infinitely more complicated than a regular Buffy " episode, and Whedon stated in the DVD commentary that he was ambitious to prove what television is capable of, saying "it just depends how much you care". UPN , the television network that aired Buffy ' s last two seasons, promoted
12628-754: The codes aim to ensure that "...the madly audacious werewolf do not too widely devastate, nor bite too many of the spiritual flock." Liutprand of Cremona reports a rumor that Bajan, son of Simeon I of Bulgaria , could use magic to turn himself into a wolf. The works of Augustine of Hippo had a large influence on the development of Western Christianity, and were widely read by churchmen of the medieval period. These churchmen occasionally discussed werewolves in their works. Famous examples include Gerald of Wales 's Werewolves of Ossory , found in his Topographica Hibernica , and in Gervase of Tilbury's Otia Imperiala , both written for royal audiences. Gervase reveals to
12792-567: The concept of the revenant or vampire. The eastern werewolf-vampire is found in the folklore of Central and Eastern Europe, including Hungary, Romania and the Balkans, while the western werewolf-sorcerer is found in France, German-speaking Europe and in the Baltic. Being a werewolf was a common accusation in witch trials. It featured in the Valais witch trials , one of the earliest such trials, in
12956-488: The consequences of hearing each other's secrets, he challenges them to "say you're happy now, once more, with feeling". The musical format allowed characters to stay true to their natures while they struggled to overcome deceit and miscommunication, fitting with the sixth season's themes of growing up and facing difficulties in adulthood. All of the regular cast performed their own vocals, although two actors were given minimal singing at their request. "Once More, with Feeling"
13120-511: The context of Christianity, although stories of humans turning into wolves take their roots in earlier pre-Christian beliefs. Their underlying common origin can be traced back to Proto-Indo-European mythology , where lycanthropy is reconstructed as an aspect of the initiation of the kóryos warrior class, which may have included a cult focused on dogs and wolves identified with an age grade of young, unmarried warriors. The standard comparative overview of this aspect of Indo-European mythology
13284-413: The death of their mother Joyce Summers ( Kristine Sutherland ) in the fifth season (" The Body "), Buffy has come to depend more heavily on Giles. Following Dawn's date, Buffy asks Giles to shoulder responsibility for disciplining her, much to his discomfort. Buffy's former nemesis is Spike ( James Marsters ), a vampire. In the fourth season The Initiative, a secret military organization whose mission
13448-443: The demon Sweet. Battle, a three-time Tony-winner, wore prosthetic make-up for the first time to give him a demonic red face. Sweet was portrayed as "slick", smooth and stylish; in contrast, most demons on the series were designed to be crude and ugly. The set for The Bronze was used frequently throughout the series, but stairs were built from the stage to maximize floor space for Buffy's dance. Running eight minutes longer than any in
13612-503: The demonic law firm Wolfram & Hart . [REDACTED] Category Once More, with Feeling (Buffy the Vampire Slayer) " Once More, with Feeling " is the seventh episode of the sixth season of the supernatural drama television series Buffy the Vampire Slayer (1997–2003), and the only one in the series that is a musical . It was written and directed by series creator Joss Whedon and originally aired on UPN in
13776-631: The episode "conveyed the same sense of rampant, runaway genius—the rare fusion of artful storytelling and ardent entertainment, a production capable of moving viewers to tears or to an awestruck rapture". Writing in the Toronto Star , Vinay Menon calls "Once More, with Feeling" "dazzling" and writes of "Joss Whedon's inimitable genius"; he goes on to say "(f)or a show that already violates conventions and morphs between genres, its allegorical narrative zigging and zagging seamlessly across chatty comedy, drama and over-the-top horror, 'Once More, with Feeling'
13940-420: The episode as "scary in a brand-new way", saying "Once More, with Feeling" is "as impressive as Whedon's milestone episodes ' Hush ' and ' The Body ' "; the episode is "often hilarious", according to Murray, and acts as "(b)oth spoof and homage, [parodying] the hokiness of musicals while also capturing the guilty pleasure and surges of feeling the genre inspires". Scott Feschuk from National Post states that
14104-453: The episode by displaying Gellar's face on billboards with music notes over her eyes, and held a special premiere event. Network president Dean Valentine remarked he thought it was "one of the best episodes of television I ever saw in my life". Critics hailed the episode as successful in telling a complex story about all the characters in a unique way, while retaining the series' effective elements of writing and character development. Throughout
14268-406: The episode of concealing truth, spontaneous combustion , is an allusion to Bleak House by Charles Dickens —of whom Whedon is a fan—where characters also face immolation for being deceitful. For Buffy, however, truth is slow in coming, as she continues to lie to the Scoobies, claiming to forget what she sang about in the graveyard during "Going Through the Motions". Buffy continues her charade in
14432-447: The episode was originally broadcast in the United States on UPN on November 6, 2001, it received a Nielsen rating of 3.4 and a share of 5. This placed the episode in sixth place in its timeslot, and 88th among broadcast television for the week of November 5–11, 2001. It was the most watched program on UPN that night, and the third most watched program that week, trailing episodes of Star Trek: Enterprise and WWF SmackDown . This
14596-733: The episode was released on the sixth season box set on May 25, 2004, over a year later than the Region 2 release. Since the musical episode of Buffy aired, several other series have worked musical format into episodes, including Scrubs , (" My Musical ") in 2007, Grey's Anatomy (" Song Beneath the Song ") in 2011, Batman: The Brave and the Bold , (" Mayhem of the Music Meister! ") in 2009, and Star Trek: Strange New Worlds (" Subspace Rhapsody ") in 2023. The musical television episode
14760-413: The episode when it aired last October, and after it was over, I said to my wife, 'That's the best hour of TV I've ever seen. Someone should put that [soundtrack] out.' I inquired at Fox, just following up, and they said, 'Well, we tried, it didn't happen. If you want to take a run at it, feel free. ' " The soundtrack received "stellar reviews". AllMusic gives the album five out of five stars, stating that
14924-582: The episode's "standout moments". Connie Ogle in the Miami Herald calls the songs "better and far more clever than most of the ones you'll hear on Broadway these days". Writers agree that the episode was risky and could have failed spectacularly. Jonathan Bernstein in the British newspaper The Observer writes "What could have been, at best, an eccentric diversion and, at worst, a shuddering embarrassment, succeeded on every level [...] It provided
15088-498: The episode. Xander fears that his future marriage will turn him into an argumentative drunk like his father. He attempts to avoid his fears through the song "I'll Never Tell", singing "'coz there's nothing to tell", after summoning Sweet to Sunnydale to show him that he and Anya will be happy. Amid the various annoyances Xander and Anya express through this song, some verses are clear-sighted observations of behavior, such as Anya's accusation that Xander—once in love with Buffy—uses Buffy as
15252-445: The existence of demons, there exists other groups and organizations battling against evil, and these factions come to light over the course of Buffy and Angel and in related media. For example, a group of socially disadvantaged youth in L.A. organized to battle the vampires destroying their community (See Charles Gunn ). And, although some of their methods and goals proved questionable, a government-funded group known as The Initiative
15416-554: The fifth best episode of the 21st century. In 2021, Los Angeles Times called it the best musical episode ever made. An album including all 14 songs in the episode, with Christophe Beck's scores for three other Buffy episodes, was released by Rounder Records in September 2002 as season seven premiered. John Virant, president and chief executive of Rounder Records, told the Los Angeles Times , "I remember watching
15580-435: The fifth season when he hosted a Shakespeare reading at his house, to which the cast was invited. They began drinking and singing, demonstrating to Whedon that certain cast members had musical talents. Whedon knew he would have to write an entire score, which would take weeks or months. During the first three seasons of Buffy , he was unable to take more than two weeks off at a time, and the constraints of writing and directing
15744-531: The final cases taking place in the early 18th century in Carinthia and Styria . After the end of the witch trials, the werewolf became of interest in folklore studies and in the emerging Gothic horror genre. Werewolf fiction as a genre has premodern precedents in medieval romances (e.g., Bisclavret and Guillaume de Palerme ) and developed in the 18th century out of the "semi-fictional" chapbook tradition. The trappings of horror literature in
15908-529: The first half of the 15th century. In 1539, Martin Luther used the form beerwolf to describe a hypothetical ruler worse than a tyrant who must be resisted. In ' Historia de Gentibus Septentrionalibus ' (1555), Olaus Magnus describes (Book 18, Chapter 45) an annual assembly of werewolves near the Lithuania-Courland border. The participants, including Lithuanian nobility and werewolves from
16072-467: The first season, when Buffy moved to Sunnydale after her parents' divorce. Xander is engaged to Anya Jenkins ( Emma Caulfield ), a former vengeance demon who has become human. They have struggled with disclosing their engagement to the rest of the group and individually doubt their impending marriage. Buffy died at the end of the fifth season (" The Gift "), sacrificing herself in place of her younger sister Dawn ( Michelle Trachtenberg ) in order to save
16236-464: The forces of darkness alone. When she died, another girl was "chosen" in her place. The line of Slayers is maintained over the years until Buffy's two deaths and revivals cause a disturbance that ultimately leads to the awakening of the First Evil . The Slayer is given great strength, lightning reflexes, fast healing powers and is naturally highly skilled with many weapons and martial arts. Within
16400-477: The function of a dirge", connects musically to earlier songs while foreshadowing Buffy's next number and the final chorus, providing an ominous anxiety. Buffy's numbers are the most complex, changing key and tempo when she begins to reveal the secrets she swore she never would. This appears specifically in "Something to Sing About", which starts with uptempo platitudes: "We'll sing a happy song / And you can sing along: / Where there's life, there's hope / Every day's
16564-497: The gang theorizes about the cause of the singing; they sense no immediate danger but agree that by working together they can overcome anything ("I've Got a Theory"/"Bunnies"/"If We're Together"). Buffy learns that the whole town is affected when she looks outside the shop to see a large group (led by series writer and producer David Fury ) singing and dancing about how a dry-cleaning service got their stains out ("The Mustard"). Tara and Willow leave to "research" at home, but dally along
16728-455: The gang to assist her, so she goes alone, despite having no will to do so; eventually Giles and the Scoobies change their minds and leave to catch up. Although Spike initially thinks that things would be better for him if Buffy was dead, he also changes his mind and decides to help Buffy; Sweet opines that Buffy is drawn to danger ("Walk Through the Fire"). Meeting Sweet at The Bronze, Buffy offers
16892-420: The group how much fun they have been ("What You Feel" (reprise)) and disappears. The Scoobies realize that their relationships have been changed irreversibly by the secrets revealed in their songs ("Where Do We Go from Here?"). Spike leaves The Bronze, but Buffy follows him out, and they kiss ("Coda"). Joss Whedon had wanted to make a musical episode since the start of the series. This desire was heightened during
17056-725: The humanoid "Kurtadam" (literally meaning "Wolfman"). Since the wolf was the totemic ancestor animal of the Turkic peoples, they would be respectful of any shaman who was in such a form. Some modern researchers have tried to explain the reports of werewolf behaviour with recognised medical conditions. In 1963, Dr Lee Illis of Guy's Hospital in London wrote a paper entitled On Porphyria and the Aetiology of Werewolves , in which he argues that historical accounts on werewolves could have been referring to victims of congenital porphyria , stating how
17220-406: The idea that being bitten by a werewolf could result in the victim turning into one, which suggested the idea of a transmittable disease like rabies. However, the idea that lycanthropy could be transmitted in this way is not part of the original myths and legends, and only appears in relatively recent beliefs. Lycanthropy can also be met with as the main content of a delusion, for example, the case of
17384-423: The improbability of such a thing happening on the show. It is part of the fascination of "Once More, with Feeling", that we can, if we wish, choose to select our relationship with the text and dwell on a happy ending—or we can share the struggle of the characters. Rhonda Wilcox, 2005 The dynamic nature of the characters was a unique element of writing in the series at the time. Once they were established in
17548-475: The incident as follows, "When I look for my buddy I see he'd stripped and piled his clothes by the roadside... He pees in a circle round his clothes and then, just like that, turns into a wolf!... after he turned into a wolf he started howling and then ran off into the woods." Early Christian authors also mentioned werewolves. In The City of God , Augustine of Hippo gives an account similar to that found in Pliny
17712-470: The influence of the Old French expression leus warous ~ lous garous (modern loup-garou ), which literally means 'wolf-werewolf'. The modern Norse form varulv (Danish, Norwegian and Swedish) was either borrowed from Middle Low German werwulf , or else derived from an unattested Old Norse *varulfr , posited as the regular descendant of Proto-Germanic * wira-wulfaz . An Old Frankish form *werwolf
17876-519: The invocation of particular words. Witches and warlocks, however, have considerably more knowledge and power to use it for their purposes than the average person. A witch can inherit their lineage from their parents or develop their craft over many years, and neither a witch nor warlock must necessarily be human, such as Cyvus Vail . While not prominent in the Buffyverse , there are select few individuals who gain special powers through means other than those mentioned above. Gwen Raiden and Bethany (from
18040-423: The kind of complete turnaround that is a staple of the Buffy universe". Tara's heartfelt love song also has an ironic subtext; although she appears to mean that she is fulfilled by her relationship with Willow, the lyrics include multiple allusions to Willow working her manipulative will over Tara, overlaid with Tara's euphoric singing about her pleasure in their union. In Sex and the Slayer , Lorna Jowett calls
18204-468: The lack of industry respect afforded one of television's most consistently clever shows". Ogle in the Miami Herald vigorously protests this omission, writing, "[T]he most astonishing, entertaining hour (hour plus, actually) of TV in the past year slips by virtually unnoticed. Nothing here is real; nothing here is right. Buffy the Vampire Slayer' s musical episode, 'Once More, with Feeling', registers
18368-897: The late attestation of some forms pose difficulties in tracing the origin of the term. The Greek Vrykolakas and Romanian Vîrcolac , designating vampire-like creatures in Balkan folklores, were borrowed from Slavic languages. The same form is found in other non-Slavic languages of the region, such as Albanian vurvolak and Turkish vurkolak. Bulgarian vьrkolak and Church Slavonic vurkolak may be interpreted as back-borrowings from Greek. The name vurdalak (вурдалак; 'ghoul, revenant') first appeared in Russian poet Alexander Pushkin 's work Pesni , published in 1835. The source of Pushkin's distinctive form remains debated in scholarship. A Proto-Celtic noun * wiro-kū , meaning 'man-dog', has been reconstructed from Celtiberian uiroku ,
18532-648: The main aspects of the Buffyverse are as follows. The world of the Buffyverse was originally ruled by powerful pure-bred demons: the Old Ones . However, the Old Ones were eventually driven out of the earth's dimension. Any who remained were then vanquished or imprisoned in the "Deeper Well", which manifests as a hole through the earth, with one opening hidden within a tree in England. These demons are revered and worshiped by lesser demon species. They await their chance to return and reclaim Earth. According to legend in
18696-422: The material limbs of any animal.' Marie de France 's poem Bisclavret (c. 1200) is another example, in which the eponymous nobleman Bisclavret, for reasons not described, had to transform into a wolf every week. When his treacherous wife stole his clothing needed to restore his human form, he escaped the king's wolf hunt by imploring the king for mercy, and accompanied the king thereafter. His behavior at court
18860-509: The most stunning voice, showing a surprising range". Whedon acknowledged that the "lyrical, heavenly quality" of Benson's voice led him to assign her the episode's love song. Alyson Hannigan (Willow) was unwilling to sing much and her performance is "apprehensive", according to Shuttleworth. He considers this an example of Tara's quieter strength coming out in front of Willow's showy demonstrations of powerful magic. Buffy studies scholar Rhonda Wilcox interprets Willow's diminished role representing
19024-496: The music is "every bit as fun as the episode itself", praising the voices of Benson, Marsters and Head. Reviewer Melinda Hill states it is "a must-have for Buffy fans, but it wouldn't be out of place in anyone's collection". In addition to featuring on the sixth season box set, "Once More, with Feeling" was individually released on DVD in Region 2 format on April 14, 2003, the only episode to be individually released. In Region 1,
19188-431: The musical format and its humor and wit. It is considered one of the most effective and popular episodes of the series, and one of the best episodes of television. Prior to a financial dispute in 2007, it was shown in theaters with the audience invited to sing along. Throughout the series Buffy Summers ( Sarah Michelle Gellar ), in her role as the Vampire Slayer, is assisted by her close friends, who refer to themselves as
19352-629: The name versipellis ("turnskin"). Augustine instead uses the phrase "in lupum fuisse mutatum" (changed into the form of a wolf) to describe the physical metamorphosis of werewolves, which is similar to phrases used in the medieval period. There is evidence of widespread belief in werewolves in medieval Europe. This evidence spans much of the Continent, as well as the British Isles. Werewolves were mentioned in Medieval law codes, such as that of King Cnut , whose Ecclesiastical Ordinances inform us that
19516-398: The original writer and creator of the fictional universe and its corresponding works. The Buffyverse is a setting in which supernatural phenomena exist, and supernatural evil can be challenged by people willing to fight against such forces. Much of the licensed Buffyverse merchandise and media, while released officially, is not considered to be canon within the universe. The Buffyverse
19680-653: The reader that belief in such transformations (he also mentions women turning into cats and into snakes) was widespread across Europe; he uses the phrase "que ita dinoscuntur" when discussing these metamorphoses, which translates to "it is known". Gervase, who was writing in Germany, also tells the reader that the transformation of men into wolves cannot be easily dismissed, for "...in England we have often seen men change into wolves" ("Vidimus enim frequenter in Anglia per lunationes homines in lupos mutari..."). Further evidence of
19844-452: The right to produce Buffy comics. IDW now hold the license to produce Angel comics . Joss Whedon wrote an eight-issue miniseries for Dark Horse Comics entitled Fray , about a futuristic vampire slayer. Its final issue was published in August 2003. Pocket Books holds the license to produce Buffy novels, but their license to produce Angel novels expired in 2004. The Buffyverse
20008-445: The road. Audience members received props to use during key scenes, as well as directions (for example, to yell "Shut up, Dawn!" at Buffy's younger sister), and a live cast performed the episode alongside the screen. Buffy sing-alongs received growing media attention as they spread. At the 2007 Los Angeles Film Festival , a special screening and sing-along was held that featured both Marti Noxon and Joss Whedon giving brief speeches to
20172-519: The second of Gervase of Tilbury's werewolf stories, about a werewolf by the name of Chaucevaire. Marie also reveals to us the existence of werewolf belief in Breton and Norman France, by telling us the Franco-Norman word for werewolf: garwulf, which, she explains, are common in that part of France, where "...many men turned into werewolves". Gervase supports this terminology when he tells us that
20336-495: The series, the episode was also the most technical and complex. Whedon, who has stated this is one of his favorite Buffy episodes, used a widescreen letterboxed format for filming (the only episode in the series to get this treatment), different lighting to bring out the sets more vibrantly, and long takes for shooting—including a complicated shot with a full conversation, a song, and two choreographed dances that took 21 attempts to get right. These were designed to give viewers all
20500-411: The series, Jacqueline Bach writes that in conjunction with the sixth season themes of growing up, "Once More, with Feeling" gives music a central role instead of keeping it in the background. When Buffy is on patrol, she laments in song about how uninspired her life has become ("Going Through the Motions"). The next morning at the Magic Box, the gang reveal that they also sang that evening. Led by Giles,
20664-404: The series, and specifically in "Once More, with Feeling", that they are "intensely sexual", according to Buffy essayist Justine Larbalestier . Near the end of Tara's song, she sings, "Lost in ecstasy / Spread beneath my Willow tree / You make me / Com — plete", as Tara levitates off the bed while Willow tacitly performs cunnilingus on her. Lorna Jowett called the song "the most erotic scene" of
20828-427: The series. Whedon admitted on the DVD commentary for the episode that the song is "pornography" and "probably the dirtiest lyric I've ever written, but also very, very beautiful". Buffy essayist Ian Shuttleworth writes that Amber Benson (Tara) has "the sweetest singing voice of all the lead players", referring to "Under Your Spell" as "heavenly and salacious"; author Nikki Stafford concurs, writing that Benson "has
20992-578: The show precluded him from putting forth the effort of preparing a musical. Whedon spoke to the show's producer, Gareth Davies , about his idea; they agreed that a musical episode would be written. Whedon spent six months writing the music for "Once More, with Feeling". When he returned after the end of the fifth season, he presented Davies with a script and CD, complete with notated and orchestrated music, which Davies found "mind-boggling". The actors were initially bewildered; in 2012, James Marsters commented that "it's obvious now that they were good songs but
21156-493: The show's characters, sing along to the musical numbers, and otherwise interact in the style of The Rocky Horror Picture Show . Clinton McClung, a New York-based film programmer, got the idea for a sing-along from audience-participation showings of The Sound of Music in 2003. The next year, he began putting on sing-alongs to "Once More, with Feeling" in Boston's Coolidge Corner Theater, which became so popular that it went on
21320-587: The show's regular cast ranged only from the fairly good to the not so great", she also asserts that it works "beautifully", paces itself gracefully, and is "clever and affecting". Zacharek's unenthusiastic assessments of the music and cast's singing abilities were not shared by other writers. Debi Enker in Australia's The Age writes, "Giles (Anthony Stewart Head) and Tara (Amber Benson) are terrific, Xander (Nicholas Brendon) and Dawn (Michelle Trachtenberg) struggle valiantly, and Willow (Alyson Hannigan) barely sings
21484-401: The show's silence about Willow's descent into addiction and darkness through the rest of the season. Benson remarked that Tara's story arc is significant within the episode, starting out with ecstasy but soon recognizing the illusory circumstances surrounding her bliss and that "life can't be perfect all the time". The most complicated song, "Walk Through the Fire", leads all the characters to
21648-459: The show—as in the rest of the series—the characters self-consciously address their own dialogue and actions. Anya describes her own duet "I'll Never Tell" as "a retro pastiche that's never gonna be a breakaway pop hit". With a characteristic dry demeanor, Giles explains that he overheard the information about Sunnydale residents spontaneously combusting as he was eavesdropping upon the police taking "witness arias". In her opening number, "Going Through
21812-435: The so-called " Buffyverse Expanded Universe ". The Buffyverse novels , Buffy video games and the vast majority of Buffyverse comics , are licensed by 20th Century Fox . The works sometimes flesh out background information on characters. For example, Go Ask Malice provides information about the origins of the character Faith Lehane . The Buffyverse comics were first published by Dark Horse , who have retained
21976-418: The song between Willow and Tara the transformational event in their relationship, from Tara's subservient bearing towards Willow, into a relationship of equals. Two Buffy essayists note that Willow and Giles sing together at the start of the episode, but later Tara and Giles share a duet to express the diminished part each plays in their respective relationships. Although "Once More, with Feeling" allows all
22140-658: The song uses influences from Ira Gershwin , a Charleston rhythm, and jazz-like chord slides. Giles' "Standing" is a ballad to Buffy that she does not hear, unlike the songs revealing truths elsewhere in the episode. Whedon shot the scene so that Giles moves in real time while Buffy works out in slow motion, to accentuate Giles' distance from her. Buffy's not hearing his song was intentional; Whedon explained, "You can sing to someone in musicals and they can never know how you feel or how much you love them, even if they're standing right in front of you". "Under Your Spell" received attention from Buffy studies writers because it presents
22304-483: The story without getting hung up on the genre's conventions". The musical styles span from a jaunty 1950s sitcom arrangement of the Buffy theme in the opening credits—the only episode in the series to begin without the normal version of the theme song and full cast roll, signifying a genre shift —to Anya's hard-rock version of "Bunnies". Whedon assigned Emma Caulfield the rock-opera format because Caulfield often sang in such
22468-600: The surrounding areas, gather to test their strength by attempting to jump over a castle wall's ruins. Those who succeed are regarded as strong, while weaker participants are punished with whippings. There were numerous reports of werewolf attacks – and consequent court trials – in 16th-century France. In some of the cases there was clear evidence against the accused of murder and cannibalism , but no association with wolves. In other cases people have been terrified by such creatures, such as that of Gilles Garnier in Dole in 1573, who
22632-468: The symptoms of photosensitivity , reddish teeth, and psychosis could have been grounds for accusing a person of being a werewolf. This is argued against by Woodward, who points out how mythological werewolves were almost invariably portrayed as resembling true wolves, and that their human forms were rarely physically conspicuous as porphyria victims. Others have pointed out the possibility of historical werewolves having been people with hypertrichosis ,
22796-409: The tempo shifts as "rock ballad to punk polka to hymn" that indicates Buffy's turmoil. The key and tempo slow again, as Buffy finally reveals "I live in hell / 'Cause I've been expelled from heaven / I think I was in heaven" with the chord changing from B minor to B diminished , each time she repeats "heaven". When replying to her, Spike has the same shift from minor to diminished each time he repeats
22960-476: The term solely in the context of clinical lycanthropy , a condition in which the patient imagined himself to be a wolf. Modern writers later used lycanthrope as a synonym of werewolf , referring to a person who, according to medieval superstition, could assume the form of wolves. The European motif of the devilish werewolf devouring human flesh harks back to a common development during the Middle Ages in
23124-428: The thing was Joss and his wife Kai, they don't sing very well. And they don't play piano very well. The songs sounded really cheesy and horrible... We were saying, 'Joss, you're ruining our careers.'" Preparing for the episode was physically difficult for some of the cast members, most of whom had little experience singing and dancing. They spent three months in voice training. Two choreographers worked with Whedon and
23288-503: The time of Lycaon. If they abstain from tasting human flesh while being wolves, they would be restored to human form nine years later, but if they do not abstain, they would remain wolves forever. Lykos (Λύκος) of Athens was a wolf-shaped herο, whose shrine stood by the jurycourt, and the first jurors were named after him. Pliny the Elder likewise recounts another tale of lycanthropy. Quoting Euanthes, he mentions that in Arcadia , once
23452-513: The twelve episodes of the first season, characters began to change and relationships were developed in the second. This continued through the series to the point of unpredictability that sometimes became unsettling to fans. Buffy essayist Marguerite Krause asserts that the monsters and demons faced by the Scoobies are thin symbolism for the show's true focus: relationships and how to maintain or ruin them. Common among most of these relationships—romantic, platonic, and familial—is, according to Krause,
23616-406: The verge of combusting as Sweet's other victims have been shown to do — until Spike stops her, telling her that the only way to go forward is to just keep living her life. Xander then reveals that he, not Dawn, invoked Sweet, hoping for a musical "happy ending" for his marriage plans and unaware of the demon's deadly nature. Sweet, after releasing Xander from the obligation to be Sweet's "bride", tells
23780-415: The way while Tara muses about how much Willow has improved her life ("Under Your Spell"). The next morning, Xander and Anya perform a duet about their secret annoyances with each other and their respective doubts about their impending marriage ("I'll Never Tell"). They realize that the songs are bringing out hidden secrets, and later insist to Giles that something evil is to blame. As they argue, they walk past
23944-560: The widespread belief in werewolves and other human-animal transformations can be seen in theological attacks made against such beliefs. Conrad of Hirsau , writing in the 11th century, forbids the reading of stories in which a person's reason is obscured following such a transformation. Conrad specifically refers to the tales of Ovid in his tract. Pseudo-Augustine, writing in the 12th century, follows Augustine of Hippo's argument that no physical transformation can be made by any but God, stating that "...the body corporeally [cannot], be changed into
24108-472: The woods of Arcadia in the form of wolves. Virgil , in his poetic work Eclogues , wrote about a man called Moeris, who used herbs and poisons picked in his native Pontus to turn himself into a wolf. In prose , the Satyricon , written circa AD 60 by Gaius Petronius Arbiter , one of the characters, Niceros, tells a story at a banquet about a friend who turned into a wolf (chs. 61–62). He describes
24272-400: The word "living." The episode nears the end with "Where Do We Go from Here?", as the Scoobies stand dazed and disoriented, facing different directions. As they sing "Understand we'll go hand in hand / But we'll walk alone in fear", they line up, hold hands, then fling each other's hands away in a piece of what Whedon calls "literal choreography". Each of the eight characters in this line wears
24436-538: The world. However, "Once More, with Feeling", according to Stroud, is the turning point at which she begins to face her responsibility to the community, her friends and her family. Not only does she continue her Slaying despite a lack of inspiration, but for the rest of the season she works at a humiliating job to provide for her sister and friends. "Once More, with Feeling" was Joss Whedon's first attempt at writing music, which he had always wanted to do. He learned how to play guitar to write several songs. Christophe Beck ,
24600-470: The world. In the first episode of the sixth season, Willow, believing Buffy to be in Hell , used magic to bring her back from the grave. Buffy was in fact at peace, in what she thinks was heaven, but she has kept this a secret from her friends. Since her resurrection, Buffy has been lost and without inspiration to perform her duties as a Slayer. Willow is romantically involved with Tara Maclay ( Amber Benson ),
24764-433: Was "obsessive about progressing a plot in a song, about saying things we haven't said", comparing the musical theater format to the fourth-season episode " Hush ", in which characters begin communicating when they stop talking. According to Buffy essayist Zoe-Jane Playdon, earlier episodes' "false saccharine behaviour" impedes the characters so crucially that it summons a demon to force them to be honest. The consequences in
24928-421: Was a decrease from the 3.7 rating received by the previous episode a week prior. "Once More, with Feeling" received widespread critical acclaim from media and critics when it aired, during overseas syndication, and in reminiscences of the best episodes of Buffy after the series ended. Although Salon.com writer Stephanie Zacharek states "(t)he songs were only half-memorable at best, and the singing ability of
25092-455: Was a peasant who became a vengeance demon), and even hybrids ( Cordelia Chase had aspects of demon fused in her). Some species of demon are capable of breeding with humans ( Doyle has a human mother and a demon father). Anya Jenkins states in the episode " Graduation Day " that the demons that walk the earth are not pure demons, they are half-breeds. She states that true demons are "bigger", in reference to Mayor Richard Wilkins ' Ascension into
25256-399: Was also long aware of the existence of demons and was revealed to be fighting a secret war against them. Other large-scale groups appear in both Buffy and Angel , often as antagonists to the heroes due to differing views on how to, as they say, fight the good fight. Magic in the Buffyverse can be used for all manner of control. Spells can be performed by anyone by use of magical items and
25420-520: Was also nominated for a Best Dramatic Presentation Hugo Award and a Best Script Nebula Award , both given for excellence in science fiction and fantasy writing. Vox ranked the episode as the best episode of the series. It was voted the best episode of the series in a poll conducted by Radio Times to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the finale episode " Chosen ". In 2009, TV Guide ranked it #14 on its list of "TV's Top 100 Episodes of All Time". For its 65th anniversary, TV Guide picked it as
25584-448: Was born as a product of two vampire parents. Technology in the Buffyverse is more advanced than in the real world at the time it was produced, although the applications of such technologies do not seem to be common knowledge. Examples of advanced technology include: Additionally, there is much technology specifically geared towards use both by and against the supernatural, used by the government organization known as "The Initiative" and
25748-538: Was convicted of being a werewolf. A peak of attention to lycanthropy came in the late 16th to early 17th century, as part of the European witch-hunts . A number of treatises on werewolves were written in France during 1595 and 1615. In 1598, werewolves were sighted in Anjou . In 1602, Henry Boguet wrote a lengthy chapter about werewolves. In 1603, a teenage werewolf was sentenced to life imprisonment in Bordeaux . In
25912-406: Was declared a genre, a gimmick, according to Mary Williams at Salon.com, for series that had run out of interesting story lines and characters. Both Williams and Margaret Lyons at New York magazine, however, declared "Once More, with Feeling" the "gold standard" for musical episodes. Despite this, Whedon recognized the influence "Once More, with Feeling" has had on other shows, but denied that it
26076-405: Was gentle, until his wife and her new husband appeared at court, so much so that his hateful attack on the couple was deemed justly motivated, and the truth was revealed. This lai (a type of Breton sung-poem) follows many themes found within other werewolf tales – the removal of clothing and attempting to refrain from the consumption of human flesh can be found in Pliny the Elder, as well as in
26240-488: Was nominated for an Emmy Award for Outstanding Musical Direction, but the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences (NATAS) neglected to include the title on the ballots for Emmy nominations in 2002. NATAS attempted to remedy this by mailing a postcard informing its voters that it should be included, but the episode did not win. NATAS' oversight, according to The Washington Post , was "another example of
26404-586: Was primarily responsible for the rise in musical television episodes or series such as Glee , citing the popularity of High School Musical instead. Director John McPhail cited "Once More, with Feeling" as an influence on his musical film Anna and the Apocalypse (2018). Buffy the Vampire Slayer developed an enthusiastic fan following while it aired. Following its series finale, fans continued their appreciation in theater showings of "Once More, with Feeling" where attendees are encouraged to dress like
26568-533: Was so anxious about singing that she "hated every moment of it". When Whedon suggested using a voice double for her, however, she said, "I basically started to cry and said, 'You mean someone else is going to do my big emotional turning point for the season?' In the end, it was an incredible experience and I'm glad I did it. And I never want to do it again." Davies was so impressed with Hinton Battle 's performance on Broadway in The Wiz that he asked Battle to play
26732-616: Was the Holy Roman Empire . At least nine works on lycanthropy were printed in Germany between 1649 and 1679. In the Austrian and Bavarian Alps, belief in werewolves persisted well into the 18th century. As late as in 1853, in Galicia , northwestern Spain, Manuel Blanco Romasanta was judged and condemned as the author of a number of murders, but he claimed to be not guilty because of his condition of lobishome , werewolf. Until
26896-430: Was turned into a wolf after tasting the entrails of a human child sacrificed to Zeus Lycaeus. He was restored to human form 10 years later and went on to become an Olympic champion. This tale is also recounted by Pliny the Elder , who calls the man Demaenetus quoting Agriopas . According to Pausanias, this was not a one-off event, but that men have been transformed into wolves during the sacrifices to Zeus Lycaeus since
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