Do you know what 8 minutes they'll have to cut out for reruns/syndication? Sounds like it would have to be a whole musical number.

Buffy the Musical:

Excellent! I got chills for the entire show. The concept succeeded beyond my hopes. Wow. A job well done. And I'm so glad I got it on tape (to be archived). Bravo!

was there any ensemble singing in this? only one song of the four i heard weren't solos. i want to consider this more a show with music in it than an outright musical. disappointed. then again, i don't like buffy.

but "the point of the episode was meant to show how idiotic musicals look in certain settings?" i disagree. #1, what a waste of a show. #2, it'll never work. because musicals are by defintion very difficult to pull off, you won't be credited with making the musical medium look bad if your show is bad. you will just be credited with making a bad show. if you make your show good - which is of course the only way to go - then you've proved yourself wrong. your show worked, so in your setting musicals are ok.

How can you be disappointed if you didn't even watch the whole show? There were quite a few duets and ensemble numbers.

Song breakdown (courtesy AICN):

as i see a good musical, it's a narrative told thru music. i watched maybe 10 minutes as i flipped between it and simpsons/70s. the song where a guy was asking buffy to let him rest in peace. every time he stopped to take a breath, i thought buffy was gonna sing back. it would've been far more interesting to watch if they were singing to/at each other.

That was the best Buffy episode yet.

And I was shocked that they did so much plot development in what I thought was going to be a throw away episode.

Can we download or get the music anywhere?

Out of curiousity, are there any plans to release a soundtrack to this episode? It probably wouldn't sell much, but worth having as a novelty item.

They're trying, but there're apparently some rights issues with the music, or something. But, if it's possible, there will be one.

I hope so. There're a few songs on there that I want. A lot.

Was it the mixing, or did SMG's voice sound a little thin in the middle of the show, during the "touch the fire" song?

Anyhow, those songs just kept running through my head last night as I went to sleep.

The line from Willow where she sang it was just filler just cracked me up. The delivery and the look on her face as they marched to back up Buffy was classic.

Anyhow, the major plot points:

Xander and Anya still have a few doubts of their union, but they are so cute together.

Willow's duplicitous mind control spell is discovered by Tara, and I see them separating (as both Tara and Giles express that they need to go for their loved ones to grow).

Spike finally lays it on the line, and Buffy puts it together that she wants Spike.

Dawn, well, she almost became a mail-order demon bride (Anya's comments were pretty funny on this topic).

So, this episode sets the stage for:

A deeper relationship between Spike and Buffy.
Giles leaving Buffy.
Tara leaving Willow, and driving her over to the bad side.
Dawn getting more in tune with her impending womanhood
Xander and Anya having a few more bumps in the road (what's with Giles kissing Anya passionately in the previews for the next show?)

Let's not forget the fact that Buffy told everyone that she was in Heaven and not Hell when Willow brought her back.

Let's not also forget the notes they used. I wonder where Joss was going with that. There was an odd sound to the word "hea-ven" when they sang it.

das

Maybe SMG could not sing it any other way. :)

OK. I laughed. I cried. I peed my pants. So, was it entertaining? Well, duh.

As a novelty episode, it was enjoyable. The lyrics were brilliant. Some of the songs were quite good (allowing for some questionable singing talent). But the entire musical tone of the show took a downward spiral for the last 20 minutes or so, after throwing out the big “production numbers” early on. Clearly no pacing and no satisfying finale. Joss has got a lot of nerve even thinking of mentioning a classic masterpiece like The Music Man.

I feel cheated after putting up with a zillion ads for the show (thank God they’re over!!!) that “Where Do We Go From Here” turns out to be one of the weakest songs in the show.

Why was it found necessary to throw away so many potential story lines in one show? Giles leaving. Tara pissed and wanting out. <s>Xander and Anya in love.</s> Buffy having to accept more responsibility for Dawn (she still hasn’t a clue, IMHO). Buffy pissed for being brought back from heaven. Spike and Buffy – woohoo! (Avoid Buffy promos if you don’t like spoilers!!) Did I miss anything?

The Buffy Musical was fun. It wasn’t worth all the hype.



No, it was a deliberate device, and a pretty interesting one.

I'm still messed up about seeing Anya and Giles all over each other in that preview. Heh.

From what I have seen of the show (I watched all for season 4, and off and on in five.), there really isn't much more room for their them to make innovations after this episode. While I think it's clever, I think it's safe to assume Whedon is no longer going for logic and realism in the stories and narrative.

The only other possibilities:

-an episode that's fully animated
-an episode done like Memento
-a Pulp Fiction style one
-a David Lynch directed episode (that would be a departure in itself)

Yeah, that threw me. I really didn't like the Spike/Buffy thing ... I'm fine with there being a tension and a bond between them, but nothing too romantic and certainly not a stable relationship. I hope this doesn't lead too far.

das

So what is it with slayers and vamps hooking up?

There's been tension building for some time between Buffy and Spike that needs to go somewhere, probably something violent. (And if that wasn’t a “violent” kiss…) I agree, though, that there’s nothing romantic going on. Just pure animal sexual tension, at least from Spike. Although he’s in love with Buffy, there’s a need to boink the hell out of her that shouldn’t (for the sake of the storyline) see a resolution.

In full agreement here on the Spike/Buffy thing ... I'm holding hope that it was a violent kiss.

The thing is bothering me. This ain't Dawson's Creek, so it better not go anywhere stupid. But now I'm remembering the discussion about ... which I thought was absurd at the time, but now ... who knows.

das

Giles and Anya have been secret lovers and we never knew about it! :yack:

How old is Anya? Xander is a walking illustration of a man finding happiness with an older woman if she is over 1,000.

I thought it was a great episode. It was funny, dramatic, and it furthered the storyline. The songs were pretty good too, if you listened to all the words. Gotta love Anya singing about the horrors of bunnies!

I knew Spike & Buffy would kiss at the end! After all, it's a musical, someone has to hook up before the credits role.

The baddy in this episode was great. Very Cab Calloway. His minions were creepy with those weird heads, and I loved the anti-climactic ending of it being all Xander's fault. Pretty funny when he offers himself to be the queen...

The show will start to get more interesting now that Tara knows Willow's been putting spells on her. I'm guessing it's not too long before Willow goes completely nuts. Tara is a natural born witch, and I think we'll find that she's actually more powerful than Willow is, she just doesn't use it that much, or possibly she doesn't realize how powerful she really is. I predict that in a future episode Willow gets totally whacked out and Tara has to put her down like a rabid dog.

As for the preview, I'm willing to wager that in 'reality' Giles and Anya do not kiss. It's going to be something that either doesn't mean anything, or is some part of a fantasy/dream. It was just in the preview to freak us out.

And if it does turn into a relationship, I hope Riley comes back. Since Spike is neutered against humans, it would be interesting to see Riley get pissed that Buffy's hooked up with ANOTHER vampire, and either beat the hell out of Spike or have Spike's chip removed.

Overall I thought it was a very good show. The lyrics were terrific, for the most part, and I actually liked the fact that their singing abilities were so varied. Made it seem more "real." The middle of the show was a little slow and I liked the funny early songs (especially Anya singing about bunnies and her duet with Xander) much better than the big ending numbers.

It cracked me up before when people would say they couldn't imagine how Whedon and Co. would be able to concoct a *reason* for a musical episode. With all that's happened in Sunnydale, how could there *not* be a spell or demon that could cause everyone to break out in spontaneous song, dance and, eventually, flames?

A few specific responses:

"While I think it's clever, I think it's safe to assume Whedon is no longer going for logic and realism in the stories and narrative. "

Uh, where exactly in this episode were the logic and realism of the established Buffy universe abandoned? Naturally, any show dealing with monsters, magic, etc. will slip up occasionally but Buffy's always impressed me with its consistency and ability to explain away seeming contradictions of logic.

"Why was it found necessary to throw away so many potential story lines in one show? "

Thrown away? How so? Their singing (and Dawn's offhand comments to Tara) didn't tell *us* anything new but told other characters a lot. Most of these story lines have been building to a head for weeks (or longer) and will take many more to resolve.

"Let's not also forget the notes they used. I wonder where Joss was going with that. There was an odd sound to the word "hea-ven" when they sang it."

Definitely deliberate and quite effective. The scoobs were expecting to hear "hell" so dropping to the minor key for the 2nd syllable really emphasized the disquieting truth of her words.

It wasn't drop-dead amazing like The Body or as overall effective as Hush but I think they did a great job of creating something fun and different that still fit the theme and feel of the show.