THE BUFFY MUSICAL EPISODE I Vocal coach reacts!
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BIG OOF- you guys are so right. This reaction missed some MAJOR things. Here’s what I learned -
1) I saw the ridiculousness of some of the songs and had my mind stuck on that. (Inherently musical episodes all have to be a little ridiculous!) I was having a great time, I could tell that they weren’t taking themselves too seriously and I loved it.
But I totally missed some of the lyrics from Buffy! It wasn’t until I watched it back that they really hit home for me. I should have added a note at the end of the video to further elaborate on this.
2) maybe some research sometimes would be good… 🤣
Sorry Buffy fans. I’ll be better next time!
Oh no Hannah for a first time Buffy watcher your reaction was 100% normal. But girl, you should watch the show from the beginning. No need to have watched it back in the days! I watched it for the first time in 2012 and am obsessed with it since! (I called my dog Buffy)
I don’t think you have anything to apologise for! It was a lot of fun watching you react to a pretty complex show you didn’t previously know anything about. And yeah a lot of the fashions have er not aged well 😅
This episode does NOT handhold - it just expects you to know the plot well enough to pick up what it's putting down, and if you miss bits of it, well, then you miss it. No worries - your reactions were real to the moment you gave them, and I appreciate that.
It’s ok, we still love you. 😊
I’d also add, that in this case, it’s not just ridiculous because it’s a musical episode. Buffy has always been a ridiculous show, like the definition of campy, and that’s the charm of it, and the reason people are still watching it decades later. Like TV now often takes itself so seriously, and Buffy, by comparison, accepts and embraces the ridiculousness of the genre of teen vampire romance drama. It’s definitely not for everyone, but I find it so refreshing.
I never realize how much weird, niche, inside-joke stuff is in Buffy until someone that hasn't seen the whole show watches an episode out of context and is just THROWN...
Yeah, like Anya’s fear of bunnies. Anya’s rock solo cannot be appreciated without knowing that joke 😂
Same. Lol
It's so true
Yeah and Xanders horrible sense of style lol or that Buffy was trying to get out of her relationship with Spike at the time lol
Yaaaas! As a hard core buffy fan like her reaction hurts a little but is also hilarious 😂😂
"Nothing happened!"
😳 This might be the most plot-moving episode in all of Buffy. Literally nearly every character has a big character moment in it. 😂
You can say similar things about the other musical episodes she referenced from other shows too. It's not really that nothing happened, it's that she doesn't have the proper context and is just totally missing what all is and isn't happening. 😅 Lol🤭 (That's just what happens when you watch things totally out of context though, I suppose.^^)
@@jaginaiaelectrizs6341 it’s what’s the most frustrating about her reviews…. Her lack of contextual knowledge comes off on her reviews because the songs are literal expressions of the character’s emotions. Even down to how they “sound” Buffy is supposed to sound discordant, Anya and Xander are combing off as a 60s dance number because they are trying for a “traditional “ marriage situation. The magicians singing under pressure isn’t “weird” it’s perfect because they are all literally under so much pressure and it is literally their empathy that is saving them. Which are the exact themes of this song.
@@shadowpsykie That's fair/true enough.
I wouldn't really say that she actually _does_ reviews at all though; she does "reacts", they're meant to be subjective responses in-the-moment NOT objective reviews overall-and even when she talks about more technical technique related elements and stuff, that's not really a truly review-like sentiment either, it's really just speaking to how is or isn't the best way to execute something vocally without hurting your voice or physically hurting your vocal cords or such...and I think she is generally pretty clear about it when things are just her personal preferences versus an actual vocal-coaching type comment too. But I totally understand where you're coming from, and why her takes or her approach may not be as useful or likeable to everyone in every other way though. 🙂
@@jaginaiaelectrizs6341 yeah I mean… a vocal coach kinda has to know the “Role”… so I just think, from a coaching point of view… lacking that information …. I’m an english major, one of the Most important things I teach my students is the significance of context. It’s the same thing I would teach my theater students… the song… the text…. Is only part of it… ok honestly… it’s her flippant attitude… it grinds me….
@@shadowpsykie That sounds to me more like the job of a [vocal ]director or someone more like that, not a vocal coach, though. Vocal coaches just teach you how to sing properly(And _safely_ in order to hit proper notes correctly and intentionally and avoid damaging your voice by repeated longterm incorrect technique, and such, in general)... they don't really tell you if or when, where, or how to break the rules *intentionally* for the purpose of a specific character and/or story..which can sometimes utilize intentionally _improper_ vocals.
But I hear you, and I get where you're coming from. And I'm not about to tell you that you're definitively wrong or aren't entitled to your own feelings. ..I just also can't help that I don't really see it that way myself.😅 sorry 😅
I guess I just don't, personally, read her attitude as flippant. Although I'm not saying I always agree with everything she says or think every thing she says is always totally or completely fair either. But a reaction video is still a completely different thing from a review-it's someone's real-time response to something, in the moment, it's just their own personal opinions and/or reactions(which of course either may or may-not be totally accurate); it's a completely different thing from an full-on analyses or a proper review where you wait and carefully construct your thoughts only after the fact, possibly even after a re-watch or two or whatever afterward, and then try to weigh things more objectively or fairly overall and/or consider all the various pros or cons & such. So, personally, I guess I kinda just expect to get totally different things from each type of video[/etc.] to begin with. 🤔 🤷♀️ idk
*You didn't watch this episode, you merely saw it.* Even without the context, someone who pays attention would've gotten most of the action: Giles decides that he can't be there for Buffy 'cause he's standing in the way of her adult development; Tara learns that Willow has been manipulating her mind with magic (yes, they're witches), something she had already experienced before, so it's even more traumatic; Xander and Anya discuss and assuage their fears of mariage; Spike spells out his love for Buffy; Buffy reveals the truth about what her friends did to her and essentially comes out about having depression.
If you didn't like the episode, or even hated it, that's completely your prerogative, but saying that the songs are dumb and that nothing happened is preposterous and insulting to the creators and fans of Buffy.
I love OMWF, but I know some hardcore Buffy fans who agree with most of what Hannah said. The characters advance sort of, but the story doesn’t really because the audience already knew all of the revelations.
@@mschrisfrank2420 but it does. Without this episode none of the characters would know what's really wrong with Buffy, her & Spike would've never progressed and Buffy keeping that secret was keeping her depressed and lonely and pushing away her friends. Everyone on the cast aren't singers so yea the singing is spotty with some but this episode exposed a lot of inner secrets. Willow started the episoe bouncy & happy when she's the worst of everyone & needed to be told what she did.
This video makes me wish the dislikes were visible again
@@ruthama9967 theres an addon for that. 1.1k dislikes
people should be advised not to watch this episode without context; because more often then not, its a waste of time.
@@beardedcasual5120 is the add-on accurate with dislikes? I thought it was some sort of estimate based on others who use the add-on and other data.
You really, REALLY missed out by ignoring the demon. He was played by Hinton Battle, three time Tony Award winner. He was in Dancin', Dreamgirls, Sophisticated Ladies, Chicago (Billy Flynn) and Ragtime (Coalhouse Walker Jr.), and Miss Saigon. His voice is absolutely stunning...and you didn't even listen to a line that he sang.
That‘s true. I just love his Professional Voice.
Agreed. He has an outstanding voice. And it kinda suits the Demon)
add to that .. i could totally see Hinton rocking that Sweet Suit (sry for the pun)
She was too afraid he might be Satan…:-/
Thank you for mentioning this!! It killed me when she ignored Hinton Battle's voice! I love Hannah and I get that zero-context Buffy is overwhelming but I'm so glad you brought attention to his awesomeness here!
“literally nothing happened” no, literally everything happened. the things revealed in the songs they were singing was what moved the plot. the characters were finally saying what they were feeling and doing so truthfully which up until that point they had not been and everything they said/sang in the episode is the catalyst for what happens following the episode. you might *feel* like nothing happened because you didn’t understand the context of what was happening but that doesn’t make it true.
Omg! Tabula Rasa broke my heart in so many ways.
That episode was a massive turning point in the season. It was brilliant.
@@Fantastikitty I love that all the songs had something to do with the plot and moved the story forward. I also love that they all acknowledge how odd it was rather than ignore that it happened like in a LOT of musical episodes.
EXACTLY WHAT I SAID WHEN SHE SAID THAT she needs to watch the show (not trying to be mean hannah if you see this i mean it in like a “please watch it it’s so good!” kind of way)
So right!. Without rewatching the episode and as I recall that episode had:
Spike and Buffy's first kiss.
We (or the scooby gang) find out Buffy was in heaven not hell
Xander and Anya's doubts about their wedding
Tara realising that Willow had wiped her memory. Probably much more than I can remember off hand. Giles's first thoughts about having to leave so that Buffy can grown?
This reaction is an example of why some things can’t be watched out of context. There is SO much exposition and plot and inside jokes in this episode that unless you’re a Buffy watcher you simply won’t get.
Anya, who sings about 'bunnies', is actually quite terrified of them. & Spike was long before Malfoy
Haha my exact thoughts! My fave of the bunny joke is this- but also in the episode after this Tabula Rasa where they can’t remember who they are and Giles and Anya think they are engaged and then Anya tries to reverse the curse and ends up summoning lots of bunnies.
Exactly if you haven’t watched all of Buffy you don’t understand Spike is way hotter then Malloy 😂
@@Meg_intheclouds Yes and it’s introduced to us in an Halloween episode or something when someone at the party is dress up as a bunny and she freaks out 😊
@@bees_nail_art82 exactly ! Spike has the same haire since 97 and the first HP movie aired in 2001. So clearly she proved the point we are making. Buffy inspired a lot of things…
Spike is 1000% better than Malfoy
@@paulinesanchez3537 yep but I also love all things Harry Potter I’m a fan of both
"Back where we started" Not quite. A few things of note happened in this episode.
1. Buffy's friends found out she was in heaven instead of hell like they originally believed (She died previous season and her friends brought her back).
2. Spike and Buffy kissed for the first time. Which changes their relationship going forward.
3. Tara realizes Willow messed with her memory and in the next episode they break up.
4. Giles sings about his need to leave. (He also leaves next episode)
5. Xander and Anya sing about their fears getting married which continue to be a plot point throughout the series.
I really should have read your comment before I bothered to write my own. :-)
@@antonycornell6284 What did your comment say?
@@katiem2347 much the same as yours but with less elegance
@@antonycornell6284 ahahah dying here
@@antonycornell6284 Aww thanks.
Didn't this episode popularize the "musical episode" concept all together? This was revolutionary at the time right?
It did. It was only the second television series to do one, after "Xena: Warrior Princess". Arguably, the entire 'genre' of musical episodes is based on "Once More, With Feeling". People were blown away by this back in the day, and others wanted to emulate it.
@@willsofer3679 Kinda interesting how Whedon seems to invent new genres. Musical episodes, space westerns (arguably, yes Westworld), and superhero crossover events. At least sets a heavy influence moving forward for modern day.
@@HighTechWizard yes, Hannah just missed the mark here I want to say. Everything was so out of context I feel this video would have benefited from some history.
@@EJaramillo Actually, I thought it was cool to see someone drop right in, we never really get that perspective anywhere else. Anyone else looking at this episode is gonna be a long time fan, that content is already out there. This is just for the quality of the musicality and a totally new view. : ) It pointed out how ridiculous the episode is and I think I love it more now.
@@HighTechWizard all I heard was critique of the show and episode and not too much on the musicality. Left a bad taste….
When she said “nothing happened”, I felt my heart crack lmao.
Don't take it to heart xD She obviously has no clue what she's talking about. She should stick to vocal advise.
@@agarqueen9126 Ironically she almost hasn't given any even though there was a great variety of voices in this episode
Omg same! I was like there is so much character development and so many things that have consequences later on, establishes key points, highlights the lack of communication in the scoobies, and just is such a pivotal episode. Because even though it appears like “nothing happened”- Imagine if you took out that episode how much different and less effective the rest of the season would be.
Right?! Nothing short of insulting really.
Having watched the rest of the reaction video, I just laughed. This was a joke.
Anya's fear of bunnies is a running gag.
Her scary Halloween costume 🐰
@@keishanewell283 LOL yeah.
"I don't even know what he was singing about, that song was dumb"
A vocal coach that doesn't bother listening to the lyrics but is confident in calling the song dumb. Wow.
Especially that song. Wow i almost screamed at my monitor.
I’m not liking this girl at all, as a reactor and a voice coach. She seemed to revel in her ignorance of what she was watching. If she’s afraid of “Satan”, she shouldn’t have accepted this assignment at all. :-/
This is exactly why I don't recommend people watch the Buffy musical episode out of context, it simply doesnt work. It's not a stand alone, the entire episode requires ALL OF THE CONTEXT. This is what the season had been building to up until this point and so much happens. Tara realizing Willow spelled her, Anya and Xander voicing their fears about marriage, Giles realizing he's holding Buffy back, and the ultimate reveal of Buffy saying she was in heaven is emotionally devastating! But none of those hit if you watch this episode alone. Also so much of thr story is in the lyrics which Hannah wasn't even paying attention to. There's aren't many strong singers in the cast but this episode and the music and the writing is so good and there's a reason it's the golden standard for musical episodes. Also the hate on the makeup prosthetics is crazy because it honestly looks so good?? Like Sweet looks pretty freaking cool and that stuff is hard work. Especially because so much was practical back then rather than CGI
Hating prosthetics because they are scary and creepy is a desired result. It’s basically a song of praise to the make-up artists 😂.
Nicolle haha right?? I was like that’s a testament to how good they are! And I thought that’s what she was getting at at first But then she said “they could have done better” and “it’s disturbing in a bad way” and im like what??? I don’t find it harsh or distracting at all but I guess that could also come with the fact that I’ve watched the show a bunch and am already used to all the creatures
I lol'd when she said "are they witches?" Context is everything:)
Yes, thank you! This video react was so painful to watch. This is a huge plot driver of an episode that has significant character development happening for every character. It's also an homage to musical theatre, going through just about every era (Xander and Anya are dressed that way because it's a nod to the era their song is referencing.) And yes you wouldn't normally do all of that crammed into one episode/show but Joss Whedon knew he was only going to to get the one chance, so he threw everything in. In addition to all the plot points, there are inside jokes within inside jokes. You have to watch the show to understand Anya's fear of bunnies (especially given she is a former vengeance demon) and why she would even bring that up, but also the actress used to walk up to Joss Whedon on set while they were filming and randomly rock sing/shout at him. That's why her little bit is a la heavy metal. It's literally an inside joke within an inside joke.
THIS! Right here ! THIS !
What I like about this episode is that it managed to give you a fun episode with music but, when you really listen to the lyrics(especially Buffy) it mostly talks about depression and ptsd. This episode is a true masterpiece.
I agree! When Buffy was singing “Something To Sing About” the part when she goes minor or out of tune, it definitely showcased her depression about being brought back to life. Also when she tries to dance herself to d3ath was another good way to show her unhappiness about being back to life
A Buffy fan who also watches The Owl House?? :D
@@Caitluz Hey! :)
@@madimcclanahan3144 One of my favorite lines from Buffy from this EP is "I touch the fire and it freezes me"
It's so bright and cheery, and every single character is fucked up. Like there isn't a single one of them that is remotely well.
As someone who just found you, binged like 10 videos, found this and got excited because I EFFING LOVE BUFFY.....wow was this a major let down. Not even just because you didn't do something even as simple as watching the recap, or apparently listen to the actual words/lyrics, you also did practically no vocal analysis. Anthony Stewart Head is a thespian trained actor with a genuinely good voice and you didn't even mention him other than to call his song boring. Super disappointing turn.
I was a bit let down as well! As you stated about Anthony Stewart Head....not to mention Hinton Battle (the bad guy in the episode)! I knew he was an awarded singer, but a quick Google search I found that he's earned three Tony awards and was the original scarecrow in the stage version of The Wiz!
I agree, she seems more into hearing herself talk. Love this Buffy episode.🔥❤️
Well what do you expect on some of those really never watched the series at all I just picks one at random episode was the pics the musical episode where diehard Buffy loved the episode
Yeah I was super excited to watch this and after a few minutes of Negative Nancy I'm out.
To be fair, Giles's song isn't exactly the most vocally interesting. The sentiment is good, the lyrics are good, and the reprise where they add Tara is good, but half of the song is just like, the same three notes over and over. It's hard to get a good feel for what someone can do from so little.
That being said, Anthony Stewart Head easily has the most competent singing voice of the main cast.
To everybody saying this episode doesn't make a lot of sense out of context - I've got two friends who have no interest in watching Buffy but are musical fans, so I watched this episode with them on separate occasions and while of course they didn't get every single joke or reference, they could follow the plot without problems. It's actually pretty easy to follow since everybody sings out their thoughts and motivations (and that includes the bunny joke - Anya literally states that she can't face bunnies, you don't need to know that it has come up before to understand it). This was just a shoddy reaction by someone who was unfocused and didn't listen to the dialogue and lyrics and was thrown off by a show called Buffy The Vampire Slayer having supernatural elements in it.
Agreed. Nearly everyone on Hannah’s pinned comment is like ‘oh it’s ok, you didn’t deserve the criticism’ but I agree with everyone in the comments. I don’t usually notice things like this but I literally thought ‘why was she criticising the make up so hard?’ and ‘how did she miss all that character development? It’s RIGHT THERE IN THE LYRICS!’ I also think she didn’t talk about all the singers enough. She focused a lot on being confused about what was going on and not the songs and singers. Admittedly, she’s probably got used to the songs not mattering much in the plot so I’ll giver her that. This def needs re-doing or deleting. I’d love a re-do but I understand she might not want to with how much anger it’s caused her fans and it might have upset her, which is understandable.
Yes
Yes, it was very unfocused.
It's easy to follow watching it WITH a Buffy fan. Watching alone, with no context, is definitely not as enjoyable. You don't know that Buffy died, or that anyone would be capable of resurrecting her. You don't know that Spike's a vampire. You don't know that Anya is a demon. You don't know that Tara or Willow are witches. So A LOT is missed, unless you can be filled in slightly.
@@CucumberCheese First off, you assume I told them that. I didn't. Second, we see Buffy being resurrected in the previouslies, and we learn everything about Spike, Willow, Tara, Anya, and Co. IN THE EPISODE ITSELF.
This was just a bad reaction by someone who didn't pay any attention at all.
The beauty of "Once More, With Feeling" was that unlike many musical episodes of TV shows, it wasn't just filler for fun. If you're an actual Buffy fan, the episode advanced the plot, dropped some massive plot points into your lap (especially the reveal that Buffy wasn't brought back from hell, but from heaven), and pushed the series forward as much or more than any "serious" episode.
Omg yes it establishes so many character arcs and development and foreshadows the rest of the season. Almost as if the music brought it out and they have to learn to move on with what they know now which is what a big part of the season is about.
-Buffy’s depression from being ripped out of heaven.
-Dawns kleptomania
-Willows magic addiction and Tara being worried about it
- also this idea of Tara being the light and Willow the darkness so that when the light is extinguished only the darkness is left until “yellow crayon”
-also spike and buffy’s relationship (as highly destructive as it is)
Also i didn’t realise how telling the opening sequence is until she pointed out the alarm clock. We get a glimpse of a very dynamic household between Willow and Tara and Dawn, but then buffy is just staring at her alarm clock- showing her numbness and then in the magic shop. Also she seems very vacant and just on edge the entire time. She wants something to fight- because like when Joyce was ill she can’t control what is happening to her mentally and emotionally- and like she wants there to be something to distract herself.
Yes!!!
Thank you. It advanced the plot immensely and provided entertainment. One of my favorite Buffy episodes\
yes that was back then finallly the moment when i relized she was so depressive and not ready to live again cause it was so nice in heaven for her xD.. so deep xS
And just in case no one mentioned it ... I'm sure someone has but this is the only ONLY time they could NOT beat the Demon which without getting deep is obviously the whole point of them EXPOSING their own true emotions and feelings just too ultimately end up """dancing until they burn""". Add on XANDER is the one who was messing with magic AGAIN and summons this demon... So yes this episode is deep for the story line.
Ballsy move Hannah coming for an episode that is so universally beloved by an incredibly passionate fanbase. Like I love you but damn, this was brutal.
So MUCH happens in this episode actually and it never fails to make me cry. I realize you're watching it out of context but still it's almost entirely about Buffy coping with depression, suicidal ideation, depersonalization-derealization, and self harm. And "Standing" is an amazing ballad from probably the most accomplished singer of the bunch Anthony Head about letting go of his role as her father figure, a painful and incredibly difficult decision for him that actually ends up being the wrong one. Tara is learning about the abuse and gaslighting she's suffered from Willow and when they sing together about having to leave their loved ones behind... chills every time.
This reaction honestly made me sad 😔
I just wrote that about the reprise! It's so good and sad and gives me chills every time.
I've been obsessed with this episode specifically, since I was like 5 years old so hearing her trash it is horrible 😔
Ikr I was expecting her to absolutely love it 😭
It's one of those that if you don't have the back story, you're going to miss a ton. The songs don't give much context at all. So I can see how someone who doesn't know the show would find this boring, because the surface story is boring.
You’re not even gonna mention once that this episode started and popularized the idea of a musical episode???
This is clearly an example of someone who doesn't like the genre and then misses everything good about the episode because they can't see past it. Like maybe she shouldn't have done it if she's just gonna say bad things about the premise and the costumes.
Exactly. I don’t need everyone to like the things that I do, I just expect them to do the thing they proclaim to excel at. If you call yourself a vocal coach and then blah all over a Tony winning performer’s song I have to question what this post is really about.
I realize this is an old post, but it didn't start or necessarily popularize the musical episode; that was Xena.
@@stargazer1682 It definitely didnt start it but it did popularize it. I'll give Buffy that. After this episode, everyone wanted a musical episode the same isnt the same for Xena & they had multiple musical episodes.
Good times, one day at a time and maude had musical episodes
As a VOCAL COACH, I would have assumed you would pay attention to the music and not the makeup and prosthetics and general aesthetic of a show you have never watched and this made YOU look really bad, not the episode.
She did both because she’s realistic
@@freakofmanyfandoms7 there were several songs she either skipped or didn't analyze vocally because they weren't a style she felt like dealing with. If you're going to market yourself as a vocal coach/vocal reviewer, focus on the vocals - even if you're not keen on the musical style. She chose to do it, do it right...
Not to mention, mocking all of these years-long plot arcs as “dumb”
“Nothing happened!”
Well, if you know nothing about the show you will get that impression. The thing about the Buffy musical is that it’s essential to the story line, contrary to most musical episodes in tv shows.
Same with the episode of Once Upon a Time. A lot of important stuff happens in the musical episode but it wouldn't appear that way if you don't watch the show.
+
@@cyndaljanes8945 That's significantly less true. Like *an* important thing happened in the Once Upon a Time musical. You could easily skip everything but the last scene and miss almost nothing.
Completely agree.
Absolutely, there were references not only to things going on in this episode but also previous episodes and previous seasons... It was extremely well done. "Dawn's in trouble... must be Tuesday" The show aired on Tuesdays... these subtleties can be lost.
Normally I agree with you on most things but damn did you miss the mark on the one. Big Oofff hannah. Buffys once more with feeling is widely regarded as the best TV musical episode of all time. Context really does a lot for the episode though in your defense
They totally furthurthed the plot along. Buffy told everyone she was in heaven after she died and not some demon dinenp)o< Xander and Anya (who is deathly afraid of bunnies) both admitted fear about their coming wedding. Tara realized that she and Willow had a fight about how much she was using her magic and that it was an addiction. We found out about dawn's theverrie And the demon dude is I huge Broadway gut at the time Hinton Battle I think his name is, after Buffy gets out of heaven she starts to sleep with Spike to prove she is even alive. She feels she came back wrong, though she didn't.
In the episode "hush" that vast majority of the show is silence. And that was quality tv. Should have received an Emmy. The vast majority in the show is done in complete silince.
@@vanessafranklin1324 hush is mostly without diagloue and the body has no background music to expose the rawness of new grief. Hush did win an emmy. They conceptualize a lot of things that other shows copied.
The line 'spread beneath my willow tree' is so much funnier/dirtier because her girlfriend's name is Willow. lol
Also how the song ended... "you make me complete, you make me complete, you make me..."
@@erauprcwa Its CUM-Plete
"I don't think anyone really stood out though" - not even three time Tony award winner, Hinton Battle?
I can usually have patience with you never knowing what's going on. But my daughter was right, you are really annoying this time. Just read the episode info for these shows. It would really help. And Buffy is a much better show than Vampire Diaries. By the way the shows creator wrote the songs.
She was too repulsed by the makeup. Basically she wasn't listening to or analyzing his voice because she was freaking out.
Thank goodness someone said this!
Or Anthony Stewart head
I read somewhere that the reason why Alyson's line is "I think this line's mostly filler" was written specifically for her because she was self-conscious about her singing
It was one of the two lines she sang. Rumor has it she begged Joss not to make her sing
@@donlackie5752 yeah, I read that, also
In addition to that I think it's a reference to that episode in season one where all the nightmares came true and it was shown that one of Willows greatest fears is singing in public. I'm pretty sure that was inspired by the actresses own fear.
It also harks back to the first season when they were experiencing nightmares and Willow was on stage in a Japanese inspired outfit looking blindly terrified.
Probably also based on her atrocious singing
Context is everything, and Hannah has...no context for this episode 😂
This is really one of the episodes where you need to know what's been going on in the series to be able to appreciate it. It all makes a lot more sense when you know the characters and what's been going on in the lead up to the episode!
As usual 😅
It's almost funny because with most musical episodes they have very little to do with the story. No character development, doesn't move the plot along... so no context isn't a big deal. Definitely not the case here. You need to know each character to understand what's happening. Like the Anya and bunnies thing, or the spell that Willow cast over Tara. Without knowing all of that I can imagine it's not a good episode at all!
@@lifewithtash978 The Bitter Suite from Xena: Warrior Princess definitely moves the plot along and develops the characters. But I think the difference is that it focuses on one storyline, so I think a new viewer can follow it just fine.
@@lifewithtash978 Exactly! The character development is front and centre in this episode for me, Buffy's confession at the end, Willow & Tara's storyline, even Anya and Xander's number is so interesting in terms of what it tells us about their relationship dynamic. Especially when you know what happens with them later in the season. And the fact that all this is essentially driven through the music is what makes the ep like the gold standard of TV musical episodes for a lot of people. But I can totally see how without any prior knowledge of the show and the storylines leading up to this episode that this one seems totally off the rails!
@@SamGibbins yeah, the music gives no context at all to a lot of heavy topics that built up over a long time. Which makes it a brilliant episode if you know the show, but without the context, it's going to fall flat.
So I read the comments before watching, so I knew she was negative due to lack of context, but my God I didnt expect her to be so close-minded and critical about EVERYTHING
I know I KNOW you already told it, but I can't go over with the fact that you are reacting to one of the most iconic musical episode of all time without even contextualizing a little bit. Even if you want to react from the voice strict point, go for it. Don't speak about silliness or inside jokes you obviously CAN'T get because of the context. And you are not the only one (and not just from Buffy). I really can't understand you guys. Of course a musical episode from a series will be linked to the context, I mean.
And also, HOW is possible to react to a musical episode without listening to ONE line.
Giles song was pretty clear and the one through the fire is talking about depression and you were focused on curly hair. Is not just about you not knowing the context, I mean your choice, but not caring at all (idem for the singing part, for all that matter. An you are reacting as a vocal coach... You said two thing, two, about it). I found you unprofessional at best. Very sorry, it's not for me give bad review, but this is honestly one of the most unrespectful video I have ever seen
THANK YOU! Your comment was better than mine
Anya, the one in the butterfly shirt, is a former vengeance demon. So the fact that bunnies scare her is rather hilarious. This episode, and all it’s quirks, makes a lot more sense if you’re familiar with the show, I promise! 😂 Also, you should check out Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog, if you haven’t already. You might find it amusing…
Edited to add: regarding nothing happening in this episode: this was a pivotal moment for Buffy and her friends. This is when they found out that she didn’t go to hell as they thought she had (she dies in place of her sister, Dawn). She believes she was in heaven, happy, free of the horrors of this world. And they pulled her out, thinking they were saving her, only to pull her back into misery. They couldn’t have known, of course, but imagine being free and at peace only to be yanked out suddenly, disoriented, and back into a life of incredibly hard choices and the weight of the world on your shoulders. Buffy’s mother had previously died as well (before Buffy’s own death), so she is also Dawn’s guardian. It’s a lot for anyone, but for someone who has had to save the world a number of times already…it’s A LOT. ::steps down off soapbox::
Have you not seen Holy Grail....Bunnies are evil blood thirsty creatures.
In the comics, it's explained bunnies can actually be used in a ritual to kill vengeance demons though.
@@nickyjean0101 : Good point! 😂
@@inferiorinferno8859 : My comment was made based on what we knew about Anya when the episode aired. But good to know about how bunnies factored into the equation. No wonder she was terrified! Thanks! ☺️
Remember when Anya dressed up as a bunny for Halloween? Because what's scarier than bunnies, right? This show was so clever.
Oh Hannah, the problem with this musical episode for you is that you had no idea what was going on. This is the only musical episode I've seen where the songs were directly about the plot of the season, and by the end every character had revealed secrets they'd been keeping that impacted other characters in ways that changed everything. You should come back and watch it again after watching the show because it's a completely different and better experience.
PS - You said Spike had Ramen noodle hair? There will be fall-out, so brace yourself! Spike fans are very devoted... And he has Billy Idol hair, thanks.
Poor James really did get ramen hair after all those years of bleaching it for the show. It's pretty unavoidable to lighten hair that much with out it's texture getting nasty from damage. He said in an interview he would get sores on he scalp from all the bleach.
ngl as a Spike fan that did hurt a bit lmao
The Bitter Suite from Xena: Warrior Princess also focuses on the major storyline of the season. That is the feud between her & Gabrielle.
Im a spike fan. And yeah he had justin timberlake ramen hair lol
THANKYOU!!! HES AN ICON AND HE IS BEAUTIFUL
I've seen several reactions to this episode, and this is the first time I've seen someone dismiss the whole thing out of hand. Even other people who knew nothing of Buffy gave it a shot, and got really excited and appreciative of things that are brushed past, ignored, or even specifically called stupid here.
I had a similar reaction. But reading through the comments... she’s a vocal coach. With no interest in BtVS. So it’s not surprising she found it unsatisfying. It is not in her lane.
@@redelfshotthefood8213 Yet she somehow decided to record, edit, and post this video, where she proceeds to specifically comment on the episode itself and its qualities, despite not understanding them at all.
@@LetholdusKaspyrI mean this is her job and her livelihood, and it is in her best interest to listen to her fans when they request something from her. I think the video is bad in general as her analysis is pretty poor, but I cant exactly blame her when she invested in anything going on because she doesn't know anything about the characters, story, world, or themes. Some blame needs to be put on the people who recommended she cover this episode because they honestly set her up for failure.
@@dragonpaulz_ That's fair, but at the same time, I've seen other people in her situation do much better, based on the merits of the episode alone and not context.
@@LetholdusKaspyr oh I'm not gonna defend the video. Even without context, I think her reaction is poor considering how little analysis and constructive commentary she adds. I just think it's really stupid to recommend this episode to someone without context.
I love that she thinks this episode brings things full circle when it pulls 5 plot triggers at once where some of them don’t resolve until the next season.
The British Editor commenting "You don't know Spike?!?" at the beginning of Rest in Peace makes me so happy. You're my friend now by our mutual (though assumed) love of Spike.
I have had several arguements with some friends of mine about the Buffy/Spike or Buffy/Angel crap. Spike, though not a highly flawed, did not need a soul to do good things or to love Buffy. Angel did. I have, and always will have, love for Spike. I have had this soundtrack on CD and on my iPad since it came out. My 28 and 20 year old children can sing all the songs. "Rest in Peace" their favorite.
@@elphabarichardson607 *cough* attempted rape *cough*
@@KitiaraFlint yes, I adore spike as a character, but that is a big but.
I heard that the writers were a bit worried the fandom was becoming too apologist for spike and did that to remind everyone that he's a bad guy.
@@elphabarichardson607 I always say look at soulless harmony
I would highly recommend watching Buffy as a whole show! Not only is it super good, but OMWF fits in with the wider mythology of the show so it makes a lot more sense when you've watched season 6 especially from the beginning! The way the OMWF is an actual part of the storyline is why I love it so much-instead of just being a one-off, usually silly and fun, musical episode like I see for a lot of shows.
Agreed it’s so good
Unlike other one and done episodes OMWF propelled the story on many emotional beats. Willows obsession with magic, Spike and Buffys relationship, Giles deciding to leave her surrogate daughter, Xander and Anya's fear of marriage. It's deep stuff...
Totally agree! Seems like you skipped so much. Especially the best part before Buffy and Spike kiss and sing to each other. Always have me chills. There's such a story behind the whole show. Oh and BTW, Butterfly girl was a Demon at one time so is a strange and unusual character.
One of the best TV shows I have ever watched, but it should be mentioned that the first 12 episodes of season 1 are in bit rough, but still enjoyable with the humour.
It is a great show. But if she was disgusted by the demons in this episode, how would she react to the gentlemen? Let alone Doublemeat Palace!!!
I love when Giles says "Buffy needs backup" so the girls become her backup singers
I really don't understand what the point of her commenting on the story and characters is; if she's completely unfamiliar with the show ("maybe she's a witch?"), then why bother commenting on that aspect of it? I generally really enjoy your insights on people's singing techniques (like it *was* funny that Sarah kept dropping her Rs as though she were doing a English accent; clearly some vocal coach told her to do that and that no one would notice; we noticed), but no one is here to see you opine on plot and character development on a show you've never watched. We have other places to go for that. A bit of advice? Next time, don't skip the recap. They put a lot of work into that to pick the relevant bits to give at least a little more context.
This reaction broke my heart . This is my favourite episode of Buffy and she's watching it out of context and doesn't know anything about Buffy so she's trashing it
EXACTLY.
“this is so dumb” it’s not dumb if you’ve watched the show and know the context
You don't need to actually know the context to notice character reactions and follow the logic of the episode and yet she has ignored everything probably thinking about how she hates what's happening.
"Nothing happened in this episode?". Sure, Han, one character only found out that she's under the spell and decided lo leave her girlfriend, another decided to leave his trainee, main character revealed that she was actually in Heaven and everyone is dumbstruck and has a huge song about that revelation and all main character's songs start to make sense regarding lack of feeling and wanting to feel.
Yes, absolutely nothing happened in this episode and it's completely circles back. It's like I'm with my friend who goes to Marvel movies and doesn't understand what's happening even though it was spelled out, acted out and then explained again over the course of the flick. "But why would she do that?"
"Nothing happens." Buffy fans: THE POINT OF THE EPISODE WAS THAT HER FRIENDS FOUND OUT THAT THEY PULLED HER OUT OF HEAVEN AFTER SHE DIED TO SAVE THEM, HER BABY SISTER, AND THE WORLD, yet they all assumed she was depressed about being in Hell. The episode pretty much ends with, "Oh, Crud. We ruined her life to try to save our own..."
When you react to a video, to see the vocal performance, it is precisely for that, not to judge costumes, makeup, history, you have to focus on that. And not recognizing a 3 Tony Award winning artist leaves much to be desired 🙄
I know I KNOW this was hard to watch..
Every time you thought a demon was terrifying, all I could think was "now trying watching Hush..." 😂😇
And, if she watched "Hush, she would have better context for Tara and Willow.
@@elphabarichardson607 And that miming a staking gets you funny looks! ;)
She would not have made it through 'Hush'
The great thing about the buffy episode is how wildly different the singing abilities of the various actors are and yet they still let them all actually sing, rather than dubbing over them with other singers or autotuning the crap out of it or anything like that. I legit love that Sarah Michelle Gellar is super struggling because she's not a very experience singer, but they still use her voice.
Giles and Tara are both so good, you could tell they were real professionally talented singers.
Yes. That is all.
They gave poor Sarah like a warning a month before they started filming and she took as many voice lessons as she could
@@treaveannyretro92 I think she actually did quite well, given her previous experience.
And Satan guys is on Broadway. Kinda surprised she thought they all sounded equally good because they really don't.
@@KingoftheJuice18 oh definitely, the fact that she almost just lip synced the songs fearing her own voice says how much she practiced
The "nothing happened" comment was the only thing that REALLY upset me about this reaction video, because you COMPLETELY missed her saying she was in heaven, not hell (the other plot points missed were excusable, not having context). After all the "she was in a hell dimension" comments you made, I was actually super excited to see your reaction when that wasn't the case lol
honestly! literally EVERY character had some plot/character progression
19:00 no this is one of the most important episodes this season, the gang found out that Buffy was in haven and they dragged her out(they thought they saved her from hell but they pulled her from haven), Tara found out that Willow used a spell to remove her memory of there fight (that led to them breaking up), Xander and Anya started showing there doubts about getting married (that led the Xander leaving Anya at the altar) seeing that Giles is planning on leaving. this is the best Musical episode ever and with big plot impact.
it’s a bit strange to compare this musical episode to all the others, especially considering the fact that this episode aired 15+ years before any of the others. This is one of the OG episode that inspired all the others. So flaws and all this episode was definitely ahead of its time.
The Buffy musical episode is truly the blueprint. While it wasn’t the originator of the musical episode it was the first show to do it so successfully and it is the reason why every show these days does a musical episode eventually
Nah-it was dumb, and the fashion looks like it was from the 50s sometimes, and Spike had spaghetti hair. That’s my vocal coaching.
Ma'am! That remark about Anthony Head's song?! He is and always will be amazing. He is singing about how he wishes he could protect her, by solving all her problems. But knowing she has to go out and fail and make her own mistakes with out him saving her. This show was a big part of our childhoods.
Yes, agreed! Anthony is probably hands-down the best vocalist in the cast (given he’s done a lot of musical theatre and studio albums), and Hannah just skipped over him, which was so disappointing! And BtVS was such an important part of our childhoods - many of us are still in the fandom as adults - and this episode as so pivotal in so many ways. I remember when I bought the CD album for this episode and rocking out to it with my friends, in my car, at parties… Even at coven meetings! Such a disappointing reaction that didn’t really focus on the songs or vocalists much. :(
Petition to make Hannah watch the whole series and react again? Please? I’m crying I feel like she disapproves of my favourite show
After seeing how she reacted to this, I doubt that I will ever watch another video of her.
Calling “Standing” dumb HANNAH MY HEART JUST BROKE
I know! Like its is such a lovely song about a father figure not knowing what to do. It just so bittersweet and ASH's voice is just ....so lovely to listen to.
Same
Yeah that felt like a slap to my face. That song never fails to make me cry.
same :(
I love this episode, but I'm so disappointed by this review. I can totally understand how the creatures, makeup, and costumes can be distracting for someone who doesn't know the show... But I am so surprised you didn't try harder to actually listen to the music. I wish you could have read the lyrics while you were listening to the songs. So many details and jokes can be missed without knowing all the words.
Besides the talent in the main cast (Giles and Spike especially), the demon is a Tony award-winning Broadway performer and you barely mentioned his voice, because his make-up was off putting (smh).
Sidenote: Michelle Trachtenberg is a trained ballerina, which is why she opted out of singing much and focused on her dance routine.
Can we take a sec to recognize Joss Whedon for writing a full musical score, all the songs were original and tailored to each character's style and personality.
Would love to see you come at these reviews with just a little bit more context and research on what you're watching. And PLEASE, more comments on the actual SINGING, instead of the plot lines. You are a vocal coach after all, we tune in to hear your thoughts on the voices and the music.
All that said, you seem super sweet and you're very entertaining. I still love your overall vibe, keep doing your thing!
What Joss Whedon did is nothing short of amazing. He liked musicals, but had absolutely no training or experience, and no ability to transcribe music, and still composed all of this. Not only that, but he did so with an innate and instinctual understanding of complicated musical techniques, and how to use not only the actor's voice in the song, but how to write it to convey certain types of emotions, or set the atmosphere.
@@willsofer3679 Totally agree!! Have you seen Dr. Horrible's Sing along Blog?
@@MEL1986blue ikr!!! Another masterpiece ❤️
I do want to add, I watched a reunion of the cast at a con (Buffy Reunion - Paleyfest 2008) and Michelle Trachtenberg revealed that she was so anxious and nervous about the musical episode that she gave herself psychosomatic laryngitis and couldn't sing to the best of her abilities. Also, that Sarah Michelle Gellar wanted like a year of vocal training and preparation for this episode but Joss Whedon wouldn't allow it and had them do it as is with where they all were at skill wise.
Very respectful and well articulated criticism. I completely agree and am glad to have found a less aggressive comment dealing with these issues. You need more likes.
Anya's fear of bunnies is a big character trait of hers (there's actually a chapter where she reproduces her biggest fear and the room gets filled with bunnies); that's why she goes on and on about it on the second song.
Funny, we Buffy fans will come for you. It's like you just yelled, "This is dumb," at the Tonys. We love this episode more than words. I actually listened to the soundtrack over and over when it came out. I have every song memorized. I'm a huge musical fan, and I know the singing is not amazing, but the characters meant so much to me. I can't believe you actually dissed Spike. That's ok. Not everyone loves amazingly witty television shows with important messages about women empowerment.
Sorry, but the criticism you're receiving is deserved. Yes, I'm a Buffy fan and Buffy was a game-changer of a show in so many ways, but I'm not going to say you need to be completely familiar with every aspect of the show. You could have paid more attention to the lyrics, and at the very least, you could have at least taken 30 seconds to watch the recap. I was also very disappointed that 90% of this reaction was just you cringing and whining at the makeup and prosthetics or complaining you didn't understand the plot. I'd assume that as a vocal coach, you would have focused more on the actual singing and notes the actors were hitting.
Cringe.
Yeah that got to me a lot. Like I was SO excited to hear her reaction to Anthony's voice and Hinton's, and she just skipped right over them. Also it makes no sense to spend so much time complaining about not knowing what's going on when she did that to herself by not giving herself even an ounce of context and treating that like a point of pride somehow? I'm a new subscriber but this is making me rethink that decision.
Random guy on the street: "They Got the Mustaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhrd OOOoooooooouuuut!"
Buffy: It's not just us.
I can totally hear it.. Followed by *door slam* & advert break 😂😆
@@neenyinspain me too 😅💕
Literally my favorite line of any show ever. It makes me laugh hysterically every time I hear it. 😂😂😂
Amber Benson is an actual singer and has a beautiful voice
Oh, Sarah... Joss Whedon actually wanted to do a musical episode very early on and SMG always said no because she couldn't sing at all. She took voice lessons for quite a long time before this episode actually became a thing to prepare. I'm sure she had a voice teacher who told her to keep certain amount of space and not close to hard 'r's or anything. That's why she does that British thing. She didn't have a voice teacher who could tell her how to keep that tone while still sounding normal lol. But, my god, did she serve it in this episode. Knowing the history makes it so much better. And all the little jokes, like the bunnies, is something you only get if you have seen the whole show. Anya is terrified of bunnies of all things, because she was a demon who tore people apart for vengeance, so that's the joke. Every evil is always bunny to her lol. I have to say that all in all, considering only two of the cast members had actually really sung before, they all did an amazing job with this. And the writing is actually incredible. For a musical episode this actually had some huge and emotional and important reveals that was the climax of this whole season. It was incredible. They always say when emotion gets too much, you sing, and the emotion was to an insane point in the story here so of course, they sing!
Also, I think, if you don't know much of the story you should focus on the voices rather than the plot. This episode was an insanely big plot moving episode so to say nothing happened is absurd lol
Watch "the making of once more with feeling" cause your information is off.
"This is so dumb. I like her shirt, but -- This is so dumb." What you're missing is that Anya isn't human, and she's always been a bit...off. 😝
Oh my god. As I'm watching this, I am just imagining the buffy fanbase organizing the lynch mob. Wow.
Look, I get it, you've never watched Buffy, but this episode is more than a musical. Every song was dialogue. Not just dialogue, but the curse on them forced them to sing their strongly held secrets to those around them. In the context of the show, this episode was a major turning point. In the very next episode we lose one character and a huge relationship that had been steady for over a year crumbles before our eyes.
More than that, on her way to the club, Buffy is singing about how she cares so little for life at that moment, that to her, defeating her enemy or dying in battle are equally fine with her. She is so drained of emotion she has no will to live anymore, even to save her sister. On top of that, you then cut probably the biggest part of the episode, where she is forced to tell her friends that they dragged her out of heaven against her will to come back to live a life of violence and war.
I could go on, but there is so much there, it would take forever. Still, the recent explosion in the popularity of reaction style videos shows the popularity of Buffy and just how passionate the Buffy fanbase is. Sorry to say, but this video is not going to be well received by a lot of people.
This was so painful to watch and now I’m mad she gets a dislike 🤣
@@LovelyLonely90 Amen to that
Nothing happened? Everything happened. This us such a good way to discuss depression, doubts grief and uncertainty and so much of it comes out in song here. I appreciate that a lot as a person with mental health issues.
"Don't dance with them" Pretty sure (someone correct me if I'm wrong) that's just part of the spell. She's actually just trying to run away, but the demon's spell is making her dance.
Yeah, pretty much all of the singing and the dancing was compulsory and involuntary.
Yep. Clearly stated in the episode.
Buffy's suicide attempt?
Honestly a reaction to 'Once more with feelings' having no clues about the show is pointless to me... This musical ep is amazing, not just for the songs (which I find brilliant) and the singing, but for the plot and the characters' arc. Not having watched BTVS spoils 90% of the fun. There are so many references, implications, little details, plot developments in it which makes it great.
I totally get that you didn't mean anything bad by this but like...I'm sorry but I winced when you said these things: "Oh by the way I skipped the re-cap" "That episode was 50 minutes long and nothing happened" "It all went full circle and we were back where we started."
THIS. IS. WHY. CONTEXT. IS. NEEDED.
It seems that way because you're missing 6 seasons of character development. To say that it went back to where they started at the end is painfully wrong. This episode changed everything for the characters. The personal character struggles between the group throughout this season were leading to this episode where all the things they weren't saying to each other were laid out involuntarily through song. It definitely did not end up in the same place at the end but you didn't have any context at all because you skipped the re-cap for like no reason. Even then that's probably not even enough to fully get it. A lot of these moments that seemed like nothing to you were BIG moments in context of the story. Buffy telling her friends the true weight of what they've done, Tara discovering what Willow has been doing to her, Giles' thoughts that he's holding Buffy back by being there, Spike's unhealthy obsession with Buffy and their very complicated relationship and more. It just seems unfair to comment on it that way when you don't have a single bit of context about any of the characters. This wasn't just looked over by the next episode, this changed the whole dynamic within their group and had lasting repercussions by the next episode and throughout the rest of the season. It's just annoying deflating such an important and beloved episode (for more than just it's music) because you didn't have a single bit of context. Like obviously you didn't mean to do that but it ends up coming off that way. I also recognise it's a bit unfair on you since you are an outsider to the series though.
I still don't get why she skippped the recap. It's exactly for people like her who haven't seen the previous episodes.
Yeah
This woman seems like the definition of "oof you must be fun at parties" lmao
I think there’s been some negative backlash mostly because even though this episode is literally 20 years old there is still such a massive following and still such a love from this fandom that it has been 20 years really show what love people have
No, the negative backlash was because of her cringe takes, including ignoring the three time Tony award winner because she didn’t like his “devil makeup”
"Is she a witch or is that just a magical fun thing they wanted to do?" She is a witch.
And the special effects in that song take on a whole other meaning when you include that magic was an allegory for drugs.
I think part of the problem here is by mid way through the episode you were confused as hell and assumed it was all just goofy songs, and distracted by the oddness of the Buffy world, which IS weird with no context, so you were kind of distracted and checked out. Its a shame, because you basically chattered your way through 2 of the best songs by the 3 best performers in Rest in Peace and Standing in the Way. Honestly whoever recommended this one to you, should've also given you a primer on the characters and plot lines or something. Or explained a bit about the world, so you could focus on the songs and singing, rather than being distracted and confused by the demons and magic of it all.
This episode of Buffy is the reason for all the musical episodes in TV shows.
This reaction was so cringey. Out of every tv show musical ever made, this is the only one that is universally acclaimed. How a self described "professional" musician can miss what is being said in the originally written lyrics, let alone the written notes is beyond me...even if you were coming into this blind, there is absolutely no excuse for even a layperson saying "nothing happened in this episode." When EVERYTHING happened in this episode just by listening to the lyrics.
This. I'm angry that this reaction was in my recommended list. I understand not getting all of the context and in-jokes but it's insulting to react to a musical--especially as a vocal teacher--and not even bother listening to the lyrics/trying to understand everything that is happening in the episode, and not even catching all the talent happening around her. Couldn't even finish this reaction.
This episode changed the trajectory of the show and television. It broke up a major relationship, launched a new one, and was the catalyst for a main character to leave the show. Plus, without this episode, we definitely wouldn't have musical episodes of other shows. It was one of the first of its kind and is rumored to have inspired Glee! Totally recommend you give the show a chance :)
that scene where it cuts to willow right after she found out that she dragged buffy away from heaven makes me cry every time
This episode was up for an Emmy. It’s one of my favorites!!!
Damn Hannah... This one was just, oof. I usually watch your reviews and can see that you really listened to the vocals and paid attention to the performance, all with you offering experienced notes for improvement, along with info. But this time, you just didn't. I don't know if it was just an off day, or if there is some trauma that you had a visual trigger for that stopped your ability to stay in the moment. But Hannah, this musical episode is THE musical episode for TV. It was everything to my 15 year old self as I snuck down to the den past my bedtime to watch my beloved characters bare their souls before us. This episode made me laugh and cry, and dance along. It moved characters development and stories along, and tackled real issues in a way that the audience could relate to. This is hands down one of my top 10 memories from my childhood, and your complete disregard for the talent and effort it took this cast to perform ORIGINAL SONGS, has me so sad.
Back where we started?! This episode was all about the relationships between the characters and the music forcing them to reveal secrets. So, obviously the pivotal moment is the gang finding out that they ripped Buffy out of heaven and Buffy falling back onto Spike for emotional support. But Willow and Tara break up because Tara finds out Willow has been casting spells on her to make her forget things and has been recklessly using magic throughout. Giles leaves to return to England because he feels that he is holding Buffy back, which just makes things worse for her and puts her in more danger. Relationship tensions are brought up between Xander and Anya which ultimately leads to their wedding falling apart. All of this very important for how the rest of the story unfolds
I think what I like the most about buffy is that they didn't hide if someone had a bad voice or wasn't trained. They met each actor where they were.
Buffys Musical episode isnt really a filler episode like some musical episodes are.
Needs to be appreciated in the wider context of the show, with all the plot progression and inside jokes.
you really do not know anything... how brave you must be to post this... you must not know the influence and impact of this episode or how powerful and vast the buffy fandom is. this episode is intricate, layered, COMPLEX, tragic, funny and beautiful. the international implications of this episode... do not speak on it if you did not even pay attention to it.
This is just a rude comment, this is a reaction not a review
@@audramcdonaldapologist3676 The problem is that this vocal coach didn't bother to react to a single song. Anthony Steward Head is an actual singer and she didn't listen to his song, admitting she didn't even know what the (lyrically very easy to understand) song was about and calling it boring; while she completely ignored the demon's singing because of his make-up when the guy playing him and singing is a three-times Tony Award winner. Which, well, she might have noticed that its a professional and really talented singer if she listened to him instead of talking over it and riffing on the Make-Up. In her "VOCAL COACH reacts"-video.
@@audramcdonaldapologist3676 I normally love her reaction videos but this one really fell short, she didn’t take the time to appreciate the music because she seemed to feel it was too gimmicky and she didn’t like the aesthetics of the demons.
Unfortunately for her, Buffy was a very powerful tv series of the time and means a great deal to people who grew up in the 90’s watching a powerful female leading character more than capable of handling herself and saving her friends every episode while also touching on very important subjects of love, LGBTQIA community, addiction, loss and trauma and PTSD. For many of us, this tv series was the only thing that helped us through our own shit during a time when help for the outsiders and loners was little and meaningless.
If you’re going to post a reaction video about music, don’t spend the whole time dissing the aesthetics of a show you didn’t take the time to watch fully as you can never appreciate the link to the storyline otherwise.
“I think she can do better than ramen noodle head”
The Spuffy fans are really gonna come for you 😂
To be fair, even those "Spuffy fans" know that Spike is toxic, and that she can (and should) do better. At least at this point in the series.
@@willsofer3679 Speaking as a Spuffy fan: yes absolutely. He doesn't have a soul and she's using him just to feel something. I was honestly nodding along at the noodle head comment, it's accurate and hilarious.
@@willsofer3679 But he was growing as a character and had do go down to the deep downs before he could finally break the shackles and finally get a soul back - but to his benefit doesn't have the Angel curse.
@@willsofer3679 Before the soul?
Definitely
@@willsofer3679 they're both sort of toxic in the season five relationship. He wants to be her lover in whatever way she'll have him and she just uses him until he breaks.
British Editor truly out there representing my thoughts in this one.
Man, the whole time watching your reaction I was feeling bad for you knowing how you would be unleashing the furious wrath of Buffy-dom united. This is one of the most beloved episodes of one of the most beloved shows of all time. Whelp! You're brave for taking it on! (Now go back watch the whole show and THEN tell us how you feel about the episode. LOL.)
It's also funny that you said "nothing happened" in the episode when fans of the show know this was a HUGELY important episode in terms of moving all the characters' story arcs along. Oh, well!
Unless you've seen buffy the vampire slayer you can't put your opinions across by watching this one episode, you'll never actually understand what they are singing about, it's all happened in previous episodes.
This episode is like one of the first to start the musical episode trend in tv shows. This episode is also very important in the storyline of season 6 of Buffy because the music is the dialogue. Every word they are singing engages and furthers the story and expressing how they feel towards one another. It’s brilliant. Plus the Demon that you think looks like Satan is actually a 3 time tony award winner.
Naw Xena did their first musical ep in '98 and their second musical episode in 2000. Xena and Buffy had a lot of cross fandom when the shows were airing.
Watching this & not paying attention to the lyrics is akin to watching a magical drama on mute.
“That’s a choice that he made.”
Yeah…Xander’s choices are not always the best.
But it's also a choice that the costume designer made (this reply more to Hannah than to you, but hey, I was here). Basically her reaction "what decade are we in? the 50's now?" is exactly what the set designers want you to feel - an era that is characterized by the "perfect" ideal of a breadwinning husband and domestic, submissive wifey, which are the exact two things that Xander and Anya are struggling with in this song (Xander worrying that his money-loving fiancee won't love him if he can't bring home the bacon, and Anya worrying that all she is to Xander is a pretty face and what happens when that fades...). So yeah. The pajamas are suuuper silly but they play an important role in this song. XD
@@kittysunlover I get your point and I agree. But "bring home the bacon"?? Nah I'd rather not pay for animals to be killed. I'll eat delicious vegan bacon instead. And nobody had to die yay ^^
Except that time he saved the world... with his mouth.
@@agarqueen9126 vegans barely - if at all - existed when Buffy came out, and bringing home the bacon is terminology from the 50s, when bacon was an every day breakfast staple. I can appreciate that you ARE vegan, but just because you are doesn't mean the language is no longer useful, or out of place.
@@deannaalbert672 Heheh it has existed much longer than that. Evidence of people choosing to avoid animal products can be traced back over 2,000 years. As early as 500 BCE, Greek philosopher and mathematician Pythagoras promoted benevolence among all species. Around the same time, Siddhārtha Gautama (better known as the Buddha) was discussing vegetarian diets with his followers.
And back than, vegetarianism meant veganism because they didn't consume any animal products at all.
Here's a little list of vegans:
Albert Einstein
Dalai Lama
Mahatma Ghandi
Pythagoras
Confucius
Plotinus
Plutarch
Porphyry
Buddha (Sidharta Gautama)
Mahavira
Franz Kafka
Leonardo Da Vinci
José Mujica (ex-president of Uruguay)
Albert Schweitzer
George Bernard Shaw
Peter Singer (author of Animal Liberation)
Tolstoy
Voltaire
Zarathustra
Krishnamurti
I was so excited to watch this but I checked out the comments first.
Never mind! I'll just watch the episode on my own.
Who else starts to sing "It could be bunnies!" EVERY SINGLE TIME you hear 'I have a theory'?
20 years later.... ♡♡♡
Every single time! Haha 😁
Nothing happened? Because you have never watched the show, you don’t realize how this musical revealed all of the secrets that each character was hiding and how much it moved the story arc along. So actually, A LOT happened.
I think the feeling of "nothing happened" is because the lack of context. Buffy in her last song literally says "I was in heaven" or something along those lines. See the shock in the faces of her friends?
Buffy sacrificed herself to save the world. And his friends, believing that she was in hell, resurrected her. They didn't know that she was actually in heaven, and in this episode we see the revelation. The last song is indeed messy, but that was the intention. Buffy is depressed, not really wants to keep going, and her personality in the whole season changes in every episode two times at minimum. And, yes, the makeup in general is really bad, but the show started in 1997, with basically each season finale not knowing if they'd come back. And yes, the two lesbians are witches. I don't remember if you have any more doubts.
Omg why waste your time on this twerp?!
@@luisanatoli3707 ????
@@mattsaracen7 Why waste time explaining to this voice coach, who is blindly criticising a show she’s never watched! She doesn’t wanna understand the epic BTVS.
@@luisanatoli3707 sensitive much?
@@danneu8 Nah, just explaining my POV.
SPOILERS (if anyone cares about them):
I don’t know if you caught it because there wasn’t any reaction to it in this video and you have no context from the episodes before but basically this episode was about Buffy’s depression over the fact that she was in heaven and her friends resurrected her and dragged her back to earth.
She had died in the season five finale and her friends thought she was in Hell but she was actually at peace in heaven. So this season was about her dealing with her depression over that and the climax of this episode was her just finally revealing what they had done to her since she was holding it in the episodes before.
There’s also the subplot of Tara, one of the lesbians, discovering that her girlfriend literally put her under a spell to be content in their relationship so there’s this darkness about her song that’s juxtaposed with how light the scene was.
I don’t know if any of this context reframes your experience with the episode but there you go 🥴
Her calling Spike “ramen noodle head” just made me die inside
I had one voice teacher who insisted the only time you should sing an R should be if it comes before a vowel. He just didn't like the sound of it for some reason. Said it pinched the tone off or something. I suspect Sarah's vocal coach might have had a similar opinion.
The Bunnies song is not stupid, it's a running gag that Anya had a phobia for bunnies.
I was really hoping for some opinions on the actors’ voices more than the plot of the episode… I love the male actors’ voices and was super curious to see what you’d have to say about their singing…
Right? It's more like a 20 min drag of the episode with 3 comments on voices.
This is so bizarre to me because one of the last videos I saw from her was of something she reacted to where there wasn't actually a lot of singing and she focused on that for a lot (which I get, as she's a vocal coach), but like....you'd figure that this would've been appeasing, as it's rich in songs. :/ Disappointing.
Hannah, PLEASE watch this entire series. It’s so good
"Buffy, the Vampire Slayer" is, in my opinion, the best television series ever aired, and "Once More With Feeling" is probably one of the very best episodes.
Out of context, however? Not so much.
It was frustrating listening to your narrative, knowing all the stuff that you clearly needed to know, but didn't.
That's o.k. Love you, anyway, and your comments regarding the quality of their voices was right on!
(I recommend binge watching Buffy from the beginning. If you can overcome your need for real life, you will be enriched!)
This was kind of fascinating because I've never thought about how these songs would read if you didn't have the context for the episode. Like, so much is in subtext, the songs are rarely about what they seem to be about.
Buffy's song at the beginning of the episode is an honest one only because she's alone with no one she cares about to hear. The "what can't we face" song sounds like a cheesy friendship anthem, unless you know that when Buffy says "it doesn't matter" it's because she literally doesn't care about anything anymore. Under Your Spell takes on a whole different meaning when you know that Tara is *literally* under Willow's spell, that Willow erased her memories of a fight they had, manipulating her without a second thought. I'll Never Tell shows the truth of Anya and Xander's "happy engagement", they're both secretly terrified that marriage is going to ruin everything for them. Rest in Peace is intense because Spike has been festering in his obsession with Buffy for multiple episodes before this and this episode is when his desire for her and her self destructive desire to feel *anything* finally reaches a boiling point (I've also always thought the nighttime funeral bit was weird, tho XD). The song Giles sings during the training montage is genuinely heartfelt when you know how much it is killing him inside that she's struggling, and he's harming her by helping her (it's complicated). The revelation that she was in heaven, not hell, isn't a surprise for the audience if you've watched the episodes before this, it's explicitly stated by Buffy like... the first episode she's resurrected I think? Or the one after. The point being that the audience has been waiting for this secret to come out, everyone's been assuming Buffy is acting strangely because she was tortured in a hell dimension, but the fact that they actually tore her out of pretty much the only peace she's ever known is even worse than that.
I can totally see how this episode would come across as cheesy and pointless, and that's honestly kind of hilarious given how important this episode actually is. It's still pretty cheesy, tho. There's no escaping that XD
Yes, thank you! It's all about that background to make you aware of how critical each song is. This is probably my favorite episode of Buffy, maybe my most favorite episode of tv ever, but that's because of all of the plot and character development that led to it. It also gets better each time you re-watch it and catch new little things.
Everything you said is *chefs kiss*
I think it would have been fascinating if she had actually listened and reacted to the lyrics and actively engaged with the story/plot development of the episode and commented on that (also, the actual singing). But she basically got stuck on a couple lines she couldn't get due to lack of reference and added terrible commentary on 90's makeup, so I feel like anything of merit as an out-of-context commentator was totally abandoned straight away.
@@xphiler06 I mean, the vast majority of musical episodes are vapid as all hell. They're frequently just there to tick a box, and they rarely have lasting consequences on the plot overall. She couldn't be expected to know that she needed to engage with this one on a deeper level to catch the subtext when most of the others she's done before have been entirely surface level. And considering how rapid fire a lot of the lyrical references are, there was 0 chance of her catching most of them without having any knowledge of Buffy beforehand. I think it's kind of unfair to expect a deep analysis from someone who has no reason to know that's required or the context needed to actually perform that analysis. Even if you know this musical episode is more important than most, on the surface it still reads as typical fare.
But 🤷🏼♀️ we all have our opinions. I would've loved more reaction to certain lyrics as well, but the only reason I know those lyrics are important is because I've watched the show.
@@EdslilNeko I don't believe anyone, myself included, would have expected some deep analysis from her with her going into the reaction cold. But there is plenty to be gotten from the lyrics if you pay any attention to them, even without context, and I think you sell the episode short if you really think this one seems typical, even on the surface. Straight away, it clearly isn't using covers of pop hits, etc. and literally opens with a Vampire Slayer singing about having no interest in her "job" and wanting to feel alive. But pretty much all we got was commentary about creature makeup. And that was her type of response for most of the songs (including quite a lack of actual vocal analysis, aside from her hangup on SMG's "accent"). I don't think I'm unfair in saying it could have been an interesting reaction if she had actually tried engaging with it.
Ok I’ll cop to making a mistake here, at some point in a earlier reaction I suggested buffy but I realise in hindsight it’s a bad one, there is a lot of context driven plot here which is what kind of made it fantastic, unlike so many other musical episodes this actually had so much important stuff happening. And yes the musicals aren’t taken to seriously and there isn’t many particularly good singers in the show (I wish you had commented about the ones that are though)
Still kind of wish you hadn’t been quite so down on the songs musically though as I feel they make some interesting choices to allow them to be a better vehicle for plot than just a overpowering ballad. Kinda hurts to watch this one, nothing against you, just sad.
Same here ... I recommended it and was so excited to see Hannah react to it! And now I'm just sad haha. It is difficult to realize how much truly is going on, how crucial this episode was to the season if you don't have any context. The music all fits right into the storyline, it is the dialogue between the characters moving the story along. And I agree, I was really hoping she'd love Giles' and Spike's voices, and I was so disappointed she criticized Tara, "Under Your Spell" is such a lovely song.
Also I haven't seen anyone point out that the reason Dawn was a good dancer is because she was a ballerina. She asked Joss Whedon for little singing and if she could dance instead as she was more comfortable doing so.
Is anyone else screaming at the screen just “YOU NEED TO WATCH IT ALL IN CONTEXT!!!!” 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
In terms if the "nothing happened" a LOT actually happened if you know what shappening. This episode is sort of integral to the entire season because there are so many secrets everyone is keeping and this forces them to just blurt it out and it starts the fallout going forward.
I've been waiting for this! Once More With Feeling is my favourite episode of TV ever created!
Editing comment as I watch haha
Anya has a phobia of bunnies which is the point of the bunny part
Yes Tara and Willow are witches
Gutted you skipped over Parking ticket lady, amongst fans she's a defo favourite, her lyrics are great!
Both Michelle Trachtenberg and Alyson Hannigan asked for very little singing as they weren't comfortable doing it
James Marsters (Spike) is part of a rock band, Anthony Head (Giles) has done musicals (there's footage of him as Frank N Furter and he was in Repo!)
You think nothing happened but it's because you're missing a lot of history. For the story it was major because it was revealed Buffy had been in heaven which none of them knew and it had repurcussions for the rest of the show.
this!!!!
So many secrets are put out in the open on this episode!
Totally agree, this episode gave showed us the real turmoil and pain in buffy which was directly caused by her friends actions, however well meaning they were they were also selfish.
lol right? This episode was basically a fun way to pull all the secrets the characters had been hiding into the light, and apart from being an awesome (and fan favourite) episode, it was also an important turning point for the plot
Parking ticket lady was actually one of the show's producers.
I've always liked that when Buffy reveals that she wasn't in hell, she sings the word "heaven" in an off-key way, and that Spike later matches it when he sings "living."
The demon and vampires singing in the beginning is still my favourite part of this episode.