There are very few television series that have been able to take an alternative format or gimmick, time after time, and make it work. I’m talking about an established series taking the regular format and throwing it out the window, replacing it with something out of the ordinary.
Sometimes it works. Before the excesses of “Voyager”, the Star Trek franchise made wonderful use of the holodeck to place the characters into very different circumstances. “Babylon 5” had an entire episode take place in one room, allowing the tension to build without distractions. In both cases, the change in format worked because the episodes took some aspect of the overall plot or a facet of a character and explored it in ways that the usual format could not easily permit.
In many cases, it does not work because those character and plot items are ignored for the sake of the gimmick. The “X-Files” has a number of examples, but the most obvious is “The Post-Modern Prometheus”. The episode gimmick is the black and white photography and “fantasy” theme, which of course means that ultimately, it’s nothing but a diversion. Entertaining, perhaps, but of little value in terms of the overall tapestry.
But the one series that has excelled at this practice is, as any fan can tell you, “Buffy the Vampire Slayer”. From the very beginning, there was the practice of taking a holiday-themed episode and pushing it to another level, by making those episodes have implications far beyond the usual practice. Xander’s considerable military knowledge, for instance, was the product of a Halloween episode. Another “alternate universe” plot foreshadowed Willow’s later homosexuality.
Two years ago, there was an episode called “Hush”, which was largely written without dialogue, and was one of the best episodes of the series to date (not to mention those truly creepy Gentlemen!). Last year, there was the completely unexpected episode where Buffy discovered her mother’s lifeless body, an episode that was surreal in its utter lack of background music and perfect four act structure.
And now, this year, there is the musical episode.
I think that it is important to emphasize that the cast is a very talented, but very few of them have any kind of theatre training or vocal experience. The creator and oft-times writer of the series, Joss Whedon, has no formal training or education in musical composition. So when you consider that Sarah Michelle Gellar took six weeks of vocal training in between takes this past summer, and still managed to sound more than passable as the star of the musical...it says a lot. There was a huge possibility of utter failure and embarrassment.
But in the end, it worked. And it worked so much better than anyone might have expected. Oh, sure, there were the inevitable weak moments. I could point out how Willow and Xander were clearly not up to the task, and how Spike was not quite wild enough. I could even point out that the dubbing of the vocals was often off just enough to make it obvious that the cast was lip-synching.
Better instead to look at the moments that were immensely powerful. The highlights were the Giles/Tara duet and the interplay of all members of the cast as they converged on the demon’s lair. One truly felt in those moments that this was on par with anything on stage today, perhaps even better. I was personally and deeply moved by Giles’ song to Buffy, and how Spike’s normally earnest yearnings became that much more evocative when he saved Buffy from her own spiral into suicide. As much as I detest the character, Tara’s song to Willow was a very heartfelt and often sexually charged moment that paid off even more during her duet with Giles, when the theme became one of agonized betrayal.
The demon, whatever his name was, seemed a bit weak to me. Another weak moment was the old-style banter between Anya and Xander, which did not exactly tell us anything we didn’t know. In fact, Anya would have been as wasted as Willow in this episode if it had not been for the “bunny” interlude, and her wardrobe during the banter song. And I had a little bit of a hard time with Dawn and her suggestive dancing. At least Buffy and Faith were just the wrong side of jailbait during that daring third season. Dawn is maybe fourteen at the oldest!
What is most exceptional is how every moment was an advancement of the overall plot. As I mentioned in a review for an earlier episode, this season would do best to focus on the character tensions rather than some huge external threat, expressed most powerfully in Willow’s descent into darkness. This episode would appear to confirm that Joss Whedon was thinking the exact same thing. Everything is about the connections that are breaking apart since Buffy’s return from the dead: Buffy and her deeply rooted anger and resentment at having been torn from heaven by her friends, Willow’s betrayal of Tara, Xander and Anya’s worries over their future, Spike and his unrequited love for Buffy, Dawn and her growing lack of direction, and Giles’ realization that he is holding Buffy back. Here is deeper and more destructive conflict than any hell god could ever generate.
And while it is certain that the writing staff could have woven all of that into a more normal format, as they did in the episode “Flooded”, there is something more enduring about the musical expression of those conflicts and fears and emotions. The best moments stick with you long after the episode has ended.
A note for those who loved this episode as much as I did: the score will eventually be put on CD, according to Whedon. And that refers to the full score. You see, even when the episode is rerun later this season, the episode will be cut from its original 70 minute cut to the more convenient 60 minute version. So unless you keep your videotape in good condition, the full content will not be available again until that CD is put to press.
Some other thoughts:
- You know the episode is going to really run into some dark territory when the introductory number is called “Going Through the Motions”. It starts moody, and just gets more involving from there.
- I can’t tell you how hard I was laughing during the “bunny” song by Anya...absolutely hilarious, and a huge treat for longtime fans who remember that character trait from seasons past!
- Is there any question whatsoever what Willow was doing to Tara that was driving her to sing, “You make me commmmmmm-plete!” over and over again in wild abandon?
- As good as the cast moments were, the episode would not have been complete without the little scenes of people breaking into song about their dry cleaning or packing tickets, or jumping into a scene as dancers without warning!
- So Anya and Xander know that they have doubts about their future together. Did they really need a five minute song to tell them that? I suppose that was the excuse, which is why it had to be Xander who started the spell to begin with.
- The look on Spike’s face when he started singing was priceless...
- While I really wanted to hear Spike rock hard (with a rebel yell?), I was truly impressed that native Californian James Marsters managed to maintain his British accent while singing. That’s not as easy as one might think!
- Dawn was her usual useless victim self this time around. Oh, yay.
- Once again, I have to say how well they took advantage of Giles and his singing ability in this episode. I’ve always seen that paternal undertone to his relationship with Buffy, but that song really drove it home.
- I had the feeling that Giles would leave over all of this, but did Tara really mean it? Pretty please?
- So Buffy’s been chasing after Spike because he’s the only one that makes her feel some semblance of living...and he’s been keeping her at a distance because he knows that she would never love him. If anyone thinks that kiss was a good thing, they are sadly mistaken.
- As horrified as Willow was when she learned what she did to Buffy, I think Giles was even more strongly affected. Look for him to really hound Willow about her growing arrogance now.
- OK, so was that bit at the end a residual effect of the demon and his spell, or what?
- And is anyone going to smack Xander upside the head for causing that much trouble?
- If the demon had demanded a queen, couldn’t they have offered him Tara?
Overall, this was a wonderful episode that mated the gimmick of a musical with the strength of complex and realistic plotting. In a way, I almost wonder if the next episode is going to be a letdown. It wasn’t perfect as a musical, but as an overall production, the effort was extraordinary.
