Buffy The Vampire Slayer: Ranking The Songs In Once More With Feeling
An iconic, phenomenal musical episode. But which one takes the cake?
Regarded by many as the very best Buffy episode, “Once More with Feeling” is as fresh and unique today as it was when it came out. When a demon comes to town, he curses everyone, making them sing their deepest worries, fears and secrets. This simple and incredibly entertaining theme opens up the door to our heroes’ minds and leads to some funny, some sad, and some downright devastating revelations.
And, of course, some truly spectacular musical numbers.
Written by series creator Joss Whedon, who wanted to push the boundaries on what he could achieve within the narrative of the show, all the songs have something thematically rich to offer. Better still, we get to sit back and watch as our favourite characters suddenly reveal that they can (nearly) all sing, and are willing to follow Whedon’s lead.
From rock showstoppers to love ballads, from straight satire to 80s montages, join us as we rank the songs of Buffy and bring you some welcome nostalgia.
13. Dawn's Lament
It started off promising, setting up Dawn's solo moment, but she is kidnapped before she can get very far into the song. In a lot of ways, this was for the best though. Michelle Trachtenberg's voice isn't particularly strong and behind the scenes she was reluctant to sing on camera.
Still, it would have been nice to see Dawn voice some of her own secrets and hidden feelings. Because of Buffy coming back, Dawn has up to this point spent the season feeling left out and shunned by her sister. She does't get the chance to sing, however, and because of that we're left wondering what else she would have said or admitted to had she been allowed to continue.
Alas, this is not the case. Dawn spends the rest of the episode prisoner to Sweet, the demon responsible for the town's sudden need to sing, and the character development she could have received from this episode is instead given to Buffy and the rest of the gang. Unfortunately, all of this culminates in a bottom ranking.