Buffy The Vampire Slayer

If seasons of the WB-turned-UPN series BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER were named in the manner of FRIENDS episodes, the sixth go-round would likely forever be tagged “The One With the Musical.” To be sure, the tune-strewn “Once More, With Feeling” is a highlight of both modern genre TV in general and BUFFY in particular, as writer/director/series creator Joss Whedon transcends gimmickry and delivers an episode that is not only vastly entertaining, but uses the songs to reveal and illuminate aspects of his characters. Yet there’s more that’s just as notable about this season, which could also be known as “The One Where Things Get Sexed Up”; there’s a new frankness to the affair between Willow (Alyson Hannigan) and Tara (Amber Benson), Buffy (Sarah Michelle Gellar) and Spike (James Marsters) literally bring down the house when they consummate their long-simmering attraction and, well, Evil Willow is hot.

But for this reviewer (and you might want to skip this paragraph if you’re unfamiliar with the season’s story developments), the sixth go-round is also memorable as “The One Where Tara Dies.” Her death by a random gunshot from the crazed Warren (Adam Busch) not only pays off the running subplot about the geeky “Super Villains” (who had heretofore seemed a menace rather unworthy of Buffy) and launches Willow’s turn to the dark side; it’s one of the single most shocking and tragic events in the show’s history. (Particularly coming in the first episode to give Benson a place among the regulars in the opening credits-nice fake-out, guys.) After five and a half years of monsters and supernatural mayhem, it reminds that the greatest horror can be the violence people can (even accidentally) inflict upon others.

The lineup has its awkward moments (like the silly “Doublemeat Palace”), but if this season seems like a little less than the sum of its often terrific parts, that’s the advantage of TV on DVD: It allows one to pick and choose the episodes to watch (or rewatch), and there’s plenty of great stuff to sample here. The fullscreen transfers (plus the letterboxed “Once More”) look pretty darn good, with strong colors and clarity, and the Dolby Digital 2.0 soundtracks are solid if unremarkable. Setting this package apart, however, is what is easily the strongest lineup of extras in BUFFY DVD history, including the single best feature yet included in one of these boxes.

That would be series writer/co-executive producer David Fury’s behind-the-scenes documentary on “Once More” (the episode which, unsurprisingly, receives the most supplemental attention here). Fury provides a fascinating glimpse at all aspects of this show, from preproduction meetings to choreography and rehearsals through to the final shoot, with plenty of interviews interspersed among the behind-the-scenes footage. Whedon also provides a superb commentary in which he never takes a pause, and together these features reveal everything from how this unique and challenging entry came together to the ways in which Whedon tailored the songs to both his performers’ singing styles and abilities (or lack thereof, in one or two cases) and the personas of their characters. There’s also a “karaoke” collection of three tunes which is actually a singalong, since the complete songs instead of just the music play while the lyrics run as subtitles below.

Five other commentaries are provided as well, by a mix of series veterans and newcomers. It may not be surprising that the latter are more enthusiastic in their talks (Whedon notwithstanding), particularly director Rick Rosenthal and writer Diego Gutierrez on “Normal Again.” Another undercelebrated highpoint of the season, this is the episode which suggests that the entire world of Sunnydale is actually the creation of Buffy’s disturbed mind as she languishes in an asylum; Rosenthal suggests that this might have been a cool cliffhanger episode to end the season with, and this writer can’t help but agree. There are plenty more good insights and trivia here, including the fact that Rosenthal first work with BUFFY DP Raymond Stella when the latter was a Panaglide camera operator back on HALLOWEEN II.

Drew Z. Greenberg chats over the first of what would be numerous contributions as a scripter, “Smashed.” He doesn’t go as in-depth as Rosenthal and Gutierrez, but his enthusiasm for working on the show is palpable; he notes his delight at achieving one of his goals-being quoted in the TV section of Entertainment Weekly-with this episode. As for the vets, writers Fury and Marti Noxon talk over “Bargaining,” the two-hour pilot, and perhaps it’s the length, but there are quite a few gaps in the first part of their dialogue. They eventually warm to the task and share a consistent series of entertaining memories, though many of their comments are on the self-deprecating side: They note scenes that had to be reshot, and the word “lame” comes up a great deal.

Director James A. Contner and Fury have some interesting things to say about the season finale “Grave,” while helmer David Solomon and writer Rebecca Rand Kirshner’s track on “Hell’s Bells” doesn’t offer much. It might have turned out better had actress Emma Caulfield joined them, as originally planned; indeed, more actors’ commentaries in general would be a fun addition.

The performers do get their say in the set’s other extras. Another fine feature is a taped appearance by Whedon and several of his cast and regular crew at the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences from June 2002. A wide range of subjects is covered (including, once more, “Once More”), with an emphasis on the particularly dark arc of the then-just-concluded sixth season. The actors on hand (Hannigan, Marsters, Michelle Trachtenberg and especially Nicholas Brendon) provide plenty of humor, and overall this is a pleasure to watch. There’s more (brief) fun to be had with the “Buffy Goes to Work” featurette included alongside “Doublemeat Palace,” in which the series’ participants reminisce about their mundane first jobs (though for a couple of these young showbiz vets, their initial employment consisted of commercials) and “dream careers” outside of BUFFY.

The final disc contains a too-short collection of outtakes (though it’s funny to see Caulfield exclaim “Whore!” when she blows a line) and the typical made-for-DVD documentary about the season in question. This time, it’s structured to focus on each character in turn rather than individual episodes, allowing for a little more depth than in the previous docus. Finally, there’s an A&E “TV-ography” on the show as a whole, which doesn’t shed much new light but is a reasonably satisfying overview, including interviews with just about everybody-including Sarah Michelle Gellar, who’s been conspicuous by her absence from these sets. This is also one of the few places in BUFFY’s DVD history where Whedon’s initial “presentation” for the series, featuring a different actress as Willow, has been acknowledged. Is it too much to hope that Fox’s seventh and final BUFFY disc box (due to arrive in October) might take that last opportunity to provide fans a clean digital copy of this much-bootlegged piece of the show’s history?