S and C were back in Vancouver for a week, and a group of us got together last Friday.

The two of them, coping with a move to Toronto, have been watching Buffy the Vampire Slayer episodes, and S asked if our Friday night get together could include a screening of “Once More With Feeling,” the brilliant musical episode from season 6. How could I possibly refuse?

I woke up a few times that night and every time a different ditty from the show was in my head. It’s now more than 48 hours later, and the songs are still paramount. All morning it’s been Buffy’s opening solo, “Going Through the Motions,” going through my mind.

Later today, I expect that “Walk Through the Fire” will make an encore appearance on the internal soundtrack. Or maybe it will be “Where Do We Go From Here?”

As noted by A on Friday, this Buffy episode is a significant achievement because removing any of the songs would destroy the plot. They are essential to the story.

This, C reasoned, is what makes musicals so great: singing and dancing are required of the story.

There ain’t nothing wrong with that.

EDIT

Turns out that the next song in the playlist of my mind was “What You Feel,” sung by the demon Sweet when he meets Dawn, and reprised at the end of the episode when he admits defeat at the hands (feet?) of the Slayer and her entourage.