We've been on a bit of a hiatus, but that's because our studies have this annoying habit of throwing exams in our faces every couple of months. But I remembered I had this article already written, so I may as well share! :)
I am a big fan of musicals which covers as well
my enthusiasm for musical tv-series and, even
more importantly, a sheer joy I feel every time I discover that the show
I am watching/have watched has a musical episode. I don't really know what it
is about character dancing and singing out of the blue, apart from the pleasure
of listening to some nice tunes performed by the actors I enjoy, but it has
some magic to it. One thing for sure, it totally changes the pace of the series
and even though by now it's rather common for comedic series to have one
episode like that (it’s usually so out of character that it’s hard to pull it
off in a serious series), it still makes it feel like if it's something
absolutely new, brilliant and fresh.
Obviously the list is absolutely personal, but
as usually, I tried to be as objective as it was possible. So I scrutinised the
role of the episode's plot in the context of the whole season, the level of
actor's performance, the explanation behind the musical format and, last but
not least, I was judging if the episode in general was enjoyable.
05. GREY'S ANATOMY: "SONG BENEATH THE
SONG" (07 x 18)
favourite songs:
"Running on Sunshine":
"The Story" (Sara Remirez)
"Grey's Anatomy" has one of the rare
examples of musical episodes which are actually very dramatic in style; the
songs are not used to ease the tension, but on the contrary, they add to it.
And if there is anything in the show, it's tension - episode starts with Callie
Torres (Sara Remirez) has a car accident and ends up in a coma. If that wasn't
enough, her pregnancy is endangered and the doctors have to make a decision if
they should deliver the baby or not, and whether she would survive if they
didn't.
During a whole episode we see Torres in a
double form: one is her physical body in the hospital bed, covered in bandages
and pipes, and the other one is a healthy, normal version of her, who appears
near the body and is some kind of astral personification of Torres' soul -
she's the one who sings, and who hears everyone as if they were singing; only
people who are in her hearing distance are portrayed as singing. So her head
trauma serves for a nice explanation (though not completely original, as you'll
see below).
It's pretty obvious why it was Sara Remirez who
was chosen to be the main character in this kind of episode; she pulls off the
singing gig perfectly: her voice is passionate, strong, and together with great
acting it sends shivers down my spine. You can see it especially in "The
Story" that she has a full control over the viewer, who feels exactly what
she wants him to.
The rest of the songs are more similar in
style, all epic and emotional. I need to make a special notification of Owen
Hunt's (Kevin McKidd) "How we operate" - his deep, emotional voice
really does the trick in creating the mood and raising the tension (which is
already pretty high). Around middle of the episode we get "Runnin' on
sunshine", which serves as the only comedic relief, and is my personal
favourite. It shows various couples from the show, on various stages of
involvement, who take a break from the drama to just be together, sexually,
emotionally, intimately. In the presence of Callie and Erica's drama, they feel
the need of just being with their loved ones (or just a pretty nurse in case of
this one patient), and of getting away from the hospital for a moment. Even
though it may be seen as unnecessary and even irritatingly off-topic, I like
the song and I like that it gives the viewer a moment to catch his breath
instead of being crushed by the horror which is playing in front of him.
The biggest "but" would be the
simplicity of the plot. The whole episode concentrates on saving Torres' life
and the emotions of other staff members. The episode is made for the songs, not
songs for the episode, and around second half I got bored a little bit. This is
why, despite high artistic performance, "Song Beneath the Song" is
not going higher on the list.
04. XENA: "THE BITTER SUITE " (03
x 12)
favourite songs:
"War And Peace/Gab Is Stabbed" (Kevin
Smith and others)
"Dead?/Hearts Are Hurting (Part 1)"
(Lucy Lawless, Susan Wood) - (unfortunately the video dissapeared from YT :c )
"Xena: the warrior princess" is one
of the first shows to do the musical episodes, and an incredibly rare example
of a show that did more than one. "The Bitter Suite" was a first one,
and in my opinion the way, way better one, while "Lyre, Lyre, Hearts on
fire" of season 5 makes absolutely no sense, starting with incredibly out
of character song and has little to none plot (unless you count a fantasy-world
Eurovision a plot).
"The Bitter Suite" is again, just
like the "Song beneath the song", enters into the very rough moment
for the main characters, and even though the songs aren't here just to provide
the entertainment, because are more serious in their nature, they allow the
viewer to watch those extreme emotions without having their hearts broken.
Xena's and Gabrielle's friendship was almost destroyed when Xena's son was
killed by Gabrielle's daughter. Xena's heart is broken and she's so furious she
even tries to kill Gabrielle at the beginning of the episode, but that's when
things get weird and they got sucked into the twisted Land of Illusia. Here
they have to face what they feel and who they are to each other… and everyone
knows that nothing lets you open your heart like an amazing song, right? It
probably helps too, that the only way for the girls to escape the magic land is
to forgive the other one and find the love we all know they had for each other.
The songs are quite epic, but they wouldn't be
the same if it wasn't for Lucy Lawless' voice, which is so perfect that it
almost makes others' seem bleak and unimpressive. Maybe it's not true in the
case of Kevin Smith (series' Ares; and no, no the one who plays Silent Bob,
silly!), whose deep, sweet voice is what can make a person's knees tremble. The
whole "War and Peace" reminds me heavily of Disney's "Hunchback
of Notre Dame's" soundtrack for some reason.
It's not a bad thing though.
03. BUFFY: "ONCE MORE WITH
FEELING" (06 x 07)
favourite songs:
"What you feel" (Hinton Battle,
Michelle Trachtenberg)
"Walk through the fire" (Hinton
Battle and the whole cast)
I already know that this is a one position that
is going to be the most controversial and I already hear all the outraged
questions about why I haven't placed "Buffy: the vampire slayer" at
the top of my list. Don't get me wrong, it IS one of my favourite shows ever,
and it's given that I am going to mention it more than few times on the blog,
but even though I was absolutely thrilled about the fact my beloved characters
started to sing - and mock the fact themselves! - I am surprised to say their
performance leaves a lot of place for improvement. It's unbelievable, really,
because both Anthony Head (Giles) and James Marsters (Spike) are musicians as
well as actors, and I would expect something much more mind-blowing. At the
same time, as Ziemia pointed it out to me, the imperfections in their voices
show it's real people who have to sing under the influence of the spell so the
fact they are not always on the Broadway levels only adds to the probability of
the story arc.
Plot-wise the episode is extremely interesting
and fits perfectly both into the character developement from 6th
season and the monster-of-the-week format "Buffy" has been following
since the very beginning.
While unhappy Dawn (Michelle Trachtenberg)
feels like no one notices her, she accidentally summons Sweet (Hinton Battle) -
a dancing, red-skinned, singing demon which turns the whole Sunnydale into a
musical. Despite what she hoped for he's not "a happy demon who brings fun",
as the constant dancing may end in the deaths of the unwilling dancers. Also,
he wants to make Dawn his bride in the underworld.
In the meantime, the emotions happen. Giles
tries to figure out what would be the best way to support Buffy, and he decides
he has to leave her so she could become fully independent; Tara finds out that
Willow cast a spell on her to erase the memories of their quarrels, marking
another step in Willow's dark powers addiction arc; Spike continues to be torn
out by what he feels for Buffy.
What I like about the musical numbers is their
variety. Some push the plot forwards and are used to explain the emotions, some
are completely random examples of how the spell is cast on all the community (a
song about mustard staining the shirt is really something you don't usually see
in the musical episodes/shows), up to the short, metal song about the bunnies
(yes, Anya was still afraid of them), which again, makes the episode - like the
whole show - a very unique production.
02. "PSYCH: THE MUSICAL" (07 x 15/16)
favourite song:
"Santa Barbara Skies" (James Roday
& Dulé Hill)
"I've heard it both ways" (James
Roday & Timothy Omundson)
The two-parted special which was aired after
the 7th's season finale, marking 110th episode of the series,
chronologically takes place between 6th and 7th episode
of that season. This unfortunately means several continuity errors if one
watches it in the order in which it was broadcasted. When watched in the middle
of the season though it makes perfect sense.
When the insane playwright Z (Anthony Rapp)
escapes from the mental institution for criminals, after the play he killed for
is being renewed by the same crew he once worked with, the police department
might find itself in a need of help of someone they didn't expect to work with.
Mr. Yang (Ally Sheedy) proves to be a useful source... when bribed with a song.
Of course the story can't be that simple and Shawn (James Roday) would have to
use all his vocal and detective skills to find out who whether Z is really the
killer.
The show has always been known for it's gag
reels called "psych-outs", which included not only bloopers, but also
cast having fun, singing songs etc. James Roday was right when he called the
episode "generally one big psych-out" because that's exactly what it
is. From the very first moments, when Shawn and Gus (Dulé Hill) burst into epic
song number it's obvious this thing is going to be an every fan's dream
fulfilled. Both "Santa Barbara Skies" and "I've heard it both
ways" are brilliant: funny, well sung, well danced, totally in character
and flat out funny (wow, Timothy Omundson!).
Ok, but there has to be a "but",
right? The second half seems to loose it's pace and even though it still has
few absolutely wonderful songs (Roday really nails it at "Shawn Hears the
Theme / The Breakdown"). But I blame it more on the fact it's already 7th
season which lost a big chunk of the beginning's charm. But "Psych: the
Musical" is definitely a good way to apologise for lack of form and to ask
for a second chance.
01. SCRUBS: "MY MUSICAL"
(06 x 06)
favourite songs:
"Welcome to Sacred Heart" (Ken
Jenkins and others)
"the Rant" (Stephanie D'Abruzzo, John
C. McGinley's, Zach Braff, Neil Flynn)
The comedy show "Scrubs" honoured
it's 123th episode by turning it into a musical, and they did a great job - the
episode was named one of 100 best episodes in tv ever by "Tv Guide"
in 2006, and it won one out of five nominations to Emmy.
The explanation for the characters singing is
similar as in "Gray's anatomy", but while "Scrubs" did it
first, it's also executed better. When Patti Miller (Stephanie D'Abruzzo) faints in the park, she
discovers that suddenly everyone appears to be singing (and dancing), which
makes dr. Cox believe her problem is more psychiatric than psychical (didn't
turn out to be true). She becomes a witness to the problems of the main
characters, turning those of their quarrels and discussions which he heard and
saw into the songs. Plot includes: Carla who is trying to decide if she should
go for a maternity leave ("Gonna Miss You, Carla") and Elliot (Sarah
Chalke) who decides to move out from the flat to the house, without J.D. as her
flatmate ("When the truth comes out"). Apart from that we have few
songs portraying the relationships between characters (John C. McGinley's
"Rant") or dealing with some reoccurring issues ("For the last
time, I'm Dominican").
The episode has a great pace, the songs are
fun, and they so deliciously fit the characters. What I really liked is that,
like in "Buffy" we hear almost all characters singing, which is very
important for a show with a collective hero. Not all actors are equally
talented of course, but actually most of the actors did sing on Broadway or in
other musicals at some part of their career. There are some gems too: we
already knew that Sam Lloyd (Tedd) has absolutely outstanding voice, and it's
not surprising that Stephanie D'Abruzzo, who after all has been cast especially
for this part, has the strongest voice, but even Ken Jenkins' (dr. Kelso) solo
at "Welcome to Sacred Heart" is sweet and funny. The brilliance of
the producers and composers showed in the way they covered some of the lesser
talents by putting them in hilarious song - it makes us laugh, and we want to
listen to it again and it doesn't really matter if the vocal could be better.
My favourite here has to be "Rant" because it is so in Cox's character,
but I have to mention iconic by now "Guy's love".
To sum up: the episode is a true part of the
series, which always liked to look for the ideas out of the box. Thanks to the
comedic, but sometimes bizarre because of J.D.'s fantasies format of the series,
this episode blends in with the whole series, saying "yeah, I am
different, but that's exactly what makes me right" and it makes it the
most unique out of all musical episodes.
So that's all for now, and remember - these
shows won't watch themselves!
PS: Coming soon: "Warehouse 13's" season 5 review and "Orphan Black" season 2 review!
- Aga
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