The Body

Where "Hush" told its story through intricate music and no words, "The Body" tells its story with the necessary minimum of words and a soundtrack that is completely ambient sound. The episode screams reality because of the everyday sounds Buffy and the Scoobies become aware of once they know of Joyce's death. There is no musical soundtrack, but there is a rich soundtrack, none-the-less. That makes the emotions written on the faces of the characters ever more powerful.

Buffy reverts to a child about the same age as Dawn when she discovers the body. Anya is more human than she is at any other moment of the series when she admits her profound confusion over Joyce's death, and cries. Zander, ever male in his childishness, wants to hit someone--or something--in his anger at the injustice of natural death. Willow can't find who she is, because she can't define herself without the "right" top. And Dawn has to see the reality of her mom's death with her own eyes, because her own reality is so iffy. Powerful moments for each character to face and it's the soundtrack of everyday life that frames each character's confrontation with reality, not music. Another brave choice by Joss Whedon and the perfect counterpoint to his "Hush" that succeeds just as perfectly.

My father passed away not too long ago. I started watching Buffy to pass the time when I visited my mother during a difficult time (it was streaming on Netflix, and I had really enjoyed Firefly). For those that have experienced the loss of a love one, especially a parent, this episode will be a shockingly realistic portrayal of it.

If art is the attempt to perfectly capture an emotion or an idea through a medium (whether it's music, prose, visual, etc.), then it would not be an exaggeration to say that this episode is a masterpiece. If art, and not entertainment, is the measure of quality television then I could, with certainty, say that this is the best hour of television ever produced. It may be the best thing ever filmed.

As a rather critical person, I realize how silly the praise above sounds. I think many people who haven't experienced the loss of a parent won't "get it." But those that have should come away with similar praise.

I just finished watching the episode "The Body". I had never seen it since it originally aired. How long it has been since then I have come to realize when I look at what has happened since then... In 2002, my brother committed suicide at the age of 26. I sometime feel that it is ages away, sometimes not quite that long.

When I watched the episode, I felt that it wasn't that long ago at all. In fact, I was actively reliving the incident as if it was happening right in front of my eyes. The paramedics... The police... The coroner... I do not recall a single name or face, just the face of my brother, lying, innocently smiling as if in a pleasant dream... My hand touching his forehead - bitter cold as it was. I recall having to hug my parents all the time, comforting them as much as I could possibly do.

I broke into tears only after getting back to my apartment late at night, crying my eyes out, my sweater all wet of snot and tears - just sitting in the dark crying for god knows how long.

It often comes back to me in the best and therefore worst of moments - Christmas, birthdays, my wedding, but never in recent time as strong as while I was watching "The Body".

Thank you, Joss Whedon, for writing this episode, and let me say I am sorry for whatever loss has inspired it - otherwise it would be impossible to write something this profound.

Thomas

What lajabless said is on the money. I too had lost my mother just weeks before this episode was broadcast. It was eerie how what I saw on the screen expressed how I was feeling at the time. I don't know if my appreciation of this episode is a reflection of what I was going through, or of just how good a show it actually was. I'm almost afraid to rewatch this episode. If it really is that good, will I relive that emotional turmoil? It's been nearly seven years. Maybe I can rewatch it objectively now. I have to put this in the Buffy top ten, maybe top five episodes. One of my best friends at the time was also a Buffy fan. Sadly, I wasn't able to talk with him about this episode as he had died suddenly only days earlier....

So real, so true that watching this will make you feel that you are in the moment or an uncomfortable observer unable to escape the negative space around 'The Body'.

While Buffy doesn't rank amongst my all-time favourite shows, it did produce some ground breaking episodes and this perhaps the best of the bunch, I remember feeling so drained when I first watched this and repeated viewings have not really dulled my emotional response (Emma Caulfield's speech gets me every time). Yes that heavy feeling deep in my gut I had the first time around is still there.

The Body is pitch perfect on practically every level. So much so that if you have been unfortunate enough to experience something similar in real life watching this will be achingly familiar and may even help you to re-evaluate your own feelings and actions.

The performances are all great and always feel natural and real. But ultimately it's the other touches that Joss Whedon brings that really hit home and heighten the reality. The absence of music, the direction (which includes some interesting shots and POV's)and the cruel moments of false hope all meld together to give the viewer the same sense of disorientation that Buffy is feeling.

There's also some great staging, for instance the scene where Buffy tells Dawn is beautifully handled and we are reduced to onlookers who understand only too well but yet are hopeless to act or to truly be involved.

With this episode Buffy transcends its origins and becomes art.

If you are not moved in some way by watching this something may be wrong