Once More, with Feeling (Buffy the Vampire Slayer) theaters with the audience invited to sing along. Throughout the series Buffy Summers (Sarah Michelle Gellar), in her role as the Vampire Slayer, is assisted by her close friends, who refer to themselves as the "Scooby Gang". These include Xander Harris (Nicholas Brendon), a young man without particular strengths or talents, but devoted to Buffy and her calling, and Willow Rosenberg (Alyson Hannigan), a young woman who has grown from a shy but gifted student into a strong woman and powerful user of magic. They are mentored by Buffy's "Watcher", Rupert Giles (Anthony Stewart Head), a paternal figure since the
Buffy the Vampire Slayer (season 4) and Alyson Hannigan as nervous witch Willow—proving to be wonderfully expressive silent comedians." In the "New York Daily News", David Bianculli states that the episode is "a true tour de force, and another inventive triumph for this vastly underrated series." Robert Hanks from "The Independent" in the UK writes that ""Buffy the Vampire Slayer", in most weeks the funniest and cleverest programme on TV, reached new heights" with "Hush". Noel Murray in The A.V. Club calls it an "episode unlike any other, with a lusher score and some of the most genuinely disturbing imagery I’ve yet seen on "Buffy"." The