That whole season was too maudlin - something about writers feeling sorry about themselves for losing their jobs? The one with Fry's dog is almost a big enough downer to make me want to stop watching the series.

Surprise/Innocence was the emotional high point of a show that peaked in its third season (but that I kept watching through to the end nonetheless…).

I'm always surprised that people choose "Once More With Feeling" as an episode to showcase Whedon's creativity since the concept was completely stolen off a Xena episode. (In fact the whole Buffy spawning Angel as a spin-off simply reversed the process from Hercules to Xena.)