Last week's mournful episode of "Buffy The Vampire Slayer" is winning praise from TV critics everywhere.

During the last eventful episode of "Buffy," the title character (played by Sarah Michelle Gellar) discovered her mother dead in their home. But the cause wasn't aliens, vampires or demons. It was just a natural part of life.

"Buffy" creator Joss Whedon spoke with TV Guide about the different techniques he used to made the episode chilling and emotional.

One very noticeable element was the lack of background music during the melancholy show. There was no swell of sad background tunes as Buffy found her mother. Just dead silence.

"Music would have been too easy," Whedon told TV Guide. "It would let things out ... it would [tell you] to feel sad. I wanted to not have that safety net. And where there is no safety net, there is nothing that is going to keep people [in the moment] unless they really care."

Joss went on to explain why the show, which is usually full of unnatural beings, was almost vampire-free for the entire hour. There was no mention of evil elements until the very last scene, when Buffy's "sister" Dawn is attacked by a vampire in the morgue. Joss said he purposefully tried to minimize the demon count in the show because he wanted things to be "real". The final vampire sequence was supposed to jolt viewers and show them that life continues for Buffy and her sister.

Finally, in a series where the undead hang out with the Scooby Gang and Buffy's former boyfriend returned from hell to be with his vampire slayer, is there a possibility that Buffy's mom Joyce will return?

Joss said that Dawn's special powers won't help revive Joyce.

"If you brought her back, it would have to be extremely earned, and there would have to be a good reason for it," he said.