Previously on Buffy the Vampire Slayer: A secret government organisation known as The Initiative have been operating literally underground at UC Sunnydale. Buffy's dating one of their rejects and fighting their Big Bad, Adam, a patchwork monster of human and demon. Meanwhile, the Scooby Gang's feeling the pressure of living apart; Xander and Anya feel excluded, Willow's dating Tara and only just told people, Giles remains unemployed and Buffy's got her hands full. Spike, helpfully, has been pulling their strings.
After the big bust-up at the end of The Yoko Factor, Buffy goes off to find Riley, but of course finds him gone. He's with Adam, finding out that he was a part of the super-soldier program that Maggie Walsh was putting together and that he also has a chip in his nervous system that Adam can use to control him. The Scoobies all set about recovering from their fight, each as upset as the other at what has been said. However, a little bit of communication soon sets them right and they come up with a plan to stop Adam, magically joining themselves into one body. Buffy's.
The fourth season stands as the only that openly flouts convention by not featuring a two-parter finale as the last two episodes. It's a bold move to wrap up everything major in the season in the penultimate episode, but it's probably for the best given the lukewarm reception to the Initiative plotline. Restless ends up embodying a far better season finale than anyone expected, but I'll save my enthusiasm for that one until next week.
The Initiative stuff is still ridiculously blah. I really couldn't care less about Adam's super-race plan because, although it's clear that there is something thematic link between Adam's composite soldiers and the Scooby Gang united in one goal, it's executed so badly. It's not an inherently bad idea by any stretch, but the quality difference between the two thematic plot strands is vast simply because of who is involved. We don't really know (or like) Riley enough to care too much that he might become part of Adam's composite demon army.
The real meat of the episode is the Scooby Gang themselves, the characters we know and properly care about. As I said last week, seeing the Scoobies fight is never fun and the problems between them all have been building all season. The best moments come as a result of the gang rediscovering their friendship. The lift sequence, in which Buffy and Willow have a heart to heart, is adorable, culminating in a hug that brings the gang back together again.
It may make the joining spell a little on-the-nose metaphorically speaking, but it's a neat way to wrap up their combined plotline for the season. I love that it's a natural (albeit magical) way of combining their respective skills and functions within the group versus Adam's biological and scientific way of doing things. Like Buffy says, the Initiative is messing with primeval forces it doesn't understand the final battle between Scooby-Buffy and Adam is that clash made manifest. Let's just ignore the really dodgy sound effects as the spirits combine within Buffy. The voice effect of having them all speak at the same time is very cool though. That moment also points out a key difference between Buffy and the Slayers that came before her; she's never on her own.
After a nice Dr Strangelove board meeting, the Initiative is abandoned and the case closed in a move that feels a little more Mulder and Scully. Let's just be grateful that we got Cabin in the Woods eh? A much better take on the shady government installation type deal.
Quote of the Week:
Willow: Nervous?
Xander: No way. I'm full of that good old kamikaze spirit.
Giles: Xander, just because this is never going to work, there's no need to be negative.
Inventive Kill: Scooby-Buffy rips out Adam's core glowy thingy. Perfect.
Let's Get Trivial: After Nicholas Brendon remembered the established continuity from earlier in the show, the line "see what you get for taking French instead of Sumerian?!" was changed from "see what you get for taking Spanish instead of Sumerian?!"
- Becky
You can read Becky's look at previous episode, The Yoko Factor, here.
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Previously on Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Buffy joined the Initiative, asked too many questions and then Maggie Walsh tried to have her killed. It didn't work. Instead, the creature that Walsh has been working on kills Walsh in a nicely Oedipal penetrative way. Riley takes the news that his surrogate mom has tried to kill his girlfriend badly and leaves the Initiative. Sort of. He's back this week. Oh, and Spike's still bechipped and in hiding from the Initiative.
Last episode, The I in Team, rattled through the big Initiative break-up build-up at quite the speed, leaving poor Goodbye Iowa to pick up the pieces. Reeling from Maggie trying to kill her, Buffy realises the Scoobies probably aren't so safe now and decides to take them into hiding in Xander's basement. Riley's not coping very well with the idea that his world is falling apart somewhat and looks to blame it on just about everyone else, including Buffy. When he goes a bit mad in Willy's Place (it's upmarket now, you see), she drags him back to Xander's and realises that the Initiative have been doing a little more to him than any of them realise. They confront Walsh's colleague, Angleman about the 314 project, dubbed Adam, who conveniently shows up and reveals himself to the world, explaining that he's not the only experiment in the Initiative, but that Riley is too.
As with last week's mythology-full, but truncated episode, Goodbye Iowa has a huge amount going on in it (to the point where I even considered running the lengthy plot summary gag from last week again - there is that much). And like its immediate predecessor, it's trying to do too much from the word go. The two main thematic threads, Riley's world falling apart and Adam's Frankenstein's monster-like discovery of the world, that they could have easily had an episode each, but the parallels between the two were clearly too juicy to not place together. Riley, so certain in his black and white cornfed view of the world is forced to learn things anew, just as Adam is doing with his newfound life.
The Frankenstein connections have been obvious since Adam was revealed and boy does this episode run with them. Playing out like a loving reference to the original tale and Whale's adaptation, Adam wanders around Sunnydale, killing children and generally causing a bit of damage whilst he tries to learn more about the world. The creator/creation relationship that should be explored here, as with Shelley's novel, ended with Maggie on the end of a skewer so there's not much depth to Adam as a villain other than he's seemingly invincinble, but hey, Buffy blew up a giant snake at the end of last season so I'm sure they'll find a way, guys.
Similarly, Riley finds out that Maggie has been doctoring him, turning him into another of her maternal creations. But Maggie's gone and thus, no real catharsis for Riley's character can be reached by having him confront her. Not to mention that emotional fallout of that doesn't really land, mostly because the series hasn't really given us any reason to root for Riley other than him being Buffy's beau (how refreshing for this to happen to a male character though, am I right?!).
The thing is though, despite the episode packing so much into its runtime, I run out of things to say about it pretty quickly. Long-time readers of this rewatch will know this is rarely a case with a Buffy episode, but everything is operating on a really surface level interpretation of the themes its examining. Even Willow's burgeoning relationship is little more than euphemism at this stage, though it is fun to spot all of those nods to their romance that my little 12 year old mind innocently skipped over before.
I always maintain that the Initiative was probably a better idea on paper than what happened when it was translated to the screen. There's all sorts of potentially interesting things going on here thematically (primal vs technology, Slayer vs humans, birth vs artificial creation) that never really go anywhere, even in the final stages of the season. With the potential of those ideas and the soaring high points of the season so far (and to come), the show has never felt more frustrating. Thankfully though, Whedon returns to a lot of these themes in The Cabin in the Woods which we can all agree is awesome.
I might just go and watch that instead.
Quote of the Week:
Buffy: I'm going to the crime scene to see what I can find out. You guys research the Polgara demon. I want to know where it is. When I find it, I'm going to make it pay for taking that kid's life. I'll make him die in ways he can't even imagine... That probably would've sounded more commanding if I wasn't wearing my Yummy Sushi pyjamas...
Inventive Kill: Adam meets an innocent little boy. And kills him. Adam sucks.
Sunnydale Who's Who: This is the last episode in which we see Buffy's weaselly informant, Willy the Snitch. He's mentioned later on in the series so we know he lives to weasel another day.
- Becky
You can find Becky's look at previous episode, The I in Team, here.
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Previously on Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Buffy's big secret is out and she's now working with the Initiative of which Riley is a part, as is Psychology professor Maggie Walsh. She's involved in something called 314 which has got the demon world a'rumbling. Elsewhere, Spike has discovered he can hit demons whilst Willow is embarking on a new friendship with fellow witch, Tara.
Right. Deep breath.
Buffy has been spending a lot of time with the Initiative, training and basically beating them to a pulp within 28 seconds. Maggie Walsh is impressed, Riley's in love and the Scoobies are disappointed, especially Willow who feels disconnected from her best friend. Behind the door of 314, we find that Walsh is working on an impressive Frankendemon's monster, composed of tech and demon body parts. When Buffy starts asking a few too many questions about what's going on in the tin foil set below the ground, Walsh concludes she's a bit too dangerous and decides to have her killed off. There's also this weird bit where she watches Riley and Buffy have sex, thus sparking all kinds of odd Oedipal associations that the episode doesn't really need.
But wait, I'm not done with this plot summary - it continues! During one of their patrols, an Initiative team, led by Riley pals Graham and Forest, run across Spike. They fail to capture him, but do manage to shoot him with a tracer. Having recently spurned Giles' friendship following the demon incident, Spike is forced to return to the Scoobies for help and they flush the tracer down the loo. As part of Walsh's cunning plan to rid herself of the Buffster, she sends her down to the sewers, chasing two escaped demons, falsely described as pushovers and has her take a prototype combat camera. Rookie mistake!
I'm still not done. Riley returns to the Initiative tin foil base under the ground to report a lack of Hostile 17 only to be confronted with a falsely tearful Maggie Walsh saying that Buffy has been killed. But what's this? Buffy's alive! And she's the conveniently placed combat cam to relay a message to Walsh stating that now you've pissed off a Slayer and that's a bad thing yada yada yada. Riley's angry and walks away to go be nice to Buffy. Walsh is all upset with that Oedipal thing, yelling after Riley and generally losing her cool a bit. Then she goes into 314 and gets skewered by the now awakened Frankendemon's monster, Adam.
And breathe.
The big problem with this episode is, if you hadn't guessed from the above plot summary and my textual hypventilation, is that there is way too much going on. The season has mostly focused on individual episodes with a little ongoing arc thrown in, but The I in Team is all arc, all the time to get the season to the point where it needed to be and the Initiative acting as the enemies once again. As a consequence, everything is too rushed for the impact these things should have had to land properly and by the time Riley's dramatically storming away, we still don't really care that he is.
It does form a quasi-two parter with the next episode, Goodbye Iowa, but we needed even more threaded in. Buffy working with the Initiative, much like her relationship with Parker, is over in about five minutes, but the show wants it to have more of a consequence than the allotted screentime deserves. For it to truly work, we'd need Buffy working well within the Initiative as a reworked status quo, further fracturing her away from her gang and for a more permanent damage to be done.
However, there are some positives to take away from it, mainly in the clever way the title is used to explore the ongoing fracturing working throughout the series. Mostly, it has been on the Scoobies' inability to adapt to having more separate lives since the end of high school. Willow's feeling it particularly keenly, but Giles, Buffy and Xander have all had their own time in the isolation spotlight too. They're all working as that "I" in the team, operating individually unless forced by circumstances beyond their control to work together, but even then, it's often been as a split force.
The Scooby Gang aren't the only team fracturing under the pressure of Buffy and the Initiative. We've had grumblings from Forest before about the importance that Buffy has in Riley's life over his own as a best friend, but that's crossing into the professional line too when Riley picks his girlfriend as his number two and not Forest. Likewise, Walsh's individual ambitions are responsible for Riley breaking off from his work and disobeying a direct order for what appears to be the first time in his life.
So, much like Hush, it's a big episode, both on an individual basis and for the longer, ongoing arcs but, unlike Hush, it's not very good at doing it. The earlier episode also had the great narrative hook of taking place mostly in silence, but even had you replaced all the dialogue, the episode is excellent at spinning the complex plates that the writers have in the air at that point in the season. In The I in Team, it feels like they suddenly realised they needed to start wrapping the season up, but a bunch of stuff needed to happen in order for them to do that.
As a consequence, those plates spin off all over the place, whirling way too fast for us to really catch them as an audience (I started well with that allegory and promptly lost it by the end - I'm sure you all know me well enough by now to know what I mean).
Quote of the Week:
Buffy: You said it was big. You told me... but you never said it was huge!
Riley: I don't like to brag.
[They're talking about the Initiative tin foil base underground. Minds out of the gutter, guys.]
Inventive Kill: Adam uses the arm skewers, recently taken from the Polgara demons that Buffy helped to capture, to mercilessly murder Maggie Walsh.
Demonology 101: The episode marks the first appearance of Adam, who goes on to be the season's Big Bad. And we all thought it was gonna be our Maggie.
- Becky
You can read Becky's look at previous episode, A New Man, here.
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Previously on Buffy the Vampire Slayer: The group have all been dealing with their own respected adjustments after the destruction of Sunnydale High, some better than others. Willow has made friends with a fellow witch named Tara, Giles is unemployed whilst Spike has discovered that he can still hurt demons, just not humans.
It's Buffy's 19th birthday and Giles isn't coping with it very well feeling a little out of the loop. So badly in fact that he turns into a demon. Though that turns out to be more or less because Ethan Rayne showed back up, got Ripper blind drunk and cast a spell on him. Prior to that, he introduces himself to Maggie Walsh which doesn't go particularly well as she accuses him of not being a suitable male role model for. We all know that's absolute crap. I'm kinda glad she gets skewered.
But I'm getting ahead of myself. Whilst Giles is coming to terms with Buffy growing up, dating one of the Initiative commandos and you know, being a demon, Buffy and the gang assume that the demon running round has kidnapped Giles, not realising that it's actually Giles himself until it's nearly too late. We also learn that the demon underworld is a'rumbling with the news of the Initiative and something called 314...
A New Man is one of those episodes that seems to get richer over time, particularly with the knowledge of where everything's going, not only in terms of the fourth season, but beyond too. Focusing in on it first, Giles turning into a demon is a very simple metaphor for his alienation from the group, manifested in some stunning make-up work allowing Anthony Head to give a great comic physical performance. His first few scenes as he gets used to his demonic visage are laugh-out-loud hysterical and later on too, chasing after Professor Walsh, growling at her and running after her down Main Street before getting back into the car with Spike as if nothing had happened.
I had forgotten how funny Ethan's re-introduction is and indeed, all of the scenes between Ripper and Ethan, a masterclass in comic timing from both the sadly late Robin Sachs and Anthony Head. Ethan's one of Buffy's great antagonist, more memorable in four appearances than most foes get to be over several. Sadly, this is his final moment in the show, but it's an excellent episode to go out on. The drunken scene between him and Head is just brilliant: "Whilst you were in the restroom, I slipped a poison pellet in your drink. You'll be dead in an hour... Just kidding."
Jane Espenson wrote this episode, so obviously it's great and packed full of quotable lines (which makes picking one to highlight with you all an absolute nightmare). Expanding out to the episode's richness beyond just this story, there's a lot of thematic work going on here and plenty of foreshadowing too. Buffy and Giles' relationship will take some bigger knocks in later seasons, but here it proves to be pretty strong, Buffy knowing intuitively that it's him.
There are also a lot of fault-lines weaving through this episode, mainly through the Scoobies themselves. Willow's lying about her burgeoning relationship with Tara, Buffy's swanning off with Riley all the time, Xander's dating Anya which no-one particularly cares for and Giles is still feeling out of the loop, all of which are ready to be exploited by Spike later on in the season. These ones I remembered. The one I didn't spot? Riley already feeling his masculinity impugned by Buffy's greater strength, skill and authority. It's all there very early on in their relationship, we (and they) just didn't spot it.
Another little cracker of an episode with hilarity, wit and pathos in spades, A New Man is an excellent slice of Buffy doing what Buffy does best, messing with our own knowledge of the characters to further their development. Plus, we don't often get Giles-centric episodes so they're always a joy when they come along, whether it's exploring his Ripper-based past or watching him try and come to terms with change, Anthony Head is marvellous without a doubt.
Quote of the Week:
Maggie Walsh: So, the Slayer?
Buffy: Yep, that's me.
Maggie Walsh: We thought you were a myth.
Buffy: ...Well you were myth-taken.
Inventive Kill: Slight variation on this week as there isn't any killing, but Riley proudly boasts to her of his 17 hostile takedowns. Some nice person over on the Buffy Wikia page for this episode worked out that Buffy has, as a modest estimate, taken down over 100 hostiles up to this point in the series. 106 to be exact, only counting those seen onscreen.
Let's Get Trivial: Anthony Head's previous experience playing Dr Frank N Further in The Rocky Horror Show proved to be invaluable when he had to perform the scene in which he ran after Maggie Walsh because he's extremely comfortable in high heels as a result.
- Becky
You can catch Becky's look at previous episode, Doomed, here.
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Previously on Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Spike has been neutered by the Initiative and can no longer hurt humans, but they are still looking for him before he can reveal any of their secrets. Buffy now knows that Riley is in the Initiative and he discovers her demon-hunting abilities after the pair bumped into each other whilst out in Sunnydale trying to stop the Gentlemen.
Riley and Buffy are still trying to deal with the fallout of finding out each other's secrets when an earthquake rocks Sunnydale. Buffy immediately recognises it as a sign of a potential apocalypse, but Giles isn't convinced. However, when a student is ritually murdered at one of the parties on campus, the gang realise it is the work of a demon cult hell bent on bringing about the apocalypse. Again. As Buffy deals with Riley trying to make their relationship work, she also has to work to stop the demons, but it might be easier if she doesn't have to do it alone.
It's all about going back to high school in this episode of Buffy as Buffy's relationship with Riley hits another bump in the road when she realises he has no idea of what she's faced in her past. There's an apocalypse on the way that just happens to originate on the Hellmouth in the burnt remains of the high school with added Mayor meat, extra crispy. Percy shows up and calls Buffy a nerd and the gang are mobilised to stop the end of the world once again. Like much of the fourth season, it's about moving on and ensuring the Scoobies stay working together, just as they did back in high school.
Most of this comes through in Buffy's character stuff in this episode; her relationship with Riley, now revealed to be a part of the world she inhabits and not, as she believed, separate from it, gives her all sorts of Angel associations and how badly it all went. She also keeps reiterating the point that this fight is hers and hers alone, despite knowing she needs the gang around her to help. It's one of the central conflicts in her character all the way through and I love how it comes out more in the extreme situations. Of course, she can't do it alone and the episode once again proves that by not only having the gang with her, but having Riley come to her rescue and then work in partnership with her to save the world.
Having the big fight go down in the high school is also a clever piece of thematic work that allows everyone to realise how they don't really need to hang on to it anymore. It's smaller and "more charred." It may take Willow, Xander and Giles to the end of the season to realise how they are still needed, but it's a recovery process that starts, at least for Willow and Xander, right her. They're essential parts of the big fight at the end; Xander realises that the demons themselves are the sacrifice and Willow does a good job of getting hold of the bag of bones. Even if Spike undoes it all by throwing them and the second demon into the hole anyway.
It's also a big development for Spike in this episode. Initially seen trying to dust himself with a curious stake-in-a-vice contraption, he's feeling pretty low as a result of his chip implant and Willow's adorable pep talks don't really work. However, during the final fight, he discovers he can actually hit demons whilst implanted; it only restricts violence towards humans. Although Spike won't make the shift into being good entirely until next season, it's the start of the path here. Before then though, he stills gets to be a thorn in the Scoobies' collective side.
It's another strong episode in the season then, though perhaps not as memorable as Hush in its lasting Buffy legacy. Then again, few episodes are. It's one of the episodes focused on the thematics of the ongoing series as well as shedding Sunnydale High School further from the gang's memory. They've moved on and see it for the rotting, hellish institution it always was.
Quote of the Week:
Giles: It's the end of the world.
Buffy, Xander and Willow: Again?!
Let's Get Trivial: The continuity is hilariously all over the place in the Library fight scene; in the background of one shot, Spike has his vamp face, but in the close up straight after it's gone. Try keeping track of the bag of bones too. Nigh on impossible. Also, keep an eye out when the Scoobies are walking through; Catherine Madison's statue is still there...
Sunnydale Who's Who: We find out that Percy, Willow's former Sunnydale High tutee, survived the battle against the Mayor, took his scholarship at USC and is visiting his bitchy girlfriend at UC Sunnydale. He's mean about Willow. Git.
- Becky
You can read Becky's look at previous episode, Hush, here.
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Previously on Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Buffy and the gang have been running into mysterious commando types around campus who seem to have a yen for kidnapping vampires, including Harmony's very own Blondie Bear, Spike.
Spike wakes up from his kidnapping in a sterile, white kind of cage with electrified glass and is one of several in a row. It turns out he's being held captive at what appears to be a demon-hunting and experimentation facility. When he manages to escape, he starts a manhunt across campus that also involves one disgruntled Buffy. She's been at a party trying to cheer up Willow and dealing with goofy attempts at flirting from Riley, who has figured out he has a crush on everyone's favourite slayer. He doesn't know her secret, but nor does she know his; Riley just happens to be one of those commando types and is also on the hunt for Spike.
The Initiative is mostly a filler episode, designed to fill in some gaps in audience knowledge and advance the narrative for the season. Relationships start with Riley and Buffy, Willow starts to get her mojo back a little and Giles and Xander still feel a little out of sorts, given everyone else is college-based. The big reveal is, of course, Riley and Maggie Walsh's involvement in The Initiative and it's very existence beneath the university, though the series wisely keeps the majority of information around it hidden for now. On repeated viewings, it's easy to see those mechanics at work, like watching a chess master move their pieces across the board without ever really making an aggressive move.
However, I do have a real soft spot for this episode because it's more character work than anything else. Riley steps into the spotlight for a start and, though I know he's a character near-universally reviled, but I love him in Season 4. He's a kind of all-American goofball that the series doesn't use very often, precisely because he's one of the popular, bright kids who never seems to struggle.
Whedon's focus is rarely on those people because he's much more interested in those on the fringes. Riley's scenes with Willow's carry an adorable teen comedy's innocence to them and it's always nice when the show steps back a gear like that. Alyson Hannigan makes the most of her lines and her delivery is pitch perfect, especially the line where she threatens Riley with beating him to death with a shovel if he hurts Buffy, followed by a cheery "now go have fun!"
Riley also brings a traditional idea of masculinity in line with the show's ongoing critical undercutting of gender roles and presentations; he's tall, strong and gentlemanly, though there's hints already that he's not one for understanding women who can take care of themselves. When Buffy questions him on it, his immediate response is to say that women should be protected. Naturally, it doesn't go down very well and Sarah Michelle Gellar's reactive expression is gold.
Elsewhere in the episode, ideas of masculine virility become associated with Spike's ability to bite people. His scene with Willow, in which we discover he can no longer bite people without an intense headache, is one of those on the nose metaphor scenes that the show can often do so well, but sometimes get a little wrong. Here, Spike's lack of bite is played as an erectile dysfunction metaphor, after his attempt to bite Willow is played like an attempted rape. It makes the moments after where everything is played for laughs quite disturbing. The jokes are too awkward to land properly and despite the best efforts of Hannigan and Marsters, it doesn't work at all.
The episode does redeem itself though by having one of the most epic subversions of its own conventions take place during the story. Fight scenes have quite a specific build-up in Buffy; insults are exchanged, one liners fired out, the score swells to a dramatic crescendo and the fights are choreographed to look pretty spectacular despite the lack of budget. All of this takes place as Xander and Harmony meet. Well, everything apart from the martial arts. If you ever wondered what a fight between a vampire and a human without any kind of fighting skills would look like, this scene is for you. It's hair-pulling, face-hitting, shin-kickingly hilarious, especially when it takes place in slo-mo.
Though I still love it, The Initiative functions as a microcosm of how the fourth season eventually plays out itself. There's some great high points in the there, but there are also moments that really kinda suck. Also, I should probably prepare you for more Riley Finn defences as the season goes on. Sorry.
Quote of the Week (for Anthony Head's perfect line delivery):
Xander: Every man faces this moment. Here. Now. Watching, waiting for an unseen enemy that has no face. Nerve endings screaming in silence. Never knowing which thought might be your last...
Giles: Oh, shut up!
Let's Get Trivial: This is the first time that the main credits cast has changed during the mid-season; Seth Green is removed after Oz's departure whilst James Marsters is promoted to a regular, where he'll stay for the rest of the series.
Demonology 101: One of the demons spied in the Initiative bunker is the same one which Buffy kills at the start of The Wish with a "knurf"
- Becky
You can read Becky's look at previous episode, Wild at Heart, here.
