Buffy the Vampire Slayer - Season 4 Review
Added 2019-09-01 23:01:53 +0000 UTCEnjoy the film!
Comments
Okay, hopefully this is my last comment on this one. So sorry. LOL Hearing you talk about Fear Itself, I just noticed something. The fear demon being so small is brilliant, because, aside from being funny and unexpected, it's a good analogy for the way fear works. Often times, when we're scared, what we're scared of seems huge and horrible end frightening, and then when we move forward and finally conquer our fears, the source of the fears themselves turn out to be small, or insignificant. That's just beautiful and genius.
Raven Dark
2020-05-13 18:45:32 +0000 UTCFavorite lines for season four... For me, there are a lot, and yours are two of mine. But there's also: Spike: "You made a bear!" LMAO
Raven Dark
2020-05-13 18:34:58 +0000 UTCSorry, I keep giving these tiny dinky comments all in a row. This thing's editing thing doesn't work well. When I hit edit, it doesn't apply the changes right, so it's easier to do them separately. Anyway, I just wanted to ask, did you mention Tara? If you did, I missed it, so forgive me. Or did you not, and that was deliberate because we don't really know her yet, so there isn't much to say? I only ask, because I would have loved to hear your thoughts on her. I know, it's probably hard to even talk about her thus far. "Oh, Tara, let's talk about Tara..." Okay, never mind. Gun. Me. Jumped. Ignore me. I'm glad you love Tara. So do I, and I love her and Tara. And KITTEH! So much yes. Great review, and I love how long it is. Why are you so me? LOL!
Raven Dark
2020-05-13 18:04:11 +0000 UTCOh, come on, Liam! What are you thinking?! Johnathan was in only one episode?! He's the real slayer! He invented the internet for crying out loud. Did you forget? He's the main character and you spent a minute on him. *Sigh*. SMH. :D
Raven Dark
2020-05-13 17:55:09 +0000 UTC"I also said this could potentially be the start of him (Spike) becoming Buffy's love interest... I do give myself some credit because of Something Blue..." That's cheating. :D :D :D
Raven Dark
2020-05-13 16:38:56 +0000 UTCI’ve always said that Season 4, episode for episode, is as strong as any other season (and is even better than some, imo) It’s just that big bad arc that lets it down.
Paul Thomas-Humphreys
2019-09-08 10:35:43 +0000 UTCI'm almost positive Joss saw Riley as Captain America. Considering how much a square Steve was in "The Avengers", it make sense that Riley is a bit of a dope. Joss just fundamentally doesn't get Steve Rogers. Great review, Liam! So excited for season 5 :)
Shelley
2019-09-03 11:06:50 +0000 UTCYes, I like and resonate with this take on Riley. The character was probably also forced to change to fill some gaps in the Season 4 Adam arc after Lindsay Crouse left that weren’t in the original character outline. That whole “did they put a chip in you, too?” foreshadowing wasn’t there before Maggie Walsh got skewered, and his character was a lot more likable and coherent before Goodbye Iowa, too.
Steve Maxey
2019-09-03 04:48:24 +0000 UTCOn why the Initiative is at college: It's an old trope (possibly not entirely unfounded) that the government does crazy secret experiments with college students who just want a couple of bucks for beer. That's supposedly what happened to Terry Ives in <i>Stranger Things</i>, and it's a major factor in <i>Firestarter</i> as well. So the Initiave slots right in there with the Shop or the Department of Energy. I never even thought to question it, anyway. ;p I've seen the whole series and I can't say that I ever came to love Tara/Willow <i>more</i> than Oz/Willow, but I do like it as well, I think. I think they were wise to make her not Oz-like, and even the network scolds may have helped--by forcing them to take it much slower than they took Buffy/Riley, they didn't get the kind of die-for-our-ship backlash that Riley got. I like season 4 quite a lot ("Where the Wild Things Are" excepted; that was legitimately awful). The theme of being at a loss is an odd once, since its nature is to have a sense of everything being disjointed and weird. That's how adulthood often feels. (And no, I'm not saying at the beginning. I am nowhere near the beginning, and I'm sorry to report that it never starts making sense.) I even liked "Beer Bad" once I recognized it as a very snarky parody of my most hated kind of episode, the "Very Special Episode." They all need a skewering this thorough. Ending with "Restless" helps. That's one of my all time favorite episodes of any series of television. Riley... I like the idea of him; I don't think the execution is always particularly good. I sometimes felt like the writers didn't know what to do with him, and even the considerable talents of the charming Marc Blucas couldn't rescue it. (And Blucas's performance really is charming--half secure young gentleman, half little boy trying to pretend he's got it all together.)
FernWithy
2019-09-03 02:56:39 +0000 UTCI was thinking of this exact same promo. 👍
Miz Mons
2019-09-02 18:42:56 +0000 UTCI meant to say "well above average". That's funnier and more accurate.
UTU49
2019-09-02 16:58:30 +0000 UTCI finished watching. I made myself a pin that is now on my shirt. It says, "I have above average interest in Liam Duke's thoughts about Season 4 of Buffy the Vampire Slayer." :P As usual, I really enjoyed hearing your thoughts on characters, story, themes, etc.
UTU49
2019-09-02 06:57:57 +0000 UTCWhen I first saw how long this was I was like whoa! Then I ended up watching it all in one sitting lol. I think Liam is the only one I could listen to for over two hours, and honestly I wanted more! I guess I'll get that in the Angel review. Curious how long that one is! xD
Jenn Rose
2019-09-02 06:47:51 +0000 UTCJust finished watching. As usual, you are an unusually perceptive viewer,picking up on many things during your first viewing that I didn’t pick up on til a second or third viewing. That said, I am not at all surprised that three of your top five were Joss Whedon written and directed episodes. Was it just that he kept the coolest moments for himself as showrunner, or did he elevate them somehow. I think some of both are at work. Who Are You was always going to be good, given the concept (though the scene with Faith in Buffy’s bodying in the bathroom mirror sequence, the high eroticism of Willow and Tarik’s spell, and the insert of Faith’s fantasy of stabbing Willow followed by that insincere “I would never let her hurt you” were all ultra), but Restless could have so easily tipped over into dreadful in less sure hands on the script and in the director’s chair. I’ve never understood the negativity about season four (or about Riley in it). Yes, the arc sort of limps along in the second half, with Adam not really doing a whole lot between Goodbye Iowa and Primeval—certainly not enough to warrant the big fear the gang displays toward him—but when this season shines in its best episodes, and there are a lot of really good ones, it is some of the best Buffy ever. And even the weakest episodes have their moments. Beer Bad, which I usually skip on rewatch, gives me joy on the times I do rewatch it just for the scene between Willow and Parker. I wish that had been in a better episode, but the scene itself is a gem. And Where the Wild Things Are is an ungodly mess, but it still has some amazing stuff from both Anya and Spike peppered throughout the episode. And Riley...anyone was going to have a tough job being the next romantic partner for Buffy after the high opera of the Buffy-Angel romance. But he’s a really solid guy and good to Buffy throughout the season. Thanks for taking the time to share your long-form review.
Steve Maxey
2019-09-02 04:22:53 +0000 UTCI completely agree with your thoughts on how people use the term "filler".
AngelicMouseGirl
2019-09-02 04:08:22 +0000 UTCI put this over on YouTube but wanted to copy it here, too. I try not to be someone who focuses on things I dislike, but I do want to leave just one comment about why I dislike Riley. There are a number of things he does that aren't my cup of tea, and I could probably read a lot into them if I wanted to put in the effort, but this is the one thing I can't ignore: when he acts completely inappropriately about their relationship, he blames Buffy (see "The Yoko Factor"). Technically, he blames the fact that "[he's] so crazy about her, [he] can't see straight." I find that completely unacceptable - it's the excuse of the abusive partner who blames his significant other and says "look what you made me do!" He's not always written that way, fine. And I don't spend my time hating on him (usually). But that's why I can't fully accept him, and it's on him, not the Initiative.
Bean's friend
2019-09-02 02:59:54 +0000 UTCWow. At one point in your review I was reminded of the big promo that The WB aired leading into the series premier. There is a version online which many viewers swear is a shortened one that was aired before the first REPEAT of episode 1-1. The 'original' was said to have mentioned more previous slayers than this one does. I'm not going to link to it because the comments and “Up Next” videos will likely contain spoilers but if you want to search it yourself, the video title on youtube is: Buffy Premiere WB Promo History of the Slayers 1997 Debut
Bruce Trogdon
2019-09-02 02:01:06 +0000 UTCGood season. Great reactions. Spot-on review. Now, where do I collect my medal? :D
Rob Z
2019-09-02 01:37:08 +0000 UTCI’ve never really been a fan of the term “filler episodes,” and I don’t think that’s how they were thought of by the production team at the time. Nearly all shows at the time and immediately before were completely episodic—that is, apart from the occasional two-parter (which was thought of as one long episode), every episode was thought of as a reset, the characters essentially unaffected by the events of the previous episode (think of Star Trek: The Next Generation). The idea of season-long arcs was relatively new, and a hard sell to the studios/broadcasters (they didn’t want viewers who discovered the show halfway through the season to feel like they didn’t know what was going on). The term “filler episode” suggests that those episodes are somehow less-than episodes that contribute to the season-long arc. That’s not how they were thought of then. Alternative ways of naming them could be episodic vs. serialized episodes or one-off vs. arc episodes. I mean, you do you, and I certainly know what you mean. I just translate filler to one of those other terms in my head.
Steve Maxey
2019-09-02 01:16:34 +0000 UTCOh what an awesome birthday pressie :D
Claire Eyles
2019-09-01 23:34:00 +0000 UTCHappy happy joy joy! I wasn't expecting your reviews already.
UTU49
2019-09-01 23:25:03 +0000 UTCAh, something to watch while I eat dinner. And probably while I clean my entire house. 😉
Bean's friend
2019-09-01 23:19:44 +0000 UTC2.5 hours? Holy shit! Well, I didn't have any plans tonight so here goes...
Miah
2019-09-01 23:13:30 +0000 UTC
