“Where the Wild Things Are”

 

Episode 18 of Season 4

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“There's ghosts and shaking, and people are going all Felicity with their hair... We're fresh out of superpeople, and somebody's gotta go back in there. Now who's with me?”

 

Original US airdate: April 25th, 2000 (aired directly before Angel episode "Five by Five")

Rewatched: August 29th, 2022

 

• Writer: Tracey Forbes

• Director: David Solomon

• Guests: Amber Benson, Leonard Roberts, Bailey Chase, Kathryn Joosten, Emma Caulfield

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This episode is not great. It’s a fairly run-of-the-mill monster of the week, where Buffy and Riley’s sheer amount of sex has awoken energies in Riley's frat house from when it was a house for troubled teens, who were tortured to drive out their sexual urges by the house mother. At a party, weird stuff happens and everyone flees, leaving Buffy and Riley trapped. The Scoobies are able to come together to save them.

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The other relationships that get airtime are more interesting. Tara and Willow are spending time together with the Scoobies and Tara helps with the spell needed to save Buffy and Riley, showing how she is truly becoming a Scooby. Giles is also exploring post-Watcher life (which can be seen as his relationship with himself) and goes to the open mike at the Espresso Pump, where he sings “Behind Blue Eyes”, marking the first time Giles is seen singing. The Scoobies find this a bit shocking, but also a bit sexy (except Xander).

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But most importantly, Xander is trying to let Anya know what a relationship is and is kind of failing. The episode starts with Xander working as an ice cream man and fighting with Anya in the truck. Anya is sure Xander is moving on since they didn’t have sex the night before. Anya is also worried about attending the Initiative’s party, something that Xander has no worries about. To be honest, he should take Anya more seriously on this point. But Xander is right that relationships take work and you don’t just give up on them (advice that seems at odds with his behavior in season 6, but that is yet to come). After the fight, Anya ends up drinking and bonding a bit with Spike (they do have a bit in common – both have been around for a long time and both are dealing with not having their powers, although Anya is fully human and Spike technically still a vampire). This will not be the last time they turn to each other. The end of the episode has Anya and Xander teaming up to save Buffy and Riley (going into the house while Willow, Tara and Giles perform a spell at a safe distance), which has them finding their way back into their relationship as well.

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So, the one thing to gain from this episode is that it furthers the main Buffy theme that relationships are complicated and hard work, but also very important parts of life.

 

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“New Moon Rising”

 

Episode 19 of Season 4

 

“I’m an anarchist”

 

Original US airdate: May 2nd, 2000 (aired directly before Angel episode "Sanctuary")

Rewatched: Sept 3rd, 2022

 

• Writer: Marti Noxon

• Director: James A. Contner

• Guests: Amber Benson, Leonard Roberts, Bailey Chase, Robert Patrick Benedict, Conor O’Farrell, George Hertzberg, Emma Caulfield, Seth Green

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This episode will always bother me for two reasons. First, the new moon can’t rise. While sometimes confused with the full moon, the new moon is, in fact, the time when the moon is not visible and would not rise nor be a trigger for the werewolf to come out. Secondly, this is Oz’s last appearance (he will appear in Willow’s dreams in “Restless”, but that is a dream) and it is not the best send off. Oz was always the calm one. He survived Willow kissing Xander is season 3. He never seemed particularly jealous of Xander, either. Now, he’s returned to Sunnydale, so balanced he can keep from becoming a werewolf during the full moon, only to have the wolf come out when he figures out Willow and Tara are together (and his confusion that Willow didn’t tell him that when they spent all night talking). Somehow, even though it gives an excuse for Oz to leave Sunnydale for good, it doesn’t seem in character.

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The more interesting part of this episode is Riley’s continuing education. He learns that Oz is a werewolf and is very shocked that Willow would date him and has concerns about whether Oz can be a good person. Buffy tells him he’s bigoted. However, when Oz is captured by the Initiative after attacking Tara, Riley tries to free him and ends up in the brig. When the Scoobies come to rescue Oz, they also free Riley and he leaves with them, effectively turning his back on the Initiative and fully throwing in with the Slayer. The episode ends with Riley sleeping in the burned-out high school, and Buffy getting ready to tell him about Angel.

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Finally, Spile is recruited by Adam in this episode, who begins to reveal his plans to him. Spike hopes that Adam can remove his chip and is he able to use his new connection to get the Scoobies into the Initiative. This emphasizes that Spike is, at the moment, only willing to be a Scooby when it serves his purposes, but not yet out of conviction.

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In fun facts, Willow tells Buffy she is with Tara. Buffy does not have a good initial reaction, but is able to accept the relationship. Also, Tara mentions getting a cat and throws out Miss Kitty Fantastico as one possible name. Miss Kitty Fantastico will soon be seen in the flesh.

 

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“The Yoko Factor”

 

Episode 20 of Season 4

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“How can you possibly help?”

 

Original US airdate: May 9th, 2000 (aired directly before Angel episode "War Zone")

Rewatched: Sept 9th, 2022

 

• Writer: Doug Petrie

• Director: David Grossman

• Guests: Amber Benson, Leonard Roberts, Conor O’Farrell, George Hertzberg, Emma Caulfield, David Boreanaz

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The end is near and things are heating up in Sunnydale.

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On the Adam front, he continues to pack the Initiative with demons, and is using Spike to get the Slayer where he wants her. When Spike explains that Buffy’s friends make her strong, the two plan on getting her friends away from her. Spike then spends the episode planting ideas – that Giles is useless, Willow going through a fad, Xander destined for the army. By the end of the episode, Giles is drunk and the Scoobies are fighting. Buffy questions how they can help her and says “I guess I’m starting to understand why there’s no ancient prophecy about a chosen one and her friends.” Viewers know this isn’t right. Spike mentions Buffy being different due to her friends and family in “School Hard” and “The Wish” shows a Buffy without her friends and family. But, college means leaving high school and this has strained the Scoobies. They need to find their post-high school dynamic. The next episode, however, will help them do this.

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While Buffy is out hunting Adam, she runs into Forrest, who is not happy to see her. He blames her for Riley leaving and still holds fast to his role in the Initiative. They end up finding Adam and fighting him. He is too powerful for them. Buffy is badly hurt and Forrest dies. What’s interesting to note is that despite her dislike of Forrest, when she talks to Riley later (after the Angel debacle), she is able to show true sympathy for what Riley is going through. Still, it seems this day has been too much for Riley and he leaves abruptly. The final scene shows that he has gone to Adam, raising many questions that will only be resolved in the next episode.

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This episode also has Angel follow Buffy back from LA. Riley is worried about Buffy seeing Angel in LA and when Buffy is distant on her return, Riley fears the worse. Later. Angel is met with Initiative soldiers on his arrival, who he bests, but then Riley, who’s been listening to their radio calls from his hide-out in the ruins of Sunnydale High School, shows up to help his friends. He and Angel fight, Angel wins and goes to Buffy, followed by Riley. Buffy is not amused by their show of testosterone, but does find the privacy to listen to Angel’s apology while also noting that Angel was right: they don’t live in each other’s worlds anymore. Angel returns to LA, but Riley is still concerned that Buffy may have slept with Angel. Buffy has to explain that no, Angel hasn’t actually lost his soul. While it seems the two have smoothed things over, Riley's abrupt departure leaves the issue a little open.

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This episode also has lots of little things that are interesting. It features a previously on Angel segment at the start. We see Miss Kitty Fantastico. Willow thinks about signing up for drama (despite her stage fright…). Giles sings again, this time alone in his apartment. Tara and Anya share a scene while they hide in Giles’s bathroom while the Scoobies fight and I always love their scenes together. But also, Adam promises to restore Spike to what he once was. Ironically, this is what will actually happen to Spike at the end of season 6. Just not in the way he and Adam mean it here.

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So the episode ends with Adam’s plan unfolding and the Scoobies fighting, and it’s uncertain if Buffy will be able to beat Adam. But of course, we know Buffy will manage. She nearly always does.

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“Primeval”

 

Episode 21 of Season 4

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“I'm the Slayer. You're playing on my turf.”

 

Original US airdate: May 16th, 2000 (aired directly before Angel episode "Blind Date")

Rewatched: Sept 19th, 2022

 

• Writer: David Fury

• Director: James A. Contner

• Guests: Leonard Roberts, Amber Benson, Bailey Chase, Jack Stehlin, Conor O'Farrell, George Hertzberg, Emma Caulfield, Lindsay Crouse

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It’s the penultimate season 4 episode and the only time the Scoobies defeat the big bad before the final episode. Season 6 may provide another alternative, with the original big bad (or one of the three) biting the dust in episode 20. However, a new big bad materializes from these events and the plot revolves both the old and new through the final episode. Season 4 is clearer, as with Adam defeated and the Initiative gone, the main conflict of season 4 is truly wrapped up this episode.

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In the final scenes of this episode, viewers get a summary of what happened with the Initiative. Army big wigs (and/or politicians?) discuss what went wrong and that, ultimately, they failed, vowing to fill the Initiative with concrete and watch the Scoobies to make sure they don’t go public. However, in season 7’s “The Killer in Me”, we learn the concrete didn't happen. So perhaps it ended up being too expensive, or the contractors took the money and failed to deliver. Anyways, Adam is dead, the Initiative will no longer be experimenting on demons, and the world will move on.

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The conclusion of this season is, of course, the ultimate example of mystical winning over science. Or more broadly, older matriarchal wisdom winning over the patriarchy (as the creator of Buffy was not inherently anti-science). Magic, which is consistently presented in a matriarchal, feminist light is integral in Buffy’s win (not just her Slayer strength, which has a complicated, patriarchal background despite it also being very girl power), and the army is very clearly patriarchal, despite Maggie Walsh’s role in the Initiative. In fact, when the army is very skeptical of why the Scoobies have broken into the Initiative and that Adam is already there and planning a trojan horse, where demons slaughter humans and vice versa, giving him enough parts to create a hybrid army (as he has already done to Forrest), Buffy says “This is not your business, it’s mine. You, the Initiative, the boys at the Pentagon, you’re all in way over your heads, messing with primeval forces you have absolutely no comprehension of.” Of course, Buffy is not listened to. But once Adam’s plan starts and all hell breaks loose, the Scoobies are able to use their magic.

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The importance of the spell also lies in its ability to bring the Scoobies together (literally). In the last episode, Spike planted ideas that led to a full-blown knock-down, drag-out Scooby fight. Buffy figures out early in this episode what Spike was up to, and that he’s working with Adam, and meets the Scoobies on neutral ground on campus. While they all agree Spike set them up, and agree to forget the fight, it is clear they are still struggling with the distance they’ve felt this year and what was said last night. But they are the Scoobies and saving the world comes first. So, they end up at Giles’s, planning to defeat Adam and discover that they can only do it together, in one body. They will need to preform a spell to merge them, so that they can use Buffy’s strength, Willow’s magic, Giles’s knowledge (of Sumerian) and Xander’s heart. The Scooby combo is what defeats Adam. They end the episode friends again.

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It is also worth mentioning Riley. It turns out he has a chip as well, implanted in his chest, and last episode it was activated. He begins this episode prisoner of Adam, unable to move or speak when commanded to sit and be quiet. When Buffy arrives to fight Adam, he is able to get out a few words before the chip takesover, and eventually he is able to summon the will to cut the chip out of his chest, freeing him to help Buffy (the scar will be visible is future episodes). While Buffy goes to confront Adam, Riley stays to take on demon-hybrid Forrest. It is a difficult fight, but Riley wins. This is his ultimate showdown with the army, or at least with the Initiative, and it fully frees him to pursue his own goals on his own terms. This will keep him in Sunnydale for a time, but eventually lead him back to the army, but it will still always be his will from here on out.

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Despite the fact that Riley, Adam and Spike all feature somewhat prominently in this episode, it is really about the Scoobies returning to their core group (the final spell is only the original four) and the spell underlines what each brings to the team, and this will continue to be a theme in future seasons, especially Xander being the heart of the group. However, the Scoobies called on the first Slayer in their spell and she is not happy about this (see next episode), and this kicks off the next few seasons’ focus on Buffy exploring the root of her power. When she tells Adam that he "can never grasp the source of our power", she was right. Adam doesn’t understand the power stemming from friendship. But in terms of herself, Buffy actually does not know where her power comes from. By the end of season 7, she will know so much more about herself.

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“Restless”

 

Episode 22 of Season 4

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“You think you know what’s to come, what you are. You haven’t even begun.”

 

Original US airdate: May 23rd, 2000 (aired directly before Angel episode "To Shanshu in L.A.")

Rewatched: Sept 24th, 2022

 

• Writer: Joss Whedon

• Director: Joss Whedon

• Guests: Kristine Sutherland, Amber Benson, Mercedes McNab, David Wells, Michael Harney, George Hertzberg, Emma Caulfield, Seth Green, Armin Shimerman

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This season finale was able to be a bit different because this was the one season they knew they weren’t going to be cancelled. This led to Adam being killed off in the previous episode and in this episode, the Scoobies gather to watch films and wind down. However, when they fall asleep in front of the TV, the first Slayer, summoned by the spell in the last episode, tries to kill them all in their dreams. The dreams allow some of the main themes of Buffy to be explored and lay the groundwork for future seasons.

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Willow’s dream starts with her and Tara sharing an intimate moment and talking about “her”, a reference to Dawn, who will appear next season (although in the moment it could be about Miss Kitty Fantastico).

Tara: “You’d think she’d let us know he name by now.”

Willow: “She will, she’s not all grown yet.”

Tara: “You’re not worried?”

Willow: “I never worry here. I’m safe here.”

But then the dream segues into themes related to Tara and Willow, namely what Tara may be hiding (Tara does sabotage a spell in “Goodbye Iowa”) and Willow’s inherent lack of self-esteem:

Tara: “You don’t know everything about me.”

Willow: “Have you told me your real name?”

Tara: “Oh, you know that. They will find out, you know, about you.”

 

During their conversation, Willow opens the curtains to reveal a bright desert scene, with the first Slayer stalking her. Willow then revisits her fear of preforming in a scene somewhat similar to “Nightmares”, although this time, it’s a very strange Death of a Salesman, rather than Madame Butterfly being performed. But Willow is once again unprepared. Giles gives a pep talk. This (and then later much of the play) seem to underscore typical patriarchal structures. Giles asks a question, Harmony answers correctly, but Giles tells her she’s wrong and when Riley offers the same answer, it’s taken as correct. Also, Riley plays a cowboy who offers to help Harmony with her milkmaid tasks and later, Buffy dressed as a flapper has a tirade, directed at Riley Cowboy-Guy, about men and how she wants them all thrown in the ocean. So the play reminds us of Willow’s fears and also underscores the fight against the patriarchy.

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Finally, Willow wanders through the curtains, only to end up in a classroom with everyone she knows. Buffy rips off her clothes, leaving her in an outfit like her season 1 episode 1 outfit. As Willow reads her book report, everyone laughs – including Tara and Oz, who seem very much into each other and not so much into Willow. And then the first Slayer sucks her spirit out, since Willow was the first person in the combining spell and was the spirit.

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So Willow still has some of her first season fears, but ultimately, she fears being a loser. Season 6 will see her issues leading to her trying to end the world.

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Willow’s dream is followed by Xander’s. Xander’s dream is about his journey, although he keeps ending up in the basement, showing him his biggest fear. It is also an Apocalypse Now-themed dream. First, Xander goes upstairs, where he encounters Joyce, who seems to want to seduce him. But Xander needs a bathroom and goes to find one. The bathroom, however, has Initiative scientists and soldiers watching, so Xander leaves. He ends up in a playground, where Giles and Spike are swinging and Buffy playing in a sandbox. Spike says Giles is going to train him to be a watcher. Notably, he claims to be like Giles’s son. In “Tabula Rasa” in season 6, Spike will wear the same suit, Giles and Spike will think they’re father and son, and a shark demon is chasing Spike, and sharks are also mentioned here. Otherwise, the more interesting part is Xander and Buffy. Xander tries to warn Buffy that she can’t protect herself from everything and Buffy calls Xander big brother. This may well be another reference to Dawn, as Xander has a very big brother relationship with her, whereas he didn’t so much with Buffy.

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Then Xander ends up with Anya in his ice cream truck, with Anya thinking of going back into vengeance, which will happen in season 6, and Willow and Tara making out in the back. They invite him to join, but he ends up in the basement. Xander flees again and ends up on campus. Giles and Anya try to explain what Xander needs to do, but in French. Anya then drags him away and he ends up in the jungle with Principal Snyder. After their exchange, Xander flees through many places, only to end up in the basement, with his father yelling at him, the most overt reference yet to Xander’s possible unstable home life. But then his father morphs into the first Slayer and takes his heart out, since Xander is the heart of the team.

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Xander’s fears have changed since season 1, when it was clowns, but not since “Fear, Itself”. He’s worried about being left behind, being in the basement. The next seasons will show Xander's evolution. He’ll get a job, get an apartment, become a big brother to Dawn and keep fighting the good fight despite no supernatural powers. But he’s not there yet.

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Giles is next. His dream starts with Buffy. He’s trying to hypnotize her like in “Helpless”, this time with a pocket watch. He says “This is the way men and women have behaved since before time”, a reference most likely to Slayers and Watchers and their roles. Then it jumps to them and Olivia pushing a baby carriage. They are at a cemetery. Buffy is also acting like a child. There seems to be a vampire-themed carnival and Buffy throws balls at a vampire and wins cotton candy. When Giles says she’ll get it on her face, her face is then covered in mud. Giles seems to be getting an idea of what’s going on, but not quite. Giles then confronts Spike, who is posing for photos at the carnival with Olivia sobbing in the background. Spike indicates Giles must choose. Of course, we know this. Giles needs to choose a normal life (for example, with Olivia), or to be Buffy’s Watcher. Olivia sobbing indicates that Giles already knows what he’s going to choose. Once you know about the evil in the world, can you really stop fighting it? Giles then ends up at the Bronze, where he sings his exposition. He has realized the spell unleashed something, but it isn’t until the first Slayer is trying to kill him that Giles realizes what. He then says “I know who you are and I can defeat you with my intellect. I can cripple you with my thoughts… You never had a Watcher”, but of course, the first Slayer succeeds in cutting his brain out in the dream.

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Giles’s dream and being bested by the first Slayer underscore the lack of power he’s been feeling since he left the Council and the high school blew up. The next seasons are about Giles figuring out his role in Buffy’s life and learning that she does still need a Watcher.

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Then, finally, Buffy’s dream. She is woken up by Anya in her dorm, but then is suddenly in her room at home, talking to Tara. This conversation foreshadows both Dawn and also her death at the end of season 5. It also references Buffy’s dream with Faith at the end of season 3, as they were making the bed for Dawn then and the clock read 7:30 (730 days to her death in season 5). As Tara mentions, the clock is wrong here. Tara also mentions that Buffy doesn’t really know who she is. Buffy then ends up at UC Sunnydale, and leaves her mother in a wall, a sign that Buffy is growing up and leaving her childhood behind. Then she runs into Riley and a human Adam. They are planning world domination, showing that Buffy is still not quite sure about what Riley’s allegiance and goals are. She and Adam have a conversation where she asks his name, which he’s forgotten, and then Adam implies they are both demons. Buffy says “We’re not demons”, but of course she will learn otherwise in season 7. Then the demons attack, Riley and Adam go off to build a pillow fort, and Buffy’s bag of weapons is full of mud. She gives herself a facial and then Riley returns, saying he thought she was looking for her friends and calls her a killer.

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Buffy walks and ends up in the desert. She confronts the first Slayer, with Tara speaking for her. The first Slayer is upset Buffy has friends and lives in the world. They fight. Buffy wakes up. Then the first Slayer attacks her again and Buffy asks if she’s done already, and claims that “You’re not the source of me.” Then the first Slayer disappears and everyone wakes up.

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Buffy’s dream shows how important her quest for her roots will be in the coming seasons, which will finally allow her to change the entire system at the end on season 7. Only by learning who she really is and where she comes from can she truly change the patriarchal system of Watchers and Slayers. 

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In addition to the first Slayer appearing in all dreams, so does the cheese man. No one has a good explanation for him. But there he is. Additionally, the desert (which will be seen again in season 5) and the power of names are strong symbols, as well as the references to Dawn. Finally, it should be noted that the characters spend time looking for each other in their dreams, showing the importance of friendship to each other. They are their strongest when they face danger together.

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Finally, Joyce and Riley meet in this episode, and it is the last appearance for Oz, Principal Snyder and Olivia.  

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