So so close to red!! Edited some old reviews as well...got to keep making them better!
So so close to red!! Edited some old reviews as well...got to keep making them better!
Member since:09.08.2006
Reviews:71
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WHATS THE DEAL? Buffy the Vampire Slayer is the story of a young woman who is normal by day but has a double life as the slayer, a chosen one whose job it is to fight demons and vampires.
It was always going to be hard to make season 4 of Buffy. The whole show revolved around Buffy and her scooby gang, the hilarious high school misfits who worry about their teenage issues by day and fight demons at night. But season 3 ended with the gang graduating from (and blowing up) sunnydale high, the centre of evil activity in their home town. So Buffy, Willow and Xander are no longer in high school. Cordy's no longer around. Giles isnt the librarian anymore and the school isnt there to cause trouble anymore. Where can they go from there?
This season tried so hard to do something different. This time the villain wasnt an ancient supernatural power but a military experiment gone wrong. Buffy gets involved with a secret government initiative as well as their star soldier. Evil Spike gets 'neutered' and Willow finds herself attracted to a fellow wiccan after Oz's sad departure. Giles and Xander find themselves a bit pushed out this year, with Giles goin through his empty nest syndrome and Xander not really knowing where he wants to go in his life, plus he has his irritating girlfriend Anya to teach in the ways of being human.
MAIN CHARACTER CAST LIST Sarah Michelle Gellar (Buffy Summers) Nicholas Brendon (Xander Harris) Alyson Hannigan (Willow Rosenberg) Anthony Stewart Head (Giles) James Marsters (Spike) Emma Caulfield (Anya) Amber Benson (Tara Maclay) Marc Blucas (Riley Finn)
EPISODE GUIDE (with some of the funnier lines!) The Freshman Buffy finds it hard to fit into college life, and thia affects her slaying when sarcastic Sunday and her vampire gang set out to wreck her life before they kill her. It takes a pep talk from Xander to make Buffy realise she can do both college and slaying and she kicks some ass as usual.
Living conditions Buffy gets the roomate from hell and noone believes her
when she says that she is evil, thinking that Buffy is just being a spoilt only child. Obviously Buffy turns out ot be right when Kathy turns out to be a very nasty orange demon.
The harsh light of day Nasty Parker Abrahms tricks Buffy into bed with him and then ignores her. Spike returns with Harmony (!!) after a gem that will make him invincible. He gets it and him and Buffy fight in daylight for the first time, but she takes the ring from him and decides that Angel should have it.
Fear Itself At a house party a weird symbol causes all of their worst fears to come true, and they have to face some issues including Oz being unable to control the wolf in him, and Xander becomes invisible to his friends. This one is absolutely hilarious! 'I'm God'. 'Wish Id thought of that, I could have been God.' 'Blashphemer'.
'Dont taunt the fear demon' 'Why can he hurt me?' 'No, its just tacky.'
Beer Bad WORST EPISODE EVER. Supernatural beer turns Buffy and some college guys into cave people. Absolutely AWFUL!!!!!!
Wild at heart This is just a gorgeous episode. Oz finds himself attracted to Veruca and finds out that she is also a werewolf. Willow finds them together and the episode ends with Oz leaving Sunnydale, telling Willow that he cant control the wolf in him anymore.
The Initiative We find out about the government initiative that fights demons and preforms experiments on them, one of which was to put a chip in Spikes head meaning he can no longer bite anyone anymore, as he finds out when he tries to bite willow and is 'impotent'. Buffy's crush Riley turns out to be one of their main soldiers. 'Maybe you were nervous. Doesnt this happen to every vampire?'
Pangs Angel returns just as Buffy and friends are attacked by ancient indian spirits on thanksgiving, and they take spike as hostage. This one is a great one with loads of jokes about political correctness. Its practically impossible to pick the 'funniest line' because the whole script is a comedy bonanza, but I like this one: 'You mean... Angel? I saw him, too. ' 'That's not terribly stealthy of him. ' 'I think he's lost his edge.'
Something Blue A grieving Willow accidently casts a spell so that everything she says comes true. Xander becomes a literal demon magnet, Giles loses his sight, and Buffy and Spike fall in love and get engaged!
Hush One of the best, scariest, funniest Buffy episodes ever. Fairytale characters called the gentlemen come to sunnydale and steal all of the towns voices so noone can scream, then start to steal hearts. This is full of brilliant scenes, is original in that barely a word is spoken for the entire episode, and has the most creepy amazing score. The gentlemen are really scary especially the way they 'float' instead of walk. Buffy and Riley discover each others secret identies.
Doomed Its the end of the world again! Buffy and co have to return to the blown up site of Sunnydale high to stop some demons from destroying the world. Buffy is confused as to whether she should keep seeing Riley.
A New Man Giles is turned into a demon by Ethan Rayne and hunted down by Buffy who thinks he is a demon who killed Giles. The only person he can turn to for help is Spike. 'Do I have any special powers? Like setting things on fire with my sizzling eye beams?''You got parylysing mucous. Shoots out through the nose.'
The I in team Buffy starts to get more and more involved in the initiative, neglecting her friends. Maggie Walsh is concerned that Buffy is too close to Riley and asks too many questions, so she sets a trap and tells Riley she is dead, just as Buffy appears telling Walsh her plan failed. Walsh is speared to death by her frankenstein like creation Adam.
Goodbye Iowa After the death of Professor Walsh Riley suffers withrawal from the drugs he was fed by the initiative and starts to question everything and nearly cracks up. Adam starts to kill and examine children, and appears in the initiative telling them what he is and that he was created by Walsh to be the ultimate warrior from parts of demons.
This Years Girl One of the best things about Buffy, Eliza Dushku, returns as Faith wakes up from her coma set on revenge against Buffy. She attacks Joyce who is saved from Buffy, but Faith uses a gift from the dead mayor to switch bodies with Buffy.
Who are you? Faith wreaks havoc in Buffys body and Buffy is taken captive by the watchers council in Faiths body. Adam rallys local vampires to take over a church but Faith faces up to the responsibilities of being a slayer and kills them before Buffy escapes to switch their bodies back.
Superstar One of the funniest episodes ever, the entire Buffy history is rewritten so that geek Jonathan is an international legend and hero singer, vampire hunter and general lust object. Buffy is suspicous that he is too good to be true, and discovers that he has cast a spell to make himself great and loved, and made a demon in the process. The demon is killed and the world returns to normal.
Where the wild things are Buffy and Rileys passion unleashes the spirits of abused children at a house party, and the scoobies must save the day as Buffy and Riley are blissfully unaware.
New Moon Rising Oz returns and shows Willow he has found a way to stop the werewolf coming out. He finds out that Willow has been seeing wiccan Tara and turns back into the wolf. He is captures by the initative but freed by Riley who is then considered a traitor. He realises that Willow is the only thing that brings the wolf out and leaves again.
The Yoko Factor Angel returns to make things right with Buffy and ends up getting into a fight with a jealous Riley. Spike, working for Adam, causes the scoobies to argue and fall out to make them more vunerable, and Forrest is killed by Adam.
Primeval Adam is about to implement his plan to shut down the initiative and unleash demons to fight the soldiers so he will have parts to build his hybrid army. Scoobies put their differences aside and join their powers to make a super buffy who defeats Adam.
Restless The first slayer haunts them all in their dreams, murdering them one by one in their sleep. Buffy puts a stop to this in her dreams and is left with the cryptic line 'You think you know what you are whats the come, you havent even begun.' With hindsight this episode prophecises many of the events of the next year, including Dawns arrival, Xanders maturing, And Buffy and Joyce's deaths.
This is one of the weaker seasons of Buffy. The initiative didnt really work on the shows budget, it required more money to look flashy and credible and they dont pull it off. Adam is a pretty dull villain, even if he does look brilliant with some superb makeup and costume. More than anything the general themes of the season were just disliked as Xander and Giles play a much reduced role, fan favourite Oz left and it just didnt seem right without the gang being in high school anymore. Newcomer Riley was HATED by all Angel fans (most of Buffy's audience) and their romance just never seemed as good as Buffy and Angel's.
For someone who is new to Buffy, I would reccommend starting with another season over this one, although this is still full of witty clever lines, cool metaphors, drama, comedy, and the best action scenes on tv. The actors are fantastic as well.
For anyone who is already a fan of Buffy it is essential viewing as it sets up a whole new era in terms of the characters as they begin to mature and some of next season is set up in this one. It is vital to complete any collection!
This is worth it simply for 'Hush' my personal favourite Buffy ever, emmy nominated for a good reason.
BUY THIS!!!!!
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Enjoyed that read, there are obviously episodes I missed, I don't recall Buffy and Spike getting engaged and there were a few others there that I don't recall. I thought I had seen them all, but now I realise I haven't! Mil x
RazzaLazza 25.09.2006 02:00
Never been a fan of Buffy to be honest! Good review though. Rich
With high school now just a fleeting nightmare, Buffy (Sarah Michelle Gellar) graduates to ... more
college and finds not only new academic crises, but ghost-ridden ones as well. Buffy's boyfriend, Angel the vampire, is now dead to the real world as well, leavi...
Season Four sees Buffy Willow and Oz going to college at UC Sunnydale. Buffy immediately ... more
comes face-to-face with the leader of a gang of vampire thieves named Sunday. If that wasn't bad enough we learn that Buffy's roommate (who naturally has a Celin...
Postage & Packaging: £0.00 Availability: 3-5 working days
Advantages: Lots of stand alone episodes, hush, spike, the gang moving on from high school Disadvantages: Not the best overall series, beer bad, Riley & Adam
![Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season 4 (New Edition) [DVD]](http://picnica.ciao.com/uk/78502010.jpg "Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season 4 (New Edition) [DVD]")
Sep 23rd, 2006
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