tvthatdoesntsuck

Buffy’s faced off against a master vampire, her boyfriend gone psycho, and The Mayor of Sunnydale.  None of those compare to her biggest challenge… going to college and not jumping the shark.

BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER - SEASON FOUR 

“There were a lot of changes in Season Four of “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” and, if we’re going to be rational, it SHOULD have jumped the shark. If any–yes, ANY other show–made this many changes, it wouldn’t survive. But Buffy did.

THE CHANGES

+ Sunnydale High is left behind for college: Buffy and Willow go to college and meet new people, and the main setting for the past three season’s is abandoned. Xander and Giles are sort of ‘left-behind’ in this Season and each of them feel a lot of angst from being separated from the way they knew how to live, but they get their fair share of screen time. The University of California, Sunnydale, proves to be a somewhat satisfying setting.

+ THE DEPARTURE OF THREE MAIN CHARACTERS
+ Angel leaves: This is the event that has the most impact on the season, leaving Buffy single and ready to mingle. This shatters everything we knew about Buffy, but in the end it works. Angel has his own show, and the division of worlds is now quite entertaining.
+ Cordelia leaves: Cordelia leaves the show and joins the cast of “Angel” and this, again, works. While I do miss the Xander/Cordelia relationship, Anya fills in her shoes very nicely, without copying the way her character acted.
+ Oz leaves: This was nothing if not crucial to the arc of this Season. The episodes (two of them) in which Oz leaves are tender tear-jerkers, which is absolutely needed.

+ Buffy has a new love interest: Riley Finn is okay. Truth be told, I thought I’d hate him. I mean, who has the nerve to try to replace Angel? Not this guy. And, he doesn’t. He doesn’t replace Angel at all, because it is clear Buffy will always love him. However, Riley does make his own imprint on Buffy’s life, and he is truly not a bad character. I grew to like Riley early on in the Season, but I have to say that I absolutely loathe that he was put in the Main Credits, along with Buffy, Xander, Willow, Spike, and Giles.

+ Spike changes: This was handled well. The “Spike turns Good” arc begins in this Season, and at first I thought it was going too fast: Spike gets a chip planted in his head that prevents him from harming humans, so he winds up sitting down with the Scooby Gang to Thanksgiving Dinner? It happens, but after that things grow turbulent again, and the audience becomes unsure whether to root for or against Spike, and it’s a very entertaining conflict. Spike is the scene-stealer this season, no doubt.

Other than the changes that went well, this Season as a few good points and a few weak points.

Good villain: Adam was cool. When I saw his picture in the box of the Season, I was very disappointed. But when seen in action, he is nothing short of, to put it as he would, “interesting.” It takes a lot to live up to the Master, Angelus (and Spike/Drusilla), and the Mayor, but Adam definitely works for this Season.

Iffy Arc: The arcs of Season Two and Three were so significant, so intertwined, that it would have been impossible to make this arc as good. There are some very good parts to it though, such as the struggle with the Initiave, Spike’s redemption or fall, and Willow/Tara “doing spells together.” There just wasn’t much development to Buffy’s character. A bit too much time was focused on Riley, I believe.

PS: We’re pretending that the appallingly silly episode “Superstar” doesn’t exist.

8/10″

VERDICT: It isn’t Season Two/Three, but it’s a damn sight better than anything you have on your shelf at any given time.  Buy it before I buy it just to smack you with it.

NEXT TIME: Buffy Season Five.

*static*

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