Buffy the Vampire Slayer S4 — Season 4

Is this my favourite Buffy season (up to this point) or am I just thrilled that I don't have to deal with the Buffy/Angel relationship anymore?! Hmm....

Favourite episodes are "Fear Itself" and its great atmosphere in the haunted house, "Something Blue" which offers so many great comedic moments especially with Spike and Buffy 'being in love'. "Hush" is the show's creepiest episode so far. The bickering between Giles and Spike in "A New Man" is highly entertaining. "Who Are You?" might be my overall favourite, I could watch hours of Sarah Michelle Gellar playing Faith in Buffy's body. "Primeval" was a satisfying conclusion to the Initiative storyline and gave me some very (necessary) sweets moments between Willow & Buffy.

Spike stole the season! To have him 'chipped' and become part of the main cast was one the best decisions they made for this show! He is hilarious and his dynamic with anyone is such a blast to watch.

I liked how they did Oz' departure and Tara is a great new love interest for Willow. Actually the main reason I started this is because of the (historic) lesbian represantation in it so it's great to finally witness it. It was done mostly tastefully, apart from the part in Xander's dream sequence in the last episode unfortunately.

I do wish they allowed Buffy to be single for longer or have her relationship be less important. because while Riley was overall okay - sometimes even likeable and fun - for the most part he was quite generic. He got too much screentime which I would have rather had go to more interactions between Buffy and her friends. Maybe even have her get to know Tara. They even adress it in the second last episode that she focused too much on Riley, yet that doesn't make it much better.

Faith's return was entertaning. The Initiative (and Adam's) plotline had its highs and lows. Overall there was 3 episodes I didn't like that much but even those weren't bad at all. And even though I liked her, Cordilia's absence isn't unwelcome. She fits better into the Angel spin-off anyway.

Flawed but great season!

The epsiodes get better and better and reach new heights in season 4. Joss Whendon shows that he's a really skilled screenwriter.

However, the decision to kill off (or spin off, respectively) Oz and Angel I do not get: while their replacements (Riley and Tara) are not bad, they for sure are not better! On a side note I have to say that the same is not true for Cordilia and Wesley: in my opinion, they never fit the Buffy cast to begin with and I think it's good riddance.

Hint: the episodes from Buffy 4 are always one episode behind the one's from Angel 1 (as is true with Buffy 5 and Angel 2).

Though the show falls apart a bit, Buffy the Vampire Slayer still delivers an entertaining fourth season. With the loss of its high school setting and half of its cast members, the show enters a bit of a rebuilding season as it establishes the college setting and Buffy’s new college friends. The story arc follows a secret government project called the Initiative (which is experimenting on demons), and while at first they seem a likely ally to Buffy and her team, before long they prove to be a threat. It’s an interesting concept, but the execution is extremely poor (especially for Joss Whedon). Even poorer still is the manner in which a main character is turned gay; which comes off more as a political stunt than real character development. Yet, there are some smart moves made this season, including adding James Marsters and Emma Caulfield to the cast. While Season 4 of Buffy the Vampire Slayer clearly suffers from having to support the Angel spin-off series, it still has its moments and eventually reinvents itself.