Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Season 4, Episode 4: Fear, Itself
Written by David Fury; Directed by Tucker GatesOn the surface of it, this is just another fun but throwaway Halloween episode, but, watching it again, I was struck by the way in which it plays out a greatly condensed version of the seasonal arc of each of the main characters. The Fear Demon warns Buffy that her friends will all abandon her (she doesn't listen, of course), Willow struggles with her growing magical prowess and lack of control over it, Xander finds himself alone and ignored by his supposed friends, and Oz struggles to control the werewolf in him. And Giles wears a sombrero. Oh - we also get the first mention of Anya's fear of bunnies. More broadly, we see the main characters get split up because of their inability to see eye to eye, and then finally come back together in the end. For all the problems with Season 4's main plot, the character arcs at least were extremely well-developed.
Beyond the clever foreshadowing, this is a very well-directed and at times even slightly scary episode. There is some extremely creative use of camera angles and lighting effects, while a number of shots seem to be clear homages to the work of prominent horror directors, including Sam Raimi and Lucio Fulci.
Overall rating: 9/10.
Next time: Beer Bad, frequently considered to be one of the worst episodes of all time.
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