Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Season 4 (1999-2000)
Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Season 4
Season 4 reviews:- Episode 1: The Freshman 8/10
- Episode 2: Living Conditions 5/10
- Episode 3: The Harsh Light of Day 8/10
- Episode 4: Fear, Itself 9/10
- Episode 5: Beer Bad 5/10
- Episode 6: Wild at Heart 9/10
- Episode 7: The Initiative 8/10
- Episode 8: Pangs 6/10
- Episode 9: Something Blue 8/10
- Episode 10: Hush 10/10
- Episode 11: Doomed 5/10
- Episode 12: A New Man 6/10
- Episode 13: The I in Team 7/10
- Episode 14: Goodbye Iowa 7/10
- Episodes 15 and 16: This Year's Girl/Who Are You? 8/10 and 10/10
- Episode 17: Superstar 4/10
- Episode 18: Where the Wild Things Are 5/10
- Episode 19: New Moon Rising 9/10
- Episodes 20 and 21: The Yoko Factor/Primeval 8/10
- Episode 22: Restless 10/10
And there you have it. Buffy's final season draws to a close, leaving a rather eclectic list of episodes, some of which are masterpieces, some flawed but enjoyable, and some that should have been strangled at birth. Combining the scores for each episode gives an average of 7.41/10, which is slightly lower than Season 2's 7.5 and Season 3's 7.67, which, in terms of overall enjoyment, is about right. Looked at as a story of Buffy fighting a formidable opponent, Season 4 is definitely weaker than its predecessors.
As a piece of character drama, however, I'd argue that it's the best yet. By the end of the season, none of the characters are in the same position as they were at the start, and the organic nature of their development clearly shows how strong the writing was at this stage. The biggest changes, unsurprisingly, affect Willow, who from this point on is virtually unrecognisable as the same character that we met in Episode 1 of Season 1. The others change considerably too, with even more minor characters like Anya receiving a fairly comprehensive arc, but the most attention has quite clearly been lavished on Willow. On average, I've written far more material in my reviews for this season than either of the first three, which is almost entirely due to the character development and their increasingly complex relationships.
There are, however, two notable exceptions to this: Riley and Spike. As I said before, Riley is a perfectly harmless guy, and one who would probably be very easy to relate to in the real world. As a fictional character in a television show, however, he's as dull as ditchwater and definitely deserving of the title by which many viewers know him, "Captain Cardboard". The fact that he is strongly connected to the Initiative plot helps to cushion this, since he at least serves narrative purpose, although I suspect that in Season 5, where he really has no reason to exist, he will become considerably harder to tolerate (although luckily he leaves before that season reaches the half-way mark). Spike, meanwhile, is a powerful character when used properly, but he spends much of the fourth season relegated to the role of comic relief. In Season 5, his arc is handled much better, as he begins to redeem himself, but here, I have a hard time believing that the gang would allow someone who has on numerous occasions tried to kill them to live, simply because he can no longer hit back.
I'll be the first to point out that the writers had an extremely hard job this year. In terms of character development, they set the bar ambitiously high and yet managed to clear it with flying colours. At the same time, though, they suffered the inevitable setbacks that result in not one but two actors demanding to be released from their contracts with only a single episode's notice. No-one is going to be unaffected by such monumental problems, and it's something of a miracle that the season holds together as well as it does.
At the same time, though, I'm going to reiterate what I've been saying all along, and that's that the Initiative plot simply doesn't work. It was probably never a good idea, so I'm not going to blame the execution for its flaws. As it stands, Buffy, whose whole mythos is steeped in fantasy and fairytales, simply doesn't work when put up against technology, the military and all the other things that would be more at home on The X-Files. It doesn't help that Joss Whedon's view of these things is extremely comic book-inspired, which rarely gels with the realism conveyed when you shoot a show in live action, and more often than not just looks a bit silly. (And Buffy is always a show that has skirted the line separating comedy from silliness, often successfully, so the fact that I'm calling the Initiative ridiculous just goes to show how botched the whole concept is.)
Ultimately, as a piece of character drama, I love Season 4. Buffy successfully makes the transition from high school into the real world, and the progression of the characters does a solid job of setting up the even greater changes that will take place in Season 5. It's definitely not firing with all its cannons, though, and so, as much as I like what the writers did with the characters, it's impossible to deny that they seriously botched the main villains and their portrayal. As such, while Season 4 contains my two favourite episodes ever, it ranks below Seasons 2, 3 and (I suspect) 5 overall.
Next, it's on to Season 5, which I previously considered to be my second favourite, after Season 2. Given that Season 3 has superseded Season 2, though, it's anyone's guess how things will balance out. Onward!
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