That little scream Giles does when Spike startles him is 10/10

I think Spike gave the most accurate name for Riley "Captain Cardboard".

Unfortunately, Riley's behavior towards Buffy foreshadows his later behavior... He always blames her for his own insecurities and it frankly pisses me off.

"She's petting Tara's kitty..." *oh you!*

The periodic reminder of "By the way, Forrest is still dead. You forgot again, didn't you?" had me in stitches.

There's something that I never really considered before. There's one other major character apart from Spike who is a highly perceptive manipulator - Angelus. It makes sense that Spike would use these kind of methods given who his teacher was, and it's fitting that Angel shows up in this episode, even if he has nothing to do with the Spike part of the plot.

Oh my god! The montage of Freebird, first I thought it was funny but then I was crying and then Spike scared the hell out of Giles and I was laughing again. Soooo good.

The best part of this entire episode was drunk Giles. Especially the scene where everyone starts fighting, and Giles says to Buffy: "You haven't been training with me. He's going to kick your ass." Maybe one of my favorite Giles lines of the entire series.

Gotta say, Angel beating the ever unholy hell out of Riley is the best thing ever in my honest opinion. My only nitpick is that it was too short lived. Also, definitely agree with you on the bit about Riley's copout about loving her so much he can't think straight. So bs.

I loved the 'I love you' point, I think the only time Buffy says she loves Riley is in Angel episode 'Sanctuary' when trying to hurt Angel during their big fight. Spike could've learnt some of the manipulation skills from Angelus too, as it is stated in Angel season 4 as part of what made Angelus so dangerous was his ability to manipulate, to 'lie with the truth'

The first time around I wasn't that bothered with the Buffy and Angel romance, or even the Angel character, but when it was clear we were getting a boyfriend fight here I vividly remember yelling: Kick his ass Angel!

The part of this episode that I always remember is Riley's "Wait, this is what he's like when he's GOOD?"

Angel kicking the shit out of Riley is the highlight of this episode.

"Because I'm so in love with you I can't think straight" is manipulative gaslighting speak for "You get a red flag and YOU get a red flag. EVERYONE gets a red flag!"

Spike absolutely sparkles (non Twilight way) in this episode! His borderline sociopathy is real a joy to behold! 💖💖💖💖💖

That Freebird segment slayed me. Additionally, can we make Adam's "these are lies" a thing? I feel like it needs to be a thing. Great analysis Ian!

I never really caught the masculine/feminine, tech/magic theme before. Makes me appreciate the season a bit more even though initiative arc falls flat for me. I love evil Spike. “Because I'm so in love with you I can't think straight.” YIKES and YUCK. That scene always bugs me and it doesn't help that it comes after seeing Sarah and David act together again, their chemistry is so effortless. Excited for the Restless guide.

Despite having quite possibly the worst arc of all the seasons, season 4 has still long been my favourite, due almost solely to all the charm, charisma and... well, Spike. Very much looking forwards to your take on Restless.

"You have a catnip problem!" ... Huh. Stop it, Ian. I can't take it.

Awww. I love how you describe Buffy as a once-in-a-lifetime girl. She is 😊 Post season 7 some ppl are so harsh about her.

Oh my God, I literally forgot Forrest died! I was under the assumption that he just leaves with Riley. I have no memory of his death in the show lol

You didn't include the bit with Buffy throwing Angel and Riley across the room? Or about how Angel and Buffy get a slightly more satisfying conclusion in this episode? Darn. I know you can't cover everything but those were two of my favorite bits. Though I am glad you put in Miss Kitty Fantastico and "Tara's your girlfriend?!" / "Bloody hell!".

I love that you hate Riley (and anyone, for that matter) not taking responsibility for their own feelings! I can't deal with it when people try to shift their own jealousy issues onto their partner ('you just make me so cRaZyy!!1' UGH), when it's really on them.

"These are lies" killed me.

Once again 11/10

When Angel and Riley are about to fight the second time the background music builds then immediately dies out once Buffy throws them across the room.

Yet another reason on the list of why I dislike Xander. He blatantly left out key parts of Buffy’s history with Angel and the curse, and to make it worse, it wasn’t even his place to tell the story. Also, I love your commentary on Riley’s... ahem... “apology.” Spot on.

Buffy's fear of love leading to loss and isolation started with her dad abandoning her

Colonel van Not Walsh 🤣🤣😂

Bits I loved: - Spike can be dangerous even if he can't hurt people (S6 - > Spike - Buffy) - #PENISANGLE - Angel asks Buffy if she's OK, Riley doesn't - - - how could I miss this??? I thought 'just a girl' echoes the basis of the show, as in men not giving credit to women or simply underestimating them. See also werewolf hunter in Phases and boy in alleyway in The gift. Xander believing that Buffy and Willow was laughing at him, I think if one has inferiority and self esteem issues, and those would be openly called out, mentioned as Spike did, they would definitely freak out and believe almost anything. Xander has been insecure about not being in school, or having a decent job, so when Spike says his friends not only noticed but agree and make fun of him, it is natural that he reacts as he does. His insecurities has been reinforced and that sets him off and puts logic, trust or friendship aside. Now if he would have had a week to think about it and digest this information he might have had doubts whether Buffy and Willow truly done that or question Spike's agenda, but he only had a few hours.

I love the Giles non spoiler spoilers 😍🤣🙈

Love it as all was! Wish you had discussed the Bangel moment more, I agree that it doesn’t fix what happened in sanctuary but it says a lot about their relationship and them as individuals that they always make the effort (In the Dark, Pangs,Sanctuary, the Yokohama Factor, The Body).

Riley’s just a boy in love He can’t be held responsible for his actions He has no underlying issues to address He’s certifiably cute and adorably obsessed!

This 'Freebird' edit is pure magic! It shows the essence of their relationship in such a really beautiful way!

Sorry to jump ahead: Truth be told, were the Slayer origin in "Get It Done" introduced earlier, then that would have opened some interesting avenues for Adam as a character, not only as a obstacle, because like Adam, the Slayers are outcasts and overall cut off from societt. Because i do find the Frankenstein trope to be fascinating. It's a shame it's used here in service of a villain for his strength, rather than having an identity

I love all of Giles's drunken lines in the big fight scene at the end. They're all just really funny and kind of distracted me from the fighting going on between the other three.

This review is dead on. Great points. To add to the Riley “because I love you so much I can’t think straight” it reminded me of your comparison of Angel/Buffy selfless love and Spike/Drusilla possessive love. Riley wants to possess and control Buffy, because that’s what the initiative has taught him is love and family. And because he’s a putz.

That Giles bit made me cry in public. Why do this to me Ian

Cant wait! Cant wait! Cant wait! Been having TPN review withdrawls

The scene between Spike and Adam really brings out how great Spike is as a character, compared to Adam.

Once again an outstanding video!!!! I had forgotten how much I liked this episode and you reminded of the reasons why. One small quibble. Giles is always smoldering when he sings no matter what the song choice. I go straight on fan girl when I hear Anthony sing. 💓💖

Loved the Giles montage.

Dude you killed me with the Freebird montage 😢😭

Why the long shot of Willow stroking Tara's... ooooooh.

Am I the only one who thought it was a little strange that Xander, Willow’s oldest friend, learned about her and Tara so vicariously and he didn’t mind that she never told him anything about it before? It’s been long established that Xander resents being left out of the loop, even in that scene he is mad that Buffy and Willow are more close and honest with each other than with him. It’s not that it’s not a funny scene, but the fact that he had never talked about with Willow on screen- the way Buffy does in the next episode, seemed honestly odd to me, especially given Xander and Willow’s past and short dalliance after Homecoming.

"this is stupid nonsense." completely true but also the bluntness made me laugh so much!

Yassssss TPN Daddy

OMFG how did I never see the foreshadowing of the Freebird song? 😩

I wonder if they could just have explained Riley's ridiculous jealousy with his disillusionment in the Initiative and his whole belief system. All that he believed in crashed down around him and he had to hide out in the basement of a blown-up school. It's not a stretch that what would normally have been a little insecurity that he could have dealt with on his own, might develop into a bigger issue as he tries to hold on to what little he has left in his ever-increasing feeling of powerlessness. But no. They went with cringey dumb love-talk.

Wood fights an epic battle against watery milk 😂😂😂 Haaaaaaaaa! Also, I love your dead-on, feminist breakdown of Riley's I'm so in love with you I can't see straight line. Too many controlling actions/tendencies are framed as romantic. I think you might really be onto something about Riley's (perhaps) latent control issues. And I *adore* your reading of the significance of Angel being the only one to ask after her injury and the fact Buffy doesn't say I love you back. The series is littered with these hints that Bangel will always love each other. And its nice foreshadowing of next season and Riley's declaration of how Buffy feels about him. The Giles Freebird as foreshadowing montage was upsetting and brilliant. Do you think the writers were going for that or it was happy coincidence? Lastly, I love how you called out Spike as truth teller and called him a manipulator instead. That is so spot-on. Joss referred to Spike as the new Cordelia i.e. Truth Teller for s4, but it never quite held together. And that's why. Spike was speaking entirely from self-interest/self-indulgence.

Poor Kitty Fantastico... the scooby that got so little air time.

Giles' freebird is everything, so sad there is no full version withought the interuption

Whenever I watch this episode I like to watch the Angel vs Riley fight scene 2 or 3 times because I love watching Riley get his ass kicked. Must be schadenfreude.

Ah, one of those episodes that was a double punch of "This is why I hate Xander" and "This is why I hate Riley", all wrapped up in a bow. Well...check that. It's PART of why I hate Xander. There are so many reasons that you can't fit them all into just one episode. Especially since he can't both be a judgey, self-righteous douchebag AND be able to fall for Spike's manipulation at the same time.

Thank you for leaving in the totally of Giles' FreeBird. ❤ I actually prefer his rendidion to the actual song. And Spike makes sure it doesn't drone on like said original has a tendency to.

Excellent Ian, not even done yet and I have to thanks for giving the correct Riley response when he (the writers) came out with the stock be-smitten don't blame me blargh.

"I like Helter skelter" might be my favorite line in the whole series

And this just highlights my issues with Xander throughout the series. He is either oblivious or intentionally awful.

Why is Spike, who is a vampire, feigning being out of breath before going to disrupt the Scoobies? Bearing in mind he's a vampire?

As always an amazing guide! I love how you talked about Spikes manipulation of the scoobies.

I feel like Xander just sees himself in Riley. Xander is always slow on catching on in conversation. So I read this scene as Xander waiting for Riley to catch on to what Xander is saying even though he should already know. Besides how many times had Dawn spoiled something? Way more than Xander, I think. And he still gets all this hate. All these characters are flawed and make mistakes. Xander's mistake are the ones most closely based in reality. But in my opinion dont deserve anymore hate than any other.

I don't think Riley meant "Jealousy just happens". I think when he said "Sometimes stuff happens between exes" he meant that sometimes people allow the old spark that lingers between themselves and their former lovers to flare up momentarily. That line was more about him believing that it was possible that Buffy had slept with Angel in _Sanctuary._ Consider that Riley also makes it clear that he believes Angel is Angelus again; thanks to Xander, he knows how that works. Riley wasn't defending his jealousy (not with _that_ particular line anyway). He was presenting his suspicions.

It's weird how Xander is supposed to be Whedon's standin, yet seems to be intentionally written as a selfish mess. I know Whedon had his infiedelities and all, but even i wouldn't say Xanders views on women reflect Whedon 100%. It's so damn odd

"These are lies." is my new favorite reaction clip. Along with WHATS HAPPENING!?

I feel Riley’s comment blaming Buffy is a character trait that suits him. Plus his trust issues aren’t with the Initiative because he’s trained to obey them, “be a good boy”; I feel like it makes sense he’s less trusting after separating from them and because Buffy is all he has now. He leans on her so when her ex comes to town... It’s ridiculous and macho and flawed and stubborn. And that’s okay for the character. It’s not out of character. And it’s not out of character for Buffy to accept his answer for the honest admission of love that it is.

Yay! You have graced us with another fantastic video!

Your channel is the only one with notifications on, love it!

Thank you for making these, you are gold.

these vids are so well edited - kudos

Hell yeah Ian! You the man! This made my Tuesday!

Why am I crying at the Free bird Buffy montage?!

Thank you for all the work you put in to make these, I love them so much, always a highlight when a new episode comes out. Just wanted to show you some appreciation! ❤️

I will never stop being sad that Giles never guested on Angel if only so he could do karaoke at Lorne's bar. Maybe even do a duet.

It makes my day when I see a new video from you. They are always insightful, thought provoking and amusing. Many warm thanks for all your work.

Nearly done with season 4, soon on to my favourite season! Well done, as always, Ian!

And so we see, Spike is the best bad-guy, clearly.

Another fantastic review! Man, I can't WAIT for Restless

Bloody Hell!

2:39 NOOOOO I WAS NOT PREPARED TO CRY TODAY, that actually hurt me oh god

Bravo sir, bravo!

Oooooh, that sublime fight! It's what I adore the most about this episode!! I'm telling you, I live for arguments between beloved main characters!! Thanks, Ian!!

This is one of those episodes where Riley is at his most Riley. Pretty but empty and meaningless words that sound just romantic enough to distract from the fact that Riley is little more than a mass of insecurities, jealousies, and overt possessive neediness. First time through the series this is easy to overlook or dismiss. But it becomes all the more apparent when you look at just about any show that has popped up on the WB and CW since Buffy ended. By itself Buffy and most of Whedon's work is great. But when you look at all the imitators and copy cats in pop culture who blindly followed the plots and trappings of his works without any respect or acknowledgement of the themes and subtext of the work you see that a few toxic and annoying trends have risen to the surface of most network melodramas these days. One possible saving grace for this is that Riley is quite literally engaging in the same fatalistic "Bangel Speak" scenes from earlier seasons, and Buffy almost always responds with calm, mature, and level headed counter points. If it weren't for the show trying to convince us that Riley is a real character his scenes would be a perfect way for Buffy to grow as a person by acknowledging that he looks at her the same way she looked at Angel and how that mindset doomed the relationship from the start. But we never got that realization because Riley gobbled up too much damn screen time and didn't get killed off nearly fast enough. On a related note, this is why I stopped watching Supergirl after Mon El ruined Season 2. Every episode that season had a tacked on scene near the beginning with Mon El acting like Parker, then they moved on with the actual plot, then each episode ended with him doing the same lost puppy dog eyes "I'm so in love with you that I can't be held accountable for my douchebaggery." shtick that Riley did here and in just about all his other scenes with Buffy. I could put up with this once for a great show that told an empowering story. I can't put up with it again for a lesser show that only feigned empowerment, and ignored all the themes and narratives crucial to telling an actually empowering story.

Riley and Angel being children omg 😂😂😂

Fantastic Ian, as expected, keep doing the videos YOU want as they are truly brilliant. Also, I'm very much longing for a Passion of the Nerd // Still Dead crossover - I cannot even imagine the discussions.

Brilliant :-) Amazing as always mate!

I imagine your take on Restless will be quite long. My elder sister and I have been a Buffy fan for at least 18 years, and if I can talk about Restless for around 45 minutes, I can't imagine what you'll say on it. Almost every scene in that episode has some deep meaning

loved the editing in this review

I'm so ready for u t o get to s5!Great episode!:)

you're definitely right S4 mightily struggled with its ark, talking about the cast departures David Boreanaz (who left the show in style) and Charisma Carpenter left for the spin-off Angel, and several new characters were brought in to fill their shoes: Anya (introduced in S3, but not yet a "series regular"), Spike, Riley & Tara. Seth Green stayed for the first few episodes before leaving in "Wild at Heart"

I waited so long for this

Good review. Decent first part to a two parter. It had a lot to live up to when you consider previous two parters throughout the show.

Awesome work and always 😊. When you do the conclusion of "the initiative" episode, I strongly recommend capturing the "burn it to the ground...and salt the earth" scene.

*(S6 Spoilers)* Willow: (to cat) You have a catnip problem! You: "Huh" *shows flash of Buffy walking in on Dark Willow killing Warren* 😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂

I actually think it would make sense if Xander joined the military. It would tie in the previous military references and if Xander secretly likes the idea of being a soldier that might explain why he held on to the memories from turning into his Halloween costume when no one else did. I've been trying to think of ways season 4 could have been better and I think Xander joining the initiative would be the perfect thing to make us care about them. I can see why it would appeal to him, normal human men fighting the monsters. And I can imagine Xander trying to tell Buffy she can stop being the slayer because he and the guys have it handled. She can just settle down and be his wife if she doesn't have to fight monsters 🙄

Huzzah! Another Buffy analysis! Thumbs up! (I'm an old fart, but I love these vids, and bought and read the $.99 Kindle book you recommended immediately upon finding your channel years back.)

I love your Buffy reviews. I wish you could review Buffy, Angel, Firefly and Dollhouse - all at once. I know it's impossible but I hope you'll get there one day.

Buffy doesn't say it back? Maybe not word-for-word but she agrees, saying: "Tell me about it.". And, yes, I forgot Forrest was dead, too.😂

Almost in season 5 my favorite season and also season 2 of Angel another favorite season for that show as well

A fuckin' amazing episode! And damn Anthony Head singing is always a win.

l've always enjoyed this ep and, as always, you make me see so much more in it, Ian. Fantastic job, pulling it all together! "Stupid sexy mouth"! hahaha...