Buffy/Riley Appreciation

[prophecygrrl]

I'm doing a rewatch right now and I just finished up Season 4. I was so struck by how much I adored Buffy and Riley in Season 4! I know this is pretty unpopular, but they were cuties.

I don't think I quite count myself as a Briley shipper because I don't really like the direction of their relationship in Season 5, but I was really pleased to see them in Season 4. I think it's the healthiest relationship Buffy has in the series. I especially like that when she's with Riley, it's one of the few times in her life where sex isn't some world-ending doom (even when it is, they still had fun in Where the Wild Things Are 😉) and they're just enjoying themselves.

Is there anyone else who really likes Buffy/Riley out there? Let out your Buffy/Riley appreciation here 😀

 

[Living Dead Boy]

Buffy and Riley were awesome. End of. Especially in season four, so count me as a fan! 😀

 

[BuffyElevated]

I love love love Briley. I was so pissed off at the writers in Season 5 for ruining their relationship just so Spuffy could happen. Riley and Buffy were absolutely adorable together, and they worked. Until the writers decided to change Riley into a jealous, whiny, clingy person who only merely resembled the guy he was when we first met him.

 

[kittenpoker]

I love briley in season 4. I think Riley is an incredible character filled with integrity, and amazing courage.

 

[Taake]

I like Buffy and Riley together and watching him leave, and the reasons for which he does it, are always hard for me to watch. I don't think they would have lasted in the long run but I think their relationship is sweet and lovely for the most part 🙂

 

[Cheese Slices]

I kinda liked them in season 4. Although this wasn't the most fascinating ship ever, they were very cute and "normal", and Buffy needed that after what happened with Angel.
Season 5 made me dislike the couple though, I could't stand Riley's ways and neediness.
As for the duration of the relationship, I don't think it would've lasted, and I don't think they made him leave to give Spuffy a shot IMO , they did so because it was getting boring (and also because Riley was acting like a jerk).

 

[Tome]

Briley is my favorite ship for Buffy. 🙂 So yay! Totally agree with you! Mucho appreciation for them.

 

[brinkster130]

Briley is my second favorite Buffyverse ship. I absolutely adore them! 😀 Even though I doubt they would have made it in the long run, I'm glad they got the chance to explore the feelings they had and I love that they remained friends after their split up.

 

[prophecygrrl]

I loved them in my rewatch! Omg, I loved them so much this time around. Even though I still ship Spike/Buffy, I really liked seeing Buffy happy with a normal boyfriend who also adored her. 😀 Aww.

Their relationship in Season 5 puts me off a bit, mostly because that's the point when I feel that they wouldn't be able to last? Even back in Season 4 there's hints of Riley's dissatisfaction with their relationship. I can get Riley's POV there, because loving someone who doesn't love you back the way you want them to can drive you to do some pretty terrible things- hence the vampire prostitutes. When Briley's good, though, it's good. It just puts me in a good mood when I see them together. Even if I personally don't like the later direction of their relationship, I enjoy them when I can. 😀

Look at the way she looks at him! Adorable.

 

[PassionBecoming]

I like Buffy and Riley together and watching him leave, and the reasons for which he does it, are always hard for me to watch. I don't think they would have lasted in the long run but I think their relationship is sweet and lovely for the most part 🙂

Pretty much my feelings on it. I loooove Riley and love them together!

 

[VisionGirl]

I too am a Briley fan. I get more mad at Buffy than Riley though. She never truly opens up to him, she doesn't let him in. And that paired with everything that happened with the Initiative at the end up season 4 leads him to a really bad place. But in general, Riley is good for Buffy, which says a lot in comparison to her other relationships. It is Riley after all who snaps Buffy out of her depression in season 6. And his loyalty to her in season 8 is amazing. Too bad she never really was able to return the feelings, but you can't force yourself to love someone that you don't I guess.

 

[Cheese Slices]

It is Riley after all who snaps Buffy out of her depression in season 6. And his loyalty to her in season 8 is amazing. Too bad she never really was able to return the feelings, but you can't force yourself to love someone that you don't I guess.

Agree with your last sentence but disagree on Riley's importance in season 6. Sure he did help her as a sort of reminder of who she used to be, but it wasn't like he came and suddenly everything was sunshine and lollipops. Buffy is the one who got Buffy snapping out of Buffy's depression 🙂 (although people like Spike, Dawn and Riley certainly helped).

 

[This Year's Girl]

I've rewatched season 4 the last couple of days! 🙂

Here's my feelings: I don't like Riley. I don't DISLIKE him, I just... he's too traditional for my taste, with the army and some of his values. I don't want to get in to that any further though, since this is a appriciation thread, I'm not here to diss one of the persons in the relationship. 🙂 What I wanted to say is that dispite my feelings towards Riley I do think that Briley were a good couple in many ways. Even though it got out of hand in season 5, the season 4 relationship was stabile and cute. Buffy deserved a guy she could trust and that didn't play games or created drama, and at the beginning I think she got that from Riley. You could tell that they were very in love, which I found very sweet to watch.

I also think Riley could be quite funny in his own way, (like when Angel comes back and Ruley refuses to leave the room and instead Angel and Buffy leave and Riley is standing in the room looking all grumpy and goes "I'm not moving a muscles". Lol, little cutie!), which brought dynamic to the couple. 🙂

 

[Cheese Slices]

I also think Riley could be quite funny in his own way, (like when Angel comes back and Ruley refuses to leave the room and instead Angel and Buffy leave and Riley is standing in the room looking all grumpy and goes "I'm not moving a muscles". Lol, little cutie!), which brought dynamic to the couple. 🙂

Yeah, he can have some bad dialogue at times, but I don't get when people say he's not funny, because he is most of the time.
Lines such as : "Well, you said, "Come over tomorrow and we'll hang," and then I said, "Okay." Not the invasion of Normandy, but still a plan."
or "I'm an anarchist" 😀

 

[prophecygrrl]

I do think Riley gets some unfair flack for not being Angel or Spike. I remember my initial reaction (first watch) to him was automatic dislike because at that point I was still hoping for Angel, haha. 😀 I don't like everything about him (also probably won't go into details here), but for the most part I think he was a pretty okay guy. He was funny, sweet, cute, and he genuinely loved Buffy. The last one is my favorite aspect of him, lol.

I also agree that I don't see their relationship lasting- for me, Season 5 is exactly where it should've ended. But that's just another part of what I like about it? Kind of weird, I know, to like something that ends like it does. But it's Buffy's second serious relationship ever, and it's important to her at an important period of her life, and that means it also has to end. It's something that helps her mature and take on life after high school, lets her see what a relatively normal relationship can be like, and it's something that also helps Riley break free of some of the more rigid restrictions in his life. I kinda disagree that their relationship ended to make room for Spuffy, or Bangel, or whatever other relationship. It ends to make room for Buffy, and for Dawn. I was watching the special features for Season 5 yesterday, and in the Season 5 recap Joss says that the writers agreed that Buffy's love interest for Year 5 would be her sister. Out of context that sounds a little weird, but what he was saying was that her focus in Season 5 would be herself as the Slayer and her unconditional love for Dawn. Just a few episodes after Riley leaves, in "I Was Made to Love You", Buffy says as much because she identifies with both Warren and April throughout the episode, and it bothers her:

Buffy: No... people are the strangest people. I mean, look at me obsessing about being with someone. It's like... I don't need a guy right now. I need me. I need to get comfortable being alone with Buffy.

Xander: Well, I'll say this, she's a pretty cool person to be alone with.

All in all, I think being with Riley helped Buffy very much in a lot of different ways, and I love the relationship when it's at its cutest 😛, but I still think it needed to end. Which is not to say that it was a "bad" relationship or anything like that. I still look at it as an important part of both of their lives and something to enjoy for as long as it lasts.

 

[VisionGirl]

Agree with your last sentence but disagree on Riley's importance in season 6. Sure he did help her as a sort of reminder of who she used to be, but it wasn't like he came and suddenly everything was sunshine and lollipops. Buffy is the one who got Buffy snapping out of Buffy's depression 🙂 (although people like Spike, Dawn and Riley certainly helped).

I completely disagree about Spike "helping" Buffy out of her depression, but alas that's a different thread altogether.

Yeah, he can have some bad dialogue at times, but I don't get when people say he's not funny, because he is most of the time.
Lines such as : "Well, you said, "Come over tomorrow and we'll hang," and then I said, "Okay." Not the invasion of Normandy, but still a plan."
or "I'm an anarchist" 😀

"Psychologically this is fascinating. Doesn't it make everyone want to lock them in separate rooms and do experiments on them? Just me then."

"What's a little sweater-sniffing between sworn enemies?"

 

[MikeyTheWatcher]

They were adorable! I love me some Buffy and Riley!

 

[Cheese Slices]

I completely disagree about Spike "helping" Buffy out of her depression, but alas that's a different thread altogether.

It's a bit off topic so I'm not going to discuss it further, I'll just say that he's the one that prevented her from dying, not only in OMWF, but in the entire beginning of the season. If that's not help, I don't know what it is. Post-Smashed is another thread, although I can still see good in it.

Anyway, Riley is a great guy, especially in season 4. Go Riley ! 😀

 

[nightshade]

I like Buffy/Riley, but I would have liked it more if they had filled out Riley better, made him more than just Buffy's boyfriend in season 5