Riley

[AustinA123]

Does anyone else think Riley is one of the worst character's on the show? What really bugged me during this season is that Riley is begging Buffy for attention when her mom is in the hospitial.

I don't remember the exact episode, but there was one where he was hugging her, and her mom called her, so she went in the room, and Riley got all sad and depressed. That annoyed me, she has more important things to do than hug...

 

[Silum]

Who likes Riley? - Buffy-Boards

🙂

Buffy-Boards - FAQ

 

[AustinA123]

Oops, I didn't see that topic. Sorry.

 

[Professor Walsh]

Jump into the thread and discuss 🙂 I'm happy to defend Riley. Even if I agree with Silum that he wasn't always an easy character to love, he's certainly loveable.

 

[Summerlilly]

Does anyone else think Riley is one of the worst character's on the show? What really bugged me during this season is that Riley is begging Buffy for attention when her mom is in the hospitial.

I don't remember the exact episode, but there was one where he was hugging her, and her mom called her, so she went in the room, and Riley got all sad and depressed. That annoyed me, she has more important things to do than hug...

No, I absolutely do not think Riley is one of the worst characters!!!! Buffy used Riley and Riley loved her. He was there for her every step of the way and she never ackowledged him or asked him for help. He just wasn't the one for her. She'll always love Angel! But Riley on his own was the perfect boyfriend. Too perfect for Buffy.

When she walked away from him when her mom called her it was a statement. It said without looking back, she didn't need him. Riley was a good guy... with feelings. Far more capable than Buffy gave him credit for. I feel bad for the guy. She may have had important things on her mind but Riley deserved more than he got from her. He deserved to be let in and to be trusted.

I heart Riley!:lmao:

 

[The_Final_Cylon]

Yeah Riley was the perfect boyfriend...if your idea of the perfect boyfriend is boring, self-obsessed and a complete idiot, then yeah perfect.
I personally think he is the worst character ever created on television.
And maybe, just maybe, if he hadn't been so god damn boring Buffy might have paid him more attention.

 

[Spuffy is true love]

Riley is definately one of the most annoying charecters, (prolly next in line after dawn) but i also think he was a necessary charecter. why do i say that? buffy needed to have a human relationship after angel. they had always touched on buffy could never be with a normal guy but never explored it completely. with riley they were able to show exactly why buffy could never have a normal relationship. In season 4 everyone thought it might work since Riley had semi-super powers, but everyone also knew that those would fade once they said they were caused by drugs. then he began to become normal and that's when Buffy had to take time out to watch him, look after him, and whatever else. annoying yes, necessary yes, one of the worst charecters of Season 5, yes, but of the series i don't think so.

 

[The_Final_Cylon]

I understand your point 'Spuffy is true love' and agree but surely she could have been put with a 'normal' guy that wasn't so whiney. I mean Xander was a normal human guy and had a lot more going for him.

 

[Spuffyy]

I love a good Riley or Dawn hating thread 😉

While I do think Riley's character was essential to the show I don't necessarily think RILEY was all that great. She did need a new relationship after Angel, human at that and it wasn't enough to give her a one night stand heartbreak, she needed a long haul boyfriend. Although, Riley wasn't very "normal" was he, seeing as how he was a super human type secret military demon hunter dude.. But whatever that. He was still annoying none the less. I'm not sure why he needed to have that background, but whatever again.

I dunno where I'm going with this, I'm too unfocused..

 

[Spuffy is true love]

Xander was a normal guy but he was whiney. I mean all through season 4 he was that way, and part the way through season 5 he was. there was no way in hell Buffy was gonna end up with Xander, and that is another thread for another time. Riley was as normal as the long haul guy could get. In don't kill a boy on the first date, she tries dating a normal normal guy and he ends up almost dying. she tries in season 3 with scott and that doesn't happen either. Riley was as normal as the long haul guy could be for Buffy. He had the Super Powers and could stick up for himself....had he kept those powers I think they would have been alright. but once he started losing those powers he became whiney and needy and everything that nobody wants in a significant other. Buffy always needed a guy who could live in her world without her having to take care of them, that's why Riley was perfect for buffy in the initiative, even though it was terrible, that is where he was perfect. He was in buffy's world taking care of himself, once the initiative was gone and he started losing powers is when he was in Buffy's world but could no longer take care of himself, just like with owen. Then when he tried to get back there with the vampires suckin' him she couldn't deal. Again, Riley would have been perfect if he still had the super powers.......like spike....lol

 

[Bob]

"she has more important things to do than hug... "

like get past second base 😉

 

[Grami]

Do people just hate Riley because he's not an undead/broody/sexy vampire? I mean I don't care for him either way - he's one of those characters that generates no response from me at all but I think he gets far too much stick on here and people will probably trash me cos hey I've had a bit to drink and don't know what I'm saying byt Riley is a REAL person. He is believable in his needy, whiny, selfish ways because thats what love does to a person. Especially unrequited love. You can love someone with all your heart and just not feel it back from them and it makes you resort to desperate measures like his stupid behaviour and such. Buffy did treat him like crap. It's her attitude that provokes such a response from him and it happens again with Spike. I think it's a mixture of both how much her relationship with Angel crippled her, the absence of her father and how she has to shut herself down in order to do her job as the slayer. It makes her oblivious to people's feelings, she takes and takes and is unable to give anything in return no matter how hard she tries. Riley is just playing the role of that little attention seeking kid who wants approval and praise and to be noticed only he's not getting it from her so his actions become more and more reckless. Rant over and I don't think Riley is a crappy character at all - I think everything he becomes is out of his own weakness to function without what he feels for Buffy - those feelings turn him into the pain in the arse he is in season 5.

There's far more pointless characters in the show imo because at least his character adds something to the show. It shows Buffy in a normal relationship and is part of the build up to her huge breakdown and spiral into depression that follows ontop of the death of her mum and her own 'death'.

 

[Zombierella]

I myself am not a huge fan of Riley, However if he was only in season 4 for a few episodes I wouldn't have minded as much. But he was in it for the whole damn thing. Which really urkes the crap out of me.

Buffy never truly loved him, and I think we all knew that from the beginning, Therefore keeping him around for so long was really quite pointless. What was the point? Even the whole Adam thing was getting annoying after a while. There are some episodes I like from season 4. But about half of it was pointless.

Btw..We do all know that Riley was in season 4 not season five, so having it in the season 5 section doesn't make sense right? Just wondering. I don't mean to sound rude, So I appologize if I may offend someone!

 

[Flannen]

Riley was in the first half of Season 5 and I think its put in this section because the OP refers largely to what Riley did in Season 5. That's what I'm guessing anyway.

I don't think he was the worst character! At all! And I don't always agree that Buffy never loved him. I think at times she thought she did, and therefore we thought she did. I can't remember what episode it is (Season 4 though) he says "I'm just so in love with you I can't think straight" and she smiles and replies "Tell me about it." And there is nothing in her tone or facial expression to suggest she isn't being sincere.

And I find that everyone getting annoyed at him for wanting "attention" when Joyce was ill is really unfair. He didn't want to take Buffy's attention away from Joyce, he wants her to need him and confide in him; which is generally what you do with a long term partner. I personally would be deeply hurt if my boyfriend was going through something that emotional and worrying and completely shut me out, which is what Buffy does. And because of that I feel for him in the episodes that lead up to him leaving.

If anything, I found him more irritating during the first half of Season 4 but he developed quite from the second part onwards.

 

[fly on the wall]

Does anyone else think Riley is one of the worst character's on the show?

No, he wasn't one of the worst. He was THE worst, by far.

I'd rather listen to S5 Dawn screeching "Get out get out get out!" a hundred times than watch Riley mope even for a moment.

Do people just hate Riley because he's not an undead/broody/sexy vampire?

Not at all, and I'm actually pretty sick of that argument as well, "You only hate him because he's not a vampire and he's normal!"
Nope, sorry, there's "normal" and then there's "Riley." The two aren't synonymous.

He is believable in his needy, whiny, selfish ways because thats what love does to a person.

Okay, and Angel was believable in his consuming, passionate love for Buffy, the "first love" love and all. And Parker was believable in his total college-jerkiness. And Spike was believable too - his obsession of wanting to kill Buffy transforming into an obsession of wanting Buffy...every character in the Buffyverse is believable in some way. But they aren't all whiny, complainy, insecure, and boring as Riley is. I don't care if he was a REAL person. They all behaved as REAL people, even the demons most of the time, and they weren't all as annoying as Riley!

Buffy did treat him like crap. It's her attitude that provokes such a response from him

Okay, I'm not saying Buffy was a saint to him, but I hated him long before his "responses" (I'm assuming you're talking primarily about his behavior in S5).
I hate him in S4. I hate everything about him. His corniness, his "Look at me! Look how wholesome I am!" attitude, his contrived lines (WHAT were the writers thinking?! The writers are usually brilliant at dialogue, but it's like they had a monkey write Riley's lines..a dumb monkey at that..), his ridiculously irritating insecurities ("My girlfriend's stronger than me! Waaahh!"), his selfishness ("My girlfriend won't put out while her mom's dying! WAAHH!"), his completely unreasonable jealousies ("WAHH! MY GIRLFRIEND HAD SEX WITH A GUY, ONCE, YEARS BEFORE SHE EVEN KNEW ME! WWWAAAHHH!!")...man, I'm getting angry just listing it all, and I haven't even talked about his stupid haircut yet..

Basically, Riley's actions S5 (the vamp whore business especially) and his boringness factor only a little bit in why I hate him. It was what he DID, not what he didn't do, and who he WAS, not who he wasn't, that made me hate him.

 

[Buffy Fan]

I hated Riley. He was just so annoying. I guess that was because it was like he had taken over from Angel and probably because Dawn hated him and I guess I just side with Dawn. It was like he was pretending to be perfect and taking up all of Buffy's time, and then you feel all protective and jealous because thats how her friends and Dawn are feeling. And he thought he was so cool with the initiative. ::grrr:: But I guess other people liked him because he was so friendly.

 

[Flannen]

I hated Riley. He was just so annoying. I guess that was because it was like he had taken over from Angel and probably because Dawn hated him and I guess I just side with Dawn. It was like he was pretending to be perfect and taking up all of Buffy's time, and then you feel all protective and jealous because thats how her friends and Dawn are feeling. And he thought he was so cool with the initiative. ::grrr:: But I guess other people liked him because he was so friendly.

I don't think Dawn hated Riley at all. I certainly never got that impression in Season 5, I always saw it as more to do with jealousy, towards Buffy having a boyfriend like Riley, not Riley himself.

And in 'As You Were' Dawn shows that she was clearly hurt that Riley left and angry at him for not saying goodbye. She wouldn't be upset about someone she hated leaving and she doesn't want him to leave again, she says to him: 'I didn't think it'd suck some much this time...but it does' (something along those lines)! 😛

But I never got the impression that Riley was a hated by any of the characters, apart from Spike, obviously! 😛

 

[BillyidolwannaB]

Riley could be a bit cringeworthy, and a bit lame, but never cool. He was like the puppet(or soldier, same diff) version of Wesleys Head Boy. Total dweeb.

 

[Buffy Fan]

I think maybe it wasn't actually Riley that I hated but the fact that he came after Angel and it was like he was trying to take his place (which I know he wasn't) like when your mum gets a new boyfriend and you hate him because you think he is trying to take your dads place was, which maybe is what it was getting at! :embaresse :lmao:

 

[Flannen]

Haha! Well I can relate to that! I felt exactly the same when Riley moved his blonde curtain in 😛 But when I got a bit older I came to terms with it! He's still no Angel though 😛 Nor is Spike, but again I began to appreciate that for what it was when I watched it again when I was a bit older and had taken those darn blinkers of 😛