what did everyone think of s4?

Season 4 was my least favourite season of all. Notice I said "least favourite", rather than "worst" because I still enjoyed it. However with te exception of Hush and the last 3 episodes there wasn't much to write home about. Having said that, I still loved it and the "worst" season of Buffy is still better than the "best" season of most other shows.
 
I didn't like it too much, it's kinda boring. I think is probably cuz season 3 was too much action and cool things.
But in this season Oz leaves and the Tara/Willow thing was a surprise!
Also the return of Spike is great.
 
I just started re-watching Season 4...I finished the first disc (up to Fear Itself) and I really feel this season (atleast at the beginning) shows the true transition from high school to college. I had a horrible roommate like buffys...she kinda looked like Kathy too, but as far as I know wasn't a demon. Met some @**holes like Parker, and felt alone a lot at the beginning. I'll update as I get more into it, because I haven't watched them in a while 🙂
 
I think the thing that I really disliked about this season was how the Scoobies drifted apart. Giles was unemployed and alone at home, Xander was working and spending time with Anya, Willow spending time with Tara and Buffy was with Riley. I really love the original scoobies and I didn't like how distant they were in the season.
 
Beer_Nut said:
I think the thing that I really disliked about this season was how the Scoobies drifted apart. Giles was unemployed and alone at home, Xander was working and spending time with Anya, Willow spending time with Tara and Buffy was with Riley. I really love the original scoobies and I didn't like how distant they were in the season.
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But the thing about this is that it is realistic. It's what really happens to friends after high school for the most part. They do come back together at the end and for the rest of the series. It's a period of adjustment & self discovery.
 
I didn't care much for Season 4. Because of the whole intiative thing, I didnt' care much for the secret goverment project that brought to the show. And another reason why I didn't care much for season 4 was because they brought in Riley.
 
Cordy_Chase said:
But the thing about this is that it is realistic. It's what really happens to friends after high school for the most part. They do come back together at the end and for the rest of the series. It's a period of adjustment & self discovery.
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I know you're right, but I didn't want it to happen in the show... lol. I just really love close character interaction and season 4 didn't have enough of that for me. I understand that it was a realistic step but I didn't really like it. Sometimes I prefer to stay in fantasy... lol.
 
Beer_Nut said:
I know you're right, but I didn't want it to happen in the show... lol. I just really love close character interaction and season 4 didn't have enough of that for me. I understand that it was a realistic step but I didn't really like it. Sometimes I prefer to stay in fantasy... lol.
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I do love the fantasy aspects of the show, but for me I was watching the show while I was living the same events of my life. It was nice to have something to relate to.
 
I disagree with mostly everyone on this thread who've said season was bad or just OK. I absolutely loved season 4and think that it was definately one of the best Buffy Seasons.
 
And I found Adam had nothing to make him seem like a real threat to Buffy and co. and also nothing to make him even a little bit interesting. So he's a combination of man/demon/robot? Big deal, Buffy's kicked the butts' of all those things so many times, why is a combination of the three supposed to pose more of a problem. He doesn't have any witty one-liners or any little human frailties, he's just blah.

The other main problem I have with s4 is The Initiative. They just seem lame and ineffectual to me. The fact that there is a government bureau running a secret demon ops base under the UC Sunnydale campus is ridiculous itself, but the fact that they are all so clueless yet full of their own importance is just annoying.

Another thing is the Willow-gets-left-by-Oz-and-is-shattered then-finds-love-again-with-Tara scenario. Not that I'm against the whole lesbian Willow-Tara thing exactly, I thought they were very good together, but I also really liked Willow and Oz together. When Oz left at the end of Wild At Heart was one of only two occasions in my adult life when I've shed a tear watching TV (the other was at the end of The Gift!). Aly Hannigan was absolutely brilliant (as always) in playing the heartbreak her character felt at that time yet those sort of scenes somehow loose there impact or meaning for me when it turns out that she's actually gay. I mean I don't know anything about what it's like to be gay myself, but I find it hard to swallow that you could feel so much love for a man then turn around and just weeks later feel the same way about a women. I could be wrong about this and will be happy to be corrected.

I guess its easy enough to pick out which episodes you like or don't like. But when you're deciding whether you like a season, you have to use the main themes of that season, the Big Bads that are particular to that season, the main things you learn through that season etc. In this respect I feel that season 4 is let down because the main things I associate with it are the scoobies go to college, Adam was the Big Bad, we find out there's The Initiative, Buffy gets with Riley, Oz leaves Willow who then gets with Tara. Except for the first thing the others leave me bored or irritated or questioning to various degrees and that makes the season as a whole weak even though the individual episodes are mostly very good.

Sorry, I've been known to ramble pompously on occasion.
 
Tucker's Cousin said:
And I found Adam had nothing to make him seem like a real threat to Buffy and co. and also nothing to make him even a little bit interesting. So he's a combination of man/demon/robot? Big deal, Buffy's kicked the butts' of all those things so many times, why is a combination of the three supposed to pose more of a problem. He doesn't have any witty one-liners or any little human frailties, he's just blah.

The other main problem I have with s4 is The Initiative. They just seem lame and ineffectual to me. The fact that there is a government bureau running a secret demon ops base under the UC Sunnydale campus is ridiculous itself, but the fact that they are all so clueless yet full of their own importance is just annoying.

Another thing is the Willow-gets-left-by-Oz-and-is-shattered then-finds-love-again-with-Tara scenario. Not that I'm against the whole lesbian Willow-Tara thing exactly, I thought they were very good together, but I also really liked Willow and Oz together. When Oz left at the end of Wild At Heart was one of only two occasions in my adult life when I've shed a tear watching TV (the other was at the end of The Gift!). Aly Hannigan was absolutely brilliant (as always) in playing the heartbreak her character felt at that time yet those sort of scenes somehow loose there impact or meaning for me when it turns out that she's actually gay. I mean I don't know anything about what it's like to be gay myself, but I find it hard to swallow that you could feel so much love for a man then turn around and just weeks later feel the same way about a women. I could be wrong about this and will be happy to be corrected.

I guess its easy enough to pick out which episodes you like or don't like. But when you're deciding whether you like a season, you have to use the main themes of that season, the Big Bads that are particular to that season, the main things you learn through that season etc. In this respect I feel that season 4 is let down because the main things I associate with it are the scoobies go to college, Adam was the Big Bad, we find out there's The Initiative, Buffy gets with Riley, Oz leaves Willow who then gets with Tara. Except for the first thing the others leave me bored or irritated or questioning to various degrees and that makes the season as a whole weak even though the individual episodes are mostly very good.

Sorry, I've been known to ramble pompously on occasion.
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I think with this season the writers really felt like they had to fill in space with the departure of Angel and Cordelia, so they "replaced" them with Riley and Anya which wasn't really necissary. They tried really hard to make Anya like Cordelia and i think she didn't start developing into her own character until Season 5. And as for Riley, the problem with him was that even the writers knew he was nothing more than "rebound guy" so they tried the best with him, and it obviously didn't work. I also felt like they tried really hard to work Giles into the show instead of it just happening naturally. Like they would write an episode and then realize "Oh, Giles needs to be in this episode, so we'll give two lines in this scene", and then that's it. I just started watching Season 4 on DVD and i have already watched "The Freshman". It was a great episode and i can relate to it so much because just last week i started my first day of college. Maybe now that i am in college i will like the season more while i am rewatching it, because i'll probably also go through the same experiences they are.
 
The first part of my post got cut off but I basically comparing Adam to The Mayor and Glory who had glaringly obvious idiosyncracies which made them interesting and amusing but no less believable as a threat because it also made them more real.

I also compared s4 with s2. S2 contains several skipable episodes, far more than s4, yet I'm always excited to begin watching it because as a season it has far more to offer. Whereas, I'm always reluctant to fire up the s4 DVDs.

I also had this whole section on civic pride...
 
I agree as a season its not great but as episodes there are good ones. Plus I dunno why but I really love the whole college thing, theres just something interesting about it. Maybe it because next year I'm going to Uni but the whole living on campus, attenting some lessons and the whole setting is just so interesting for me. (Hey I never said I was normal).

Theres things I dont like, Riley, The Initiative (as in the government thing, rather then the ep) and Ruffy but ah well. Funny Xander, Anya and Spander moments. Willow grew during this season which was good, Tara, well lets say "Tara yay." and nice to see some tension growing between the Scoobies but then they come back together.

The Harsh Light of Day, Fear, Itself, Wild At Heart, The Initiative, Pangs, Something Blue, Hush are some of my favs but I'm rewatching S4 and can't remember most of the later eps.
 
I love season 4 --- It has lots of stand alone episodes and bunch them are my favorites. I actually find myself going for that season when I want to laugh --- I go for every season for a different reason but right know I kinda stuck on this one --- I'm a s4 btvs slut and I'm not afraid to admit it :sigh:
 
Well, I'm torn. The Faithisodes were stunning. So leaving aside my Pro-Faithness. which threatens to turn my every post into a 'Rant...

As an arc, the Initiative was a nice idea, but it sagged badly in the middle. Adam was fairly impressive looking and sounding, with a few nice scenes, but in no way was he the sort of threat the Scoobies treated him as. I also utterly hated UberBuffy in Primeval, it was a bad idea, badly executed and the fight was ridiculous.

But... the later seasons made me realise how much I missed good solid standalones, and S4 had plenty. Living Conditions is glorious: I wouldn't trade Neurotic!Buffy drinking the milk for anything. Hush, though it risks being overrated lately, is rightfully a classic. Restless is far, far better through hindsight goggles, though it did suffer a little from not getting the guest stars that were intended... So yeah, I like S4, but I only really watch disc 4 and 5...
 
Cordelia was supposed to be in the class making fun of Willow. Angel, not Tara, was to be the voice of the Primitive.

And last, and of course, most importantly, in Buffy's dreams, Faith was to be still making that bed, still telling riddles about 7-3-0...

As far as I'm aware, it was all a matter of time constraints, rather than a reluctance on the part of the actors. It actually makes it quite interesting to watch bearing in mind which scenes were supposed to have which characters...
 
J
Jacklyn
Thanks! That would've been incredibly interesting!!! :)
Now that i am watching Season 4, it has occured to me what the biggest problem is. Not enough of a strong cast. Who do we have besides the original 4 here? Faith, Angel, Cordelia, Oz, and Wesley, who were a big part of the show the previous season are no longer there. Anya becomes a recurring character, along with Tara, but they were still pretty 2-d in Season 4 and didn't really start becomming their own until later seasons. And then Riley...blah.
 
Season four was one of those seasons with a couple knockout episodes. The end.

I'm going to go with the season 7 analogy of "a flawed masterpiece." Season 4, done right, would have been everynerd's wettest dream - Buffy doing more sci-fi things? On the other hand, the biggest flaw is the last sentence. It's NOT a sci-fi show. It's a magicks show. And I'm glad that the end battle made the team realize that (magicks win against science). But they didn't HAVE to go there.
 
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