What did Riley do all the time?

[Ripper666]

I just asked myself what Riley did after he left the Initative. I mean in season 5 he had a flat and he was all around the Gang. But somehow he had to earn money doesn't he? What kind of job had he? I think I missed that part...
Can you help me out?
😀

 

[JCoatsworth]

To be honest, I have no clue whatsoever... Maybe he worked at the Doublemeat Palace 😛

Wait a second... I haven't watched season 5 in ages. Did he continue his work a the college? Besides working for the Initiative he was a TA in season 4. So I guess he's still a TA in season 5.

 

[Tuppence]

Presumably, he carried on working at the uni. I mean Walsh may have been skewered but he might have got assigned as a TA for another professor. Or maybe he just had tons of savings from his...erm initiative pay?

 

[brinkster130]

Well, we were told that Riley was a good solider who rose through the ranks before being approached to join The Initiative so I'm guessing he has some money saved up from all his years of working for the military.

As or what he did with his free time...probably a lot of reflecting and questioning his career choice and future; perhaps some moping about it. We saw him playing pickup basketball with some buddies he had outside of The Initiative, so maybe he hung out with them too. The extra free time also allowed him to see just how little time Buffy had for him.

Wait a second... I haven't watched season 5 in ages. Did he continue his work a the college? Besides working for the Initiative he was a TA in season 4. So I guess he's still a TA in season 5.

Just a guess, but I doubt he was still doing the college student/TA thing after walking away from The Initiative the way he did in season 4. Those things were part of his double life and cover and he really seemed to want to distance himself from everything that had to do with the government at that point. It might have been easier for him to just find totally new things to get involved with.

 

[BuffyElevated]

He did Buffy. LOL

No in all seriousness I figured he kept going to college or working as a TA at the college, like he did with Professor Walsh.

 

[Ethan Reigns]

There seem so be a lot of incomprehensible ideas about money in the show. Giles gets fired in "Helpless" 3ABB12, gets his car wrecked in "A New Man" 4ABB12 and in "Real Me" 5ABB02, he is driving a BMW convertible.

I would assume Riley has money for the year to stay on campus since he is (was) a Teaching Assistant, even if he no longer works for Maggie Walsh.

 

[white avenger]

It's possible that he received a pension from the government, either through the military or the Initiative, or both, for injuries sustained in the line of duty. Also, there was mention early on about his Iowa corn farm. Maybe he receives money from that. Or maybe those vampire "ladies" were paying him for his blood.

 

[BuffyElevated]

It's possible that he received a pension from the government, either through the military or the Initiative, or both, for injuries sustained in the line of duty. Also, there was mention early on about his Iowa corn farm. Maybe he receives money from that. Or maybe those vampire "ladies" were paying him for his blood.

The military pension thing is very true... It's possible he could have gotten a substantial payment from The Initiative as "hush money" to keep quiet about their operation.

 

[white avenger]

The military pension thing is very true... It's possible he could have gotten a substantial payment from The Initiative as "hush money" to keep quiet about their operation.

Then of course, there's always the chance that he sold demon artifacts on the black market, using the alias, "the Doctor." That would explain a lot later on.

 

[JCoatsworth]

There seem so be a lot of incomprehensible ideas about money in the show. Giles gets fired in "Helpless" 3ABB12, gets his car wrecked in "A New Man" 4ABB12 and in "Real Me" 5ABB02, he is driving a BMW convertible.

I would assume Riley has money for the year to stay on campus since he is (was) a Teaching Assistant, even if he no longer works for Maggie Walsh.

Giles' old car wasn't worth crap. 😀 And from his time as a watcher, he probably has loads of money on the side. A new car shouldn't be that big of a problem.

 

[Ethan Reigns]

Giles' old car wasn't worth crap. 😀 And from his time as a watcher, he probably has loads of money on the side. A new car shouldn't be that big of a problem.

Then you have another problem: if the Watchers' Society was as secretive as the identity of the slayer was supposed to be (otherwise, someone would ask what they were watching), who is funding the Watchers?

But I think most people could agree that stories of this sort would bog down tremendously if there had to be an accounting of everything that happens. Unless it becomes part of the story like working at Doublemeat Palace 6ABB12. Financial stress makes it necessary to send Dawn to the new school over the hellmouth and also contributes to the increasing isolation of Buffy even though Xander got her a decent deal on plumbing repairs.

 

[white avenger]

All jokes aside, it's quite possible that Riley was still working for either the Initiative or some government agency, assigned to keeping an eye on the H S T activities and general goings on around the hellmouth. He could even have been assigned specifically to observe and report on the Slayer and her friends. He would be the logical choice for such an assignment, considering his familiarity with the territory and close association with Buffy, Giles, and the others.

 

[CantabStatter]

Then you have another problem: if the Watchers' Society was as secretive as the identity of the slayer was supposed to be (otherwise, someone would ask what they were watching), who is funding the Watchers?

After weeks of reading these forums during my latest re-run of Buffy and Angel, I just had to sign up and reply to this (I'll say hi, properly in a moment)

The roots of the modern day Watcher's Council seem to be heavily based in the English upper class. I imagine that most of their wealth/income comes from inheritance and donations from Watcher families, that would go towards land ownership thus granting a revenue. I also imagine it has strong links to Oxbridge and can pull some strings financially there, perhaps placing Watchers as bursars of the Colleges.
But yes, in all honesty I think they rely on the 'family money' of some of their members, which has been invested for centuries.

But I also kind of like the idea that the Watcher's Council wasn't actually that secretive, and that the rest of the world just believed they were a very exclusive bird watching club.


As for Riley, I haven't a clue, probably savings/pension he never seemed to be going wild with the spending, so maybe its that. Though I'm sure more exciting possibilities exist.

 

[ashleigh]

Yeah, it always bugs me when people in tv shows and books seem to have no financial worries, but I guess it'd get boring if they made a point of explaining all that stuff. If there had to be an explanation though, I'd like to think that he would have got a LOT of compensation for everything the Initiative put him through.

Also, I could kind of imagine Riley doing 'odd jobs' around peoples homes. 😛

 

[tkts]

I always figured that Maggie Walsh's credentials were legit, but all the other Initiative people had fake covers. What are the chances of this top flight secret ops guy just happening to have a bachelors degree in psychology, this qualifying him to become a grad student and her TA?

 

[Evil Angelus 95]

I always assumed that he was either working at the campus, or letting the vamps suck his blood

 

[Kendra371]

He used his time to do nothing but cry and stress over how much Buffy was stronger and better than him. 🙄

 

[Joan the Vampire Slayer]

Riley was a graduate student at USC Sunnydale and a TA, right? I always assumed that after h9is job at the Initiative ended, he continued attending school and probably got another job as a TA in another class.