What did the writers like so much about Riley ?

[Btvs fan]

Yes!

One thing I never figured out:

WHY did Buffy require a love interest?

The show was so much better when Buffy was single. Or, at least, not so serious about getting and keeping a man.

Post automatically merged: Aug 1, 2026

In S4, when Riley was introduced, "the audience" wanted Angel. Spike wasn't on the menu.

Something Blue and the Faith as Buffy scene in Who Are You definitely changed that. Though SB was completely unintentional by the writers I'll give you that

 

[BuffyElevated]

I think the writers wanted Buffy to have a human boyfriend, to give her someone who was a little more safe and wholesome. I personally loved Riley... People call him boring, and I get that when he's compared to Angel and Spike, but I think out of all three of the love interests she had on the show, he was the best one for her because they were both human and could have actually built a life together. I thought SMG and Marc had good chemistry, and their relationship was sweet up until the end. I actually hate that they wrote in the whole cheating with vampires thing, and if they were going to write Riley out of the show they should have just cut that and let him go back to the military without the cheating storyline 'cause it was completely out of character for Riley. I think they realized most fans hated Riley, so they wanted to get rid of him as quickly as possible so they could make Spike the new love interest. But overall, I totally get the writers' love for Riley, 'cause I felt it too.

 

[Joan the Vampire Slayer]

I think the writers wanted Buffy to have a human boyfriend, to give her someone who was a little more safe and wholesome. I personally loved Riley... People call him boring, and I get that when he's compared to Angel and Spike, but I think out of all three of the love interests she had on the show, he was the best one for her because they were both human and could have actually built a life together. I thought SMG and Marc had good chemistry, and their relationship was sweet up until the end. I actually hate that they wrote in the whole cheating with vampires thing, and if they were going to write Riley out of the show they should have just cut that and let him go back to the military without the cheating storyline 'cause it was completely out of character for Riley. I think they realized most fans hated Riley, so they wanted to get rid of him as quickly as possible so they could make Spike the new love interest. But overall, I totally get the writers' love for Riley, 'cause I felt it too.

I agree completely with this post.

I'm not a fan of Riley, but only because of what he did to Buffy. Riley is a lot of things - insecure, and one could argue he was threatened by Buffy's strength - but he wasn't boring.

Buffy needs some monster in her man, we know this. Riley, although a good guy, could never make the cut. But boy, did he try to.

 

[AlphaFoxtrot]

"Having is not as good of a thing as wanting. This is not logical, but often true." -Mister Spock

Oh, I'm not saying there's any good way to write Buffy and Angel as a couple in college and keep him as a cursed immortal. IWRY was largely a hangout episode, after all. Relationships are difficult to write anyways, outside of the first three months. Just because you can write a story about an elderly couple with adult children where the husband is gay, doesn't mean anyone is going to watch it. Keeping Angel on Buffy would lose the revenue the spin-off would generate. So no, long term, Angel and Buffy aren't staying together.

 

[NotASlayer]

Buffy needs some monster in her man, we know this. Riley, although a good guy, could never make the cut. But boy, did he try to.

Well... no. This was repeatedly shown to be something that put Buffy off guys.

 

[Btvs fan]

Well... no. This was repeatedly shown to be something that put Buffy off guys.

Joss Whedon did say the fans rejected Riley because they didn't want Buffy to be happy.
Ill be honest I just thought that was his narcissism showing because the alternative that he didn't write a compelling enough love interest was something he couldn't process

 

[hoponlilmama]

Joss Whedon did say the fans rejected Riley because they didn't want Buffy to be happy.

Guess that's why they gave the audience Spuffy.
Really odd for anyone to want her to be miserable..

You can have characters in a healthy relationship, but have them deal with issues together. Not the old, 'let's break them up and create drama for the sake of it'.

 

[NoShip]

I don't blame Blucas. He had as much acting experience as Boreanatz in WTTH. I think the writer's egos saw him as the next coming of Angel. Said egos prevented the writers from seeing their mistake.

I also think that having DB as a side character who didn't appear in many eps was a huge plus. DB could see his performance and then have a couple weeks to work on his [many] weaknesses. By Prophecy Girl he was an orders of magnitude better actor than WTTH. Blucas didn't have that opportunity.