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Episode 4.06: Wild at Heart | Episode 4.08: Pangs
Characters:
| Buffy | Xander | Willow |
| Giles | Spike | Riley |
Overall (6/10)
Buffy:
This episode actually isn't about Buffy. It's more about Riley.
But Buffy does get to continue playing the supportive best friend. Of course, going out to a party after having been left by one's boyfriend almost never works. But points for effort. And telling off Professor Walsh? Major kudos there.
Buffy remains oblivious to Riley's fumbling advances until the very end.
Xander:
Xander and Giles commiserate on their uselessness at the beginning. Xander is willing to go out and get a Ouija board in order to stir up trouble.
He's also falling back on his "military knowledge" from S2's Halloween. We see, though, that it's pretty much nonexistent by this point. He takes part in one of my favorite fight scenes in the series with Harmony. Finally, a fight that I could actually see happening in real life.
But may I ask what the point of Buffy taking the flare gun was? Were Xander and Giles going to stand outside Giles' apartment in the hopes they could see the flare gun if she shot it? Why not just buy some cell phones on a family plan for the Scoobies? This makes no sense.
Willow is completely miserable now that Oz is gone. She's still holding out hope that he'll be back, as evidenced by her conversation with Riley and Professor Walsh.
Still, she's not so far gone that she doesn't try to assist Riley in getting together with Buffy. Still a pal.
She also gets a hilarious scene with Spike where she tries to comfort him after he...er...can't perform.
Giles gets even less to do than Xander. And he knows it. We already see Gile's frustration at his uselessness at this time.
A very important episode for Spike as it establishes the chip that he'll have for the next several seasons.
The chip effectively puts a handle on Spike's violent behavior. Unlike if he had a soul, though, Spike still feels the desire to cause mayhem and hurt people. But he's physically unable to do it. He'll spend the next couple seasons adjusting to this.
The results?
Spike begins to lose some of that bloodlust. We'll see in S6's Tabula Rasa and later in Smashed that he doesn't have the same desire to hurt people that he once did. That is a good example of behavioral therapy in that his brain receives negative stimulus for acts of violence against humans. Eventually, he begins to find violent behavior unpleasant on his own. See the movie Clockwork Orange for another good example of this.
Additionally, his passionate hatred and desire to kill the Slayer is channelled to a more romantic passion. He can't kill her. But he still feels strongly towards her. It's just the direction of those feelings that will change (At first appearing as a romantic obsession before gradually becoming actual love).
Also, once he learns of his ability to fight demons in Doomed, he'll start to slowly become a White Hat. Spike still wants to fight, and he's willing to fight demons if he can't fight humans. That will make him an outcast among the demon world to the point where he has no choice but to reluctantly be a part of the Scooby gang (A very, very peripheral part).
All three of these will combine to the point where he WANTS to become good. The chip doesn't make him good, no. But it sets him on a path where he has no choice but to at least try to stop being bad. And with the motivation of his love for Buffy later on, Spike will seek his own redemption.
It's a long time coming. But it does all start with this chip.
But getting back to the immediate episode, Spike seeks out Harmony first and foremost. Presumably for sex. It looks like they haven't seen each other since the events of The Harsh Light of Day. And Harmony eventually tires of him in this episode because of his obsession with the Slayer.
Oddly enough, that's the reason Drusilla dumped him. Spike needs to pay attention to these sorts of things.
This episode is hurt by the glaring inconsistency of the chip, though. We see throughout the episode instances of Spike hurting people with no pain from the chip. Writer Douglas Petrie has admitted that that was just an oversight. It hurts the story, though, as the chip is of primary importance in this episode.
Kudos, though, for the wonderful scene between Willow and Spike. And, apparently, Spike isn't so good at math. He says he's 126 years old. 126 years from 1999 (when the episode aired) would be 1873. We know William was turned in 1880 from S5's Fool For Love. And William surely wasn't born in 1873. So either Spike isn't good at math or he just doesn't know what year it is. Which isn't too much of a stretch considering he's immortal. I wouldn't pay attention to what year it was if I were immortal.
Despite the essay I just wrote about Spike, this episode is primarily about Riley.
Riley admits to the fact that he kinda likes Buffy in this episode.
Let's stop a moment to think about that. What does he like about Buffy? He knows she's fairly smart, though a bit of an underachiever in class. He knows she's a bit of a klutz. He knows that she's naive enough to fall for Parker's lines. And he saw her get tough and stand up to Professor Walsh.
We find out in the meeting between Riley and Buffy by the bench that Riley is of the belief that women need to be protected by men. He's old-fashioned and a bit sexist in that regard.
His attraction to Buffy at this point isn't too surprising as she does give off the air of a girly-girl, which Riley probably likes.
However, he seems even more excited when he finds out what she is, which may not seem to mesh at first glance. However, we'll see in Doomed that he thinks hunting demons is great fun and an adventure. He seems to be in it for the novelty. Likewise, he'd probably find it exciting to be dating a Slayer who's definitely one of a kind. In that way, he's able to rationalize to himself the fact that she's stronger than him...at least for a while.
But right now, they both remain oblivious to the other's night job.
Riley gets some good bonding in with Willow, which is refreshing to see (As opposed to Angel who barely even paid attention to Buffy's friends). He knows that getting in good with the best friend is essential when pursuing a girl. And the two do work well together.
Riley has a charming goofiness to him that seems to be at odds with his commanderish persona in the Initiative. It seems that he's good at what he does as far as the soldier-stuff goes, but he's a bit of a klutz when it comes to the social aspects.
I will give Riley mega-bonus points for punching Parker in the face. Seriously. Mega-mega-bonus points.
Spike escapes from the Initiative, but he can't bite anybody. Riley likes Buffy. She thinks he's peculiar. Because he is.
Well...Spike and the Initiative at different points in the episode.
Finally, an arc episode. We're introduced fully to the Initiative, and to Riley and pals who are soldiers in it. Additionally, we find out that Professor Walsh is their scientist/commander-lady.
A mixed bag of an episode. It introduces Spike's chip and develops Riley as a character further. Additionally, it has some memorably hilarious scenes in it. However, the glaring inconsistency of Spike's chip drags it down quite a bit. Also, having the focus on Riley, a character we barely know and weren't really aware we're supposed to care about, makes this episode more lukewarm than wonderful.
Special performance award goes to both Mercedes McNab and Nicholas Brendon for the best fight scene in the world.
6 out of 10.
Willow and Spike's scene after Spike can't bite her. These two actors work well together. It's funny. And a classic. Good job, all around.
*Ahem* I really have very little explanation for this wallpaper.
Credits:
Caps: Screencap Paradise
Textures: Misplaced Moments
Fonts: Rockwell
Brushes: None
*Some resources were used that I can't identify. All resources are generally linked to on the links page, but if you recognize an uncredited resource let me know so I can note it with the actual wallpaper.
Episode 4.06: Wild at Heart | Episode 4.08: Pangs
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