Home | About | Wallpapers | Links
Episode 4.07: The Initiative | Episode 4.09: Something Blue
Characters:
| Buffy | Xander | Willow |
| Giles | Spike | Angel |
| Anya | Riley |
Overall (6/10)
Buffy:
I suppose it's inevitable that Buffy would start feeling homesick after having been away at college for a few months now. That's why she becomes so focused on having Thanksgiving with her surrogate family.
She becomes so caught up in the dinner, she barely pays attention to the threat from the Native American spirits. Which isn't too big a deal because it's not a very big threat.
Buffy is now flirting with Nice Guy Riley. She even invited him to Thanksgiving dinner. Instead, Spike drops in and gets a seat at the table.
I'm not going to get into the Native American debate that took up a large part of this episode. It was well-covered in the actual episode, and I don't feel I have much else to add to it.
Oh, and note to Buffy: Please don't ever wear a cowboy hat again.
Xander:
Xander is now in construction, a profession he'll return to in S5. And he gets syphilis, which can't be fun.
And he lets slip that he believes that it's right to kill vengeance demons, a statement that Anya takes exception to.
Why is this? Xander is usually very much anti-demon. Yet he tells Anya that he didn't mean her. Why is she the exception? I'm not going to overanalyze this, because I think it simply comes down to: sex. Anya is willing and enthusiastic about sex. Xander surely doesn't mind it. He's a guy. He's getting sex, so he's not gonna advocate killing Anya.
Eventually, real affection will grow from their sexual relationship, though. And in this episode, while delirious, he does refer to her as his girlfriend, a term she seems to like.
Willow is in full academic-mode. She channels her mother in her staunch defense of the Native American spirits. In the end, though, when the fight breaks out, she's right there fighting the fight.
We can already see her continued animosity towards Anya when she suggests that they not invite Anya to the dinner.
There's no mention of Oz-missage in this episode. It's likely she's still holding out hope that he'll come back. However, in the next episode, when Oz sends for his stuff, she'll go into full mope-mode.
Giles plays the part of the patriarch in hosting the festivities. In this way, Giles really has become something of a surrogate father to all of the Scoobies.
Spike plays at being the little match-vampire at the beginning. He can't eat anything (and apparently it doesn't even occur to him to go to the butcher's or hospital to steal some blood). He tries to go back to Harmony but she, justifiably, kicks him out.
With literally nowhere else to turn, and desperate from hunger, Spike goes to the Scoobies. Why? Well, he knows them. He knows that they've helped Angel, another vampire. And he thinks that he can talk his way into Giles' apartment.
Well, he's right. He offers up information about the Initiative in exchange for help.
Let me make a disclaimer here. It seems to me that most of the Angel-appearances on the show after he leaves are merely fan-wankings to give the Buffy/Angel fans something to hold onto. I had felt that The Harsh Light of Day had done a good job closing the door on the first love of Buffy's high school years to make way for her future relationships.
That being said, Angel serves no purpose in this episode except to prompt Buffy to show up on his show later on. I'm not going to analyze him in terms of character because, having never watched Angel the Series, I don't know what he's been doing in the meantime.
I have, however, written an open letter to Angel based on what I saw in this episode.
Angel,
Obviously, you're a very confused vamp, as evidenced by this episode. Let me straighten a few things up for you.
Firstly, Buffy does not need your protection. She has never needed your protection. She never will need your protection. Name one instance when you have rescued Buffy. Can't think of any? Cause you haven't! The only time you could possibly construe as a "rescue" was during S3's Earshot when you got an antidote for her.
Furthermore, I do feel the need to remind you that Buffy totally kicked your ass and put a sword through your heart when you were trying to end the world. She can handle her own.
She is not your damsel in distress. And your constant insistence in her being one is an insult to her. Seriously, what did you accomplish in this episode? Nothing besides some creepy stalking moves that would make even the most notorious stalking criminals proud.
Secondly, Buffy is not your responsibility. She is her own person. While Giles may be a father-figure to her and, therefore, have some claim of responsibility, you are merely her ex-boyfriend now. Get over it.
Thirdly, and finally. Please, please, try to remember this. Remember this as you whine about how hard it is to creepily watch her while you can't have her. Remember this as you stalk her from the bushes. Please...just remember this.
You. Left. Her. You left her. YOU left her.
Kapiche? You show an awful lot of arrogance wandering back onto the scene acting like it was a mutual break-up of some sorts. It was not. You left her. Now you come back, stalk her, express totally inappropriate jealousy to the new, normal guy that she's flirting with. Remember when you...ya know...LEFT her? You urged her to find a normal guy. Well, she found one.
I'm sure you're doing wonderful things in LA, Angel. So go back there and do them.
-gabrielleabelle
Anya reappears in this episode after having been absent from the past several episodes. I'd be willing to bet she was busy having kinky sex with Xander.
Anya integrates well with the gang, though, and even joins them for dinner. And she likes it when Xander refers to her as his girlfriend. Obviously, while Anya is happy with a sexual relationship, she wants something a bit more.
We learn a bit more about Riley's background. He's from a farm in Iowa. With dogs. He's a country boy.
Some spirits rise up to ruin Buffy's Thanksgiving.
The ambiguous baddie are the Native American spirits who are killing people, but they have a good reason for it!
Not an arc episode.
This episode is actually a personal favorite of mine simply because it's just fun. It's not incredibly deep or insightful. But the dialogue is snappy and the humor is spot-on. Angel's gratuitous appearance does hurt it a bit, but considering he doesn't actually do much, it can be overlooked.
Special performance award goes to James Marsters for becoming a pincushion...just with arrows instead of pins.
6 out of 10.
The final fight scene. It's fun. There's a bear.
Okay, I just had fun with this wallpaper. As mentioned, I love the big fight scene with the classic bear-appearance. This is my tribute to it. I like the bear in the background and that I managed to get Buffy and Spike in there without having them look like disembodied heads. The "comic box" idea is something I saw in another wallpaper so decided it would be appropriate here. Enjoy.
Credits:
Caps: Screencap Paradise
Textures: Shattered
Fonts: Cure - Wild Mood Swings (Link), Facelift (Link)
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 4.07: The Initiative | Episode 4.09: Something Blue
Home | About | Wallpapers | Links