Season 4 of Buffy marks a massive shift for the show, taking place in college rather than high school. While its main storyline is hard to take seriously, I actually love this season's chill college vibe, and the character development and standalones are some of the best in the show.
Season 4's main storyline focuses around Buffy's first year at college. I really like how the season focuses on how difficult it is for Buffy and Willow to fully adjust to their new school, which is something that I don't think many shows actually manage. The villain this season is a military group underneath the college called "The Initiative", which is eventually taken over by a Frankenstein's monster named Adam. I don't like The Initiative, as I feel they're hard to take seriously and fairly goofy. However, there are some solid plot twists involved, and Adam is a surprisingly likable villain. His design is pretty badass, and his introspective nature is indicative of some of the villains in later shows like Angel (Holland Manners) and Firefly (Jubal Early). Generally though, The Initiative is definitely one of the show's weaker storylines, and Adam doesn't get as much screen time to develop as the other characters. It never feels like the stakes are high or anyone is in real danger, which results in the season feeling surprisingly light and calming to watch.
Season 4's biggest strengths are definitely in its character work and standalone episodes. The highlight this season is probably Willow, who spends the season really immersing herself in Wicca and eventually realizing she's gay (Given how long she's dated Oz, they easily could've made her bi though). Willow's girlfriend Tara is an incredibly likable addition to the cast, and has a great dynamic with pretty much everyone. Spike appears far more often now, as he takes on more of a morally grey role. He's still a jerk don't get me wrong, but he's far more comedic this season and has a charming dynamic with the rest of the cast. Giles is another highlight, as Anthony Head gets to flex his comedic muscles a lot more. Generally, the comedy this season is some of the best in the whole show.
This is most evident in Season 4's many creative standalone episodes. Not all of them are great (Beer Bad), but they are mostly unique and risky, from the dialogue-less Hush, to Faith's memorable body swap episode, to the season finale itself, which explores everyone's dreams and foreshadows pretty much the entirety of the next three seasons. Even some of the weaker episodes have some unique premises and strong comedy, like Xander and Harmony's "fight" during The Initiative, or Jonathon's altered reality in which he is popular.
Even with its weak main plot, Season 4 has a lot of notable and entertaining episodes:
Something Blue: Willow's comedic episodes are always a lot of fun, and Something Blue manages to be incredibly frantic and chaotic, as all of her spells start going awry. I also love the accidental foreshadowing of Buffy and Spike's relationship.
Hush: Easily one of Buffy's most iconic episodes, it's stunning how the show manages to stay razor-sharp and entertaining even without a lot of dialogue. The Gentleman are terrifiying and compelling villains, with chilling designs and iconic movements, and I like how the episode forces Buffy and Riley to reveal their secrets. Oh, and Tara makes her first appearance, and her dynamic with Willow is already perfect.
The I In Team: Despite my gripes with The Initiative storyline, I'd be lying if I said this episode didn't blow me away with its plot twists. Adam awakening and killing the head of The Initiative, Riley quitting, even Buffy's temporary stint in the Initiative was a lot of fun.
This Year's Girl/Who Are You?: Faith appears for a two-part episode that kickstarts her redemption arc (which concludes in Angel). I'm not a fan of Body Swap episodes, but Sarah Michelle Geller and Eliza Dushku have a blast acting as each other. These episodes also pack a bunch of Buffy vs Faith fight scenes which are still excellent.
New Moon Rising: This episode was Willow's coming out story, and for the time, it was pretty excellent. I like that Willow and Tara never asked each other out, they just got so close that they realized they were basically dating at this point. Also, it's nice to see Spike be a bad guy again, at least temporarily.
Restless: Easily the weirdest finale of Buffy, but still a strong one. This episode mostly takes place in the characters' dreams, fleshing out the Slayer mythology, analyzing the characters, and foreshadowing the later seasons. Restless pretty much demands analysis and studying, with its unique cinematography and set-design, its bizarre imagery, and general creativity.
Overall, Season 4 of Buffy is an underrated gem. It has some low points and a weak story, but the great writing and strong characters are still there, and the focus on humor and creative standalones allow for a fairly calming middle point for the show.
4/5 Stars
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