Buffy 4.7: "The Initiative"
Written by Doug Petrie
Directed by James A. Contner
In which Spike escapes from the Initiative, the secret military operation studying demons, and Riley is caught between his duty to capture the vampire and his desire to woo Buffy…
Status Report
With the exception of “Fear, Itself”, which established the character arcs for most of the cast for the fourth season and beyond, the early episodes of the season were mediocre at best and highly disappointing at worst. The subplot involving Parker and Buffy’s subsequent emotional state left the series in a rut. While it added to the overall angst, the previous episode managed to build on the theme of the season and turn the focus to something more interesting. This episode finally gets the season back on track, if only for a little while.
The theme of the fourth season is self-knowledge, and perhaps more precisely, the lack thereof. College is all about finding oneself, and as the endless parade of forced metaphor demonstrated earlier in the season, Joss uses that concept to shine a light on the cast. In the previous episode, Oz learned something about himself that tore his world apart; for most, that’s exactly what it feels like to discover their inner strengths and weaknesses. To some extent, all of the characters continue on that journey in this episode, even though the focus is squarely on Riley Finn.
Riley is a character that is often the victim of the circumstances of his fifth season exit. Like so many of the latter day characters, the writers had no idea what to do with him once his main character arc was complete. Like Dawn in the fifth season, Riley is intimately connected to the fourth season arc; almost nothing is prepared in advance for growth beyond that function. For that reason, Riley’s character went swiftly downhill in the fifth season, losing much of its charm.
At this point in the series, however, Riley is one of the most endearing characters, and perfectly worthy of his role as Buffy’s potential paramour. Rather than thrust Riley into Buffy’s arms, forcing the audience to deal with it too soon, Riley is given a long introduction and the chance to make his case before making his move. In a certain sense, the Parker debacle was necessary to provide a contrast for Riley; he looks even better coming on the heels of jerk like that.
From the beginning of the episode, Riley is aware of Buffy, but unsure of what he thinks of her. As far as the audience goes, the question is a moot point; once a guy thinks of a girl as “peculiar”, it’s just a matter of time. The writers give Riley even more of a chance by surrounding him with realistic friends who are basically decent. Forrest is somewhat sexist, but not to the extent that Parker has been. (And of course, Forrest is ultimately not the friend he seems to be.)
Giles and Xander don’t have much to do in this episode, and that’s largely the point. Both characters have felt on the outside looking in since the beginning of the season. Giles put himself in that position, but now he regrets putting Buffy on such a remove; once the allure of the life of leisure wore off, he wasn’t sure what to do with himself. Xander, on the other hand, is living out what his nightmare from “Fear, Itself”, slowly becoming more and more isolated. It’s rather interesting to see Giles and Xander, usually barely tolerant of one another, hanging out together for lack of other company.
Meanwhile, Spike turns up in a prison cell as an impending test subject, along with one of the vampires previously nabbed by the commandos running around campus. This is immediately intriguing, because it is completely different from what has taken place in the Buffyverse to this point. It’s easy to assume that the experiments are some kind of military project, which answers one of the standing concerns about the Buffyverse as a whole: not everyone ignores the truth about demons on Earth, even if the masses turn a blind eye.
Buffy is worried about finding the commandos, since they got in her way in the previous episode, but her real focus is Willow. When Buffy was suffering in the wake of Parker’s subhuman behavior, it was overdone; it was as if the entire world collapsed. Willow’s state of mind makes it look all the more ridiculous, because her pain is far more justified and real. Her mental state goes from depression to denial and back so often that her head practically spins.
Riley puts the final nail in the coffin of the Parker Abrams fiasco by dropping him after the ass makes one of the most disgusting comments about young women ever devised, and the entire universe thanks him for it. This is also the moment that Riley understands his obsession with Buffy. This is a great moment, because it happens in the real world all the time. People realize attraction when they least expect it, and usually when doing something oddly noble.
Spike’s escape from the Initiative compound is notable for several reasons. It seems rather bizarre, in retrospect, that Spike can attack the Initiative scientists without even the slightest bit of pain. This doesn’t even agree with the dialogue later in the episode. The reason is rather obvious: Spike can’t react to the chip in his head until he attacks Willow, or the shock value would be wasted. The result is a massive continuity error.
It also takes place in the middle of the day, so Spike’s movements would be restricted, or so one would think. After all, how does Spike get out of the research area to the world above, unless he finds his way into specific tunnels and buildings? Wouldn’t those areas be easy enough to identify and search?
Of course, if that were to happen, Riley wouldn’t have time to conspire with a wallowing Willow to court Buffy. Riley is so obviously out of his element; he doesn’t even notice the satchel of weapons when he helpfully shoves it under Buffy’s bed. Yet he’s aware enough to see that Willow is hurting and protecting Buffy as much as possible post-Parker, and he treats her well, winning her over in the process. It speaks to his “Captain America” persona, which is exactly what the writers were attempting to convey.
Harmony seems to play the same part as Xander in the story, seemingly cast aside by a former ally. If that’s the intended message, then it doesn’t quite work, since it actually feels like Harmony was brought into the story as a plot device to stage the girly fight between her and Xander. It’s funny enough the first time around, but it doesn’t repeat very well, as it gets more and more ridiculous each viewing.
The scenes at the party are incredibly cute, especially when Riley betrays his complete inability to engage in small talk. Riley seems to focus on Willow’s depression rather than his own travails, just as happy to forge a new friendship as pursuing the girl that makes him stutter. It does a lot to make Riley interesting and worthy as a human being, which humanizes his more active role.
That’s an important goal, but the subsequent panic over Spike’s escape highlights a major flaw in the plot. If Spike’s escape is that much of an issue, then why wait until after dark to send out the troops, when Spike would be able to move more freely? The Initiative scenes are all very impressive, and they make Riley look like a capable enough demon hunter, but it makes Professor Walsh look like a horrible commander with no sense of proper urgency.
Once Riley is finally revealed as a secret agent, it adds a new level to the story that works perfectly. When he and Buffy are both trying to send the other out of harm’s way, it’s classic. This isn’t the “forbidden romance” of Buffy and Angel, but rather, two people who really ought to understand each other perfectly finding it very hard to mesh, because they don’t know the truth about each other.
Spike’s attack is just brutal enough to make the audience wonder if the writers are that cruel, but of course, the object is to finish setting up the “impotence metaphor”. The first time through, this is an absolutely hilarious conversation, with enough hesitation between each line of dialogue to give the audience a chance to breathe. Like the girly fight before it, it suffers with each repeat, and it seems to go on forever.
The subsequent battle scene in the dorm hallway is one of the best of the series yet, with great camera action and stellar pacing. The writers cheat a little with the fire extinguisher; the release of pressure should have seriously wounded the person holding it. Even so, it’s the perfect excuse to keep Riley and Buffy from learning about each other while permitting the joy of confrontation. The scene is just as remarkable for giving Spike a way out, leaving him available for more character development in the episodes to come.
The episode leaves Buffy’s world, and the season, changed in several important ways. As with each season before it, the scope has widened with the introduction of a secret military initiative to study demons. By placing Riley at the center of the action, Buffy’s romantic life gains a complexity that is refreshing. Spike’s personal situation makes it possible for him to be involved more closely with the Scooby Gang. The only thing left unanswered is the goal of the Initiative itself and its evolution into Buffy’s opposition; resolving that problem would prove a major hurdle for the writing staff.
Memorable Quotes
FORREST: “Buffy? I like that. The girl’s so hot, she’s ‘buffy’.”
XANDER: “Well, how about this? We whip out the Ouija board, light a few candles. Summon some ancient, unstoppable evil. Mayhem, mayhem, mayhem…we show up and kick its ass.”
GILES: “Wee bit unethical…”
BUFFY: “Now, if you excuse me, I need to go find something slutty to wear tonight…”
SPIKE: “I always worried what would happen when that bitch got some funding…”
BUFFY: “Stupid pen!”
GILES: “Is it raspberry fruit punch?”
WILLOW: “OK, say that I help, and you start a conversation. It goes great. You like Buffy, she likes you. You spend time together, feelings grow deeper, and one day, without even realizing it, you find you’re in love. Time stops. And it feels like the whole world’s made for you two, and you two alone, until the day one of you leaves and rips the still-beating heart from the other, who’s now a broken, hollow, mockery of the human condition.”
RILEY: “Yep, that’s the plan…”
RILEY: “Just sort of hoping you’d think I have an honest face.”
WILLOW: “I’ve seen honest faces before. They usually come attached to liars.”
XANDER: “Every man faces this moment. Here, now, watching…waiting. For an unseen enemy that has no face, nerve endings screaming in silence. Never knowing which thought might be your last…”
GILES: “Oh, shut up!”
WILLOW: “I never would have guessed. You played the blood-lust kinda cool.”
SPIKE: “Mmm…I hate being obvious. All fangy and ‘rrr’. Takes the mystery out.”
WILLOW: “You know, this doesn’t make you any less terrifying.”
SPIKE: “Don’t patronize me!”
Final Analysis
Overall, this episode was a marked improvement, even if there were some logical errors strewn throughout the script. The focus is largely on Riley’s double life, which is remarkably parallel to Buffy’s usual dilemma. Some of the comedic elements feel forced after the first time around, but on the whole, the elements introduced along the way make up for it.
Writing: 1/2
Acting: 2/2
Direction: 2/2
Style: 3/4
Final Rating: 8/10
Directed by James A. Contner
In which Spike escapes from the Initiative, the secret military operation studying demons, and Riley is caught between his duty to capture the vampire and his desire to woo Buffy…
Status Report
With the exception of “Fear, Itself”, which established the character arcs for most of the cast for the fourth season and beyond, the early episodes of the season were mediocre at best and highly disappointing at worst. The subplot involving Parker and Buffy’s subsequent emotional state left the series in a rut. While it added to the overall angst, the previous episode managed to build on the theme of the season and turn the focus to something more interesting. This episode finally gets the season back on track, if only for a little while.
The theme of the fourth season is self-knowledge, and perhaps more precisely, the lack thereof. College is all about finding oneself, and as the endless parade of forced metaphor demonstrated earlier in the season, Joss uses that concept to shine a light on the cast. In the previous episode, Oz learned something about himself that tore his world apart; for most, that’s exactly what it feels like to discover their inner strengths and weaknesses. To some extent, all of the characters continue on that journey in this episode, even though the focus is squarely on Riley Finn.
Riley is a character that is often the victim of the circumstances of his fifth season exit. Like so many of the latter day characters, the writers had no idea what to do with him once his main character arc was complete. Like Dawn in the fifth season, Riley is intimately connected to the fourth season arc; almost nothing is prepared in advance for growth beyond that function. For that reason, Riley’s character went swiftly downhill in the fifth season, losing much of its charm.
At this point in the series, however, Riley is one of the most endearing characters, and perfectly worthy of his role as Buffy’s potential paramour. Rather than thrust Riley into Buffy’s arms, forcing the audience to deal with it too soon, Riley is given a long introduction and the chance to make his case before making his move. In a certain sense, the Parker debacle was necessary to provide a contrast for Riley; he looks even better coming on the heels of jerk like that.
From the beginning of the episode, Riley is aware of Buffy, but unsure of what he thinks of her. As far as the audience goes, the question is a moot point; once a guy thinks of a girl as “peculiar”, it’s just a matter of time. The writers give Riley even more of a chance by surrounding him with realistic friends who are basically decent. Forrest is somewhat sexist, but not to the extent that Parker has been. (And of course, Forrest is ultimately not the friend he seems to be.)
Giles and Xander don’t have much to do in this episode, and that’s largely the point. Both characters have felt on the outside looking in since the beginning of the season. Giles put himself in that position, but now he regrets putting Buffy on such a remove; once the allure of the life of leisure wore off, he wasn’t sure what to do with himself. Xander, on the other hand, is living out what his nightmare from “Fear, Itself”, slowly becoming more and more isolated. It’s rather interesting to see Giles and Xander, usually barely tolerant of one another, hanging out together for lack of other company.
Meanwhile, Spike turns up in a prison cell as an impending test subject, along with one of the vampires previously nabbed by the commandos running around campus. This is immediately intriguing, because it is completely different from what has taken place in the Buffyverse to this point. It’s easy to assume that the experiments are some kind of military project, which answers one of the standing concerns about the Buffyverse as a whole: not everyone ignores the truth about demons on Earth, even if the masses turn a blind eye.
Buffy is worried about finding the commandos, since they got in her way in the previous episode, but her real focus is Willow. When Buffy was suffering in the wake of Parker’s subhuman behavior, it was overdone; it was as if the entire world collapsed. Willow’s state of mind makes it look all the more ridiculous, because her pain is far more justified and real. Her mental state goes from depression to denial and back so often that her head practically spins.
Riley puts the final nail in the coffin of the Parker Abrams fiasco by dropping him after the ass makes one of the most disgusting comments about young women ever devised, and the entire universe thanks him for it. This is also the moment that Riley understands his obsession with Buffy. This is a great moment, because it happens in the real world all the time. People realize attraction when they least expect it, and usually when doing something oddly noble.
Spike’s escape from the Initiative compound is notable for several reasons. It seems rather bizarre, in retrospect, that Spike can attack the Initiative scientists without even the slightest bit of pain. This doesn’t even agree with the dialogue later in the episode. The reason is rather obvious: Spike can’t react to the chip in his head until he attacks Willow, or the shock value would be wasted. The result is a massive continuity error.
It also takes place in the middle of the day, so Spike’s movements would be restricted, or so one would think. After all, how does Spike get out of the research area to the world above, unless he finds his way into specific tunnels and buildings? Wouldn’t those areas be easy enough to identify and search?
Of course, if that were to happen, Riley wouldn’t have time to conspire with a wallowing Willow to court Buffy. Riley is so obviously out of his element; he doesn’t even notice the satchel of weapons when he helpfully shoves it under Buffy’s bed. Yet he’s aware enough to see that Willow is hurting and protecting Buffy as much as possible post-Parker, and he treats her well, winning her over in the process. It speaks to his “Captain America” persona, which is exactly what the writers were attempting to convey.
Harmony seems to play the same part as Xander in the story, seemingly cast aside by a former ally. If that’s the intended message, then it doesn’t quite work, since it actually feels like Harmony was brought into the story as a plot device to stage the girly fight between her and Xander. It’s funny enough the first time around, but it doesn’t repeat very well, as it gets more and more ridiculous each viewing.
The scenes at the party are incredibly cute, especially when Riley betrays his complete inability to engage in small talk. Riley seems to focus on Willow’s depression rather than his own travails, just as happy to forge a new friendship as pursuing the girl that makes him stutter. It does a lot to make Riley interesting and worthy as a human being, which humanizes his more active role.
That’s an important goal, but the subsequent panic over Spike’s escape highlights a major flaw in the plot. If Spike’s escape is that much of an issue, then why wait until after dark to send out the troops, when Spike would be able to move more freely? The Initiative scenes are all very impressive, and they make Riley look like a capable enough demon hunter, but it makes Professor Walsh look like a horrible commander with no sense of proper urgency.
Once Riley is finally revealed as a secret agent, it adds a new level to the story that works perfectly. When he and Buffy are both trying to send the other out of harm’s way, it’s classic. This isn’t the “forbidden romance” of Buffy and Angel, but rather, two people who really ought to understand each other perfectly finding it very hard to mesh, because they don’t know the truth about each other.
Spike’s attack is just brutal enough to make the audience wonder if the writers are that cruel, but of course, the object is to finish setting up the “impotence metaphor”. The first time through, this is an absolutely hilarious conversation, with enough hesitation between each line of dialogue to give the audience a chance to breathe. Like the girly fight before it, it suffers with each repeat, and it seems to go on forever.
The subsequent battle scene in the dorm hallway is one of the best of the series yet, with great camera action and stellar pacing. The writers cheat a little with the fire extinguisher; the release of pressure should have seriously wounded the person holding it. Even so, it’s the perfect excuse to keep Riley and Buffy from learning about each other while permitting the joy of confrontation. The scene is just as remarkable for giving Spike a way out, leaving him available for more character development in the episodes to come.
The episode leaves Buffy’s world, and the season, changed in several important ways. As with each season before it, the scope has widened with the introduction of a secret military initiative to study demons. By placing Riley at the center of the action, Buffy’s romantic life gains a complexity that is refreshing. Spike’s personal situation makes it possible for him to be involved more closely with the Scooby Gang. The only thing left unanswered is the goal of the Initiative itself and its evolution into Buffy’s opposition; resolving that problem would prove a major hurdle for the writing staff.
Memorable Quotes
FORREST: “Buffy? I like that. The girl’s so hot, she’s ‘buffy’.”
XANDER: “Well, how about this? We whip out the Ouija board, light a few candles. Summon some ancient, unstoppable evil. Mayhem, mayhem, mayhem…we show up and kick its ass.”
GILES: “Wee bit unethical…”
BUFFY: “Now, if you excuse me, I need to go find something slutty to wear tonight…”
SPIKE: “I always worried what would happen when that bitch got some funding…”
BUFFY: “Stupid pen!”
GILES: “Is it raspberry fruit punch?”
WILLOW: “OK, say that I help, and you start a conversation. It goes great. You like Buffy, she likes you. You spend time together, feelings grow deeper, and one day, without even realizing it, you find you’re in love. Time stops. And it feels like the whole world’s made for you two, and you two alone, until the day one of you leaves and rips the still-beating heart from the other, who’s now a broken, hollow, mockery of the human condition.”
RILEY: “Yep, that’s the plan…”
RILEY: “Just sort of hoping you’d think I have an honest face.”
WILLOW: “I’ve seen honest faces before. They usually come attached to liars.”
XANDER: “Every man faces this moment. Here, now, watching…waiting. For an unseen enemy that has no face, nerve endings screaming in silence. Never knowing which thought might be your last…”
GILES: “Oh, shut up!”
WILLOW: “I never would have guessed. You played the blood-lust kinda cool.”
SPIKE: “Mmm…I hate being obvious. All fangy and ‘rrr’. Takes the mystery out.”
WILLOW: “You know, this doesn’t make you any less terrifying.”
SPIKE: “Don’t patronize me!”
Final Analysis
Overall, this episode was a marked improvement, even if there were some logical errors strewn throughout the script. The focus is largely on Riley’s double life, which is remarkably parallel to Buffy’s usual dilemma. Some of the comedic elements feel forced after the first time around, but on the whole, the elements introduced along the way make up for it.
Writing: 1/2
Acting: 2/2
Direction: 2/2
Style: 3/4
Final Rating: 8/10
posted by John Keegan | 17:35
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