Characterization In The Buffyverse — ‘Buffy The Vampire Slayer’ Season 4, Episode 14
by Benjamin Hall
This is part of a bi-weekly series concerning the characterization of Buffyverse characters. The first installment in this series can be found here. Arguably the best place to begin reading this series is at the beginning, but that is up to each reader. As a reminder this column will cover major and some minor characters from the shows Buffy The Vampire Slayer (1997-2003) and Angel (1999-2004). Other Buffyverse media, such as the graphic novel Spike: Into The Light (2014) are not pertinent to this series. Also there will be no referencing real world events that have a direct relation to either show in this bi-weekly series.
This week: Buffy Summers (Sarah Michelle Gellar) and her friends go into hiding. Meanwhile, Adam (George Hertzberg) starts wreaking havoc around Sunnydale.
(Warning of spoilers from this point on!)
(Trigger warning for mentions of verbal abuse and drugs)
Buffy’s “no killing humans” rule is apparently flexible in this episode. Although, it is mostly likely she is bluffing versus actually willing to follow through on her threat to Dr. Angleman (Jack Stehlin). Another bit of characterization: she is still being a punching bag for Riley Finn (Marc Blucas). Yes, he goes through withdrawal in this episode, but that is not a good reason to keep accepting verbal abuse from him. She also, for some reason, defends Spike (James Marsters) from Riley — and there is no on-screen explanation for it. She also fails to explain, other than assessing the situation, why she does not attack Adam or try to retreat with Angleman and Riley.
Riley, meanwhile, goes through an apparently rapid withdrawal from mystery drugs. He displays no unusual symptoms (for television, anyway). Nevertheless, pre-withdrawal, he shows a lack of trust in Buffy despite not fully trusting Maggie Walsh’(Lindsay Crouse). Thus, his intellect is either starting to see a very slight effect from the lack of drugs in the form of confusion or he is an idiot. Personally I think the latter considering what transpires in the next two seasons.
Rupert Giles (Anthony Stewart Head) gives some exposition to Riley and trades insults with Anya (Emma Caulfield Ford). Other than these two thing, he does little else in this episode.
Anya is a voice of reason in this episode regarding Xander’s aid in infiltrating the Initiative. That said, her main actions in this episode are being a protective (or possessive) girlfriend and act like a friend to Buffy. Or, at least, try.
Willow Rosenberg (Alyson Hannigan) also does little in this episode besides try a spell with current friend and future love Tara Maclay (Amber Benson). Yet, there is foreshadowing of this future romance with Willow’s nervous over-explaining to Tara.
Xander Harris (Nicholas Brendon) also acts as a voice of reason to Buffy toward the end of the undercover mission, and to Riley at the beginning of the episode. Otherwise, he is just in this episode to be a humorous character.
Tara exists as Willow’s friend with the subtext of being a romantic interest. However, she also foreshadows that she is more than she seems by disrupting the spell.
Spike acts both dumb at the beginning of this episode. He jeers his allies when they are defending him against Riley. Although, the jibe comparing Buffy to a relative fits him at this time. Of course, whether or not the relative actually exists is up for debate. Spike also gets a wake-up call that his evil reputation is pretty much no more after a beating by other demons.
Forrest Gates (Leonard Roberts) displays hate for Buffy. Yet, there is no real foundation for it and it seems to accelerate throughout the episode into unreasonable territory.
Graham Miller (Bailey Chase) continues to display a stoic personality. Unfortunately, there is nothing new to say about his characterization.
Adam learns about various things in this episode. Although, the way he goes about it is just part of a method to have him exposit information for both the characters and the audience.
Dr. Angleman’s (Jack Stehlin) way of finding Walsh’s corpse indicates he either has really poor senses or The Initiative smells really bad all the time. Both the method of discovery and his choice to keep Adam a secret after Adam kills her suggests Angleman is a yet another idiot.
Willy the Snitch (Saverio Guerra) mentions knowing how to cook chicken with an air fryer at his establishment. Other than that, he is pretty much the same snitch.
Scientist #1 (Andy Marshall), the Shady Lady (Karen Charnell), the Little Boy (J. B. Gaynor), the Reporter (Amy Powell), and the Rough-Looking Demon (Paul Nygro) are, for the most part, extraneous stock characters. Yet, a good deal of exposition comes from several of them.
There is a fair amount of characterization for such a large cast of characters. However, several bits of characterization are just for the sake of exposition or rushing to a point without a foundation.
