The Initiative, Episode 4

[Jaded Wolf]

While season 4 was great considering the transition that had to take place between the high school years and the departure of many characters; i.e., Angel, Cordelia, and Oz in later episodes, there were two things that bothered me during this whole season.

1) The "neutering" of Spike. Now I know this can be argued that it needed to be done in order to bring Spike to what he would become in Season 7. However, I still don't like it. It took something away from Spike. After seeing him as this bad vampire in Season 2 and 3, season 4 just sucked (ha) the life out of Spike. Who's to blame for all this? The Initiative, which leads me to...

2) The Initiative. Not only did they neutered Spike but they made the whole season seem less about the supernatural and more about sci/fi. I think the concept of The Initiative was cool and introduced Riley which I think Marc Blucas plays the military man down to a tee (check his work in "We Were Soldiers"). I think the thing that really bugged me is the fact I am in the military and as I am watching The Initiative in action I am critiquing their methods, movements, and tactics. For instance, in this episode why is like about four to five hours after Spike has escaped the boys are gearing up to hunt him. If it was such an emergency they should have been alerted earlier and the frat party cancelled for that night. I think the breach tactics in the dorms could have been choreographed better but again this is coming from my personal knowledge of military tactics. Also my gripe with The Initiative comes down to ADAM. What a crappy villian. Nuff said.

I still like this season. Memorable episodes like "Wild at Heart", "Hush", and the Faith episodes makes this season definetely worth watching it. Particular funny nods goes toward "Beer Bad", "A New Man", and "Superstar". All in all this season stands out but with just a few minor complaints. Ah well... Joss Whedon still rules all!

[LittleMissLikesToFight]

I actually enjoyed the initiative, it gave riley so much more interesting material, and professor walsh too, that evil evil bitca!

I agree about the neutering of spike, especially how incredibly helpless he was and it just...was off putting. and tied up or not, i still can't believe they took him in so quickly. if i were buffy i would've took the blanket off and kicked his ass into the sun. I mean, at that point i didnt see how she would have any sympathy for him, especially after everything he did to her just episodes earlier! it was so hard for me to buy into.

I can't say much on the military aspect, but as guess as anything goes, you have to take it with a grain of salt. The writer's don't have the experience you have... i know its irksome but eh, its buffy lol.

[Hello Cutie]

I have to agree with the whole Spike thing... it gave them a chance to do some funny things with him, like in Pangs... but the way they just took him so quickly wasn't so believable, and it did just turn him into something akin to a helpless mewling kitten at times...

I find season 4 the weakest season of the lot anyway... I didn't like Adam (who was the epitome of everything sci-fi and not supernatural), and while there were some very good episodes, I found the whole season lacking in something... thankgod it picked up in season 5!

[Clem]

I'm glad they neutered Spike, I think it gave him so much more than it took away. Yeah he was deprived of his bad-ass vampire character from how we saw him before, and he would have a made an awesome super villain, but I think neutering him was best. It developed another character for him, he was able to be that funny, wishes he was bad vampire who hates the scoobies, but still wants to fit in with them since he can't go back to his older days. He did still keep his bad ass, it's just instead of killing humans, he kill demons. It's not his preference, but it's better than nothing.

As for the Initiative, I agree with you to some extent. I don't think they took the whole supernatural sense away at all, I think in this season they brought it to another level. In previous seasons it was demon, slay, demon, slay. In this season we explore another side of slaying. We got to see the contrast between modern and medieval fighting technology. Plus, we got to see Willow and Tara, and that's an additional supernatural aspect. I think this season was a big step in the evolution from high school to adults. I think they played it off quite well.

[Aussie]

I didnt like season 4 the first time round, or even by the next time round! But it did grow on me. The stand alone eps were fantastic. I agree that the Initiative made it more SciFi and I think that it is what put me off. But then I admited the geek within and started to like it :D
Spike being a neutered puppy was funny though, I enjoyed watching him struggle with it!