Alan Rapp

The sun is blocked out, the sky rains fire, Angelus returns, the unstoppable Beast smashes and crashes through L.A., and that’s just in the beginning.

Angel – Season 4
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So much happens in this season it will make your head spin.  The quest for Cordelia, the rise of The Beast,  the rain of fire and permanent midnight, the return of both Faith and Angelus, and the arrival of an ancient power who first takes control of Cordelia and then all of Los Angeles.  A packed full season that is one of the series best.

You just treat it all like it was up to you, the world in the balance, because you never know when it is.

Both Angel (David Boreanaz) and Cordelia (Charisma Carpenter) are missing in action as Season Four begins.  Angel is finally freed after months at the bottom of the ocean by Wesley (Alexis Denisof), and will deal with the betrayal of his son Connor (Vincent Kartheiser).  Cordelia returns from her stint as a higher being, without her memory, just in time for everything to go to hell as The Beast (Vladimir Kulich) burrows his way up from hell, makes the sky rain fire, and blocks out the sun.  No one knows how to stop The Beast, all records of his existance have been destroyed in this dimension.  The only one who might know someting is….Angelus.

Since Angel cannot remember that specific period of time the group decides to bring back Angelus and find out what he knows.  Yeah, kind of like solving a bruised elbow by ripping off the arm and throwing it to the wolves.  Of course Angelus escapes and the group enlists the help of a Vampire Slayer, no not her, the other one.  Faith (Eliza Dushku) returns to help stop The Beast and bring down Angelus.  World saved right?  Well, not exactly.  Everything would be just fine except Cordelia turns out to be The Beast’s master and pregnant to boot.  The creature inside Cordelia gives birth to herself, an angelic Jasmine (Gina Torres) who creates a Utopia as any who see her or listen to her fall under her spell.  Slowly the gang is forced out of the delusional paradise and embark on a mission to end world peace…I mean Jasmine’s control.  Finally they return to the hotel to find an old friend who offers them a deal of a lifetime.

Whew, you get all that?  We also get new characters such as the wonderful and wickedly sexy thief Gwen (Alexa Davalos) as well as the return of several familiar faces including Faith, Skip (David Denman), Lilah (Stephanie Romanov), and Darla (Julie Benz).  This season also asks the question, can you copy from yourself?  If Spin the Bottle looks familiar it because Buffy did it much better in Season Six with Tabula Rasa.  And if House Always Wins gives you a sense of deja vu you might want to go back and look at Double or Nothing from Season Three of Angel.

Aside from those misques, there are some great episodes here and although I prefer The Beast / Angelus story arc to that of evil Cordelia / Jasmine there is much to enjoy in both.

The Beast

Apocalypse Nowish / Habeas Corpses / Long Day’s Journey

The Beast burrows his way out ouf hell to arrive in Los Angeles and reak havoc.  First he tosses around Connor around the alley like a ragdoll, then dispenses the Angel crew without breaking a sweat.  Can a guy made out of rock sweat?  What next?  Well he makes the sky rain fire, but he’s just getting wamred up as he walks into Wolfram & Hart and kills everyone he sees stealing the power of the conduit to help him block out the sun.  The rain of fire is spectacular and The Beast is a powerhouse of a villain.  Whedon’s trademark for turning things sideways is in full force as The Beast doesn’t join the evil law firm, but massacres them.

Salvage / Release / Orpheus

Angelus has been brought back to learn how to defeat The Beast, but he escapes the hotel and roams Los Angeles enjoying the havoc permanent night has brought.  With no other options Wesley calls on Faith to track down Angelus and capture him alive.  The scenes between Wesley and Faith show how much each character has changed since Season One.  The method of capture is paticularily interesting as Faith and Angelus are trapped in his mind as the group, with the help of Willow (Alyson Hannigan) tries to recapture and restore Angel’s soul.

 

Inside Out / The Magic Bullet

Darla

My two favorite episodes of the Jasmine storyline.  The first is the birth of Jasmine where Kartheiser gives his best performance of the series.  I especially love the scene between Darla’s “ghost” and Connor; the scene ends showing how irredeamable Connor has become.  That final shot of Darla looking up at him is heartwrenching.  The other episode involves Fred versus the world as she is the only one who can see through Jasmine’s spell.  Some great conspiracy monments here and I really enjoyed Patrick Fischler as the owner of the conspiracy bookstore.  I love how the cast reacts to knowing and understanding that they now know the truth, yet acknowledging how each of them still craves the lie.

The collection contains commentary for seven episodes (Spin the Bottle with Whedon and Denisof is pretty funny stuff, and I can almost forgive them for ripping off the Buffy episode).  Also included are a season overview and a collection of outtakes.  A set of featurettes about the Hyperion Hotel, Wolfram & Hart, and the Beast storyline round out the collection.  The Wolfram & Hart featurette is especially interesting as it gives you a look back and helps set the stage for Angel and the gang’s new surroundings in Season Five.  In all a pretty good collection of extras.

A nice collection of extras and some pretty damn good storytelling make this a great little set to add to your Buffy / Angel DVD collection.  The Beast and Angelus storylines are particularily well done, and the Jasmine storyline is interesting as it shows us a completely different type of villain.  One thing Angel does as a series is show how much the characters live in shades of gray, can be tempted, and often make bad decisions.  And bringing Lilah back to point out that by stopping Jasmine they effectively ended world peace and have thrown the world into chaos is cool.  They had to stop Jasmine, but did stopping her actually improve the world or did they do more harm than good?

Though much of the Buffy “fan-dom” views Season Six as mis-step, I couldn’t disagree more.  This is the season where I became a Buffy fan and supporter and I think it ranks as the best of the series.

Buffy the Vampire Slayer – Season 6
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Josh Whedon took some hits as Buffy fans, in general are not that fond of Season Six.  Let me just say that not only do I think this is the best season of the series but also that without it I would not be such a huge supporter of Whedon’s work.  Yes the season is dark and depressing but at the same time it includes some of the funniest episodes of the series entire run, and let us not forget a little musical episode as well.

 

The hardest thing in this world is to live in it.

As the season opens the Scooby gang has decided to resurrect Buffy (Sarah Michelle Gellar) the consequences of which will effect the entire year.  Buffy is successfully brought back to life, but seems lost in a morose fog as she tries to readjust to the world unable to make connections and finds more comfort in the company of Spike (James Marsters) than with her friends.  Willow (Alyson Hannigan) starts to become addicted to the magic, which leads to her separation from Tara (Amber Benson) and a dark journey of her own.  Dawn (Michelle Trachtenberg) feeling abandoned and ignored by Buffy looks for and finds her own trouble.  Xander (Nicholas Brendon) and Anya (Emma Caulfield) bicker about their appending wedding.  And Sunnydale will be terrorized by the new villains, the evil trio – Warren (Adam Busch), Andrew (Tom Lenk), and Jonathan (Danny Strong).  One of them will commit one of the worst crimes on Buffy and will cause Willow to become the “Big Bad” for the final arc of the season.

The theme of the season of being lost and disconnected works very well and plays on many aspects of the characters.  I enjoyed the Buffy / Spike relationship as well as Willow’s dark turn.  I mourned the loss of Tara, but her death led to some great storytelling well into Season Seven.  For me the seasons of Buffy that hold the most meaning are when people close to the group die and the characters are forced to deal with the consequences of those deaths.  Yet with the darkness there are great comedic moments, mostly from the evil trio which Joss Whedon himself admits as his favorite villains of the series.  Some of the funniest episodes of the series like Life Serial, Gone, and Tabula Rasa all take place in this season.

Something to sing about!

Once More With Feeling
This is simply one of the best hours of television ever.  What makes the episode so great is it is not a stand alone episode; it actually moves the storyline along and provides the situation (as Hush did in Season Four) for the characters to say and do the things that they could not have done in another episode.  Xander and Anya admit to their concerns over marriage, Giles finally comes to terms that Buffy might be better off if he left Sunnydale, and Buffy herself can finally admit that her friends didn’t save her from some awful hell dimension, but instead yanked her out of an idyllic heaven where she was happy and finally at peace.  Whedon provides some wonderful songs and the cast all perform their own numbers.  Great, great television!

Tabula Rasa

The very next episode in the run and just maybe the funniest episode of Buffy ever!  Willow’s attempt to make Buffy forget her time in heaven backfires and actually causes the entire scooby gang to lose their memories.  Hilarity ensues as Spike believes he is Giles son Randy, Giles and Anya think they are engaged, and the group is attacked by real life vampires!

Normal Again

Normal Again

Is Buffy Summers really the Vampire Slayer or just a confused girl in a mental institution in L.A. that has drempt all this?  The question is explored fully as Buffy is infected by a demon and starts to be concious of two realities, one where her parents are alive and together and she no longer has to worry about vampires and demons.  As Buffy must ask herself, which reality is more probable?  Truly cool, and the closing shot is perfect.

Of all the DVD sets this one is my favorite for features as it is stocked full of fun goodies.  We are given commentaries for six episodes including a wonderful commentary by Josh Whedon himself for the musical episode Once More With Feeling.  The musical also gives us a documentary that explores the creating and shooting of the episode and a short little sing-along for a couple of the songs.  Included is a season overview, outtakes, and a short entitled Buffy Goes to Work which talks about Buffy’s need to find employment and eventually work at the Doublemeat Palace.  The writing staff and producers each talk a little about their first real jobs.

Aside from these extras, Season Six also contains two more terrific extras.  The first is the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences Panel Discussion that took place the summer after Season Six aired.  It includes Whedon, Marsters, Hannigan, Trachtenberg, Brendon, and Marti Noxon and set designer Carey Meyer.  Realy, really, really cool.

The second extra-cool extra is the documentary Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Television With Bite which takes a look at the creation of the Buffy character from Whedon’s original conception to the movie, and the creation and change of the show over time.  It’s a great documentary that may have been more appropriate to throw in on the Season Seven DVD set, but hey you get it here along with all the other extras for this season.

I freakin’ love this set.  An awesome collection of great episodes and packed full of wonderful extras.  My only real complaint is the two-part opening episode Bargaining 1 & 2 which ressurects Buffy and brings her back to Sunnydale.  It is probably the weakest opening episode to any season and it’s two hours.  Thankfully they have provided commentary for this one so you don’t have to pay attention to the demon bikers quite so much.  That said, from the very next episode on we get greatness throughout.  The passionate but doomed relationship between Buffy and Spike explodes, sometimes literally, on the screen.  Our season villains, the evil trio, give us some wonderfully funny moments as they try to take over the world and become Buffy’s “arch-nemisises.”  The season also ends on a poignant note as Tara’s death makes Willow go over the edge on a huge bender of bad magic and provides the unsung hero of the show the opportunity to save the day (and the world).  A wonderful set here for any collection.

Great individual episodes stand out in Season Four of Buffy the Vampire Slayer.  Themes of disconnection, life’s changes, and evolving relationships occur throughout the season and the main story arc examines the idea of science versus magic in the Buffy universe.  New characters as well as the return of old friends set up a season that although is one of the weakest, provides some individual great moments and lays the groundwork for themes and stories that will be explored through the end of Season Seven.

Buffy the Vampire Slayer – Season 4
Custom Rating

Great individual episodes stand out in Season Four of Buffy the Vampire Slayer.  Themes of disconnection, life’s changes, and evolving relationships occur throughout the season and the main story arc examines the idea of science versus magic in the Buffy universe.  New characters as well as the return of old friends set up a season that although is one of the weakest, provides some individual great moments and lays the groundwork for themes and stories that will be explored through the end of Season Seven.

 

The Slayer does not walk in this world

Buffy Summers (Sarah Michelle Gellar), Willow (Alyson Hannigan), and Oz (Seth Green) have graduated high school and moved onto college at UC Sunnydale.  Xander (Nicholas Brendon) returns home after a summer of misadventure to live in his parents basement and try and understand his relationship with Anya (Emma Caulfield ).  New faces abound as Buffy gets a new beau in undercover soldier Riley Finn (Marc Blucas ), Willow begins a new stage in her life with Tara (Amber Benson), and an entire army appears underneath the campus known simply as the Initiative. The theme of science versus magic will be explored throughout the season as the government run Initiative delves into the world of the supernatural and tries to harness the power for new weapons, the last of which, a human/demon/cyborg called Adam (George Hertzberg), will bring down the fall of the Initiative and threaten the safety of Sunnydale.  Buffy will need to reunite the Scoobies, who have moved further and further apart during the year, to stop Adam and once again save the day.

Adam

Where Season Three played on graduation and completion of a stage of life, this season focuses mostly about being in a new world and trying to find your place in it. Giles (Anthony Stewart Head) and Xander both begin to feel useless to the group, Buffy struggles with fitting in at college and trying to live in Riley’s world, Willow deals with the heartbreaking betrayal and abandonment of Oz and goes through an emotional upheaval and onto a new relationship with Tara, and Spike (James Marsters) is neutered to the point that he can no longer hurt humans and is forced to ask the Scoobies for help.

The season is something of a mixed bag. The Initiative storyline never really reaches the level of other Buffy season arcs.  If you like the final battle sequence between Buffy and Adam in Primeval you might want to rummage through your local comic shop as it’s stolen from an Alan Moore book called Promethea.  Aside from the main arc we do get some very good stand alone episodes.

Hush

Language can often get in the way of communicating, trying to say what you actually want to express.  For twenty-five minutes no one speaks in this episode as the entire population of Sunnydale is rendered without speech by the Gentlemen.  It’s a great stand alone episode, but at the same time the style is used to push plot and story.  Xander is finally able to express how he feels about Anya, and Riley and Buffy finally stop dancing around the issue and kiss.  The Gentlemen and their straightjacket wearing servants are creepy villains and the score greatly adds to the feel.  Also worth noting is this episode introduces the character of Tara.

Superstar

Jonathan Superstar

A creature is terrorizing Sunnydale and Buffy and the Scoobies call on Jonathan (Danny Strong) to help.  Jonathan?  A very nice stand alone episode where Jonathan has altered reality to his will making himself a paragon, the best of all things.  The episode also is important because it is Jonathan who heals the wounds Faith caused in the Buffy / Riley relationship and Jonathan who comes up with the source of Adam’s power.  Cool moments abound here, I especially like Jonathan’s performance at the Bronze and all the specially created product placements and advertisements for our new hero.

 

This Year’s Girl / Who Are You?

Faith (Eliza Dushku) awakes from her coma and seeks revenge against Buffy for taking everything away from her.  It’s great to see Dushku return to reprise her role in this two-parter where Faith switches bodies with Buffy and takes over Buffy’s life.  Suberb acting by both actresses.  The conclusion of the story takes place in Season One of Angel.

Restless Slayer

Restless

Whedon’s finale is an out of body dream sequence that explores the different characters subconscious as they are hunted by the force of thePrimitive (Sharon Ferguson), the first Vampire Slayer, they called on to help them defeat Adam.  Some really cool stream of consciousness stuff here.  The episode also sets up Season Five, Buffy’s need to come to an understanding what being a Slayer means, and the coming of Dawn.

Season Four gives us some nice extra features.  We get featurettes about Spike and Oz, an interview with set designer Carey Meyer and a look at the sets of Sunnydale, original scripts, and commentary for an amazing seven episodes.  There is a short documentary about the making of Hush as well.  My favorite extra is the featurette which examines the use of music in Buffy.  We are given a look and listen to the theme song and the use of score throughout the season and discussing Anthony Stewart Head’s performances of Freebird and Behind Blue Eyes as well as his singing an exposition song written by Whedon in another episode.  Some really good extras that help round out this set.

Season Four is my least favorite of all seven seasons of Buffy the Vampire Slayer.  The problem arises in the main story arc – Science vs Magic.  It’s an interesting idea that could have been explored in one or two episodes, but the theme is drawn out over the season as the government starts to interfere in Buffy’s world.  The villain of Adam is one of the least interesting of the series and I give the season bad marks for introducing the much hated character of Riley Finn to the Whedonverse.  Also we get some of the worst written shows of the series such as Beer Bad, The Freshman, and Where the Wild Things Are.

That having been said, a less than brilliant season of Buffy is like coming in fourth at the Olympics – still pretty damn good.  There are still numerous reasons to check out these episodes as they lay the foundation for all the seasons to follow.  There are some great individual episodes, some great building blocks and development of these beloved characters, and some pretty cool extras including the commentary and the featurettes.

The series breaks down into two blocks: the high school years (Seasons 1 – 3) and the adult years (Seasons 5 – 7).  This season is all about not belonging to either world and rediscovering your place, making new realtionships, struggling to keep old relationships, and moving onto a new world.