Buffy Series 4 (Buffy the Vampire Slayer - Season 4 (DVD))

Member Name: butters

Product:	Buffy the Vampire Slayer - Season 4 (DVD)
Date:	25/03/09 (117 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Great new cast editions. The episode Hush.

Disadvantages: Some weaker episodes.

Few will have not heard of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, a successful series that started in 1997, even after a pretty crap movie of the same name years earlier. The series follows Buffy, a person with superhuman strength whose job it is to rid the world of vampires and demons with fellow friends Xander, Willow and Giles there for help. When it originally aired it did appear to be aimed for the teenagers though it really can be enjoyed by all ages due to the brilliant humour often found in Joss Whedon series. It's not a comedy of course; it's more of a comedy-drama.

Series 4 starts right after where series 3 left off. After completely destroying their old high school come graduation so whilst Buffy and Willow head to college and Xander gets a job. It was quite a pivotal series for the show since the first 3 series were so tightly based around the old school and the library though the new freedom achieved from this has worked overall. Also, because of all of these changes going on, some characters going to college and some not, leaving Giles behind, it has allowed for some decent character development, and has let the characters grow up a fair amount, showing a new side to them. Mostly, this has worked well.
This time round the series is focussed on the Initiative, a secret military organisation that captures and experiments on demons, so naturally, Buffy comes across them. After a military experiment gone wrong the Big Bad, Adam has been created, a Frankenstein-type creature whose body has been comprised of various demons. The enemy doesn't compare to the previous enemies, such as Major Wilkins from series 3, or Spike from series 2 though with more stories going on it doesn't show too much and the series remains good. Speaking of Spike, a large part of the series is dedicated to his return. Due to an experiment by the Initiative he can no longer harm humans, and though this can be quite frustrating, as Spike was once a brilliant villain, James Marsters makes a brilliant return and some excellent acting the character Spike still remains good, and watching the character develop, struggling to cope with his new impotency works well, and Spike is a welcome addition to the cast, replacing Cordelia ass the one who causes friction between the group. Cordelia of course left the cast and went into the spin-off, Angel.

Also new to the cast is Riley Finn, an initiative member who starts dating Buffy, neither aware of the others demon knowledge. Played by Marc Blucas (not known for much other than Buffy) the character starts off really well with a nice mysterious edge, though by the end of the series you may be a bit sick of him because as soon as he becomes a main character he loses a lot of his mystery and becomes a little irritating. With so many other main characters though it doesn't really affect the series because there are enough jokes from other characters to keep the show funny.

As for the rest of the cast, the acting remains pretty strong, though there are definite weaknesses. A story arc involving Willow breaking up with hey boyfriend Oz is quite interesting to watch though over too fast. It was a shame Oz had to leave the series. Played by Seth Green his character was interesting. Alyson Hannigan shows weakness in a lot of her acting during this story arc. Episodes such as "Wild at Heart" and "Something Blue" show that her acting really isn't the best when she is meant to be upset, and seems a little too weepy and annoying. The acting is average at least though and she plays a decent character for the rest of the series, especially during her new relationship with Tara. It has to be the start of one of the most beautiful relationships on TV and although things start to heat up a little more in Series 5, it is still a joy to watch in series 4 as Willow deals with her new (secret) sexuality and the character Tara is created. Actress Amber Benson plays a stuttering shy girl really well, and she fast becomes loveable though again, this is shown further in series 5. Credit goes to the writers of the show as the lesbian relationship was mainly shown through (obvious) hints and small signs of affection rather than a tacky lesbian relationship written only to get ratings.

As for other cast members, Sarah Michelle Gellar remains the same. She can get a little annoying at times though overall she is a decent actress and this is shown in two episodes. "Beer Bad", an episode where spiked beer causes her to return to her primitive roots is quite funny and shows Sarah Michelle Gellar can be quite comedic. This is much the same with "Something Blue", an excellent episode where some magic backfires, causing weird events to happen such as Buffy falling in love with Spike and Giles going blind. This episode stands out purely because it is completely light hearted, making it a change from other episodes in the series. The writing is brilliant for it and the acting between Sarah Michelle Gellar (Buffy) and James Marsters (Spike) due to their newfound love is brilliant. It is more comedic than realistic though it is obvious that is how the episode was intended. It shows once more that Sarah Michelle Gellar can do some comedy, and shows the same with James Marsters. "Something Blue" is a high point for the series in general.

Xander has a bit less of a role in this series though is still a main character, and appears a lot. Not going to college, his story arc involved Anya, an ex-demon from a previous series who seems to have grown fond of Xander. It's quite a humorous relationship that definitely has its high points because of Anya's lack of social skills from being a demon for 1000 years shining through, though lacks the depth of Willows relationship with Tara. His acting hasn't changed too much and remains good enough, and Emma Caulfield (Anya) puts in a great performance. Although her character lacks a lot of depth and she is mainly there for comic relief, the part is played extremely well.
Giles is very much the same as Xander, being in the series less and his acting not changing much. Played by Anthony Stewart Head his acting is as good as ever, and watching the dynamics change as Buffy relies on him less is a big part of series 4. It's nice to see some true character development occur when it should.

Series 4 can't be reviewed without the mention of the special episode "Hush". It's special because all of the characters, due to some demons, have been muted so the episode is largely silent, with only music and gestures. Considering Buffy usually relies on humour so much it's great to see an episode without talking working so well, and it is good that Buffy occasionally has episodes like this, breaking the mould and doing something a little different. The demons in it, called the Gentlemen are effective enemies and the creepy story helps this as they both look and act quite chilling. The special effects do drastically vary in Buffy. The Gentlemen and Adam, and various demons look high-quality, though when werewolves appear you can't help but feel they look more like fluffy dogs.

Overall it is a very good series. I'd say it's not quite up to scratch because of the story of the main enemy being a little cliché and therefore weaker than the enemies in previous seasons, though the writing remains up to scratch and the episodes are as good as they ever were. There are some decent cast members bought into this series as well, and although I'm not the biggest fan of the character Riley Finn, he isn't necessarily a bad character, he just doesn't live up to the quality of other new cast members Spike and Tara.
Not more could be expected of such a series to be honest and it's nice to see that the change of scenery as Buffy moves on from school didn't harm the show, and that this change was used as an opportunity for some character development rather than just keeping the characters the same until they got boring. Plus, episodes like "Something Blue" and "Hush" would be on the list of the best Buffy episodes over all 7 series.

There's 22 episode overall, all 45 minutes. The extras in it are Episode Commentaries, Episode Scripts, Outtakes and a Picture Gallery. The outtakes are always worth a watch though they are nothing special, and the episode commentaries are at the same standard all episode commentaries are. Personally I am not a fan though I'm sure for people who are, these will be interesting. The age certificate is 15 and it can be bought off Amazon.co.uk for £20. It's obviously not the best place to start the series if you are buying DVD's though episodes are shown on the FX Channel weekly if you are interested.

Currently £16 on Play.com

Summary: Great series if your into Buffy