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List Price: $59.98 | | Label: WB Television Network, The
Salesrank: 23638
Released: June 10, 2003 |
| Our Price: $30.00 |
| Used Price: $14.25 |
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MPAA Rating:
Media: DVD |
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Editorial Review:
Buffy begins college feeling completely overwhelmed. But once the monsters show up, it’s just like old times. Then she strats dating Riley, a handsome commando battling the same monsters. He’s part of a secret organization called The Initiative and Buffy is all too happy to join the team. But she soon suspects The Initiative may be more dangerous than the monsters they are supposed to be battling . . .
Description of Buffy the Vampire Slayer - The Complete Fourth Season:
Having battled a hellish vampire master, an evil boyfriend, a rogue slayer, a giant man-eating demon-snake thing, and a particularly nasty high school principal, Buffy Summers embarked on one of her biggest challenges in the fourth season of Buffy the Vampire Slayer: college. With boyfriend Angel out of the picture (and on his own show) and Sunnydale High destroyed, new horizons were to be tackled for Buffy and the rest of the Scooby gang. There were cute guys (Buffy's new boyfriend Riley), cute girls (Willow's new girlfriend Tara--yes, Willow's gay!), frat parties, irritating roommates, harsh professors, and, oh yes, a secret military initiative that was experimenting on the demon population (Riley's part of it).
Buffy truly hit its golden years in the fourth season--just when you thought this show couldn't get any better, Joss Whedon and his creative team pulled out all the stops and took Buffy and co. into rich new territory. By far, the highlight of the season (and the entire series) was the Emmy-nominated "Hush," a nearly dialogue-free episode in which the creepy "Gentlemen" rob Sunnydale of its collective voice, and Buffy and Riley finally come face to face with each other's hidden identities. While Frankenstein-esque monster Adam wasn't the show's best villain (you'll have to wait until next season's Glory for that), he was a worthy adversary for the biotech age, and the military milieu was a nice contrast to Buffy's previous gothic outings. Season 4 also marked the return of blond vampire Spike (who developed a crush on Buffy), the ascension of vengeance demon Anya to full-time cast status, and the brief return of bad slayer Faith (in a fab two-part body-switching episode). Throughout, the entire cast, headed by the unparalleled Sarah Michelle Gellar, worked television magic of the kind rarely seen on the small screen. This is Buffy at its best. --Mark Englehart
Buffy the Vampire Slayer - The Complete Fourth Season Reviews:
And the series starts to go downhill.... 
2009-10-18 - Buffy season 4. Widely considered to be the worst season of Buffy. Worse than season 1, season 5, or even season 7. I didn't really feel that way at all. I didn't really feel that the season was particularly good, but there were a few parts of it that I liked.
I want to first address some key problems that the writers were faced with. They started out the season having lost two great characters, Cordelia and Angel. Angel had left Sunnydale to be apart from Buffy, and to seek out his own spin-off series in LA. That joke's getting old, I know. They decided to move Cordelia to LA also, I guess because they didn't think they could do much with her on Buffy. And then, five or six episodes into the season, they lost Oz. Now that wasn't the writer's fault. Actor Seth Green wanted to leave the show, he just wanted to move on and try other things. That kinda stinks. Oz was one of my favorite characters. So just based on those problems, we already know this season may not be as good as previous seasons. To fill the void left by those characters, over the next few seasons, we get introduced to a few new characters; Anya, who was actually introduced at the end of season 3, Tara, Riley, and.....Uugggghhhhhhh......Dawn. Now I'm not going to go into this garbage pile of a character in this review, because she doesn't come on until season 5. However I need to talk about some of the others.
First of all, Anya. I hated this character when she first came into this season. She was kinda funny in season 3, but I just couldn't understand why Xander went to the prom with her. I guess he couldn't get anyone else to go with him. That makes sense. But to have Xander start an actual relationship with her, then almost marry her in season 6? SHE'S A FRIGGIN' DEMON!!!!! Well, okay, ex-demon, but still! Now I'll admit, she kinda grew on me, but still, her character didn't really serve any purpose on the show, other than to be the comic relief which was only funny half the time. Now, Tara. I know I could get in trouble for saying this, but based on the Willow who was established in the first three seasons, it made no sense for her to become a lesbian and fall in love with Tara. Willow had some really strong heterosexual relationships in the first three seasons. I read somewhere that Willow and Tara become cultural symbols or something in the gay/lesbian community. Now I didn't really like Tara as a character much, either. Why? She's not a character. She's just an extnesion of Willow. In season 6, she finally develops a something of a personality. But for this season, she serves no purpose other than to make Willow gay, and therefore make the show politically correct. Lastly, the character Riley. He and Dawn are probably the two most hated characters in the Buffyverse. I don't really know why everyone hates him so much. I thought he was an okay character. He's not one of the best characters ever, but I didn't hate him. In a way, he's what Buffy has always wanted. He is capable of having a normal, healthy relationship with her, and he knows how to take care of himself, so there's not too much danger of him getting killed for being close to Buffy. Now I don't think he's as cool as Angel. I think too many people wanted him to be as cool as Angel, and were disappointed.
Now as I said before, I didn't hate this season. I just didn't think it was very good. The first half of the season was mostly a bunch of cheesy, campy episodes. I liked the second half slightly better. I thought the initiative would be the bad guys. I thought professor Walsh could have been the main villian, I think that would have been cool, but instead, we get the cyborg villian, Adam. I didn't think he was very threatening, but he wasn't the worst villian ever, there would be worse villians in the future. A villian like Adam is really only good for one episode, or maybe a two-part episode. But at least he didn't obnoxiously take up the whole season, like Glory and The First did in seasons 5 and 7, respectively. The end of this season was not very good, but it was entertaining to watch. They defeat Adam by turning Buffy into....something....something really strong which apparently knows how to use the force. So they beat Adam, and then the season finale has them having weird dreams for no reason, something with the first slayer. Then they wake up, and the season ends.
Overall, not a very good season. However, there were a few episodes I liked. The very first episode, "The Freshman", I liked. I thought it was a great way to start the season. Buffy is feeling overwhelmed with all the pressure from starting college, and her friends seem distant. Because of this, her slaying suffers. In the end, though, she pulls it together and beats the vampires and begins her year with renewed confidence. I liked the episode "Wild at Heart". Even though it was Oz's last episode as a regular, I liked the drama. The episode "Hush" is considered to be the best episode of the whole series, and I'm inclined to agree. The episode was a great blend of horror and comedy. I liked the two episodes "This Year's Girl" and "Who are You". Faith returns and pulls a body-switch with Buffy. She takes up Buffy's slaying, and discovers she enjoys being good. Buffy swithes them back, though, and Faith leaves Sunnydale starting to feel remorse for everything she's done.
Those are about the only episodes I really liked. Other than that, the season is not very good. But it is way better than some of the seasons that were to come. I would not recommend buying this season. If you've seen the first 3 seasons of Buffy, I'd recommend you just start watching Angel. It's much better than the later seasons of Buffy. If you really want to see the later seasons of Buffy, then go out and rent them. Don't waste your money.
Keeps Getting Better 
2009-06-19 - Season 5 has some of the funniest episodes in the series that I have seen. Truthfully I think that Riley makes a great love interest for Buffy. As much as I liked Angel, Riley gives life to the love where Angel just made it bitter sweet. Oz was not a pivotal character for me so his leaving was not an upset for me. Anya is a much more likeable character than Cordilia and the show seems a lot more lively with the changes and new additions. Spike is exceptional, I cannot wait for the sixth season to own Smashed.
Some critics have said Season 4 was horrible. I went into the viewing with an open mind because I have liked the series so far. I thought the first episode was a little choppy (Xander was not his 'witty' self) but soon even my skeptical brothers were hooked on the show. I am looking forward to season 5, as are my brothers who previously made fun of my addiction.
~*Buffy Review*~
2009-03-08 - This season is just as good as all the other seasons! Buffy has a new love interest, Willow starts dating a girl, & alot of other things happen. If you are a fan of Buffy then this season is a must. I noticed that it is like $48 on amazon. I bought all my buffy seasons at best buy for like $20-$30 a season. If you will keep an eye out for their ads they frequently have all kinds of tv series on sale.
One of the BEST!!
2007-11-27 - Well, when i first watched this season i thought it was just okay. Then i watched it a second time and fell in love with it! This season is very underrated and has a lot of great episodes. And this just happens to be 'buffys' funniest season imo. The only problem i had was Riley and the government thing, but then i got used to it and appreciated the story more because it was a good one. My favorite episodes are-
Wild At Heart- everytime i watch this one i get so sad because willow crys, oz leaves and yeah it's really sad.
Beer Bad- lol! i think this episode is so funny and VERY underrated.
Primeval- buffy gets all crazy eyed with these crazy powers. Very cool.
Hush- yeah yeah it's great, whatever.
This Year's Girl- Faith wakes up and all hell breaks loose! Juicy..
Who Are You?- the episode where Faith switches bodies with Buffy, love it.
Superstar- kinda lame but i still love it.
Restless- underestimated it at first but it is kind of awesome.
This is my third favorite season after five and two.
The Slim Set is much cheaper
2007-09-10 - Anyone thinking of ordering this should consider Buffy the Vampire Slayer - The Complete Fourth Season (Slim Set) instead. The discs are exactly the same and the only difference is that the DVD packaging is a Slim Set. Slim Sets are thin cases (about half the width of a regular DVD) that don't contain the booklets you usually get with DVDs. Those bargain DVDs you see for $5 at the store are usually sold in slim sets. Otherwise, you are paying way too much for this product.
If you're trying to get the entire series of Buffy, go with Buffy The Vampire Slayer - Collector's Set (40 discs)
