Buffy the Vampire Slayer - The Complete Fourth Season

Rating:
Summary: A season with a barbed hook
Review: When I was watching reruns of this show on TNT, this is the season that made me a fan, and season 5 sealed it. I like the more grown up feel of it and the simple fact that we're getting to know our characters a bit better. This was touched upon in season 3, but season 4 opened up the characterization and really upped the ante. I can't see how people dislike this season.

Rating:
Summary: my least favorite season but its awsome funny actioness and
Review: a marvouls season my laeast favorite the episode hush s the scaries buffy episode ever i locked my doors ever since that episode i hate the character riley he leaves next season luckily he was a jerk and when angle comes you can tell they stil love each other anya is hilarious emma gives a great performence and i dont see why people rag on the seaons new big bad adam i loved him his look was so creative and he's strong too.

Rating:
Summary: The worst season of Buffy by far....
Review: ...Season 4 is considered by fans and critics alike as the worst season of Buffy. Boring plot lines, a boring villian, and even more boring boyfriend. The entire character of Riley alone ruined the entire season. What a whiney, boring, self involved character.
I love all things Buffy. I have all the books from the show, the scripts, the watcher's guides, the first 3 seasons on dvd, the entire rest of the series taped, the soundtrack, the "once more with feeling" soundtrack, etc....
...And "hush"? it is perhaps the most over-rated episode of any tv series in history.

Rating:
Summary: Buffy grows up
Review: I don't really understand why so many people don't like season 4. Oh, wait, I do. Angel is gone and Buffy is still breathing. I think it is really funny that the characters survived high school so much better than some of the fans. Anyway, I don't particularly like Riley, Ok I hate him. But Buffy's love life is the least of what is happening in season 4. This is ground breaking stuff and Joss and all his cohorts deserve big kudos for taking chances. There are some truely outstanding episodes here, Hush, Something Blue just to name two. The whole lesbian relationship between Willow and Tara is handled so beautifully. I agree that as a whole the season is not as strong as the 3 preceding. The whole Initative idea was probably alittle too big to handle. But my gosh, the writing is unbelievable. And besides, you need to have it. Season 4 has alot of clues in it.

Rating:
Summary: When the game changed
Review: This was the year of Joss Whedon. After experiencing the highest ratings for "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" the show would ever experience in season three, the master of this lore would use 1999 as a year to branch out; with two shows to preach the Buffy mythos. For Buffy, this fourth season was the year that the stakes changed for its core characters. Buffy, Willow and Oz would begin thier pursuit of higher learning, Giles and Xander would experience disillusionment and meandering life choices in thier post-education instiution endeavour and Angel...was gone.
This was the season where the characters and the show was scrambling for a point of reference. The library was no longer available as the rallying point for this gang. Instead, they were scrambling around between Giles' apartment, or Xander's basement, or on campus. This ambiguity was a perfect metaphor for the estrangement that the characters would experience from eachother throughout the season.
This was also, possibly, the last season that the relevance of the characters could be considered relatable to the audience. The trials and fiends that this season offered had some relevence to the "real-life" experiences that the characters endured. Often dismissed as misdirected, the fourth season availed a new incarnation for the "highshcool is hell" analogy as the evolution from a rather sheltered environment of Sunnydale high to the more cut-throat arena of college was handled well. College is not the place where everyone knows your name and where milestones like graduation or prom would signify the ties between all of the students.
College was the last institution that blocks our characters from the reality of life and the show did well to purvey this sense of isolation and anxiety as we were witness to Buffy's first experience with being "played", being intimidated by campus regualars and the overwhelming discomfort of college, friction with a new roommate, binge-drinking, visits back to highschool and drifting apart from her friends.
These elements were very pertinent to myself because Buffy's first year of college, was also my first year of college, and the fourth season was the season in which I became obsessed with the show. Huge character developments were brought about and none more provoking or monumental than Willow's evolution to homosexuality (brilliantly brought about through masterful writing, Alyson Hannigan's performances and the introduction of an equally tremulous Amber Benson). Other developments involved Xander's resignation to the life in the workforce, Giles' defamation professionally and as an influence on Buffy's life, Oz's departure, Anya's return (thank-you writers), Riley's introduction as the rebound-guy, the beginning of Faith's recovery, Angel's not-so-loving reunion with Buffy and who could forget Spike's neurological vasectomy.
When I mean the stakes change, I refer to how Buffy seemingly abandons her friends for some new ones, how Willow and Oz were no longer the perfect couple, how Xander and Giles were on the outside looking in on Willow and Buffy's college life and how a once menacing Spike was strapped in limbo between good and evil. This is the year that the characters left the certainty and comfort of highschool and eachother and joined the cusp of the real world where the institution itself did not tie the characters together, but only created rifts to drive them apart.
Sure, the "Initiative" was not as mythological or apocalyptic as villians past, but it was a villian nonetheless that proved a worthy adversary because it was not a familiar type of enemy. I was manufactured and consisted equally of demons and humans. The importance of this season rests in its unfamiliarity. College brought about unfamiliar challenges for the group as did the Initiative and it was in that unfamiliarity that this season was masterful. It was an unfamiliarity that is shared with countless freshmen and that could be relatable. Eventhough college and freshman year is a time that tests your ability to be alone and to adapt to that isolation, it is that isolation that binds the characters together as well as relates the stories to the viewer.
Episodes like "The Freshmen", "Living Conditions", "The Harsh Light of Day", "Beer Bad", "Pangs" and "A New Man" explore the realms of unfamiliarity for the characters as they begin to be divided on issues and challenges that normally they would rally around. As these episodes are largely stand-alone, the episodes pertinent to the season arc also provide exemplary television like "The Initiative", "The "I" in Team", "Good-bye Iowa" and "Primeval". There were also very stand-out episodes in terms of creativity and artistic potential; these include the emmy-nominated "Hush" and "Restless" where the writers play with conventions of television and with surrealism.
For those of you who relate to the college anxieties and want to see the evolution and growth for the gang as they approach the real world, I highly recommend this as an addition to you DVD collection. If you long for the good ol' days, however, when the gang was still in highschool and the library was central command, then I definitely recommend this as part of your DVD collection cause "you don't know what you got til its gone".

Rating:
Summary: Awesome part of the Buffy series
Review: Some people may not like season 4, and we all have our favorite seasons, but season 4 is awesome. Every Buffy fan should have it because some of the best episodes come out of this season and seeing the gang after highschool is very interesting.

Rating:
Summary: Joss has done it again!
Review: The fourth season of Buffy the Vampire Slayer is a must have! ... single episodes stick out in the must see category. Also, many new characters and relationships first develop from this season such as Buffy and her new muscular boyfriend Riley, Willow and her shy but charming girlfriend Tara, and even Xander with his new (and very very funny!) love interest Anya, the ex-vengences demon. Spike also returns with an interesting turning point. Some of the best episodes for instance "Hush" (Where the scary Gentlemen take all of Sunnydale's voices plus Riley and Buffy finally find out some stuff about one another!) and "Who are you" (Where Faith comes back in this two-parter episode and switches bodies with Buffy) will leave you on the edge of your seat for sure! Another episode I think was the best ever was "Restless" (The lost slayer tries to [destroy] Willow, Giles, Xander, and even Buffy) in this amazing episode which is sure to leave you breathless at the end. Whether you'll be hiding under the covers, passing around tissues, laughing your behind off...the fourth season of Buffy the Vampire Slayer--a must have! 5 stars for sure!!
--Jessica Albani

Rating:
Summary: Full Screen is RIGHT
Review: I was dissapointed when I saw that the US will be getting full screen, while the UK has a Widescreen release, until I discovered the reason why.
Joss Whedon (THE MAN) after putting much thought into it, wants the show to be released Full Screen, because thats the way the show was shot and intended. Yes the Widescreen addition has sides chopped out of the full screen, but this is what Joss and the directors intended while shooting the episodes. What you see at the sides of the Widescreen was supposed to be chopped off. And when it comes down to it, this is Joss' show, and this is the way he wants us watching it.
I plan on trusting the US releases, as a lot more work has gone into these additions than any others. They have more features and (in my opinion) better packaging.
Check official Buffy websites for the quote from Joss, but I'm with him, this is the way the show is intended, this is the way I'll watch it.

Rating:
Summary: Don't agree with the sour reviews
Review: I think Season 4 was an awesome part of the Buffy universe. We saw Buffy humbled by a snotty group of college vampires, but later kicked their bu-tay...we were introduced to the super sexy Riley (sorry guy, I liked Riley)...we were introduced to the quiet and beautiful Tara and saw the first signs of romance between her and Willow in what has to be the best and scariest episode ever, HUSH...and, to me, we saw the awesome appearance of "Uber Buffy" and sad to say it was a one time appearance only. I won't go on and on, others have given a more in depth review and I don't hold a candle to those guys as a reviewer.

I gave it 4 stars only because of FOX's betrayal to fans by releasing it in fullscreen format and not widescreen as it should be.

Rating:
Summary: Don't buy Region 2 DVDs if you don't have a Region 2 player.
Review: Buffy fans who want the widescreen format of season four should think carefully before they buy the European Region 2 DVD set instead of the American Region 1 set. The European Region 2 discs will not play on most American Region 1 DVD players. You will suffer only more disappointment when your discs do not work in your machine.