Rating: 
Summary: a better season that you would think
Review: Season 4, lacked angel and Oz, which was both some of the best characters ever on the show.
Season 4 actually has some of the best episodes of the shows and Sarah Michelle Gellar is on top of her game. This is an underrated season. Many people didn't like Riley and the initiative. But I think it was some storylines that had to be explored. Btvs was always a show that took risks.
There were two great angel episodes. And also some great, oz episodes.
This is a must have season for any fan, but also for people who enjoys great writing.
Rating:
Summary: Buffy the Vampire Slayer - The Complete Fourth Season
Review: Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Season Four is an extremely strong season.Each individual episode is written and directed beautifully.The show gets stronger eac year with deeper episodes and unforgetable characters.You can't not like Buffy The Vampire Slayer.The show in my opinion is flawless.Every episode will hold your attention till the end.I wish more shows could do that.The characters are great.The story arc is impressive.The wittiness is still fresh.Buffy begins college feeling completely overwhelmed.But once the monsters show up, it's just like old times.Then she starts 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.Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Season Four is represented greatly in this six disc set.Make sure to check out episodes like: The Freshmen, The Harsh Light of Day,Fear Itself, Beer Bad, Wild at Heart, The Initiative, Something Blue, Hush, A New Man, Goodbye Iowa, This Year's Girl, Who Are You?, Superstar, Where The Wild Things Are, New Monn Rising, Primeval, and Restless.It also has tons of bonus features : Season Four Overview, Selected Episode Commentary, Five Featurettes, Selected Episode Scripts,Still Gallery, and much more.(...)Buffy, Willow and Oz go to college at UC Sunnydale. Buffy immediately comes face-to-face with a leader of a gang of vampire thieves named Sunday. If that wasn't bad enough, we learn that Buffy's roommate (who has a Celine Dion poster) Kathy is a demon. We are also introduced to Professor Walsh, Buffy's mean Psych teacher. During Buffy's freshmen year at UC Sunnydale...
Spike blows back into town with ex-Sunnydale snob, Harmony, looking for the Gem of Amara.
Anya returns and becomes Xander's ex-demon lover.
A demon named Gachnar causes paranoid delusions at a haunted house.
Buffy and some other students drink some beer at a bar that turns them into cro-mags.
Oz falls for another werewolf named Veruca and ends up killing her. Oz then decides to leave Sunnydale and Willow.
Buffy latest lover, Riley, is involved with a government-run organization headed by Professor Walsh called The Initiative.
The Initiative places a chip in Spike's head that makes him unable to kill humans.
Angel returns to see Buffy. The spirit of a Native American named Hus wants blood in Sunnydale.
Willow casts a spell that throws the Slayerettes and Giles into bad times.
A bunch of baddies named The Gentlemen bum rush Sunnydale and steal everyone's voices.
Willow and Tara meet at an on campus Wicca meeting.
Buffy tells Riley that she is The Chosen One. Spike starts to help out the gang.
Ethan Rayne returns and transforms Giles into a demon.
Buffy joins The Initiative. Professor Walsh's secret monster, Adam, kills his creator.
Adam is on a rampage. Riley beings to get the DTs from the drugs that Walsh was injecting him with.
Faith returns from a coma and switches bodies with Buffy.
Tara manages to reverse Faith's body switching spell. Adam's power continues to grow.
Faith leaves town.
A dork named Jonathan casts a spell to create an alternate reality where he is a superstar and Buffy is his sidekick.
Buffy and Riley have sex and bring to life the spirits of a bunch of children who believe sex is evil.
Oz returns in an attempt to win Willow back. Unfortunately for him, Willow now loves Tara.
Adam and Spike plan an attack on the Scooby Gang.
The gang battle Adam and his army of the living dead.
After defeating Adam and his army, as well as The Initiative, Buffy and the crew watch movies. Unfortunately, the original Slayer has been awakened in their dreams.
In their first year at UC Sunnydale, a lot of surprising things happened. We saw the departure of Oz and Angel and a whole new group of evil beings. As usual, the Scoobies ended the school year triumphant. However, we are left confused by a very cryptic exchange between Tara and Buffy. "The show gains strength from the rich history it builds. Year by year, evildoers and allies reappear, and storylines cross over seasons."
-- Mike Gower, APOLLO GUIDE
Rating:
Summary: Not Much of a Change
Review: The fourth season of Buffy begins with Buffy confused and bewildered, dazed by all the changes college brings. However, she quickly gets back into the swing of things with her demon roomate, and mysterious milatary initiative, and the return of Spike and Faith, and a new creature Adam, a being made up of several demons, humans, and robot parts. The fourth season marks a period of awkwardness for each character. Buffy finds herself "used", Willow is dumped, Xander is the only one not at college, and Giles is unemployed. Many people don't like the fourth season, and the reason is that you either love it or hate it. Starring Sarah Michelle Gellar, Amber Benson, Alyson Hannigan, James Marters, Nicholas Brendon, Anthony Stewart Head, and Marc Blucas. The episodes are: The Freshman
Living Conditions
The Harsh Light of Day
Fear Itself, Beer Bad
Wild at Heart
The Initiative
Pangs
Something Blue
Hush
Doomed
A New Man
The I in Team
Goodbye Iowa
This Year's Girl
Who Are You?
Superstar
Where the Wild Things Are
New Moon Rising
The Yoko Factor
Primeval
Restless
Rating:
Summary: Not as good as three.
Review: While this season is definetely good in its own way to me it doesn't quite live up to season three. Sure making Willow a lesbian and adding a hunky new love interest definetely help there is just something missing to me. Also sometimes it felt like there was no real evil to address in some episodes so it felt like they were forcing the story along awkwardly. Can't wait to watch season five.
Rating:
Summary: Most Underrated Season
Review: I liked season four a lot. I thought the Initiative storyline was cool, I liked Riley and Adam, and Oz gets a major story ark. The addition of Tara was daring and ultimatly rewarding. Season four also contains the only Emmy nominated episode in the series, the masterful "Hush". The only thing I didn't like was the pointless direction of Spike. He is much better used in seasons five, six and seven. Overall, Good stuff.
Rating: 
Summary: My least fav season of btvs-but still better than 99% of tv
Review: This is my least favorite season of BTVS. But I still love it. Im not sure really why I dont like it as much as the other seasons. Because it has some excellent episodes such as Something Blue, Hush, This Years Girl and Who Are You. But it also has a lot of not as good stand alone episodes, and I prefer a story arc. Probably the main reason that this is my least favorite season is that it has my least favorite episode in it: Restless. I know that that episode is a lot of people's favorite, but it is the reason that i stopped watching the show for 3 years. Yes, I realize now that it is genius and that it foreshadows 3 years of the show, but back then I just thought that it was rubbish. It just turned me off from the whole show which upsets me now, because I was missing a lot. Another reason this season isnt as good as the others is the Big Bad. Adam just wasnt that interesting. Neither was The Initiative. This season marked the end of 3 great characters: Angel, Cordy and Oz. But it also brought in 3 great characters: Tara, Riley and Anya. And at least Angel and Cordy moved on to another equally awesome show. But I still missed Oz. I loved Tara. She was my favorite character and I was extremely upset about her demise in season 6. Anya is freakin hilarious. She brought the comedy that Cordy had taken away from the show and moved to Angel. Riley wasnt the best Buffy boyfriend, but I thought that he was a great guy and I was sad to see him go. And how can I forget about Spike. He's been on the show off and on the last two seasons but he became a main character this season. Although I didnt care for him too much this season. Definitely not as much as in the seasons that follow. I think it's cuz he joined together with the worst Big Bad of the Buffverse. I wouldnt recommend that this be the first Buffy box set you buy, but if you want the complete collection, then you definitely want to include this.
Rating:
Summary: This is a weak season?I never noticed.....
Review: Season four of Buffy is an unlucky season that gets bashed far too often for stupid reasons like there's no high school or Angel and Cordelia are gone.The point is things change.Season four does a great job at keeping the greatness even though there are so many changes at once.I'll say that season four isn't as perfect as season three but it does not really feel much worse than season two.The character development is really great at this point.The same can be said of the continuity.Pretty much every episode(except Beer Bad)is entertaining.The best episodes are definitely Hush and Restless.Hush is a silent episode and Restless is a dream episode.Really cool.Even season four haters love these two episodes.Some of the best ideas have come in season four like Willow's lesbianism and Spike's chip.Season four has some annoying flaws,though.The Initiative story arc is anti-climatic and as a it whole feels like it could've been better.Adam,the Big Bad is rather average,too.And Riley is easily the weakest regular character to ever appear on the show.Despite this,season four rules.There are so many great episodes and so many great character moments.It's amazing that Buffy manages to remain so great in a year where it has to deal with so many new things at once.It's a disiorienting season but not in a bad way.Some say season four lacks focus.I think it was intended because of how new and fresh the show is in season four.The dvds are very good with great picture quality,great extras and very cool menus.
Rating:
Summary: Best season EVER!
Review: Season four is by far the funniest and most honest season yet. We learn so much about all of our characters, especially Anya and Spike. We gain Tara, who is an absolutely fabulous actor. And come on, tell me you don't love the quips between Spike and Buffy, Willow and Anya, Xander and Spike, and best of all, Jiles and Spike. If there is one season that you will like, out of all the Buffy seasons, it's this season. This is the season where all of my college friends started really watching the show. Once a week we all had a get-together to watch this show. BUY IT NOW! Then buy Season 6... the second best season!
Rating: 
Summary: Buffy's weakest
Review: Buffy's weakest season by far stil offered many great moments, most notably the classic episodes "Hush" and the season finale "Restless." Both episodes deserve a place in the All Time Buffy Top 12. The problem with the season was that the main story arc was unemotional (compared to previous seasons) and could not carry on for a high number of episodes (as evidenced by the high number of stand-alones late in the season). The stand-alone episodes were decent, but it was a weak seasonal story that hurt the show's quality and ratings. Other significant problems included Giles' and Xander's characters being left at a loose-end, Spike's character losing his ability to be evil and becoming more of an annoyance, and a suspect jump to make Willow a lesbian (ratings ploy anyone?). Willow's move to homosexuality was fixed in subsequent seasons, while Giles and Xander found something to do in Season Five. Adam, the main villain of the season, was also a problem in that he really had no character, but the final battle was done quite well. Overall, Adam was the show's weakest villain. Sending the gang off to college presented some challenges, and Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season Four was for the most part a transitional year. The show was later resurrected in Seasons Five and Six, but Season Four will always be Buffy's weakest.
Rating:
Summary: Something blue, something wild.
Review: Season 4, as some reviewers have pointed out, was the season of change and risk. If season three was the logical conclusion of the high school is hell metaphor, where evil became institutionalized in the form of the elected Mayor, then season four was the example of the dangers and evils of freedom unrestrained. This kind of perilous freedom was seen not only in the sexual choices Buffy and Willow both make throughout the season (not so much Willow, but her ralationship with Tara does have to be accounted for in the New Moon Rising episode when Oz returns to Sunnydale), but also in the rogue government organization of the Initiative run by a true mad scientist. Strangely enough you never see this season mentioned when posters compare the good seasons of Buffy. The 4th season episodes ran from the near operatic greatness of the end of Season 2 and most of Season 3 (This Year's Girl/Who Are You?-where the loose end of Faith gets tied up, sort of), to sheer put-the-bullet-in-my-head-ASAP woefulness (Beer Bad, A New Man, and what may be the worst episode of the whole series, Where The Wild Things Are). Special mention must be given to Hush, a wonderful homage to silent movies, such as Nosferatu and Caligari. Unlike the majority of the posters, I felt the story arc for this season was well thought out; science vs. magic was a long overdue theme that looked great on paper, but in execution got bogged down on an episode-to-episode basis by either really crappy writing or way too zestful character analysis. The actual action scenes were often gratuitous bones thrown to the viewer to break the often lethal spell of narrative doldrum being cast (the Initiative). This season, aside from Buffy and Willow's expanded sexual freedom and self pity, saw Giles's character suffer from a lack of direction and decision--arguably he could be the meta-mirror for the Buffy writing staff; Xander, of course, was still Xander. Spike's character went from Big Bad to sardonic, but he still got the best lines. There's an awesome pre-credit sequence in one of the earlier episodes where he's talking smack to an unaware Buffy, and then BAM!, gets taken down by Initiative commandos--it's one of the priceless moments of this season. Adam wasn't such a Big Bad-demon, human, machine, and still a smart ass to boot! There's a great twisted homage to Whale's Frankenstein of 1931 when Adam encounters a boy and gets curious about what makes humans tick. Indeed this season lacked the epic greatness of the third season, but it also doesn't qualify as completely forgettable season.
|
