Rating: 
Summary: A Groundbreaking Series Produces Another Great Season
Review: A lot of fans & critics claim that this is where the series started to go down-hill. I don't think that is the case. The show simply changed, and some people don't like change. Buffy, Willow, and Oz went off to college. While Xander stayed in his parents' basement and wandered aimlessly from job to job. Lastly, Angel and Cordelia left the show and headed for L.A.In fact, this season saw two of the series' funniest episodes ("Pangs & "A New Man") and two of the series' overall best episodes (the Emmy-Nominated "Hush", and "Restless", both written and directed by series creator Joss Whedon). We see the debuts of Tara, Riley; and the returns of Spike, Ethan Rayne, Faith. The main villain for the season, Adam, does not make his first full appearance until episode thirteen, but the debut is worth the wait. Adam is a human/demon/robot hybrid. He is smart, strong, well-spoken, and an interesting villain. The main arc focuses on The Initiative (a government funded military team who fights and studies demons) and their interaction with Buffy & Adam. Along the way Buffy and Riley get together, Xander and Anya become a couple, and Willow finds someone else after Oz makes his dramatic exit. The last episode of the season, "Restless", is a poignant and unique end to a fun story-arc. We see how the characters have changed throughout their three-and-a-half years by way of their dreams (masterfully written and directed by Whedon). The commentaries on selected episodes are informative and funny.
Buy this DVD box-set of you are interested in great fiction (just don't buy the upcoming "Smallville" box-set, that show is unwatchable)
Rating: 
Summary: A Buffy the Vampire Slayer's Fan's Opinion
Review: The season plays out like a single 23-hour movie. There's so much great character development going on in every episode. The effects, sets and action scenes are the best they've been. You can just feel that everyone involved is in a great creative groove.
I can see how some viewers might have been turned off by the sci-fi/spy elements that were introduced in this season, but I think they were well done, and they never dominate over the other themees in the show. The exploration of college life is another intesting new element. Cliques, drinking, fraternity loyalty, the roommate from hell are all incorporated into the "Buffyverse" with the appropriate wit. Instead of rehashing the same stories and situations from seasons 1-3, I'm glad the writers decided to explore some new directions once Buffy graduated high school.
Finally, this season is very well integrated with the first season of Angel, and characters cross back and forth in a way that I don't think has every been done between two different shows. I recommend watching Buffy 4 and Angel 1 concurrently, alternating back and forth after each disc.
Best Episodes:
* The Initiative - revelations galore
* Hush - of course
* This Year's Girl - an old friend returns
...and pretty much all the rest!
Rating:
Summary: The Greatest Show of All Time, Pt. 4
Review: To most Buffy-fans, the Fourth Season represents the first "bad" season of the bunch. But, a word to all those who've never seen the series: "bad," here, is a relative term. It may well be "bad" when compared to the Second or the Third Season... but that's like saying that a given mountain is "short" next to Everest. There are, really, only a handful of episodes of Buffy that can be described as bad, sans quotation marks, and in truth one or two of those *are* in the Fourth Season. Overall, however, the season is a fine work of storytelling, acting, directing and writing. In the final analysis, Buffy Season 4 is a quality work with a few potholes, but more than enough gems to compensate. You will often hear it said by those who follow this show that the worst of Buffy is on par with the best of most other network TV. And they're right.
The few potholes that do exist here include the worst episode of the series, Where the Wild Things Are, and the admittedly bad episode Beer Bad, which still contains some redeeming moments (i.e. Willow's conversation with Parker). However, the fourth season also has Sarah Michelle Gellar's finest acting work in the series, in Who Are You. It also has the emmy-nominated Hush, the spectacular two-parter The Yoko Factor/Primeval and the best(BEST) and most realistic dream sequence in any filmed medium, Restless.
Also, for anyone philosophically inclined, the Fourth Season presents the strongest and most interesting themes of the series as it pits magic versus science, shows the potential abuse of "too much freedom" and reflects on the nature of friendships, to grow apart and come back together again.
With the fourth season, our heroes move from high school to college. The tone and themes of the series mature with the characters. It is, in many ways, a transitional season from the more light-hearted previous few years to the more adult ones to come. This season deals with infidelity, promiscuiousness, substance-abuse, homosexuality and intolerance, but never in a ham-handed or stereotypical way. And it does all of that while remaining a cool, action-packed, tightly-written show. Keep watching--more greatness ahead.
Rating:
Summary: yeah
Review: Season 2 had the best acting/meta-plot around. Nothing can beat Sara and David's performance in the Becomming prt. 1-2!
Season 4 gets close. The metaplot isn't the best in this series, but the actual acting/character development is impressive. Just watch Hush or Restless. These episode hold there own as being some of the best Joss has ever shot!
Rating:
Summary: Much better season than people think
Review: The Freshman- 6/10
Living Conditions- 10/10
The Harsh Light of Day- 7/10
Fear, Itself- 9/10
Beer Bad- 8/10
Wild At Heart- 4/10
The Initiative- 9/10
Pangs- 8/10
Something Blue- 9/10
Hush- 8/10
Could of been a ten if the villians looked different. They were so creepy I have to look away in order to watch this episode.
Doomed- 7/10
A New Man- 9/10
The I In Team- 8/10
Goodbye Iowa- 7/10
This Year's Girl- 9/10
Who Are You?- continuation of last episode- 10/10
Superstar- 9/10
Where the Wild Things Are- 9/10
New Moon Rising- 10/10
The Yoko Factor- 9/10
Primeval- 9/10
Restless- 7/10
The best episodes are: Living Conditions, Who Are You?, New Moon Rising, Primeval, Fear, Itself, Something Blue, The Initiative, Superstar, This Year's Girl, A New Man, Where The Wild Things Are, The Yoko Factor
The worst episode was: Wild At Heart
Rating:
Summary: Good season, but not the best
Review: Well, the first year of the Scooby Gang after high school... A very good season, as always. Let's check some points:
1) ADAM - anyway you look at it, it's not the best villain...
2) Angel and Cordelia leaving: Simply did not care. I was tired of that eternal look of boredom in Angel's face, and Cordelia was always mean. She was a real villain and not an integral part of The Scooby Gang like Oz or Anya became, for example. She was saved thousands of times by Buffy and the gang, and even so all she did was show contempt for them.
3)RILEY - ok, a huge controversy arose here, due mainly to the devoted fans of the Angel/Buffy relationship. But he was a good character to introduce The Iniative to the Scooby Gang.
4) SPIKE - James Marsters returns with a bang, decided not to leave anymore! Spike is great, was always great, and this was the beginning of his "chip in the brain" saga. Very good plot, very good humor.
5) SARAH MICHELLE - what to say? Professional and talented like always, the perfect actress for the role.
This is not the best season by any standards. The posterior season five was much better.
Rating:
Summary: It's still Buffy...
Review: I bought Buffy season 4 with slight trepidation. I had stopped watching TV after graduating from high school (at the same time as Buffy), and what I'd heard about the latter seasons of Buffy the Vampire Slayer - a much beloved show from when I watched the second and third seasons in their first run - left me uneasy about seeing more. But, everyone I knew said that the episode "Hush" alone was worth picking up the season for.
Season 4 had the weakest villain up until then: Adam. Adam was physically threatening, but he lacked the style of Angelus or the quirks of the Mayor (or even the over-the-top goodness of the Master). He was a bland, cardboard villain; and indeed, one of the things that the post-high school seasons of Buffy were most sorely missing was the good nemeses.
This was also the biggest time of departure from the series. David Boreanaz and Charisma Carpenter went over to Angel, and Buffy seemed to have a hole in it now. Angel's replacement, Riley Finn (Marc Blucas), was sort of cardboard, and never created a tenth of the magic opposite Sarah Michelle Gellar (Buffy, natch) that Boreanaz had. Riley went from a promising character to bland once the spotlight went on him. Xander's new love interest - the ex-demon Anya - had already been introduced in season 3; her comic obliviousness ("Oh, an orgasm friend?") and her chemistry with Nicholas Brendon (Xander) carried her through somewhere around late season 5 before she'd gotten uninteresting. And the popular Oz (Seth Green) went, and was replaced by Tara (Amber Benson) in the show's controversial "make Willow (Alyson Hannigan) gay" subplot. In my opinion, Tara was the best of the new crew; she was sweet and well-written, and Benson is very unconventionally beautiful.
It's hard to knock the cast for this year. We get a sense of general purposelessness in the male half of Buffy's lead quartet; Xander is a working man whose role as the heart of the Scoobies seems compromised by the end; Giles (the ever superb Anthony Stewart Head) is unemployed and slowly drifting out of his familiar mentor role. Yet the actors are clearly giving their all, even if this season was the start of the general neglect of Xander that the writers went into over the years. Willow, whatever the naysayers claim, was exceedingly sweet in her relationship with Tara; Alyson Hannigan handled the transition completely naturally. And Sarah Michelle Gellar, for all her lack of chemistry with Marc Blucas, continued to find new places emotionally, most notably in her superb performance in "Who Are You?"
Season 4's overall strength was completely in its episodes away from the rather bland central arc. The initial sub-arc, settling into college, is decent at best with the exception of the excellent "Harsh Light of Day," which features the return of James Marsters as Spike - who became a regular this season. "Beer Bad" is, well, bad in a way that reminds me of "Bad Eggs." Seth Green's departure in "Wild at Heart" makes perfect sense, and is delicately rendered; its repercussions in "Something Blue" make for one of the best comic episodes of Buffy. "Hush" - which goes dialogue-free after the first act, and stays that way until the last five minutes - is a singularly brilliant episode, chilling and wonderful and all about communication. An excellent two-parter brings back rogue slayer Faith in "This Year's Girl" and "Who Are You?" (both excellent songs). When Sarah Michelle Gellar plays Faith and Eliza Dushku plays Buffy in "Who Are You?", it is a particularly brilliant turn. The clever "Superstar" rearranges reality from the start for the nerd Jonathan. "New Moon Rising" brings Oz back for one beautiful, sad episode (better than the Initiative arc that runs through it). "Restless" ends the season in a wonderfully rendered suite of dreams. But not all the standalones are worth it: "Where the Wild Things Are" is saved from being the worst Buffy episode ever only by Tony Head's rendition of "Behind Blue Eyes."
The Initiative is far less inspiring. When the show focuses on its workings or on Riley, or in the overdone action finale of "Primeval," it's entertaining, but it's not the same level as the better parts of the season - much less the heights of earlier seasons. It's still Buffy, but it's not on the level of the second or third seasons at all.
If "Hush" and "Restless" - two of the most artful episodes of Buffy - do not merit watching this season, then the comedy of material like "Something Blue" and the awesome drama of "This Year's Girl" and "Who Are You?" do. Season 4 works more than many of its detractors would say, even if it's mainly in the standalones and character plots that it goes over well. And in the final analysis, it's still Buffy - and that means it's still excellent television.
Rating:
Summary: Another smashing season, but not as consistent as prior ones
Review: OK. OK. OK. I have turned from a fan into a drooling idiot. Dear God I love this show, and I never saw a single episode on broadcast television. I'm a latecomer who's in the process of devouring the DVD boxes as fast as I can.
Y'know how when somebody from your gang of friends goes away to college, or how that clique you used to pal around with during your last years of high school seems to dissolve a little bit? That's what happens during this season, and it may feel a bit disjointed overall. Sure it's terrific, but fractious as well.
Instead of a Scooby gang per se, Buffy spends a lot of time with her new boyfriend Riley. Xander hooks up with Anya, and lives in his basement. Willow breaks up with Oz and hooks up with Tara. Giles becomes sort of a "lounge lizard", neither a librarian nor a Watcher.
It's simply harder for them to just hang out and be together. Many of the episodes either directly or indirectly deal with these ideas..."what has happened to us?" Consequently the episodes do not flow as nicely from one to the other as the previous seasons. Yet, a number of episodes here are among the best things ever done on the show...one episode in particular ranks among the best hours of TV I've ever SEEN.
Joss Whedon and company truly deserve credit for making art out of a TV show about college and vampires. Again, the dialogue is so sparkling I tend to watch these with the English subtitles running, so I don't miss a syllable.
" The Freshman" - 4:1- this is the " first day of college" episode. This show captured perfectly that paralyzing doubt, that echoing loneliness, that perpetual feeling of being " lost" that every freshman faces. Perhaps I am a bit more sensitive that others, because not only did I certainly have those feelings, I felt them right where Buffy did! I went to UCLA, albeit arriving in 1982, and seeing the gang go through the same things I did, in the same places I did, brought back, oh, half a cerebrum-full of vivid memories.
4:2 - This is the "roommate" episode. The depiction of roommate dynamics was deftly drawn, and pretty much any previous or current dorm denizen will find at least a half-dozen identifiable similarities to their own situation. I was an R.A. for two years; these writers must have been there. I can't tell you how many times I heard that someone has a "roommate from hell." Ha. They had no idea.
4:3 - This is the "one-night stand" episode. Again, either these college experiences are universally specific, or the writers were all there while I was. The goings-on of Buffy, Xander and Harmony are painful and precise. (Harmony? Yup. Re-watch the third season finale and it's all clear.)
And give it up for Bif Naked. She's the musical guest of the show. I thought I was the only one who knew about her. In this day and age of Avril Lavigne and Good Charlotte, it's an absolute crime a million or so people didn't pick up her album, " I Bificus", from which the show's songs are drawn. It's a better album than either one of those acts has ever made, and mind you, I like those acts. I was thrilled to see her.
4:4 - "Fear Itself" - This is the "haunted house" episode. At least one fraternity per college campus must have a combo frat party/haunted house every Halloween. This turns out to be an exquisitely done take on the standard haunted house tale. It's full of honest scares and fun twists. Clichés are destroyed left and right, and even the most jaded viewer will be startled at least once.
4:5 - "Beer Bad" - This is the "I'm so wasted" episode. The incredible run of wonderful episodes ends with this one. It's hard to watch. I think I can see where they were trying to go, but it didn't. Not even close. Skip it. It pains me to write anything this negative about the show, so I'll just stop...
4:6 - "Wild At Heart" - This is an intense little transitional episode. The Oz-Willow relationship reaches a crisis, with the Oz character reaching a logical conclusion and Alyson Hannigan shows why she's an actress deserving Emmy recognition. Those commando-types become more intrusive. The show sort of acts like a set-up for the entire rest of the season. Numerous plot threads are introduced, developed or teased in this one hour.
4:7 - "The Initiative" - This is the "X-Files" episode. We are again teased with a bit more information about this clandestine apparently-government-run operation, hidden underneath UCLA....er...UC Sunnydale. Now I know why I never went "tunneling" under my alma mater.
4:8 - "Pangs" - This is the "Thanksgiving" episode. Again, Whedon et al swing for the fences, somehow intertwining the importance of Thanksgiving from a family perspective, the potentially thorny concept of Native American rights, and, of course, demons and such. Toss in a guest appearance by Angel and some truly funny lines from Spike, and we're talking serious entertainment.
4:9 - "Something Blue" - This is a Willow-centric episode, where her unrehearsed thoughts become manifest, to hysterical result. I also have to say that Spike can be funnier than pretty much anybody else on the show...his line about the soap opera, "Passions" is, as they say, priceless. And the thought of Buffy and Spike getting married should be reason enough to seek out this show. One other point: this being a Willow-ish episode, check out the first scene of the show, and notice the banner Riley is helping hang.
4:10 - "Hush" - This is the famed "silent" episode. This is, without too much hyperbolic effusion, one of the finest single hours on television. It's not totally silent...maybe 70% or so...but this has some of the most terrifying moments of the series (so far). Those floating gentlemen are creepy as all get out. It also has a pivotal moment for the season...the last combat scene involves Buffy and Riley (although not with each other) and a whopper of a reveal. Again, the dialogue is filled with jeweled bon mots...did you know Giles really wasn't one of the original members of Pink Floyd?
4:11 - "Doomed" - This is the "mini-epic in the middle of the season" episode. It's the end of the world...yes, again...and the Scooby gang saves it...yes, again. It's the type of show you'd expect at the end of the season, but in typical Whedon fashion, they plop it right smack dab in the middle. Wildly entertaining, and Spike trying to commit suicide is ridiculously funny.
4:12 - "A New Man" - This is a "Giles-centric" episode, and honestly is one of the more amusing episodes of the whole year. Ethan Rayne returns, Giles becomes a big ugly demon, and Spike helps him out, but only after getting paid a few bucks. Again, Spike steals the show merely by driving a car...
4:13 - "The I in Team" - This is the "Et tu Brutus?" episode, where Buffy discovers a traitor in her midst. Naturally, the covert operation known as The Initiative must have a super-double-secret-covert operation, which is revealed here.
4:14 - "Goodbye, Iowa" - This is a "Riley-centric" episode. Buffy and Riley's relationship deepens, and Riley begins to discover some of the Initiative's less-than-noble activities.
4:15 - "This Year's Girl" - This episode features the return of...of...nah, I don't think I'll tell. But it's awesome. If you know whom I'm talking about, you'll agree. I'm just not telling for the three or four people out there who DON'T. A real corker of an episode. Part one of two, ending with...
4:16 - "Who Are You" - Let's just say one of the most celebrated battles from the last season is revisited here, and it pretty much blows THAT one away. Sarah Michelle Gellar's ability to mimic another character...with posture, walk, voice, inflection...is superb.
4:17 - "Superstar" - This is the "Jonathan" episode. From the opening teaser and credits...yes, even the credits are altered so don't skip them...this show is seriously demented.
4:18 - "Where The Wild Things Are" - This is a combination "haunted house" and "dangers of sex" episode. Yup. Somehow one leads to the other, as only the denizens and creators of the Buffyverse can demonstrate. As always, little character details flesh out our favorite people, and in this episode, it's Giles. A clue? Who's next?
4:19 - "New Moon Rising" - The return of Oz. Here I must mention again that Alyson Hannigan this year has been flat-out amazing. She is, in a word, great. She has plumbed depths that are startling. Her break-up with Oz earlier this year was the most realistic, heart-breaking scene on TV in ages. The highest compliment I can offer is that it felt 100% real. Her emerging sexuality is portrayed honestly and vividly, with a sensitivity and dimensionality unseen in "normal" TV shows. This is a performance for the ages.
4:20/21 - The season finale...where the Initiative storylines, the Adam storylines...everything come down to the epic conclusions we've come to expect...
4:22 - except for good old Mr. Whedon. The real last episode, "Restless", is an epilogue of sorts presented as a dream state involving all four major characters; it's a "tone poem" to use his own words. Based on other reviewers, this single episode sets up the rest of Buffy history or something. I dunno. I'm not there yet. I saw this thing and shrugged my shoulders the whole time. I didn't "get" it. I was bewildered.
I have now unwrapped Year Five...I seriously need to catch up on some sleep...
Rating:
Summary: One of the best buffy seasons,
Review: WHen I recieved this DVD set, I was satisfied from just staring at the welldone set, the discs, the handsome design, the quotes etc. I read all those reviews on how bad is this season, but I was extremely satisfied from the episodes:
1.The Freshman - a bit lousy start, I must say, but hey - not that bad.
2. Living Conditions - a nice one, but not that good.
3. Harsh Light of Day - a very well-done episode.
4. Fear Itself - Great!
5. Beer Bad - a nice one... Buffy's drunk... :)
6. Wild at Heart - absolutely genuine
7. The Intiative - a great introduction for the thing we'll really hate.
8. Pangs - Spike's starting his career as a scooby.
9. Something Blue - Wonderful.
10. Hush - Wonderful.
11. Doomed - Wonder ful.
12. A new man - Fun to watch..
13. The I in Team - surprising, very intense.
14. Goodbye, Iowa - great.
15 & 16. This year's girl & Who are you? - 2 special episodes: Faith returns!
17. SUperstar - a nice one.
18. WHere the wild things are - probably the worst in the season, but yet intense.
19. New moon rising - Willow & Tara!!
20. The Yoko Factor - a very carfully made ep.
21. Primeval - a nice kil-o-bigbad.
22. Restless - a special Joss'. Great ending.
Buy it, buy it! I've seen those episodes over and over again. absolutely a great season!
Rating: 
Summary: It's Hard To Say...
Review: I absolutely adore "Buffy The Vampire Slayer." It is easily one of the best shows ever made, and definitely the best thing to ever launch on mini-network The WB. However, every fantastic series is bound to have an off season, and well, that brings me to the fourth season of "BtVS".
Though it still shone relatively brightly, even through murky plot arcs, there was just too much about this season that disappointed, starting with the bane of most "Buffy" fans' existences: The Initiative. Though an interesting concept, the monster-hunting branch of the military, which lived under the college Buffy (Sarah Michelle Gellar) attended for the year, felt too sci-fi for a show more rooted in the mythology of horror and unique, original fantasy (think less wizards and more demons).
As well, the villain that the season spawned, Initiative accident Adam (George Hertzberg), a crude mix of man and monster(s), was just too silly, and pales next to every baddie presented thus far, including The Master, Spike & Dru, Angel and The Mayor. Adam was ponderous and annoying. And not in the least bit intimidating.
In addition, there were just some really unspectacular episodes, especially as the season wound down. The worst? Most would tell you "Beer Bad" (Buffy & others turn into cavemen...), and, yeah, it's awful. But I disagree. My least favorite ep. this season? The awful, overwrought "Matrix" rip-off "Primeval." It was meant to be epic and intense. But really? It was ridiculous and painful.
But enough b*thcing, because there's a lot about "Buffy"'s fourth season that makes it worth the money. First of all, there are a few excellent entries here, including the brilliant "Hush" (20+ minutes of which is silent), "Fear Itself" (the gang celebrates Halloween in a real haunted house), "Restless" (which is composed entirely of the gang's dreams), and the two-episode arc that saw the return of rogue slayer Faith (Eliza Dushku). Secondly, the writers developed a clearer sense of tone, even if some of the storylines were just...off.
So, yeah, there's plenty about this season that I like. Unfortunately, there's just as much that I don't. But all is well, because the fifth season, well...wow. Yeah, you heard me.
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