Season 4
THE FRESHMAN
Buffy, Willow and Oz are
starting college life at UC Sunnydale. Willow is in
Knowledge Heaven, Oz is just being Oz, and Buffy is
having a somewhat hard time adjusting to college life. While
Buffy and Willow are buying their textbooks for psych. Buffy
drops one on someone's head. He introduces himself as Riley Finn.
J He hits it off with Willow initially. Riley is the TA (teachers
assistant) to the psych teacher, Professor Maggie Walsh. On her
way back to her dorm, with whom she shares with the "super
fun." Kathy, she meets a boy named Eddie. Him and Buffy are
both lost, so they help each other find their way. Once they go
their separate ways, a goth vamp named Sunday attacks Eddie. When
Buffy notices that he's missing in class the next day, she begins
to worry. She goes to his dorm and all his stuff is gone, except
for a book he told Buffy he loved. Buffy knows something is up.
She goes to see Giles but he's too busy being a "man of
leisure" to help. That night, on patrol, Buffy runs into
Eddie, but he's vamped out and she's forced to stake him. She's
then attacked by Sunday, who gets the better of Buffy and twists
her arm, painfully. She goes to the Bronze where she thinks she
sees Angel, but of course it's not really him. She runs into
Xander, who spent his summer as a stripper for a club so he could
pay for the repairs on his car. She tells him about Sunday and he
tells her that she's his hero. They then decide to kick Sundays
ass. Turns out that Sunday and her "lackeys" kill the
students and steal their stuff. Buffy's stuff is taken and Willow
and Oz go into panic mode, thinking she ran away again. Buffy
eventually kills Sunday and decides that college is a lot like
high school, "which I can handle." At the end, we see
three commando-like guys shoot a vampire with electric like
things that paralyze the vamp. We are left to wonder about it.
LIVING CONDITIONS
Buffy is having a hard time dealing with her roommate Kathy. Kathy is a Cher listening, bubbly-talking girl who irons her jeans. Buffy tries to go patrolling without Kathy, but Kathy just follows. Buffy pushes her out of the way so she can fight an ugly looking demon with glowing blue eyes. Kathy's sweater gets dirty and she borrows Buffy's without asking. The gang notices Buffy's attitude towards Kathy is "bordering on Cordelia-esque" and watch in horror, as Buffy seems to start loosing it. Buffy and Kathy are also having the same dreams about a demon sucking out their life force. Buffy steals Kathy's toenail clippings and notice that they grow, after they've been cut, and yes, that's a demon thing. Turns out that Kathy is a demon who's trying to go to college, but the demon adult things come after her and will take the one without a soul. Kathy was sucking Buffy's soul out of her so Kathy could stay at UC Sunnydale. Eventually Giles and Willow do a spell to return Buffy's soul to her and Kathy is taken away. Willow then moves in with Buffy and they are now roommates. Also in this episode, Buffy meets Parker, and Oz runs into a blonde chick…
HARSH LIGHT OF DAY
(Part one of the first Buffy/Angel crossover) At the beginning of this episode, Willow is attacked by a vamped out Harmony. Oz saves her, of course, and they go to Buffy who, later runs into Harmony and new boyfriend Spike. Harmony blurts out that Spike is looking for the Gem of Amara. Turns out that the Gem of Amara is like the Holy Grail to vampires. It's supposedly a legend. And, if a vamp wears it, he/she can go into the sun and survive a staking and holy water. At a party Buffy and Parker are getting to know each other and they eventually sleep together. He tells her he'll call, but alas he doesn't. Spike gets the Gem and attacks Buffy in the daylight. Buffy takes the Gem off of him and he rushes to the sewers to escape the sun. At Giles' it is decided that while Oz and The Dingoes are in LA at a gig, Oz will stop by Angels and give him the Gem. Also, Xander and Anya sleep together. (On the Angel part of this, Angel gets the Gem and uses it temporarily, seeing the sun for the first time in 244 years. Then he smashes it.)
FEAR, ITSELF
It's Halloween in Sunnydale and the gang plans on going to a Halloween party at one of the frat houses on campus. One of the frat boys asks Oz to help set up the stereo system, while they're drawing a symbolic circle thing on the floor, for looks only. Oz cuts himself and his blood falls on the circle thing, which makes one of the plastic spiders sitting there come alive. That night, Buffy as little red riding hood, meets up with Xander as James Bond (in case they turn into their costumes again), Willow as Joan of Arc (Since Willow was almost burned at the stake, and Joan had "that close relationship with God.") and Oz goes as, you guessed it, God. (Their costumes matched!) Xander invites Anya, but she's late. Inside the house, things start coming alive. A plastic skeleton comes to life and attacks Buffy, then turns back to plastic again. A guy is hiding in the closet and then the closet disappears. Buffy and Willow get into a fight, and Willow leaves the room, Oz following. Xander is talking to Buffy, but she doesn't hear him. He's become invisible and then Buffy goes to look for him. Willow and Oz are going up the stairs when Oz starts turning into a wolf. He scratches Willow (accidentally!) when she reaches out and then he runs away and hides in the bathtub, trying to force himself not to change. Willow tries a locator spell, conjuring a little green light. But it multiplies and turns on her, chasing her. And zombies attack Buffy. They all end up in the attic where Oz is Oz again, Willows little green lights are gone, Xander is seeable again and Buffy has escaped the zombies. Anya, complete with Bunny costume, goes to Giles when she discovers that something is wrong at the frat house and is worried about Xander. Turns out the circle symbol thing is the symbol of Gacknar, the fear demon. And he's manifesting all their fears. He manifests himself and is really, really tiny. Buffy squashes him like bug. (Also, at the beginning, Buffy and gang run into the commandos, thinking it's just a Halloween thing.)
BEER BAD
Xander has gotten a job at the campus bar and Buffy is moping over Parker. So, Buffy goes to see Xander at the bar and runs into Riley who tells Buffy that Parker is a user. Then, she runs into "four really smart guys" who introduce her to a thing called Beer. Meanwhile at the Bronze, Willow and Oz are on a date and a band called Shy is playing. Oz seems to be enthralled with the lead singer, Veruca. He tells Willow he's not and that he's okay. The next night, Buffy is back at the bar with the guys and Xander is serving them beer. Xander sees that Buffy is drinking too much and makes her go home. The guys, however, have drunk too much and have now turned into cave men. Giles and Xander go to Buffy's dorm and find her drawing cave man figures on the wall. Meanwhile Willow goes to talk to Parker about how he hurt Buffy. At the dorm, Buffy escapes Giles and Xander and goes wandering across the campus. Parker tries his act on Willow but she doesn't fall for it. ("Just how gullible to you think I am?") A fire breaks out where Parker and Willow are and the cave men knock them out. Buffy gets there and gets everyone out. At the end, Parker apologizes to a "cave Slayer" Buffy, but she whacks him over the head with a branch, which was well deserved.
WILD AT HEART
Willow has noticed her man
notice some one else. Veruca, the singer chick from Shy. During
the full moon, Oz is locked in his cage and gets out. He almost
attacks professor Walsh, until another werewolf attacks Oz. The
next morning Oz wakes up in the forest with a female who's not
Willow. Instead it's Veruca, who is a werewolf
too. They both have cuts and
scratches on their bodies and Oz tries to figure out what's going
on, but he doesn't tell anyone. Not even Willow. Professor Walsh
tells Buffy to be careful when she's out at night because there
are too wild dogs going around and that she was almost attacked
by them. Buffy knows it wasn't wild dogs. She goes to Giles who
tells her to go to Oz. When she does, Oz denies knowing anything.
Willow goes to Oz to apologize being so weird around Veruca. She
tries to get him to make love to her, but he tells her he's
tired, he doesn't want her to see the cuts on him. Hurt, Willow
goes to Xander so she can get a guys perspective. Xander tells
her all she has to do is talk to Oz about it. Oz locks himself
and Veruca in a cage together, so that she won't hurt anyone. The
next morning, Willow walks in on him and Veruca. They argue and
she runs out. A car almost hits her, but Riley saved her in time.
Buffy tells Willow not to hurt herself, but to lay the blame
where it belongs. So, Willow decides to do revenge spell on Oz
and Veruca, but doesn't go through with it. Veruca plans to kill
Willow, so she can have Oz. Veruca and Willow argue a little. Oz
comes in and fights with Veruca, ripping her throat open, and
killing her. Willow goes to see Oz, and finds him packing.
He has decided that what Veruca said about the wolf always being
in him was true and that he can't be around Willow or anyone
until he figures it out. Then he tells Willow he loves her,
kisses her on the forehead and leaves. Here's to Oz's
return…
THE INISATIVE
Riley is talking to his two friends about Buffy and they can tell he likes her. HE doesn't figure it out until he hears Parker talking bad about her and he decks him. He then decides to go ask her out. Spike has been kidnapped by the commandos, and has escaped. Riley goes to ask Buffy out at her dorm, but instead he finds Willow, who is clearly still agonizing over Oz's departure. Willow tells him that Buffy likes Cheese and that she has a stuffed pig named Mr. Gordo, and also that she's dragging Willow to a party at Lowell house. Riley tells her that he lives there, so he'll be at the party too. At the party Riley tries to ask Buffy out, but Xander interrupts telling her that she has unfinished business to tend to. Riley and his two buddies go down stairs, below Lowell house. Turns out that Riley is one of the commandos!!! And that he works with Maggie Walsh, the Professor, in a thing called The Iniciative, which hunts vampires and demons! At the party Willow gets really depressed and goes back to the dorm where Spike shows up and tries to bite her, but can't. The Initive took away his "bark" so now he can't hurt any human being. When Willow is disappointed that he can't bite her and that vamps don't like to "sink their teeth into" her, Spike tells her that last year, (during "Lovers walk") he wanted to bite her. Riley finds Spike and tries to recapture him, but Spike gets away and Riley ends up fighting with Buffy, only they don't know it's the other because a flare went off and nobody could see through the smoke.
PANGS
This is another
Buffy/Angel crossover. Starting in Sunnydale, Buffy is determined
to have a perfect Thanksgiving. And her plans get somewhat messed
up when an
Indian spirit who is very mad at
what we did to his people so many years ago, is released and
gives Xander Syphilis. The Indian Spirit also kills a lady and
cuts off her ear. Angel has come to Sunnydale to make sure that
Buffy is okay, because Doyle had a vision that Buffy was in
trouble. He tells Giles, Willow, Xander and Anya that he's back,
but no one tells Buffy. And she feels pangs through out the
entire episode. She can sense Angels presence. They eventually
stop the Indian Spirit and have a nice Thanksgiving, where Xander
spills that Angel had visited. Buffy goes to LA…(In the
Angel part, him and Buffy are fighting a demon and Angel touches
it. It makes him human and Buffy and Angel can be together
without him losing his soul. At the end, Angel discovers that he
has to erase Buffy's memory that they were together so freely,
because she'll be in danger, of course. So now only Angel
remembers what happened. Buffy, Cordelia and Doyle don't.)
SOMETHING BLUE
Willow is still incredibly heartbroken over Oz and casts a spell to have her will done. Only, it doesn't work. So she thinks. She goes to all her friends to talk about Oz, but they don't wanna here it. She tells Giles that he doesn't see anything, making him blind. She says that Buffy will probably find Spike (since he got away from Giles and Buffy has to go find him) in two seconds and she does. Willow also tells Xander that he's a demon magnet turning him into just that. And then she says that Buffy and Spike should just get married. Now they're engaged. Willow has no idea what she's doing, and Giles and the gang try to find her, but she's been kidnapped (again?!) by the demon who turned Anya into a demon. He tells Willow that she will be make a fine vengeance demon, but she turns him down. He sends her back and she reverses her spell. The demons that were chasing them disappear, Giles can see again, and Spike and Buffy are grossed out that they were engaged.
HUSH
"Can't even shout, can't even cry, the gentlemen are coming by. They're gonna take seven and they might take yours. Can't call to mom, can't say a word, you're gonna die screaming but you won't you be heard." Buffy has a dream with this song in it and tells Giles about it. Willow goes to a Wicca group, and discovers they're a bunch of "Wanna Blessed Be's." much to her disappointment. Except for one girl named Tara, who seems to be a real witch, like Willow. The next morning, Buffy and Willow wake up to realize that they're voices have been taken. All of Sunnydale can't speak. Buffy and the gang figure out that there are weird looking guys out there called The Gentlemen who are harvesting hearts, seven in all. Like the song. They take the voices so that the victim can't scream and a real human voice will kill them. Willow is in her dorm and Tara is on her way to see Willow and maybe do a spell to give everyone back their voice. The Gentlemen chase them and Willow tries to move a soda machine with her mind to block the door. She budges it a little, but it's only with Tara's help, that the machine goes flying to the door. Willow has found a Wiccan sister in Tara. Buffy is fighting along side someone, but she doesn't realize who it is until they are holding each other up with crossbows. Riley. They're identities are out. Riley smashes the box with all the voices in it. Buffy gets hers back and screams. The Gentlemen's heads explode into gross green goo. Buffy and Riley decide they have to talk, but nothing is said…
DOOMED
Buffy figures out that Riley is the commando guy with the Inititive and she tells him that she's the Slayer. Riley has no idea what she's talking about. He's never heard of The Slayer. His buddy thinks that The Slayer is a myth. At a party Willow is lonely since Oz is still gone and Buffy is out on patrol. Willow runs into Percy and they make with the small talk, until the bimbo he's with tells him she wants to go somewhere else. Later, Willow overhears Percy calling her a nerd. She misses Oz and is hurt by Percy's words so she goes to lie down in a room, and finds a dead guy on the bed with her, with a symbol carved into his chest. Turns out that three demons are trying to open the Hellmouth, again. The gang goes back to high school to stop it, and, of course they do. Riley tries to come up with some excuse about why he was there too, but Xander and Willow figure it out. Through out this episode, Buffy tries to explain to Riley that she can't be with him because she has been there done that, (Angel) and doesn't want to go through that pain again. Riley thinks that since they are both in the same line of work, it's perfect. At the end, Buffy kisses him! I guess they're together now!
THE I IN TEAM
Now that Buffy and Riley are finally dating, Buffy gets a privileged tour of The Initiative. And it's bigger then she expected. While everyone is happily hooked up with his or her significant others, Willow feels lonely and really misses Oz. Buffy blows off a Scooby date to be with Riley and The Initiative. They show up late which is when Willow brings up questions about The Initiative. Maggie gets jealous of Buffy's Slayer Strength and tries to have her killed. Ultimately Buffy, even Riley, ends up with suspicions about The Initiative. Maggie is killed by her own creation, the project from 314. Adam.
GOODBYE IOWA
Adam is running lose in
this episode and kills a little kid. Riley seems to be breaking
down, and no one
knows why. Willow and Tara do a spell to try to
find demonic energy and Tara foils it, behind Willow's back.
Spike gets his ass kicked for hanging with the Scooby Gang. Turns
out, The Initiative put steroid like things in the soldiers food,
to make them good fighters and all compliant. And that's why
Riley is breaking down. He's going through withdraw. In the end
Riley is left with nothing. He doesn't know who's the bad guy or
what's truth or lie.
THIS YEARS GIRL
When Faith has awakened from her 8 month coma, Buffy and gang has her and Adam to worry about. The mayor left behind a tape for Faith, along with a contraption that will have dire consequences when used. Buffy tries to explain Faith to Riley, but he doesn't quite understand how bad she really is. At the end of the ep, Faith and Buffy have an intense fight that ends with Faith and Buffy switching bodies with the contraption the mayor gave her. The Watchers Council takes Buffy in Faith's body leaving Faith in Buffy's body with Buffy's mom and The Scooby Gang.
MORE SUMMARIES COMING SOON!
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Last updated: November 14, 2001
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