Buffy The Vampire Slayer - Season 4 (Box Set 2) [1998]

In New Moon Rising, Oz (Seth Green) returns after leaving Willow at the end of Wild At Heart - Season 4's episode 6. He has his werewolf condition under control, but Willow has a big decision to make. She's gay now and in love with Tara - will she follow her heart or accept Oz's wanting for her? In The Yoko Factor, Buffy comes upfront with Adam - who feeds of bullets and fire power. He's tough and Buffy only just gets away. Angel (David Boreanaz) makes a guest appearance in Season 4's three crossover episodes. He doesn't like Riley and makes these feeling perfectly clear, but leaves in the end. Spike tells Adam that he'll separate Buffy from the rest of the Scoobies by making them fall out so that Adam can get Buffy on her own and kill her. The plan works. In Primeval, the season's "finale", Buffy comes face to face with Adam in the Initiative caves and finally defeats him with the help of Willow, Xander and Giles who have made up after their spat. The actual final episode of Season 4 is Restless. Written and directed by Joss Whedon, this brilliant episode is a firm favourite amongst many viewers. Buffy, Willow, Xander and Giles are followed around by The First Slayer who is trying to kill them all while they sleep. They all combined their unique abilities to kill Adam, but there's a price to pay - and the First Slayer is just that. There are too many things to mention, yet it's an episode which reveals a lot about what the Scoobies actually feel. At the end of the episode, Tara says to Buffy, "Come back before Dawn." This is infact a reference to Dawn, the new character who appears in Season 5 as Buffy's younger sister. Overall, this Box Set is excellent and contains some phenomenal episodes. However, I would not consider it an essential Box Set for everyone - just Buffy's die-hard fans...


Not quite vintage Buffy   May 27, 2001
 2 out of 8 found this review helpful

Whilst not quite registering on the rictor scale of villainy as prominently as the Mayor, Adam nonetheless successfully fills the shoes of the central baddie, idiosyncratic cool in tow. Characterisation-wise, Adam is well developed, but the scarcity of any big clashes between he and Buffy pre-big finale draws the satisfaction out of their final confrontation. Elsewhere, the unmasking of the mystery of the "commandos" detracts from the intriguing tone of the arcane which the series' first half benefited from. Despite this(time to justify the 4), the writers keep the fantastic eps coming, and by the series' surreal denouement, you'll be left with that familiar feeling that the show has really covered some ground.


Good but not as good as some   March 23, 2001
 1 out of 6 found this review helpful

This season is a strange one it has a hint of the X files about it and a bit of horror some episodes in the second boxset are good but not great the 2 las episodes in the boxset are probably the most entertaining and atmospheric. Some performances are weak in this season especially from the actor who plays Adam. This does not detract from the general greatness that is Buffy the Vampire Slayer its just I've seen better get season Two boxset instead.


She's got competition now but it's the best yet.   February 27, 2001
 1 out of 2 found this review helpful

Buffy now finishes her fourth season as strong as ever. However she now has to compete with the darker and equally as popular Angel. This set of episodes is a further step into the darker vaults of Sunnydale. The first part of series four set the standard for the more sinister side of life in Sunnydale. This next set tunnels yet deeper into black. The biggest drawback to this bunch of episodes is the diluting of the "Scooby Gang" with too many new faces, weakening the close ties between the characters. This is no way helps the plot. Sure, everyone has to grow up and make new friends but as you will see when you watch it, political correctness has seeped insidiously into the new series with some fairly poor characters...Petra to name but one. They have tried too hard with Riley to fill the gaping chasm left by the absent Angel. He seems nice but basically insipid and has none of the danger that the soul filled Vamp had. The writers really need to tighten up on these relationships. So why, you wonder, do I still rate it five stars? Well, basically despite these character problems the storyline is fantastic and keeps you teetering worryingly on the edge of your seat. With visits from past characters and past stories, it is breathlessly good. The creators really have a very good ace up their sleeve having the ability to intertwine the storylines of Buffy and Angel. These are both top quality productions which can support each other when needs be...very clever. Watch out for Angel meeting Riley, an awesome scene and notice the high amusement gleaned from the schoolboy, juvenile way they react to eachother. David Boreanaz really steals this episode with his cameo. In a nut shell, this is an awesome achievement but the weakness stemming from the new characters means that Buffy will need to watch out for competition from the superb Angel series that suffers from none of these pitfalls. Still, buy it without fail!!!!