Sunday, October 9, 2011

Buffy: Goodbye Iowa (4.14)

Less chaotic than The I in Team and all the better for it, Goodbye Iowa introduces us to Adam, seemingly the big bad for this year. There were some interesting attempts to contrast both Adam and Riley throughout this episode, with both of them pushed into a grown-up world that they hadn't been prepared for, following the death of their 'creator'. Adam doesn't understand himself, and there are obvious Frankenstein parallels made even more overt with that squicky scene with the little boy. Riley, too, is questioning his entire existence after he stops taking his medication. He's looking rough as hell, he's angry, frantic. He's a mess, and Professor Walsh was the God-like creator of both of them. It's different for this show, but fun.

I haven't mentioned a lot about Willow and Tara so far, but I'm enjoying their evolving friendship. There's something entertainingly jarring about watching these two, because we as an audience are in the same unknown territory that the two of them have stumbled into. There's obviously an important connection between them, and right now Willow feels the need to keep it a secret. They're fascinating together, and Tara's sabotaging of their spell is mightily intriguing. There's obviously more to her than meets the eye.

Away from those two stories, the rest of Goodbye Iowa was full of little character moments which worked really well, like the early scenes of the Scoobies sleeping over in Xander's basement. Then there's Spike's alienation from Sunnydale's monster community, further thrusting him into the arms of Buffy and her friends. And you can't help but love Xander getting grossly confused over the term 'retinal'. Good episode. B

Credits
Guest stars Amber Benson (Tara Maclay); George Hertzberg (Adam); Leonard Roberts (Forrest Gates); Bailey Chase (Graham Miller); Jack Stehlin (Dr. Angelman); JB Gaynor (Little Boy); Saverio Guerra (Willy); Emma Caulfield (Anya)
Writer Marti Noxon Director David Solomon

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