As much as I'm happy Riley is finally gone, I never understood any of his character development this season. I get his disappointment that Buffy isn't confiding in him anymore, but the whole vamp-ho suckage thing and his insistence that Buffy's been too self-involved lately are both irrational and crazy. The latter reflects really badly on him, considering Joyce has been sick and she's just encountered an uber-powerful bad girl who easily kicks her ass in combat every time they meet. The former felt too rushed and contrived. I like the concept, considering Riley was at one point used for his power by Maggie Walsh and Adam, but it wasn't given enough time to develop into anything truly affecting.In the end, Riley comes across like a complete jackass, and you feel even less for this relationship than you did last season. With that in mind, I don't buy that Buffy would run after him like she did. Riley was an ass, but was entirely correct in his belief that Buffy didn't love him. They never had a whole lot of passion for each other, and if anything their relationship became more 'reliable' than anything actually solid. I don't like the guy, but at least he took the initiative (heh) and bolted, instead of standing still and spiraling into inevitable chaos like Buffy would have probably done.
Into the Woods is primarily a series of conversations. There are the big blow-outs between Buffy and Riley, the confrontation between Xander and Buffy, and later Xander's speech to Anya. The latter is particularly moving, and increases the depth of their relationship. Before this, it definitely felt like Anya was the person most invested in the two of them, but I guess it just takes Xander a little longer to put his feelings into words.
This is a necessary episode, but it's not exactly the most fun forty-two minutes around. It didn't entirely work for me, but that's probably because I've never been invested in the Buffy/Riley relationship, and was actually pretty eager for them to split. Blah. B-
Credits
Guest stars Bailey Chase (Graham Miller); Nick Chinlund (Major Ellis); Kristine Sutherland (Joyce Summers)
Writer Marti Noxon Director Marti Noxon
Great review. It's been a while, but I wasn't all that sold on the entire Riley thing either. I still don't get the whore-vamp fetish he suddenly developed either. Even so, I really enjoyed that running montage at the end even if, like you said, her motivations for doing it are rather flimsy.
ReplyDeleteSince I love action so much, I had to point out that the highlight for this episode for me has always been Buffy obliterating the gang of vamps and then letting the hoe who was sucking Riley run, only to stake her with a throw worthy of the Slayer-Olympics! Haha Loved it!
ReplyDeleteAs for Riley, good riddance. What an utterly useless character and one of the Buffyverse's most glaring missteps!