Buffy, wearing pajamas with a sushi print

About:

Title: Buffy S4.E13 “The I in Team” + S4.E14 “Goodbye Iowa”
Released: 2000

Drinks Taken: 21
Vamps Dusted: 0

 

Follow the whole rewatch here!

Our rewatch calendar is obviously set in SST (Sunnydale Standard Time) because nothing but the Hellmouth could deliver this kind of timing. Just as we face endless days of being cooped up inside for quarantine, we arrive at the most pointless, mind-numbingly boring stretch of Buffy. Y’all, it’s a torture not even Angelus could devise. 

Last week, Riley and Buffy came to terms with their respective secret identities and began to team up, while Spike discovered that he can still kick ass–specifically and strictly, demon ass. Ethan Rayne showed up and turned Giles into a demon, but thankfully Buffy recognized him, and now Giles is back to being 100% human (and a 100% snack). 

Since our drinking game is pretty much the only thing that will keep things bearable for a while, I encourage you to add Bonus Quarantine Rules!

Drink once every time:

– A person touches another person
– A character touches his/her face

Buffy eagerly watching a pitcher of beer being poured into her glass.

The Buffy Season Four Drinking Game Rules

Drink once every time:

A vamp is dusted
You see the “University of California Sunnydale” entrance sign
A scene takes place in a cemetery
You actually see a class in session
Oz is ridiculously low-key cool
Spike has mad swagger
Willow and/or Tara gets witchy with it
The Initiative makes you go, “Bored now”
Riley is a drag
Things get funcomfortable between Anya and Xander

Drink twice every time:

Giles drinks tea
There’s an extremely outdated pop culture reference
A vampire is invited into a house
There’s a call back to previous season shenanigans
Harmony says something dumb
Someone uses a payphone

Alrighty, let’s get this over with, shall we?

Adam, part human, part monster, and part machine, lying on a bed

4.13 “The I in Team”

Now that Buffy is pledging the Initiative by training with Riley and apparently impressing Professor Walsh, the Scooby Gang is a bit out of sorts. Willow is feeling neglected; Xander has taken up selling Kalteen Boost Bars (didn’t he learn from “Band Candy”?!); and Giles is so desperate, he asks Spike to join the team. (Spike is, no surprise, a hard pass.) All of them still have a ton of questions about the Initiative, because they haven’t yet realized there is nothing worth knowing about this plotline. 

Couched in a sexual innuendo that goes on for WAY too long (and frankly, should never have started), Riley takes Buffy on a tour of the Initiative compound, which slightly overwhelms our Slayer with its technology and its Maggie Walsh intensity. Buffy gets an access badge and a pager (drink!), but she doesn’t see what happens next: Maggie walks into Room 314 and we get our first look at Adam, a Frankenstein’s monster mash-up of human, demon and machine. It’s the opposite of exciting. 

That night, the old gang (which Willow refers to as “Scooby core”) meets up at the Bronze, except Buffy arrives late and with Riley and some Initiative boys in tow. Not cool, Buff. Willow, who is especially upset because she made a point of not inviting Tara, reminds Buffy that she shouldn’t trust the Initiative, especially because of Ethan’s warning to Giles about “314,” but the convo is cut short when the pagers go off, and Buffy and the boys head off on a mission to take down a Polgara, a demon with bone skewers that shoot out of its arms. Neat! During the briefing, Buffy asks a ton of questions (all very valid!), which clearly annoys Maggie, and then Buffy can’t stop worrying about it while they’re on the hunt for the demon. On top of that, Riley’s buddy Graham is clearly jealous that Riley has a new right hand woman.

While they’re patrolling for the Polgara, part of the team spies Spike (walking home with a bag of groceries which is an adorable look on him) and shoots him with a tracer dart. He runs off, but then the Polgara attacks, and we are subjected to a montage of Buffy and Riley fighting the demon and then… having sex in Riley’s room? Guys, it’s weird, and I really don’t want to talk about it. Especially the part where Walsh is WATCHING AND RECORDING IT. Nope nope nope. Let us NEVER SPEAK OF THIS AGAIN.

Spike runs to Giles’ place and asks for help, which provides Giles with an excellent opportunity to remind him that Spike didn’t want anything to do with the Scoobs, and damn, I am HERE for Giles throwing shade. They try to extract the tracer from Spike’s body, but it’s in pretty deep, so Willow does a spell to obscure Spike’s location by altering the atmosphere, and while it doesn’t quite work, there’s the fringe benefit of electrified hair.

Willow, Anya, Xander, and Giles, with crazy high shocked hair

Not that it matters, but they manage to extract the tracer right before the Initiative bros show up, so the Scooby core is safe. 

Meanwhile, Buffy’s questions now have Riley, who was plucked out of special ops to join the Initiative yet has NEVER BOTHERED TO ASK about basic shit like THE AGENDA, feeling curious, which Maggie takes as a cue to kill the Slayer. She sends Buff on a bogus mission, trapping her with two squid-faced demons, and when Buffy’s video walkie talkie thing goes offline, Walsh assumes she’s been killed (amateur hour over here) and tells Riley that Buffy tragically died on a recon mission. Then this happens:

Gotta admit, this moment woke me up a little! So, now Riley knows that Maggie is shady, and then Buffy shares the same scoop with the Scoobs. But, once again, it doesn’t really matter, because Maggie heads to 314 to monologue to Adam about how she’s going to take Buffy down, and not only do we not care, Adam doesn’t care, as evidenced by him stabbing her with his arm bone spear! While calling her, “Mommy,” which is a detail none of us needed. Anyway, BYE MOM.

How many times do I have to take a drink?

11

Vamps Dusted

0. Y’all, I miss the old days of basic slayage. 

Stylish Yet Affordable Boots

I genuinely love Buffy’s necklace and halter combo. Bonus: you can patrol in it!

The Truest Thing Anybody Said This Week

“I think Riley’s okay in an oafish kind of way.” – Xander

Giles, holding a toothbrush, standing next to Xander, holding a bottle of orange juice

4.14 “Goodbye, Iowa”

Look, guys. Even though there’s a quarantine happening and many of us have MUCH more free time on our hands, it’s still not worth wasting on this episode. So here’s the gist, quick and dirty.

Buffy moves the Scoobs to Xander’s basement so the Initiative can’t find them (Giles’ response is worth noting: “Absolutely not. I will not squat in that dank hole.”), while Riley is grief-stricken over Maggie’s death and eventually blames Buffy, because he is THE WORST. Adam leaves the Initiative compound and, seeking to learn about the world, kills a little kid so he can dissect his insides. Cool cool cool. 

Several characters pay a visit to Willy’s Place. Spike gets kicked out because he’s been hunting demons, and then Buffy, seeking information, has to instead wrangle Riley, who is in withdrawal from meds that Maggie had been secretly putting into the Initiative bros’ food. 

Buffy and Xander go “undercover” to infiltrate the Initiative compound to figure out Maggie’s secret plans, and ONCE AGAIN, Riley shows up and bores the shit out of all of us, but then Adam arrives to nab the most zzzzzs by delivering a monologue about “Mother” and how she loved him and Riley best, and gross. The only highlight? Adam inserting floppy discs into a drive over his heart to process information. Hack the planet! A fight ensues, but Buffy is no match for this snooze monster, who kills a doctor, severely injures Riley and then makes his exit. The Initiative bros insist on transporting Riley to a military hospital where Buffy isn’t allowed, so now she’s left worried and anxious about his condition. Girl, you’re not the only one!

Seriously, though. That’s it. 45 minutes of our lives for THAT. (Or only a few minutes, if you just read this recap instead of watching the episode. You’re welcome.) 

How many times do I have to take a drink?

10. Or eleventy, if you’re truly taking a drink every time Riley is a drag.

Vamps Dusted

0

Spike: The Red Bull of This Episode

In responding to Riley’s presence and attempting to misdirect his Initiative agenda towards Buffy, Spike wins MVP. 

Scooby Gang Feels

As much as I’m sure Xander’s basement apartment sucks, it’s really sweet to see our crew in close, comfy quarters.

Is Amy Still a Rat?

Yes, and I don’t see her cage in the garage, so I hope someone in the dorm is feeding her!

Never Underestimate the Power of Yummy Sushi Pajamas

Because we all wanted them! (And still do.)

Buffy’s Scientist Disguise, a.k.a. Porno Central Casting

What is this, a Cinemax movie?


Welp, that’s all, folks! Did I miss anything of immense importance? Did anyone just skip the episodes and head straight to this post? (No shame.) Am I the only one who (for real) blocked out that Riley and Buffy sex scene after the first viewing and did NOT appreciate being reminded that it happened?

At least things are about to get a bit more interesting thanks to the arrival of a certain other Slayer! Join us next week for Kandis’ recap of “This Year’s Girl” and “Who Are You?”

Sarah lives in Austin, and believes there is no such thing as a guilty pleasure, which is part of why she started FYA in 2009. Growing up, she thought she was a Mary Anne, but she's finally starting to accept the fact that she's actually a Kristy.