Seasons 1 and 4 are definitely underated. There are sooo many good episodes in season 4 especially, I generally feel all "wait a minute" when someone complains about the Iniative arc ruining the entire season for them. It wasn't that big a part and, like I say elsewhere in this entry, it's really only The I In Team and Goodbye Iowa that drag horribly for me. The Iniative episode is okay, as as the wrap-up in Primevil, and there's still plenty to enjoy with season 4
The main problem was that the main arc focusing on Riley instead of Buffy wasn't very emotionally resonant, but then they had a lot of important character growth for Buffy and Willow still as they got through their first year at uni, and we see the gang confront losing their former closeness in The Yoko Factor, even the final Restless is all about exploring the main character and their dreams and insecurities.
Buffy's angst that year just wasn't tied in with the main villain the way that it was in seasons 1-3 and Adam was more of a generic monster figure to defeat, but still that should hardly make the entire season a total wash-out. It's not like Adam gets a huge amount of focus in most episodes after the mid season two-parter anyway, it was generally just a couple of scenes in episodes like Who Are You or Superstar to remind us that he was still around, and then the big finish with The Yoko Factor/Primevil, so it really shouldn't matter THAT much that Adam is nobody's favourite villain. And at least the final confrontation with Buffy was a very cool-looking one, and it tied in with the scoobies all coming together to find their individual strengths
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rosecarmine
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Date: 2013-05-10 04:01 pm (UTC)The main problem was that the main arc focusing on Riley instead of Buffy wasn't very emotionally resonant, but then they had a lot of important character growth for Buffy and Willow still as they got through their first year at uni, and we see the gang confront losing their former closeness in The Yoko Factor, even the final Restless is all about exploring the main character and their dreams and insecurities.
Buffy's angst that year just wasn't tied in with the main villain the way that it was in seasons 1-3 and Adam was more of a generic monster figure to defeat, but still that should hardly make the entire season a total wash-out. It's not like Adam gets a huge amount of focus in most episodes after the mid season two-parter anyway, it was generally just a couple of scenes in episodes like Who Are You or Superstar to remind us that he was still around, and then the big finish with The Yoko Factor/Primevil, so it really shouldn't matter THAT much that Adam is nobody's favourite villain. And at least the final confrontation with Buffy was a very cool-looking one, and it tied in with the scoobies all coming together to find their individual strengths