Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #451 in VHS
• Released on: 2000-10-30
• Rating: Suitable for 15 years and over
• Number of discs: 3
• Formats: Box set, Closed-captioned, Dolby, PAL, Surround Sound
• Original language: English
• Number of tapes: 3
• Running time: 468 minutes

Amazon.co.uk Review
In Season 4 of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Sunnydale high school is left behind in smoking ruins and Buffy (Sarah Michelle Gellar) becomes a college freshman at the (fictitious) University of California Sunnydale campus. The major arc of the season involves a semi-sinister Man from U.N.C.L.E.-type government agency known as The Initiative which has its Bond-style HQ under the campus. Their nefarious plans involve capturing vampires and demons, including the now-regular character Spike (James Marsters), and hacking them to pieces for assembly into a Frankensteinian supermonster or fitting them with chips that mute their killing urges. Buffy's plank-like new boyfriend Riley (Mark Blucas) is deadweight, Giles (Anthony Stewart Head) is shoved into new corners of irrelevance (and turns folkie!), Willow (Alyson Hannigan) breaks up with the werewolf (Seth Green) and comes out, Xander (Nicholas Brendon) whines about not being a student but starts dating a former demon (the amusing Emma Caulfield), Angel (David Boreanaz) has his own series but drops in for crossovers (you'll need to buy the Angel box set to find out how some key plotlines pay off) and previously killed or comatose semi-regulars pop in for dreams or revivals. A run of shaky episodes starts off this season, with the show seemingly uncomfortable with the new setting as it treads water with the same old monsters. This set starts to pick up with a few well-above-average episodes, the stand-out being "hush"!. This is a rare attempt for the show at being truly scary, featuring Nosferatu-like demons who glide around robbing people of their voices and force all the characters who have been evading the truth to open up to each other through non-verbal communication. The big plot, spread over the bulk of the episodes, is less interesting than the major arcs of the last two seasons, perhaps because Buffy's new love interest and new nemesis both fail to make much of an impression. This also tends to leave Sarah Michelle Gellar in the shadows of the show she is supposed to be starring in--her best 42 minutes in this series ("Who Are You", not included in this set) comes when she is possessed by bad girl Faith and can cut loose a bit. Mildly wobbly after the last two years, Buffy is still hanging in there and making its absurd premise pay off. --Kim Newman

Video Description
Including the following episodes:

The Freshman
Living Conditions
The Harsh Light of Day
Fear, Itself
Beer Bad
Wild at Heart
The Initiative
Pangs
Something Blue
Hush
Doomed

Synopsis
More episodes from the television series which follows the adventures of a high school student who slays vampires in her spare time. Includes: 'The Freshman', 'Living Conditions', 'The Harsh Light Of Day', 'Fear Itself', 'Beer Bad', 'Wild At Heart', 'The Initiative', 'Pangs', 'Something Blue', 'Hush' and 'Doomed'.

Customer Reviews

Well worth the money
People are continally bashing season 4 - I don't get it. This season contains some excellent episodes - take "Hush" for example, which was an interesting premise to begin with, but then superbly carried out! I think we see Buffy and her friends (and foes!) growing up more - following on from season 3, which was when they stopped being "school kids"

While I originally didn't like the idea of Riley, I have to admit that it was all done so well - and showed a new aspect of Buffy. Angel is doing much better in his own show - in BTVS he was always overshadowed - he was "Buffy's boyfriend" and didn't get a lot of chance to shine. Having Angel leave also left the door open for some fantastic crossovers, and led to interesting scenes between Buffy and Angel. The re-introduction of Spike was a stroke of genius, although it would've been nice to see a bit of Dru as well.

The whole Willow/Tara arc caused some controversy, and a lot of people have criticised it. Personally, I thought it was a great idea - it dealt with an issue that is very real in today's world, but did so in a tasteful, discreet way. Alyson Hannigan does a superb job as Willow - she's really brought her on from the computer geek with frog fear!

All-in-all, season 4, I feel, keeps the BtVS flag flying high - it's kept the original feel of the first 3 seasons, while adding new flavours that have matured the show - mixed metaphors aside! I just can't wait for season 5!

Some great television (with a few ups and downs)
Major changes abound in Season 4 of BtVS. Now Buffy is in college and sharing rooms with Willow, and the season is sadly lacking in Angel, Cordelia and stories focussed on Giles and Xander.

However, accomplished storyteller Joss Whedon has some great tricks up his sleeve, including Spike (an absolute treasure), Anya, heartbreak for Willow and Oz, magic spells going wrong (again) and mysterious commando guys running around in the shadows. I liked the gentle and clever introduction of Riley. It was rather obvious that he was destined to be Buffy's new love interest when he kept on popping up, but the relationship between Buffy and Riley doesn't quite pull off on screen. I think he's too young for Buffy, who has already lived through years of very tough growing up.

Still, nearly all the episodes are fun viewing, with #3 The Harsh Light of Day, #6 Wild at Heart, #7 The Initiative, #8 Pangs, #9 Something Blue and #10 Hush, being top watches and well worth the money to buy them.

Ok, Maybe not the best season, but it'll do
This is a good sesaon, apart for one thing (which is a big aspect of the series) Riley and The initiative. Basically thats what the whole seasons about. Altough non-iniative episodes were BRILLIANT. For the spooky fans Fear Itself and Hush (the greatest episode made) are excellent. Although Angel and Cordelia have left (A big no no) Angel does appear in about 3 episodes. Spike is great becoming a "good guy" for the moment and Anya's misunderstanding of her humanity is Hilarious. Harmony reappears but in a more Vampy kinda way. Xander and Giles are missed in this season, I mean they are in it but you hardly notice them. Oz, leaves leaving Willow devastated which leads up to Somethin Blue which is also a good episode. Tara who we meet in hush is a witch and becomes friends with willow, (Although by the end of the season they are more than friends). A lot of things in season 4 will have reference to a lot in season 5 which is meant to be an initiative-free season. A crap finale but all the same, a good asset to any fan. BEWARE THE EPISODE BEER BAD as it is a heavy competitor for the worst ever episode. I still like buffy though but get ready for a few disappointments. LETS HOPE SEASON 5 WILL ENLIGHTEN US.