Buffy the Vampire Slayer/Recap/S4/E07 The Initiative
Spike escapes the Initiative. Riley tries to put the moves on Buffy.
- Armor-Piercing Slap: Harmony greeting Spike.
- Attack Hello: Buffy has to quickly hide her stake after Riley walks up on her instead of Spike.
- Badass Decay: Xander's fight with Harmony was put in to show that Xander no longer remembered his military skills from "Halloween".
- The Bait: The commandos see Buffy sitting on a park bench and suggest using her to draw out Spike. Riley isn't impressed and tries to persuade Buffy to go home. As Buffy is hoping to draw out Spike herself, Hilarity Ensues.
- Big "Shut Up!": Xander and Giles are out in the woods looking for vampires.
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Xander: Every man faces this moment. Here. Now. Watching. Waiting. For an unseen enemy that has no face. Nerve endings screaming in silence. Never knowing which thought might be your last. |
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- Blessed Are the Cheesemakers: Willow reveals to Riley that Buffy likes cheese, when he eventually gets her to help courting.
- Casual Kink
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Harmony: Let's leave the Slayer alone. She's just going to slap you around. I can do that. |
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- Chekhov's Flare Pistol: Xander gives Buffy a flare pistol to signal them if she runs into trouble fighting Spike. It comes in useful blinding the Initiative commandos who are wearing Night Vision Goggles.
- Chekhov's Gunman: We discover the fate of the vampire Tom, who was captured in "The Freshman".
- Chronic Backstabbing Disorder: Tom and Spike are escaping the lab when they're suddenly confronted by commandos; Spike pushes Tom into them saying, "This is where we split up" and makes his escape while Tom is being staked.
- Contain This!
- A Day in the Limelight: Riley and his friends.
- Damned By Faint Praise: Riley is bemoaning his failure to chat up Buffy. Willow suggests he "failed extremely well."
- Description Cut
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Spike: I don't care how brilliant she (Buffy) is! |
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- Does This Remind You of Anything?: The famous 'performance anxiety' scene.
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Spike: I don't understand. This sort of thing's never happened to me before. |
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- Does Not Know Her Own Strength: Buffy snaps the handle off a yoghurt machine.
- Elaborate Underground Base: With the standard secret elevator and filmed in the real-life former secret govt location, Skunk Works.
- Fake Kill Scare: The 'Spike attacks Willow' scene was deliberately set up to make it appear Willow had been killed.
- Genre Savvy: Spike lists the government, Nazis or a major cosmetics company as the three possible people who could have abducted them.
- Gory Discretion Shot: The sliding door drops a moment before an Initiative mook stakes the vampire escaping with Spike.
- Government Conspiracy: The Initiative
- I Can't Dance: Willow Sherlock Scans Buffy's dress and sensible shoes as saying that she's in the mood for dancing and light conversation only; Riley unfortunately isn't a dancer.
- If You Ever Do Anything to Hurt Her...: Willow re: Riley putting the moves on Buffy.
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Willow: Have fun! And remember, if you hurt her, I'll beat you to death with a shovel. |
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- Indy Hat Roll: Spike escaping from the Initiative.
- Indy Ploy: Giles asks what plan Buffy has for dealing with Spike. She replies, "I am the plan."
- Infrared X-Ray Camera: The commandoes thermal camera enables them to see where Spike is due to his low body temperature (the camera can't see through walls but it can see through window glass).
- Ironic Echo: Both Riley and Spike gotta "go see a girl".
- Ironic Echo Cut: Riley and Forrest are checking out Buffy.
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Forrest: I bet a lot of guys would like to get their hands on her. |
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- Love Epiphany: Riley doesn't realise he fancies Buffy until he punches Parker for making a crude remark about her. His friends tell him that they've always known.
- Meaningful Echo: Riley's friends kid him that his referring to Buffy as "peculiar" was a dead giveaway that he's into her. At the end of the episode after Riley's bumbling attempts to ask her out, Buffy comments that he's peculiar. Riley takes this as a good sign.
- Metaphorgotten: Riley asks Willow for her help in courting Buffy, but Willow is still depressed over Oz leaving her.
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Willow: Ok, say that I help [sweet music plays] and you start a conversation. It goes great. You like Buffy, she likes you. You spend time together, feelings grow deeper, and one day, without even realizing it, you find you're in love. Time stops, And it feels like the whole world's made for you two, and you two alone [[[Musicalis Interruptus]]] until the day one of you leaves and rips the still-beating heart from the other, who's now a broken, hollow, mockery of the human condition. |
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- Mood Whiplash: Done in reverse. Spike attacks Willow (serious rape undertones) then we find out he has "performance anxiety".
- Not Big Enough for the Two of Us: Buffy discovers that Spike has returned to Sunnydale and fumes, "Doesn't he know this is my town?"
- Not Good with Rejection: Now Oz has left her, being spurned as Spike's victim doesn't make Willow feel any better.
- On Second Thought: Willow gets a little too caught up in her understanding attitude towards Spike's "performance issues".
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Willow: Why don't we wait a half an hour and try again? (Beat) Or... [grabs a lamp and whacks him] |
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- Playing Cyrano: Riley gets Willow's help in courting Buffy.
- Power Trio: Riley, Forrest and Graham.
- Promotion to Opening Titles: James Marsters (Spike) replaces Seth Green (Oz) in the opening credits.
- Restraining Bolt: Spike has a chip in his head that causes him pain if he attacks any living creature.
- The Reveal: Riley Finn and Professor Walsh both work for the Initiative.
- Shadow Archetype: Parallels are drawn between Spike and Riley foreshadowing their alliance with Buffy, their rivalry for her affection, and the fact that Riley like Spike is also one of the Initiative's experimental subjects.
- Shout-Out: The Prisoner (including a large white ball in the huge hanger).
- Smoke Out: An accidental version; Riley shoots a fire extinguisher wielded by Spike, filling the corridor with CO2 gas.
- Super Window Jump: Spike escaping Stevenson dorm.
- Talk About That Thing: Xander getting Buffy away from Riley with the news Spike is back in town. Seeing Xander Holding Hands with Buffy as he pulls her out of the crowd doesn't help Riley feel better.
- Titled After the Song: Averted; the original title of this episode was "Secret Agent Man" (from the song by Johnny Rivers), but that would have given away The Reveal about Riley Finn.
- Vampire Invitation: A depressed Willow says, "Come in" without asking who's at the door.
- What Do You Mean It's Not Awesome?: Dramatic music plays during Xander and Harmony's slo-mo slap-fight.
- Wimp Fight: Xander comes across Vampire Harmony and, after initial boastful threats start fighting...with a bitchslap and continuing into shin kicking, name calling, and hair pulling. It finally ends in a stalemate and an agreement never to mention it to anyone.
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Xander: Harmony, it's been great catching up. Really, I'm just gonna pick up the tattered shreds of my dignity and go home. |
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- You Are Number Six: Spike is Hostile 17.
- You Got Spunk
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Buffy: You know for someone who teaches human behavior, you might try showing some. |
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