Welcome to Rewatching Buffy, the part of the blog where I rewatch Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Each Tuesday evening, you’re invited to join me as I attempt to rediscover what made me love this show 21 years ago.

The Freshman

• Welcome to Season 4!
• Buffy and Willow are hanging out in a cemetery at night, per usual. And they’re looking at the potential classes they can take as freshman at UC Sunnydale.
• Buffy’s taking psychology. The professor, Walsh, is supposed to be renowned. That’s probably important.
• While they talk, a vampire rises from a grave behind them.
• Buffy talks about needing to do the secret identity thing again now that college is starting. She mentions that it may be hard to be the Slayer and have a roommate in a dorm.
• The vampire hears all this talk about her being the Slayer. Kind of discourages him from attacking, so he skulks off into the night.
• Buffy seems lost on campus. Which seems huge for a town that was said to be small way back in the pilot episode.
• Anyway, she’s kind of overwhelmed by all the goings on. Willow, on the other hand, is super excited.
• Hey, Oz is going to college here, too! How convenient!
• BTW, the Alpha Delts are offering free Jell-o shots to freshmen women. Aren’t they all underage?
• They discuss Giles, who is enjoying life as a “Gentleman of Leisure.” British for “unemployed.”
• They discuss Xander, who is enjoying life on the road. He’s determined to drive to all 50 states. No one explained to him about Hawaii.
• At the bookstore, Buffy knocks a bunch of Intro to Psych textbooks on some guy who turns out to be Walsh’s TA this year.
• Ugh… they’re forcing this guy on us. He’s gonna be important. -Ish.
• Meet the roommate! Her name is Kathy. She has a Celine Dion poster on the wall. She’s probably evil.
• That dorm room is ginormous!
• Oh, and Kathy makes noises in her sleep. That’s awkward.
• Buffy gets horribly embarrassed by a professor in a class she’s checking out. She hasn’t even signed up for the class yet.
• That guy was a jerk. PSA: Never take Intro to Pop Culture at UC Sunnydale.
• Buffy walks around at night, kinda lost, and bumps into some guy named Eddie. They’re both lost. But Eddie has a map.
• Aww, Buffy made a friend.
• No… wait… he just got attacked by a posse of hipster vampires.
• These vampires attack freshmen, raid their dorm rooms, then leave a convincing note saying they couldn’t handle the pressures of college. Pretty good scam if you ask me.
• Buffy notices that Eddie isn’t in class the next day. She goes to his room to investigate. She’s not buying the whole I-can’t-handle-college thing.
• Back in the vampires’ nest, Eddie wakes up. They turned him.
• Buffy stops by Giles’ place. He has a lady friend visiting. Her name is Olivia.
• Gentleman of Leisure, indeed.
• Buffy was looking to Giles for help, but he basically tells her she can handle it. She doesn’t have a Watcher anymore, remember?
• Buffy spots Eddie walking around at night. Of course, she follows.
• Sadly, she has to slay.
• The leader of the vamps, Sunday, confronts Buffy. “I heard you were starting here.”
• I like Sunday, as villains go. She’s heavy on the banter. On par with Buffy.
• So on par she catches Buffy off guard and kind of kicks her butt. Buffy runs away.
• Buffy heads home to visit with her mom, hoping she could crash for a day since she had no classes scheduled.
• But Joyce has started using Buffy’s room as storage for the art gallery.
• So much for a nice visit home.
• While at home, Buffy answers the phone. But no one’s there.
• Buffy heads back to her dorm to find that all her stuff is gone. In its place is a note. The old I-can’t-handle-college routine.
• Hey, The Bronze is still a thing!
• Buffy heads there and just looks around lamenting the fact that everything’s changed. No one is hanging out there. Angel’s not around anymore. Life as a freshman kind of sucks at first.
• But then she runs into Xander.
• He didn’t make it far in his 50 state tour. And now he’s been moved into his parents’ basement and they’re making him pay rent.
• Xander attempts to give Buffy the pep talk. Just because she’s in college instead of high school, she’s still Buffy the friggin’ Vampire Slayer.
• Buffy and Xander track down Sunday’s gang to a frat house that’s been closed down since 1982.
• Buffy peers down through the skylight. She’s pissed that they’re going through her stuff.
• She sends Xander to get weapons.
• Then she falls through the skylight.
• Willow and Oz are in Buffy’s room, disputing the validity of the letter with Kathy.
• Xander arrives and sees that the trunk is missing, enlisting Willow and Oz in the process.
• Buffy’s getting her butt handed to her. Again.
• She spots her trunk of weapons, then Sunday steps in and breaks the umbrella that Buffy got at the prom last year. That really sets Buffy off.
• As Sunday’s henchvamps try to escape, they’re headed off by the Scooby Gang.
• Willow manages to dust one of the vampires. Xander and Oz take out another. Two others get away.
• Buffy slays Sunday… which is kind of a disappointment. I feel like she could have made a decent multi-episode baddie. Oh, well.
• Giles shows up when it’s all over. Too little, too late.
• We come back to one of the escaping vampires, who is tasered by a trio of masked commandos of some kind. I’m sure that’ll be important later.
• Body count: Humans – 1; Vampires – 4