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 Initiative

• We open on Riley. That’s odd. He must be important.
• And he has a friend. Named Forrest. He’s objectifying Buffy. Riley might not be cool with that.
• He admits he finds Buffy peculiar.
• Oh, here comes another friend… Graham.
• Cut to Spike. In a bright room. His lips are really chapped. He’s seen better days.
• Whoever grabbed him at the start of the last episode stuck him in a cell. With an electrified glass wall?
• How’d they manage that? Glass doesn’t conduct electricity. Right? Help me out science!
• Oh, this is new… Spike’s in the opening credits. Oz isn’t even cold yet!
• Xander is hanging out with Giles. They lament having nothing to do.
• Buffy stops by. She laments the fact that Willow is super bummed about Oz taking off.
• Spike paces in his cell. He laments the fact that… he’s being held prisoner.
• But, hey, they drop a blood bag from the ceiling. So that’s nice.
• And then a vampire (from the end of the season premiere) in the next cell warns him that the blood is drugged.
• Spike is under the assumption that Buffy is receiving some kind of incredible funding and is now behind these amped up facilities.
• Professor Walsh is kind of harsh with Willow when she tries to check on Oz being off the roster. Buffy steps in, which Walsh turns out to respect.
• When Riley and his friends are talking about Buffy again, Parker comes by and Forrest asks about his experience with her.
• When Parker says something Riley doesn’t take kindly to, he punches him out. Turns out Riley likes her.
• Which is something that all his friends already knew.
• Spike pretends to be passed out so a couple of labcoats come to remove him from his cell.
• This makes for a fairly easy escape when he reveals he was faking it.
• Spike releases the vamp next door and sacrifices him to a few guards so he can escape the facility.
• Riley heads to Buffy and Willow’s dorm room. He wants to find out some info about Buffy from her best friend since he’s thinking about asking her out.
• Willow, still heartbroken, isn’t great at the advice right now.
• Whoa… Harmony’s still around. Spike arrives at her underground lair. Any port in a storm.
• She’s such a sucker. And not just because she’s a vampire.
• This C-plot with Xander and Giles is weak. I kind of wish they’d stop cutting to them.
• Buffy takes Willow to a party to try and cheer her up.
• What a coincidence… it’s at Riley’s house!
• Riley, trying to strike up a conversation with Buffy, brings up the reading on chapter 9.
• Even I know that’s not the way to a woman’s heart.
• Oh… the C-plot thickens. Xander runs into Harmony. They fight like a couple of 11-year-old girls. A lot of slapping, hair pulling, and shin kicking. Pathetic, really.
• Harmony, old reliable, lets it slip that Spike is back and after the Slayer.
• Willow gives Riley another excuse to talk to Buffy. He has to relay the message that she’s heading back to the room and she’ll be okay.
• But just as the conversation begins, Xander shows up and steals Buffy away.
• That’s okay, though. Forrest and Graham show up and let Riley know he’s needed downstairs.
• Not the basement. The secret elevator leading to the Initiative HQ.
• So Riley and his buddies are the commandos that have been making cameo appearances all season.
• They’ve got a lot going on down here. Looks like a big demon lab.
• Oh, and Professor Walsh is their superior. She tells them to suit up because Hostile 17 has escaped.
• I’m assuming that’s Spike’s new designation.
• Agent Finn (Riley) is in charge of the operation to find and recover Hostile 17. If they fail, it could mean the end of the Initiative.
• That sure would make for a short season.
• Buffy’s plan is to kill Spike. She’s really tired of him making a comeback all the time.
• That sure would make for an awkward… no, that’ll save everyone a lot of headaches in the long run. Kill him.
• Spike, meanwhile, does some digging through student records and finds Buffy’s dorm room.
• While on patrol, Riley and the gang find Buffy. She’s sitting alone, trying to be bait for Spike.
• But Riley wants her to clear the area because Hostile 17 could attack her.
• It’s an awkward conversation since they’re both trying to get rid of the other.
• When they hear a scream in the distance, they both take off.
• Not sure who screamed, because Spike is at the dorm. Buffy’s not home, but Willow’s there.
• Spike gives her the choice: die and stay dead, or let him turn her.
• But something happens when Spike attacks Willow… Severe pain in his head. Huh…
• Willow tries to comfort him. Which is so Willow.
• It’s actually a nice conversation. The right mixture of sweet and psychopathic.
• Riley’s trio finds Spike in the dorm using a heat signature reading device.
• Willow smashes a lamp over Spike’s head and makes her escape just as the commandos shut down the power and make their move.
• They manage to subdue Hostile 17, but as they argue over what to do with Willow, Spike gets away.
• When they try to “contain” Willow, Buffy shows up and fires a flash gun that Xander gave her. This effectively blinds the commandos, who were wearing night vision goggles.
• Spike escapes. Buffy and Riley duke it out. But they don’t realize who either of them are fighting.
• Walsh is pissed. But she’s impressed that Hostile 17’s implant works. He can’t feed because whenever he tries, it will cause intense neurological pain.
• Body count: Vampires – 1