4.13 The I in Team

[Clare]

4.13 The I in Team - Episode #069
Professor Walsh plots to have Buffy killed when the Slayer's involvement with Riley and the Initiative gets too intense.

Review (also post a score out of 10) and discuss this episode.

[cyclica]

Another great initiative episode!

Professor walsh proves that she's a bad guy, even compared to the rest of the initiative. The whole sequence with walsh sending buffy off to die was great, she was even willing to let her two most powerful captured demons go back into the public just to get buffy put of the way. She was so sure that buffy was just an annoying blond girl she told riley buffy was dead before she knew for sure, but she learns the hard way that you can't judge buffy's capability based soley on her personality. The scene with buffy on the screens was awesome; riley finds out the person he loved had died and, with barely a moment to dwell on it, discovers not only is she alive but his boss, the one person he trusted most, lied to him and tried to kill his girlfriend. Theres also a comedy subplot to balance out the drama. Spike gets shot, and the only way to make him better is a spell that makes everyones' hair stand on end (does ionizing the air really do that?). The initiative boys prove they are really just dumb grunts; not only could they not catch spike, but their attempts to follow the homing beacon were pathetic, wandering around in daytime looking for a vampire, expecting to see him on the streets (and how did they know the homing beacon was flushed, and it wasn't spike himself running through the sewer as vamps often do?). Spike also gets his comeuppance from the events in 'a new man', giles makes pay before he helps out, just like spike did to him.

All in all a very enjoyable episode. I rate it a 7.

[Twisted Slayer]

10/10

What I liked about "The I in Team":
1) In the beginning of the episode, Buffy didn't know that the test was so Walsh would know what she was capable of so she knew what to do to kill her. That shows that Buffy still has a human mind that does't spot everything.
2) Buffy shows that she can win a fight even when a weapon is broken, or she doesn't have on. It also shows that she can improvise (referring to when she threw the gun into the water and killed the demon.
3) How Riley left Professor Walsh because he seen Buffy on the screens. He left because a person he loved as a mother had tried to kill his girlfriend because she thought Buffy was a threat, but she wasn't (but she would be in the future, LOL)

[partcynic]

4x13 “The I In Team”

Episode Rating = 3

In many ways, S4 is the inverse of S2, the most obvious indicator of which is that while S2 has an excellent arc with less-great standalones, S4 has a dull arc and strong single-ep stories. Going back over the year, it’s weird to see that the Initiative material sticks out like a sore thumb amidst the rest of the content, and its uninteresting blandness saps the vitality from quite a few eps that would otherwise be great. It’s therefore no surprise that a whole episode based on it is going to be unsatisfying, and “The I In Team” is probably the single most boring thing the show had produced at this point. It’s not that anything is especially awful, but it’s remarkably uninspired, with too little plot and most of the supporting characters relegated to going-through-the-motions behaviours we’ve already seen before. Still, it at least didn’t irritate me as much as “Living Conditions”, and for that I’m grateful.

What I Liked about “The I In Team”:

- There are some funny moments scattered about, like Anya’s (and then Willow’s) comments on spanking; the sex fake-out when Riley takes Buffy into the Initiative; the visual contrast between halter-top-wearing Buffy and the commandos; “Private Benjamin”, and the result of the air-ionising spell.

- I liked the continuity nod of Buffy waking up in Riley’s bed, turning and seeming surprised that he was actually there, and their subsequent chat was sweet and good-natured. It was also important in showing how Buffy’s inquisitiveness and willingness to ask questions was rubbing off on Riley, which made Walsh’s concern about her negative influence believable.

- This isn’t really a positive (too little happened for it be truly be so), but it was nice to have another couple of scenes of Willow and Tara interacting, and I’m intrigued by what Willow’s later acceptance of the doll’s-eye crystal was supposed to symbolise.

- Buffy blowing off the Scoobs in favour of Riley and her new commando group was believable (if not the best course of action to take), and I like that the show is showing the natural estrangement that can occur between friends when things like college and new relationships (etc) get in the way.

- The “Psycho”-ish vibe with Maggie works nicely, from Riley dubbing her “mother” to the frankly creepy shot of her watching he and Buffy have sex via CCTV. I also liked the cold detachment with which she drank her coffee while watching Buffy fight for her life, and it was very rewarding when Buffy’s face popped up on the TV screen in time to tell her off and completely sever Riley’s trust in both she and the Initiative. The moment when he walked off and Maggie desperately called after him was perhaps the only emotional moment in the episode, and gave us a little glimpse of what the plot could have been like if the characters had been developed better.

- The few bits with Spike were okay, with nice continuity from “A New Man”.

What I Disliked about “The I In Team”:

- Now that we’ve gotten to the crucial arc eps it’s time to analyse just why S4’s arc pales before those that preceded it. For my money, the primary flaw is that unlike in seasons two and three, there’s almost no emotional connection between the Scoobs and the villains, meaning that it’s hard to feel much tension or concern at what’s going on (compare Maggie/Riley to Angelus or Faith/the Mayor to observe the massive loss of impact). Those Big Bads were three-dimensional and linked strongly to the gang, and that made the dynamic between the two groups powerful. In contrast, S4 gives us the Initiative (a faceless entity), Maggie (a passable but flat mad scientist) and Riley, who’s fine as Buffy’s corn-fed boyfriend, but is portrayed by a mediocre actor who’s hardly undeserving of his ‘Captain Cardboard’ moniker. Add it all up, and you get trouble.

- Progressing the point I made about Maggie, her lack of proper development is a major problem here – with the exception of a couple of brief flashes of friendliness, she’s never been shown as anything but an ice queen, meaning that I don’t feel for her or take much interest in her side of the ‘who has Riley’s loyalty?’ struggle. It doesn’t help matters that she seems rather stupid for an accomplished scientist – I get that Slayers are a comparatively new subject for her, but did she really think someone who neutralised her entire patrol team in less than thirty seconds could be felled by two axe-wielding demons (and a faulty blaster, which Buffy’s got no experience with and probably wouldn’t use anyway)?

- In general, I think the episode took the wrong approach with portraying Maggie’s concern about Buffy. Her vendetta and attempt on Buffy’s life would have been much more interesting if they hadn’t been telegraphed beforehand, as the betrayal would have at least been a surprise.

- I understood Willow’s upset about being ignored after Buffy ditched her and the gang at the Bronze, but her resentfulness earlier on didn’t make sense since she was encouraging Buffy to spend time with Riley only one episode ago. In addition, it’s weird that Buffy mentions having been distracted by lots of Initiative-based stuff, when we see a little later that she hasn’t even entered the base yet.

- Xander’s stuff with the Boost Bars bored me. It wasn’t funny, wasn’t interesting, and didn’t tell us anything about his character, so why was it there? It felt like pointless filler designed as an unnecessary reminder of the character’s continued aimlessness.

- Anya’s mildly funny in places, but is she really so stupid that she can’t understand about keeping a poker face, or comprehend the basic principles of capitalism? She’s had 1000 years to observe human behaviours, yet this new model acts like being a demon had put her in some kind of cushioned bubble away from reality.

- Like Anya, Riley’s characterisation is starting to suck. Watch him in this episode and you’ll see very little evidence of the smart, witty grad student he was back in “The Freshman” – and that character was much more watchable than the mindless soldier we have here.

- I’m always sceptical about juxtaposing sex and violence, and the Buffy/Riley sex scene was rather clumsy. The editing seemed a bit scattershot and arbitrary, and the weak new-age music that was chosen to accompany it emitted a big whiff of fromage.

- Forrest was only about for a couple of scenes, but man, is he annoying. I’m hoping that the writer’s decision to have him be killed, resurrected and killed again was done in acknowledgement of what a twit he is.

- When Maggie gets skewered, no part of Adam is visible in the shot, but he’s magically there when the camera pulls back. This should have been re-filmed – as is, there’s no way he could have stabbed her from the initial angle.

- Having the ep end with Adam saying “mommy” was more corny than sinister. Perhaps the writers had him say that to convey a sense of ‘innocence’, but even uttering “mother” would have been better, and subtly highlighted the brother aspect the show would take when comparing he and Riley.

Do I like this episode more or less than the last time I watched it?

Less, because I was consciously aware of the time and just how much the ‘story’ drags. However, I’m not going to be changing my rating, because the main crime here is being boring, and I reserve my lowest grades for editions that are shot through with problems. I certainly won’t ever choose to sit and watch “The I In Team” unless I was doing a S4 marathon (and even then, I’d be tempted to skip it), but it’s at least watchable, and a handful of decent moments are enough for me to let it go with a score of three out of ten.