4.01 The Freshman

[Clare]

4.01 The Freshman - Episode #057
Season Four premiere - Buffy finds her confidence shaken as she begins life at UC Sunnydale.

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

[cyclica]

This is a strange episode to watch straight after graduation day. The show has completely reinvented itself, removing a lot of the characters we've come to know- angel, cordy, faith, wesley, the mayor, snyder (although some of them come back later on) and even giles and xander don't show up until we're further into the episode. It gives a strong feeling of everything being fresh and new, as well as highlighting buffy's lonelyness and feeling of being overwhelmed on her first day, and willow and oz are little help. Though watching her adjust did drag a bit.

Sunday was a great villain. Not only did she trade insults with buffy (and win) and almost break buffy's arm, but she smashed the class protector award! And threw mr gordo around! Poor buffy!

There were lots of good moments, like buffy receiving the phone call from angel (nice subtle crossover to 'City of'), and seeing the army guys at the end. I'm giving this ep a high 7.

[partcynic]

4x01 “The Freshman”

Episode Rating = 5

The first ‘college era’ episode, “The Freshman” is a likeable starter to S4, and one that’s full of the series’ trademark humour. Writer Joss Whedon does a decent job of balancing some Buffy-centred angst with genuinely funny comedic moments, and the story moves at a good clip, with special praise going to the charismatic vampire Sunday, as well as the brilliant material for Xander. However, some of the dramatic elements struggle, being overblown, derivative of prior plots, and failing to flow effectively from the characters. Fortunately, “The Freshman” just about manages to succeed as a whole, and its positives are enough to smooth over the obvious flaws.

What I Liked about “The Freshman”:

- The teaser is fun, and quickly introduces the college topic with some great background humour (the vamp rising from his grave, spying Buffy and Willow’s weapon and running away). It’s a fitting reminder that the show wasn’t going to radically change just because its characters were no longer at school, and I smile every time I see it.

- The university campus looks great, and is a refreshing change of scene after three seasons spent at Sunnydale High. It was also cute to show the audience a brief snippet of the library, in order to have a little comparison between the past and present.

- Despite having major problems with the theme and characterisation in this ep, I think it’s fun to see Buffy and Willow having their roles reversed with regard to their approaches to university. Having now been on air for four seasons, the show has earned the right to reflexively comment on itself, and you can see how both characters have changed when comparing their approaches here with those in “Welcome to the Hellmouth”.

- Sunday was a witty ‘Gen X’ vamp with a nicely snarky personality. It’s quite rare to find monsters-of-the-week that are capable of standing out, but her banter with her cronies and scathing put-downs were consistently funny. In fact, her dialogue was strong to the point that I found her scenes more interesting than the ones that focused on the regular cast.

- Sunday’s gang are cool micro-villains, and brief lines here and there managed to give them discernable personalities. Special praise goes to the stoner, with “are we gonna fight, or is this gonna be a monster sarcasm rally?” being my favourite line in the episode. I also liked his quip about Slayer blood being “like Thai stick”, as well as the Klimt/Monet competition and his “whoa!” upon being dusted.

- Riley’s introduction is amusing, and he comes across as a smart, likeable guy (far superior to the dull Captain America clone he’d become halfway through the season). Ditto for Professor Walsh, who evidences her typical coldness without being consumed by it.

- Buffy’s trip to the Bronze permitted the best material in the episode, giving the audience a familiar location and providing an insight into her loneliness with the phantom Angel sighting. However, the truly great stuff came from Xander, who was alternately funny (his explanation of his summer exploits) and emotional. His supportive chat with Buffy was one of the nicest things he’s ever done, and a real indicator of how he’s grown (compare him to the jerk he was at the start of S3).

- Buffy’s stakeout at the abandoned frat house is humorous, and has a number of nice continuity references (Mr Gordo; the class protector award). Her prompt fall through the skylight was an amusing surprise, as were her subsequent attempts at pretending she had some kind of plan.

- The final Buffy/Sunday confrontation is cool, and it’s great to watch Buffy do her patented ‘bounce back’ from identity uncertainty (see “When She Was Bad” and “Anne”). It’s also a blast to watch her friends rally the troops and rush in to assist, as well as Giles’ subsequent realisation that he shouldn’t abandon her.

What I found to be a mixed bag about “The Freshman”:

- Kathy is humorous, but she’s a one-dimensional stereotype with the potential to get irritating very quickly. I was annoyed with her by the end of this ep (I know that’s the point, but it reduces my enjoyment, so it’s a problem), and I can’t say I’m filled with happiness at the imminent prospect of a whole forty minutes of her in “Living Conditions”.

- The first scene with Giles felt awkward. Part of that was intentional, but Giles completely dismissing Buffy’s concerns and showing more interest in a ‘friend with benefits’ than the girl he considers his daughter was out of character. It’s good that he ultimately realised he was wrong, but it’s still jarring. In addition, I have a hard time buying Giles as a slacker. I always got the impression he would take pride in his work, and doesn’t he still have bills to pay? Or did his combined Watcher/librarian income enable him to fully pay off his home and all of his other financial commitments?

- The ending (with our first glimpse of the commandos/Initiative) was fine, but I would have preferred having it a scene earlier. This kind of mystery only works if used sparingly and at a pivotal dramatic point, and this one wasn’t strong or interesting enough to be an episode closer.

What I Disliked about “The Freshman”:

- While the theme for this episode is understandable and appropriate, its execution is poor. Buffy’s nerves about starting university (and the way the show chooses to portray them) are vastly disproportionate to what she’s actually experiencing. Considering that she’s going to college in her home town, can return to her family residence at any time she wishes with minimal travel or cost, and has maintained ninety-five percent of her former friendship group, she has almost nothing to worry about. Beyond these circumstances, it’s also somewhat out-of-character for Buffy to behave like this, considering she’s been in far more complex and threatening environments and not experienced such disorientation.

- In its efforts to pile the suffering on Buffy, this episode makes lots of bizarre choices. First, there are silly instances like her having not put in for any classes yet (even if it was a slay-heavy summer, she’s had three months to get it done), and she and Willow having not opted to share a room (why? A lot of unis offer the option for friends to board together to help people ease into student life). Following that, we get ridiculous things like the professor going way overboard in verbally attacking her; a few sarcastic comments from Sunday wounding her emotionally and compromising her fighting skills more than having Angel turn evil or Jenny being murdered, and her getting more badly injured during their fight than she ever did against Angelus or Faith (or will against Glory). It’s sloppy and inconsistent writing that pays little attention to characterisation, and that’s not the best thing to see in a season opener.

- Why is Buffy now limiting her patrols to the college campus? Shouldn’t she still be going to the cemeteries?

- How were Sunday’s hench-vamps able to break into Buffy’s room and steal all of her things during the day without anyone raising an eyebrow? I hope they assumed human-face and told any onlookers that they were helping a friend change rooms.

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

Perhaps less, as I found Buffy’s reaction to college more silly and overdone than I had in the past (though I’ve always had problems with it), and I was left feeling unsatisfied by the plot and character development. However, I still liked huge portions of this ep, and it deserves praise for succeeding in introducing college; new Scooby dynamics; Kathy; Riley; and Walsh, and doing so via a self-contained story that included lots of comedy. Therefore, I’ve decided to score “The Freshman” my previous grade of five out of ten.

[cyclica]

Ok, this is not the same show it was during the first 3 years. Some characters have been dropped, others have been added, the setting's changed, and you'd think with so much different they'd want to keep some things the same, so as not to alienate viewers. But no, they go out of their way to make this ep as different as possible, even going as far as having xander and giles not show up until the ep is half over, and (for this ep at least) turning it from an ensemble show to one that focuses entirely on buffy.

And it's awesome!

For some reason I really love the idea of an episode that follows a character around the whole time, as things get worse and worse for them, and seeing how they react to everything. The only other ep I can think of that did this was 'harms way', though 'the zeppo' would have been another, if it didn't have a subplot. I love this idea so much, I even made a fanfiction along these lines.

This ep is very grounded in reality, showing every little detail we wouldn't normally see, like buffy looking around the school, and being yelled at by a teacher. I love these little glimpses into her life, and it's really easy to relate to what she's going through. And it interesting to see how everything has changed for her- she's lost her bedroom, willow is now the calm, socially confident one (nice role reversal from 'welcome to the hellmouth), giles is unemployed and has a girlfriend, and buffy now has a roommate (shame kathy only has a few cameos before her big episode, I would have liked her to have been in a few more eps before she left).

The only problem with this ep following buffy around is that the villains don't show up until about 15 minutes in. Not that I was sitting there waiting for the villains to show up, it's just odd looking back and realising how much of the episode was devoted to nothing in particular.

The villains are pretty low-key too. I suppose it's appropriate that buffy goes back to basics and deals with a gang of vampires instead of a demon with a 'hook' that sets them apart. The vamps themselves were pretty dull, though the leader sunday was a little interesting. For one thing, her name was 'sunday'. I liked how she had been a vamp for about 20 years. Ususally the vampires on this show are either centuries old or recently turned, it's a nice change to have one in between. I don't get why she's so strong though, I thought buffy was stronger than all but a few very exceptional vampires, and sunday doesn't seem exceptional in any way.

So that's basically it for plot. Buffy starts out at college, fights a gang of vampires, loses, fights them again and wins. The rest is padding... but in a good way. Character-based padding.

There's lots of humour too. The start was great, with buffy and willow discussing the 'painful nouning process', all the while a vamp sneaks up on them... then sees the weapons, and runs away (though I don't get why he didn't take the weapons with him). Other highlights for me included a hilarious discussion about 'spruty knowledge', buffy falling through a window at completely the wrong moment, xander hugging complete stranger kathy, and buffy telling sunday she's made one mistake... but doesn't know what that mistake is. ;D Then there was giles at the end, ready to fight, only to discover the fight is over and he's left helping carry boxes.

There were a few nice setups for later too, with the introduction of riley, buffy joking about joyce having an aneurysm (which will actually happen in s5), and the vamp at the end, running away from buffy and getting zapped by the initiative. I did notice though, that the vamp never appeared in any scenes with the rest of sunday's gang, he was only in that last scene.

Overall it's a unique and highly enjoyable episode, and the perfect way to start the new season. Buffy's starting a whole new life, and we're starting a whole new show. Low 8.

Nitpick- When buffy and xander are watching the vamps through the window, buffy tells him to get her weapons trunk from her room, even though she knows her room's been completely emptied. She did say it might not be there, but still.

[partcynic]

Ok, this is not the same show it was during the first 3 years. Some characters have been dropped, others have been added, the setting's changed, and you'd think with so much different they'd want to keep some things the same, so as not to alienate viewers. But no, they go out of their way to make this ep as different as possible, even going as far as having xander and giles not show up until the ep is half over, and (for this ep at least) turning it from an ensemble show to one that focuses entirely on buffy.

Is it really any different? We've had plenty of eps with minimal roles for specific core characters, and others where one person got most of the focus. I can't really see much of distinction between this and, say, "The Zeppo" in those aspects.

This ep is very grounded in reality, showing every little detail we wouldn't normally see, like buffy looking around the school, and being yelled at by a teacher. I love these little glimpses into her life, and it's really easy to relate to what she's going through.

I personally didn't relate to what Buffy was going through, and I've been in the exact same situation. Everything she experienced was so overdone (like being shouted at for being in the wrong class), and her feeling of overwhelmed makes no sense when you consider that she's going to uni in her home town, and accompanied by her best friend.

(Shame kathy only has a few cameos before her big episode, I would have liked her to have been in a few more eps before she left).

I disliked Kathy. I was pleased they got shot of her quickly.

It's just odd looking back and realising how much of the episode was devoted to nothing in particular.

Well, it was supposed to be setting up an identity 'bounce-back' a la "Anne". It just did it poorly.

The villains are pretty low-key too. I suppose it's appropriate that buffy goes back to basics and deals with a gang of vampires instead of a demon with a 'hook' that sets them apart. The vamps themselves were pretty dull, though the leader sunday was a little interesting. For one thing, her name was 'sunday'. I liked how she had been a vamp for about 20 years. Ususally the vampires on this show are either centuries old or recently turned, it's a nice change to have one in between.

I liked the vamps. They were a nice change from the generic cemetery stalkers we usually see, and they each had a bit of personality. Though Sunday was definitely the most interesting.

So that's basically it for plot. Buffy starts out at college, fights a gang of vampires, loses, fights them again and wins. The rest is padding... but in a good way. Character-based padding.

I'd call it 'unconstructive filler'.

There's lots of humour too. The start was great, with buffy and willow discussing the 'painful nouning process', all the while a vamp sneaks up on them... then sees the weapons, and runs away (though I don't get why he didn't take the weapons with him). Other highlights for me included a hilarious discussion about 'spruty knowledge', buffy falling through a window at completely the wrong moment, xander hugging complete stranger kathy, and buffy telling sunday she's made one mistake... but doesn't know what that mistake is. ;D Then there was giles at the end, ready to fight, only to discover the fight is over and he's left helping carry boxes.

I agree - the comedy was my favourite part of this episode.

Overall it's a unique and highly enjoyable episode, and the perfect way to start the new season. Buffy's starting a whole new life, and we're starting a whole new show. Low 8.

I think I'd rank every opener besides "Bargaining" and "Lessons" above this one - it repeated a lot of thematic ideas we've already seen before, and Buffy's character development didn't come to much. That's not saying I don't like it, but I couldn't give it a grade higher than average. I'm interested that you gave it an 8 - would you argue that this ep is better or more important than "Innocence" or "Passion" (which you gave 7s) and equal to "Earshot" and "Band Candy"? For me, there's quite a big quality gap between those and this one.

[cyclica]

Interesting how we differ on so much with this episode.

Apr 1, 2010 13:13:03 GMT -5 partcynic said:

- Sunday was a witty ‘Gen X’ vamp with a nicely snarky personality. It’s quite rare to find monsters-of-the-week that are capable of standing out, but her banter with her cronies and scathing put-downs were consistently funny. In fact, her dialogue was strong to the point that I found her scenes more interesting than the ones that focused on the regular cast.

I liked her too, but I wouldn't go so far as to say she was more interesting than the regular cast.

Apr 1, 2010 13:13:03 GMT -5 partcynic said:

- Sunday’s gang are cool micro-villains, and brief lines here and there managed to give them discernable personalities. Special praise goes to the stoner, with “are we gonna fight, or is this gonna be a monster sarcasm rally?” being my favourite line in the episode. I also liked his quip about Slayer blood being “like Thai stick”, as well as the Klimt/Monet competition and his “whoa!” upon being dusted.

The minions were ok, but I didn't think they were much more enjoyable to watch than many of the other vamps we've seen over the years. Anyway, I only noticed two of them had any lines, not counting the vamp zapped by the soldiers at the end who won't have lines until he reappears in later episodes.

Apr 1, 2010 13:13:03 GMT -5 partcynic said:

- Kathy is humorous, but she’s a one-dimensional stereotype with the potential to get irritating very quickly. I was annoyed with her by the end of this ep (I know that’s the point, but it reduces my enjoyment, so it’s a problem), and I can’t say I’m filled with happiness at the imminent prospect of a whole forty minutes of her in “Living Conditions”.

I am very happy at that prospect.

Though I'll save that discussion for my living conditions review.

Apr 1, 2010 13:13:03 GMT -5 partcynic said:

- The ending (with our first glimpse of the commandos/Initiative) was fine, but I would have preferred having it a scene earlier. This kind of mystery only works if used sparingly and at a pivotal dramatic point, and this one wasn’t strong or interesting enough to be an episode closer.

Buffy said things are a lot like high school, then something happened that never would have happened at high school. It was humerous, shocking and a great setup for later. What more do you want?

Apr 1, 2010 13:13:03 GMT -5 partcynic said:

- Why is Buffy now limiting her patrols to the college campus? Shouldn’t she still be going to the cemeteries?

Perhaps she still patrolled the cemereries off-screen?

Apr 1, 2010 13:13:03 GMT -5 partcynic said:

- How were Sunday’s hench-vamps able to break into Buffy’s room and steal all of her things during the day without anyone raising an eyebrow? I hope they assumed human-face and told any onlookers that they were helping a friend change rooms.

Good point.

I guess the vamps do this sort of thing all the time, and since since it's something that goes on all the time, people don't question it.

Is it really any different? We've had plenty of eps with minimal roles for specific core characters, and others where one person got most of the focus. I can't really see much of distinction between this and, say, "The Zeppo" in those aspects.

Well the zeppo had a subplot for one.

There have been episodes that have focused on one character (eg doppelgangland), but it's rare to have an ep that is totally shown from just one character's point of view. Every single scene has buffy, except for the necessary villain scenes and one short scene with xander reuniting with willow and oz.

Also, it's rare for an ep to have so many main characters making such small appearances, up until s7 anyway.

I'm interested that you gave it an 8 - would you argue that this ep is better or more important than "Innocence" or "Passion" (which you gave 7s) and equal to "Earshot" and "Band Candy"? For me, there's quite a big quality gap between those and this one.

Well I must confess, my rankings are based solely on the episodes as I see them (and to a lesser extent to others in the season), and not as compared to other episodes throughout the whole show. When I'm done reviewing every episode I'll go back and compare my rankings for each season and make changes accordingly (though I hope there won't be too many).

However, if someone were to ask me if I'd like to watch 'innocence', 'passion' or 'the freshman', I'd always pick 'the freshman'. I realise this ep isn't as emotional or important to the ongoing stories as, say, 'passion' is, but I would still rather watch this one. And entertainment-wise I would rate this ep as equal to 'earshot' and 'band candy'. Well, maybe a little below 'band candy'.