Background
From the beginning of the series Buffy Summers (Sarah Michelle Gellar) is assisted by her close friends, who refer to themselves collectively as the "Scooby Gang". The gang's members vary but always include Xander Harris (Nicholas Brendon), a young man who is devoted and loyal to Buffy and her calling, and who often sees emotional truths to which the others are blind; and Willow Rosenberg (Alyson Hannigan), a shy but academically gifted student who increasingly dabbles in magic, beginning late in the second season. They are mentored by Rupert Giles (Anthony Stewart Head), Buffy's "Watcher", and are eventually joined by Xander's new girlfriend Anya Jenkins (Emma Caulfield), who was a vengeance demon until her powers were taken away. She and Xander are attracted to each other, but Anya's thousand-year history of embodying the wrath of scorned women creates friction between them and they must figure out what their relationship means.
Buffy and Willow begin to attend college in the fourth season. They take a psychology course taught by Dr. Maggie Walsh (Lindsay Crouse), who has a teaching assistant named Riley Finn (Marc Blucas). Riley and Buffy become romantically involved. He is part of a secret demon- and vampire-hunting military organization, a fact which is known to viewers but not to Buffy. The military organization, named The Initiative, has previously captured a vampire named Spike (James Marsters) and implanted a microchip in his head that causes him extreme pain when he tries to hurt humans. Spike escapes, however, and is hiding from the Initiative by living with Giles and then with Xander.
Earlier in the fourth season Willow's boyfriend, Oz, left college in an attempt to grapple with the uncontrollable feral side of being a werewolf, leaving Willow devastated for several episodes. To distract herself, she becomes more involved in magic, practicing spells with varying degrees of success, and trying to socialize with the campus Wicca group.
Buffy the Vampire Slayer (often simplified as Buffy) exhibited a writing style unique to television when it aired, specifically with its critically acclaimed dialogue. Each season has an overall theme. As noted by Buffy scholar Roz Kaveney, episodes in the fourth season address authority, order, and the estrangement from the self and others as Buffy and her friends take on new roles after high school.
Read more about this topic: Hush (Buffy The Vampire Slayer)
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