Buffy the Vampire Slayer/Recap/S4/E13 The I in Team

Worried about her increasing influence over Riley Finn, Professor Walsh decides to kill Buffy.

"Buffy: That simple little recon you sent me on wasn't a recon. Turns out it was me trapped in the sewers with a faulty weapon and two of your pet demons. If you think that's enough to kill me, you really don't know what a Slayer is. Trust me when I say you're gonna find out."
 * Almost Kiss: Buffy and Riley after Buffy sees how big it is (the Initiative base). Walsh interrupts.
 * Badass Boast: Done via Ominous Multiple Screens no less.

"Buffy (about Riley's lunch selection): "A Twinkie! That's his lunch? Oh, he is so gonna be punished."
 * Battle Couple: Riley and Buffy.
 * Big Bad: Appears to be Walsh, but it's revealed to be Adam.
 * Blade Below the Shoulder: The Polgara demon's retractable bone skewers. Also a Chekhov's Gun.
 * Casual Kink

Willow (pouting about currently being single): "Everyone's getting spanked but me.""

"Willow: Did it work? Is the atmosphere ionized?
 * Closeup On Head: Willow is apparently casting a love spell with the words "Send me the heart I desire". A Reveal Shot shows she's actually playing a poker game.
 * Cobweb of Disuse: Spike's crypt. He tells Giles it needs a woman's touch. "Care to have a crack at it?"
 * Constantly Curious: Buffy, as opposed to Riley's unquestioning obedience to orders. This has fatal consequences when Buffy starts asking about 314.
 * Chekhov's Gun: Riley's "vitamins".
 * Chekhov's Gunman / An Axe to Grind: The tentacled-jaw demons.
 * Conspiracy Redemption
 * Danger Room Cold Open: The Initiative commandos are practising tracking and fighting Buffy. No-one seems to realise that Walsh might have an agenda other than honing her teams' skills.
 * Did They or Didn't They?: Buffy returns to her dorm the morning after she's slept with Riley for the first time, to find the dorm empty and the bed still made. Willow then enters, having spent the night casting spells with Tara. The following episode has one of the more famous spellcasting = lesbian love conversations when Willow and Tara are talking about what happened last night.
 * Eating the Eye Candy: Buffy checking out Riley at the cafeteria.
 * Einstein Hair: Willow casts a spell to disrupt the tracker signal.

Giles: I'd venture 'yes'."

"Buffy: You said it was big. You didn't say it was huge.
 * Elaborate Underground Base

Riley: I don't like to brag."

"Giles: Remind me -- why should I help you?
 * Electrified Bathtub: Buffy is given a faulty Static Stun Gun in The Uriah Gambit set up by Prof. Walsh -- she throws it into a pool of water in which a demon is standing.
 * Entitled Bastard

Spike: Because. You're the goody-good guys. You're the freaking cavalry."

"Walsh: I see. Well...still. Very impressive.
 * Fan Disservice: Walsh spying on Buffy/Riley having sex.
 * First-Name Basis: Prof. Walsh calling "Agent Finn" by his first name when talking to her colleague, then switching back when she realises what she's done, implies she's taking personally Buffy drawing her "boy" away from her.
 * Flatline: Buffy's heartrate monitor. Turns out her headset had just been torn off in the struggle.
 * Freudian Slip: Buffy lets slip that she already knows about the Initative's behaviour modication program (from Spike), then makes a poor attempt at covering up which doesn't ease Professor Walsh's concerns about her.
 * Friend Versus Lover: Both Willow and Forrest are jealous over the Buffy/Riley relationship, as their friend is being drawn away from them.
 * Get Out!: Xander give Giles one of the food bars he's trying to sell. Giles takes a single bite and says, "Please leave my home now."
 * Heroic Self-Deprecation: Embarrassed over Walsh's praise after the training exercise, Buffy says she was just lucky.

[She walks off. Buffy looks aghast; turns to Riley]

Buffy: I was just being modest with the whole 'lucky' thing. You got that, right?"

"Buffy: I had no idea. This is incredible. But not that I thought it was some fly-by-night operation. (turns to him, excited) Unless it is! I mean, can you guys fly? At night. With those jet-pack things, do you have those?
 * Id Tell You but Then Id Have To Kill You: Walsh hands Buffy her briefing material on the Initiative, informing her she's going to have to eat them after reading. Riley assures Buffy that Walsh is joking.
 * Innocent Innuendo: Riley and Buffy appear to be getting ready to have sex for the first time, but he's actually taking her down to the Initiative base.
 * Interplay of Sex and Violence: The most blatant example to date -- A sexually-excited Buffy asks Riley, "What do you wanna do now?" after taking down the Polgara demon, and the fight itself is intercut with flashforward scenes of them making love.
 * Ironic Echo: Walsh tells Buffy she needs to be qualified on each of the Initiative's weapons "but I'm sure in time you'll pick that up." Then she sees Buffy fiddling with a $20,000 headset camera. "Don't pick that up."
 * It Was a Gift: Tara offers Willow a dolls-eye crystal that belonged to her grandmother, but Willow refuses on the grounds that it's a valuable family heirloom. But after they spend the night "casting spells", Willow turns up at her dorm the following morning holding the crystal, implying that she accepted it as a love token.
 * I Want My Jetpack

Riley: (playing coy) I can't really talk about it."

"Walsh: It's for the greater good. He'll see that. And if he doesn't . . . Well, first things first. Remove the complication and when she least expects it--AHH! (skewer sticks through her chest) Adam?
 * Lured Into a Trap: Buffy starts to twig when she recognizes the "harmless" object of her recon mission as a badass monster from earlier. Firing her sabotaged weapon actually triggers the gate to close - rather ingenious.
 * Killed Mid-Sentence

Adam: Mommy."

"Riley: Hey. What's the matter? Weren't expecting to see me?
 * Laser-Guided Karma: Giles tries to thank Spike for his help in the previous episode, and suggests there may be a higher purpose involved. Spike responds by insulting the Scoobies and demanding the money Giles promised, saying it was the only reason he helped. Later when Spike demands protection from the Scoobies on general principles, Giles refuses until Spike hands back all the money he made.
 * Mission Briefing: Which Buffy keeps interrupting to ask questions.
 * Mix-and-Match Man: Adam
 * Not Staying for Breakfast: Buffy wakes up the night after sex as she did with Angel and Parker (same red sheets), rolls over with an alarmed look on her face...and finds Riley still in bed, smiling at her.

Buffy: (relaxing again) I never know what to expect."


 * Promotion to Opening Titles: Marc Blucas as Riley Finn.
 * Right Behind Me: Buffy appears on the screens behind Walsh just as she is sadly telling Riley that Buffy is dead.
 * Reckless Gun Usage: Buffy says that danger is her birthright -- while inadvertently letting the muzzle of her taser blaster point at Walsh.
 * Sinister Surveillance: Riley and Buffy are making love, then the scene pulls back to reveal Prof. Walsh watching them on Ominous Multiple Screens.
 * Self-Made Orphan: Adam's first word to Prof. Walsh: "Mommy."
 * Spit Take: Xander fumbles his playing cards when Anya makes a Casual Kink reference to their sex life.
 * Taser-proof Human Shield: Buffy is quite proud of this move.
 * Token Good Teammate: Graham never resents Buffy's superior ability or influence on Riley.
 * Tracking Device: Which Xander recognises because it blinks for no logical reason.
 * Two Part Episode
 * The Uriah Gambit
 * Walk in Chime In: Giles advises Spike to get out of Sunnydale because he's not safe while the Initiative is looking for him. Enter Buffy. "No. It's not safe for any of us."
 * Wall of Weapons: In the Initiative armory.
 * Warrior Therapist: Buffy wants to know what motivates the Polgara demon, as that makes it easier to predict its movements. The concept seems strange to the Initiative, as they're used to regarding demons as animals.
 * With Catlike Tread: Riley tells off Buffy for yakking during her patrol with the Initiative soldiers, as they don't have her reflexes and so need to focus.
 * Wham! Episode
 * What Could Have Been: Maggie Walsh was supposed to be the Big Bad of the season, but the script had to be rewritten when the actress was offered a movie part.