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

Everything About Fiction You Never Wanted to Know.


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.

Buffy (about Riley's lunch selection): "A Twinkie! That's his lunch? Oh, he is so gonna be punished."
Willow (pouting about currently being single): "Everyone's getting spanked but me."

Willow: Did it work? Is the atmosphere ionized?
Giles: I'd venture 'yes'.

Buffy: You said it was big. You didn't say it was huge.
Riley: I don't like to brag.

Giles: Remind me -- why should I help you?
Spike: Because. You're the goody-good guys. You're the freaking cavalry.

  • 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.

Walsh: I see. Well...still. Very impressive.
[She walks off. Buffy looks aghast; turns to Riley]
Buffy: I was just being modest with the whole 'lucky' thing. You got that, right?

  • I'd Tell You, But Then I'd 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

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?

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

  • 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

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?
Adam: Mommy.

  • 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.

Riley: Hey. What's the matter? Weren't expecting to see me?
Buffy: (relaxing again) I never know what to expect.

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