The Initiative (Buffy the Vampire Slayer episode)

"The Initiative" is the seventh episode of season 4 of the television show Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Written by Doug Petrie and directed by James A. Contner, it originally aired on November 16, 1999 on the WB network. In "The Initiative", Spike is imprisoned in an underground demon-research facility, and Riley realizes he has a crush on Buffy.

Plot[]

Riley and a couple of friends, Forrest and Graham, watch Buffy as she manages to make a mess of the soda machine and yogurt machine. They comment on what a catch she is, and how interested they all are, but Riley is reluctant to make fun. Giles and Xander discover the commando guys are human and that their help will not be needed, again. When Buffy decides to go to a party with Willow to hopefully cheer her up, Giles and Xander decide to patrol for her.

Spike, having been knocked out by a Taser at the beginning of the previous episode, wakes up in a facility where various types of demons are held captive behind electrically charged barriers. A packet of blood drops from the ceiling into Spike's cell but before he drinks it, a vampire in the next cell - Tom, captured in "The Freshman" - warns him that doctors starve the vampires and then feed them drugged blood before doing experiments on them.

In class, Willow asks about Oz but Riley and Professor Walsh inform her that he dropped out of class and will not likely be come back, saddening her. Buffy approaches the professor and tells her off for her harsh behavior, prompting Walsh to comment to Riley that she likes her. Forrest asks Parker about Buffy, and when Parker vulgarly brags about having sex with her, Riley punches him, realizing that he likes Buffy. He visits Willow and asks her advice in wooing Buffy; Willow, still emotionally distressed, questions his motives, but eventually relents, listing some of Buffy's likes and interests.

Spike lies on the floor of his cell, pretending to have drunk the drugged blood, and when the doctors come to get him he attacks. He escapes the Initiative and returns to Harmony's lair to visit her, then immediately leaves to kill the Slayer. Xander later discovers Harmony crying, burning some of Spike's things. After a brief inept slap-fight, Harmony tells Xander that Spike is back.

At the party, Willow tries to help Riley flirt with Buffy, but his attempts are thwarted when Xander arrives to inform Buffy that Spike has returned. Riley is also called away; he and Forrest break away from the party and, after passing through several electronic checkpoints, go down a hidden elevator to the underground facility where Spike had been held. The operation's head, Walsh, informs them that Spike has escaped, and Riley gives orders to three teams that he sends out all over Sunnydale to find Spike. When Riley's team spots Buffy sitting on a bench, Riley refuses to allow them to use her as bait; each unaware of the other's secret identity, Riley and Buffy try to send each other out of harm's way.

Meanwhile, Spike has found Buffy's dorm through the school computer system. Willow, moping in her room, hears a knock on the door and invites the person in without thinking. Spike swaggers through the door and attempts to bite Willow, but is stopped by an intense pain in his head. After a short, calm dialogue with multiple metaphorical references to impotence, Willow hits him with a lamp and runs out just as Riley and friends cut the power and then work their way up to the dorm room. They capture Spike but, while they consider whether to take Willow or not, Spike breaks free. Buffy arrives and fights Riley and his friends while Spike manages to escape through a window. Unable to make out the identity of their attacker, Riley orders them to retreat.

Walsh is not happy with what happened or with Riley's report on the event. It is revealed that Spike cannot harm a human without feeling pain in his head thanks to an implant they placed there. Riley catches up with Buffy and they talk. Buffy tells him he is a little peculiar, a term used by Riley before he realized he liked Buffy, and he responds that he can "live with that".

References[]

External links[]

• "The Initiative" at IMDb