Into the Woods
Written and Directed by: Marti Noxon
Air Date: December 19, 2000

I’ll tell you this much for free, this episode has not aged well. I used to like Riley and his arc on the show well enough, but on this rewatch and having aged a bunch, myself, I see the shallow writing and bad character work on display for what it is, here, and that’s two main things: Get Riley off the show and start emotionally brutalizing Buffy. And, for what its worth, this episode does both of those things very well and very quickly. A bit too quickly, if you ask me, but we’ll get there as we move through my thoughts on the episode as a whole. The episode also features a vampire “crack den” and its as on-the-nose and thus poorly handled as that sounds.

Speaking of that crack den, Riley has been sneaking out, even after having sex with Buffy, to this place so he can get drained by vampires in an effort to make himself feel like someone that is needed, someone whose existence is valued. He isn’t getting that from Buffy anymore, not with Dawn, Glory, and the looming dread that is Joyce’s whole medical dilemma. He can’t deal with not being a super soldier and he really can’t deal with Spike having his number in regards to all of it. But, while this has been built up over the past few episodes of the season in not-so-subtle ways, it just comes across as too fast. If this was allowed more time to breathe, Spike finding out about it would have resulted in taunting, blackmail and more before turning him in to Buffy for the “reward” of her affection. But here, he spots Riley leave Buffy’s house in the middle of the night, follows him, finds out what is going on, wakes Buffy up (in a comical moment that is also creepy as hell and also doesn’t age well, really), takes her to him, and expect that reward all in the span of about 6 minutes of screen time. It is technically effective, but it all happens so fast so as to move on with everything else the episode needs to do that it gives a kind of whiplash to the viewer, at least it did to me this time through.

Again, none of this is to say that it isn’t believable, just that it doesn’t feel earned but more forced. Just like the den where Riley is get drained (so much restraint to not say “sucked off” every time, you don’t even know) – we are just thrust in to that as a concept and while the obvious parallels work and we completely understand the symbolism involved rather quickly, the fact remains that its narrative construction for the sake of rushing a story along. Xander knowing what is going on (don’t get me started on his speech to Buffy at the end of the episode – because I’ll start that myself shortly) between Buffy and Riley does lean into his “Xander can see things no one else can” type of business, but it also feels like its forced on us and thus Buffy. Yes, yes. He got informed of Riley’s fears and doubts a few episodes back, but this once again seems like four or five episodes of development crushed into 10 minutes in order to facilitate the change they need.

And then, yeah, there’s Xander’s big speech to Buffy. She and Riley come to verbal blows over everything and he drops a bombshell on her in the middle of it; the military wants him to fight demons in the jungle on another continent and unless she can open herself up more and deal with his betrayal, he’s gone. Its an ultimatum that robs their relationship – and honestly its conclusion – of any further progress or catharsis. It just either ends now with wounds open, or she has to take him as he is, despite her begging him to take her as she is moments earlier and him more or less saying “no, you”. That whole thing is gross on its own and it reveals that Riley is suddenly Mr. Shit-Heel and not Mr. Doof. No thank you.

Alarmed that his title might get taken, Xander corners Buffy (after she lets him go and then dusts all the vampires that worked at that den she previously torched in an act of petty revenge (petty insofar as she wouldn’t have hunted them specifically had they not been in the wrong place at the wrong time, she is a Slayer though so she’d get to it eventually) and basically calls her a moron and that her heart must be broken because Riley is the best and what is her problem, anyhow. He flinches for half a second when she finally reveals his secret nighttime activities, but it doesn’t stop his guilt train. Riley has been shown to us to be a self-centered, unaware kid these past few episodes and while, yes, he wants to be there for and take care of Buffy, he exhibits no patience or self-awareness when questioned. And Xander understands this less, somehow, than he does. The crazy part? His gross rant about Buffy letting the best thing in the world slip away actually works and convinces her to chase after him into the night, just missing him as his helicopter takes off and Riley leaves the show forever (more or less…!).

I might come across as hard on this episode and I am leaving a ton of great stuff out, too: Joyce’s surgery is a success, Xander confesses his deep, deep love for Anya in a truly touching way that is acted well and written expertly to character, the conversation between Riley and Spike in his crypt which is so good it doesn’t deserve to be in this episode, left to wallow… and even the fact (which isn’t lost on me at all) that Riley views Buffy’s love for Angel and the threat of her falling for Spike as a weakness of his, that he doesn’t have – as Spike puts it – any monster in him and this worries him. I get all of this, but the plot is too forced, too rushed, and too full of anti-climax with the swelling music and the “just missed him” ending. Melodramatic to the point of distaste. Its a shame, too, because there is a lot of good stuff here for a well developed arc that still ends with Riley leaving and Buffy having to deal with it. It just needed more time to bake in the oven and they weren’t about to let it have that. Alas.

Final Rating: 60

Additional Thoughts:
-Best line, as always, is a back-and-forth between members of the gang, but it boils down to Willow asking if Anya bathes Xander, Xander saying “in a sexy way” and Giles’ utterance of: “Please stop. I beg of you.”
-Actually Anya is on fire all episode. Telling people to have a nice day and not “get killed”, describing Giles’ inability to both do his business taxes and hold his bladder at the same time, and her fear that Dawn’s story about Buffy play-staking her as a kid might have actually happened… Emma likely had the time of her life with this character
-Giles’ stupid banner describing upcoming holidays includes some demonic or otherwise mystical events and its a nice touch
-Buffy getting blocked by a grate wall while trying to flee Xander’s oncoming verbal abuse is also a bit on-the-nose; he literally has her caged in
-I do like Buffy realizing the last vamp standing is the one that was drinking Riley’s blood, pretends to let her go, then fucking javelins her ass from across quite a distance. Brutal
-Also she takes apart those vampires with very little effort and its honestly nice to see her just destroy some of these guys for once rather than get tossed around to allow more quips and gags
-Sorry for this one, Riley’s exit just let a very sour taste in my mouth this time and I don’t care for it in the least, and paired with Xander’s speech (and, frankly, Spike’s obviously disgusting behavior) its just a foul episode, really, where none of the show’s guys – save Giles – are shown in a very good light