Season four of Buffy the Vampire Slayer is a brand new chapter for Buffy and audiences a like. Buffy has graduated high school and is now in college, attending University of California, Sunnydale. Buffy's new school isn't sitting on the Hellmouth, but that doesn't mean Buffy and the Scooby gang get to relax and have normal lives.
The vampires, demons, and forces of darkness still loom through Sunnydale, which means Buffy now has to find a balance between saving the world and figuring out what her major will be. Season four introduces not only new "big-bads", but also, new love interests for our favorite characters and new challenges of navigating adulthood.
The Yoko Factor (8.3)
Buffy has just returned from Los Angeles where she went to see her old love, Angel. And after learning about Buffy and Angel's history, Buffy's new boyfriend Riley isn't very happy about the business trip.
On the demon side of things, this season's evil villain, Adam, comes to Spike with a proposition. Adam wants Spike's help getting to Buffy, and offers to help Spike with the chip in his brain in return. While Spike plots a trap, Angel comes to Sunnydale to see Buffy, but his plans are interrupted by a confrontation with Riley and a fight audiences have been waiting to see finally comes into fruition.
A New Man (8.4)
The twelfth episode of the fourth season focuses on Giles and how he is adjusting to Buffy's new college life. Giles is starting to feel more and more left out and unneeded by the Scooby gang, who used to turn to him for every battle, both big and small.
Now that Buffy is in college and has bonded with Professor Walsh, who oversees Riley and the initiative, Giles start to get a little jealous. When Giles meets Professor Walsh, it doesn't alleviate any of those feelings. After a drunk night out with his old and evil friend, Ethan, Giles wakes the next morning as a demon and a classic mix-up takes place until Buffy figures out that the demon is Giles and restore him to his normal self.
New Moon Rising (8.4)
Season four introduces a whole new storyline for Willow, after she meets and falls in love with Tara. Willow and Tara were one of the first openly gay couples depicted on primetime television, and though the network fully ed the storyline, they had to put guidelines on it for writers and producers to adhere to censorship laws at the time.
In this episode, Willow and Tara's relationship is getting more serious, just as Oz, Willow's first love, comes back to Sunnydale after having learned how to control his werewolf alter-ego. But when Oz learns about Willow's new relationship, the control he's worked so hard to obtain goes right out the window.
Primeval (8.5)
Season four stands out in a lot of ways, one of which being the fact that they kill the season's "big-bad" in this episode, which is not the season finale. Adam is this season's demon/cyborg to beat and is also one of the strongest villains Buffy has ever had to face.
Buffy alone can't defeat Adam, but Willow has a solution. Using magic, the Scoobies cast a spell giving Buffy the strongest aspects of themselves to assist in fighting Adam. Buffy gets Willow's magic, Xander's bravery, and Giles' knowledge. When combined with her slayer strength, this makes Buffy unstoppable and able to defeat Adam.
Fear Itself (8.6)
Halloween episodes become a fan favorite over the course of Buffy's seven seasons. In the fourth season's Halloween episode, the gang decides to go to a frat party to celebrate. While decorating for the party, one of the frat brothers paints a symbol on the floor. The symbol is activated when Oz accidentally cuts himself and some of his blood spills onto the symbol, causing the frat house to turn into a literal house of nightmares.
At the party, all of the decorations come alive and begins taunting the party-goers. Of course, Buffy and the gang get to the symbol and are able to break the curse by destroying the painting on the floor, which also releases the demon behind the curse. This demon is the smallest and funniest one that Buffy ever encounters.
This Year's Girl (8.7)
Since the end of season three, Faith has been in a coma. In this episode about halfway through the fourth season, Faith comes out of that coma, immediately escapes the hospital, and is on the hunt for Buffy. Faith's first run-in with her fellow slayer is unsuccessful when the police show up, causing Faith to flee.
Faith comes up with a plan and traps Joyce in the Summers' home. Buffy comes to her mother's rescue and another fight with Faith ensues. During the battle, Faith uses magic to swap bodies with Buffy. At the end of the episode, it is revealed that Faith in now in Buffy's body and Buffy is in Faith's.
Restless (8.9)
In order to defeat Adam, Willow had to summon the powers of the first slayer. In this episode, following Buffy's battle with Adam, we learn that summoning "The First" has many consequences. The gang hangs out and lays low to celebrate their most recent victory, and they all fall asleep while watching Apocalypse Now.
In their individual dreams, Buffy, Willow, Xander, and Giles are each confronted by The First Slayer. Each dream plays out more like a nightmare, and calls back a lot of trauma from past episodes for each character. In Buffy's dream, The First Slayer tells her that she must work alone and lose her friends, which Buffy refuses to believe.
Something Blue (9.1)
This episode is a fan favorite, mainly for all the humor written into it. Willow is grieving Oz's departure and decides to cast a spell. Her spell goes awry and what she accidentally does is cast a spell that makes everything she says come true.
Willow tells Giles he's "blind" Giles loses his sight. Willow gets angry at Xander, calling him a "demon magnet" and suddenly, Xander finds himself under constant attack. Willow also causes Buffy to fall for Spike, and the audience gets to see Buffy and Spike planning a wedding, which is hysterical.
Who Are You? (9.1)
This episode follows "This Year's Girl", where at the end of the episode, we learn that Faith has swapped bodies with Buffy. Buffy, in Faith's body, is taken by the Watchers' Council, who won't believe her when she tries to tell them about the swap.
Meanwhile, Faith is in Buffy's body and taking full advantage of it by tormenting Buffy's friends and going to Buffy's boyfriend's place to sleep with him. Willow and Tara are able to reverse Faith's curse, but the damage has been done and Buffy now has to face the repercussions of what Faith did in her body.
Hush (9.7)
This episode has been deemed one of the best in the entire series, if not the best. It was the only episode to win an Emmy for Outstanding Writing for a Drama Series and a nomination for its cinematography, courtesy of Michael Gershman. It's been hailed by critics and audiences alike for it's terrifying depiction of what happens to a society when communication is cut off.
Almost the entire episode is completely silent. In total, there are only seventeen minutes of dialogue throughout the hour-long episode. It's said Joss decided to make this episode after hearing remarks that all of Buffy's success was due to its dialogue. He set out to prove that criticism wrong, and that's exactly what he did.