The Initiative

"The Initiative" is the seventh episode of the fourth season of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and is the sixty-third episode altogether. It was written by Douglas Petrie and directed by James A. Contner. It originally broadcast on November 16, 1999.

Spike, who was captured by the commandos is being held captive in a facility underneath the campus. He manages to escape and heads to find Buffy, who he assumes is behind it. Riley realizes he has a crush on Buffy and asks Willow for advice, wanting to ask Buffy out.

Synopsis


Riley, Forrest, and Graham watch as Buffy makes a mess of the soda and yogurt machines in the cafeteria. Forrest and Graham comment on how attractive she is and how interested in her they 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. Buffy arrives and while Giles tells her to patrol, she says she's going to party with Willow and hopefully cheer her up.

Spike, having previously been knocked out by a taser, 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 tells her that he's dropped out of college. After Willow tries to tell him that Oz will return, Professor Walsh informs her that he won't be welcome in her class, which upsets Willow and she quickly leaves. Buffy approaches the professor, and tells her off, 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. Riley then realizes he likes Buffy.

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. Riley 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. After escaping from the Initiative, Spike returns to Harmony's lair, telling her he's "back for good" - then immediately leaves to kill the Slayer.



At the party, Willow tries to help Riley flirt with Buffy with little success but is upset when a Dingoes Ate My Baby song starts playing and decides to leave. Xander discovers Harmony crying, burning some of Spike's things. The two get into an inept slap-fight, and then mutually agree to stop. Harmony lets Xander know that Spike is back. Xander interrupts Riley's renewed attempt to chat Buffy up 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, Professor Walsh, informs them that "Hostile 17" (Spike) has escaped, and the guys suit up. Riley gives orders to three teams that he sends out all over Sunnydale to find Spike.



Riley's team spot Buffy sitting on a bench. Riley says she won't be their bait and goes out to get rid of her. 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. Inside, Willow is feeling miserable and when the door knocks she calls out to come in without thinking, only for Spike to swagger through the door. Willow tries to get away, but Spike throws her against the bed and attempts to bite her, only to be stopped by an intense pain in his head. 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 and uses a fire extinguisher as a shield, filling the corridor with smoke. Buffy arrives and fights Riley and his friends while Spike manages to escape through a window. Buffy and Riley continue to trade blows, each unable to identify the other. Seeing that Spike has escaped, Riley orders them to retreat.

Professor Walsh is not happy with what happened or with Riley's report on the event but he confirms that Walsh's inhibitor chip works, and Spike cannot kill or even harm a human without feeling pain thanks to an implant they placed in his head. Riley catches up with Buffy and they talk. Buffy tells him he's a little peculiar, which he says he can live with.

Continuity

 * The existence of the Initiative is established.


 * Spike receives an inhibitor chip in his head from The Initiative in this episode. The chip will continue to be a major story point for years to come.


 * While captive, Spike asks a fellow prisoner who their captives are, specifically asking if "the government" or "the Nazis" or "a cosmetics manufacturer" are involved. It is revealed in the Angel Season Five episode "Why We Fight" that Spike was captured by the Nazis during World War II, who intended to make an army of vampire slaves to win the war. Ironically, in that same episode, Spike claimed, "I'm not getting experimented on by his (the American) government." Ironically, the latter happened in this episode.
 * After this episode Spike becomes a main cast member throughout the rest of the series.
 * When discussing with Forrest over Buffy, Riley dryly remarked she didn't have good taste in men for sleeping with Parker. Ironically, Buffy's two other respective love interests said very similiar statements about her love life: Spike in "Goodbye, Iowa" and Angel in "The Girl in Question".
 * Spike remarks he is 126 making his birth date around 1873 and establishing him as a late Victorian.
 * This episode reveals Oz's full name to be Daniel Osbourne.

Body Count

 * Tom, dusted by an Initiative doctor

Production

 * Several of the names in the student directory Spike examines are actually behind-the-scenes production people.


 * Seth Green has been removed from the opening credits, with James Marsters promoted to the main cast and takes his place, a position he will maintain for the remainder of the series. This is also the first time in the series where a cast member is gained or lossed in the middle of the season as opposed to the start or end.


 * In the commentary for this episode, Doug Petrie reveals that after Spike attacks Willow in her dorm room and the scene immediately cuts to commercial after a fleeting glimpse of the corridor outside with people who fail to hear Willow's screams, he wanted viewers to believe that Willow had actually been killed.


 * The vast set for the Initiative, revealed for the first time in this episode, was filmed at Skunk Works, a complex where stealth bombers are built. When describing the set, writer Doug Petrie said he was told by Joss Whedon to "go big. Use your imagination. Do it, go there. This is a big budget movie."


 * Actress Mercedes McNab says the hair-pulling, shin-kicking fight with Xander was "actually one of my favorite on-screen fights." When asked if she had a stunt double, she responded "No, it was all me", but "we wore knee pads and shin guards... which was kind of ridiculous seeing it was just such a cheesy fight."


 * According to the DVD commentary of this episode, Graham Miller, one of Riley's friends, was named after a college friend of Doug Petrie's. The original Graham Miller was Canadian, and while talking about Buffy with Riley, Graham references this by saying that "Maybe she's Canadian".


 * Also according to Doug Petrie's commentary, Forrest and Graham were meant to be Shakesperean sidekicks whose job was to tell the hero what his heart truly wants - "So it's Shakespeare with ray guns and shit".

Deleted Scenes

 * This line was cut:
 * Buffy: "Giles, I live in a dorm now. (and now cut) Filled with what the young people these days call 'the young people'."

Pop Culture References

 * Xander comments on not being up to passing weapons drills for the Mobile Infantry, a reference to the film Starship Troopers.


 * The conversation between Willow and Spike (after Spike tried to attack her and failed) was a double entendre, very similar to a conversation between a couple dealing with the male's erectile dysfunction.
 * Harmony mentions the Sex Pistols when talking about Spike's stuff.
 * When discussing chat up lines with Willow, Riley says "How about them Broncos?" referring to the Denver Broncos, an American football team of the NFL.

International titles

 * French: Intrigues en sous-sol (Schemes in the basement)

Music

 * Deadstar - "Lights Go Down"
 * Four Star Mary - "Fate"
 * Jake Lee Rau - "Welcome"
 * Moby - "Bodyrock"
 * That Dog - "Never Say Never"
 * Christophe Beck - original score

Other

 * Spike's attempted feed on Willow is intentionally characteristic of a rape scene, while, somewhat disturbingly, the next scene where he struggles to bite her due to his chip is obviously referencing erectile dysfunction.