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The end of season 4 ofBuffy The Vampire Slayersees Buffy Summers (Sarah Michelle Gellar) and her friends having strange dreams. Instead of wrapping up the past 21 episodes in a more traditional manner, “Restless” does something different, which makes this episode stand out.
At this point in the popular TV series, Buffy is getting ready to go to college and wondering how she will continue to balance her duties as a Slayer. Like theBuffy The Vampire Slayerseason 1 finale, Buffy fights an epic battle at the end of season 4. This time, however, she does so while having one of the worst nightmares she likely will ever experience.
What Happens At The End Of Buffy The Vampire Slayer Season 4?
Inepisode 22 of season 4ofBuffy The Vampire Slayer, which is called"Restless," the First Slayerappears to Rupert Giles (Anthony Head), Willow Rosenberg (Alyson Hannigan), Xander Harris (Nicholas Brendon), and Buffy Summers as they accidentally fall asleep while hanging out and watchingApocalypse Now, which could be considered a horror movie. These random and disturbing dreams each end with the First Slayer,a primitive figure named Sineya(Sharon Ferguson), violently murdering most of them. At the end of the episode, the four characters are awake and thinking about these weird dreams. While there are some memorable characters here, like theCheese Manwho appears from time to time, the First Slayer is the main focus.
First, Willow has a dream that exposes her insecurities and anxieties. She dreams that Tara (Amber Benson), her girlfriend, and herex-boyfriend Oz (Seth Green)are romantically interested in each other. She also sees herself giving a school presentation and acting inDeath Of A Salesman. In the end, the First Slayer brutally kills Willow.
Xander’s dream is perhaps the strangest of all. After he tries to sleep with Joyce (Kristine Sutherland), he is surrounded by men in white jackets, and then Spike (James Marsters) shares some big news: Xander could be a Watcher, just like Giles. Xander ends up getting killed by the First Slayer just like Willow does. In this case, he sees a violent scene fromApocalypse NowofPrincipal Synder (Ken Lerner) as Colonel Walter Kurtz fighting Captain Benjamin Willard. While Giles’s dream is just as odd, it’s fairly logical, which makes sense considering his grounded personality. He can tell that things are heading in a dangerous direction. After singing at The Bronze and watching Anya perform some stand-up comedy, The First Slayer murders him.
While “Restless” is one of thedarkestBuffy The Vampire Slayerepisodes, the ending ofBuffy The Vampire Slayerseason 4 focuses on Buffy’s strength and power. Buffy learns that Adam (George Hertzberg) and Riley Finn (Marc Blucas) who now is the Surgeon General ofthe Initiative, want to take over the world. When demons try to kill them, Buffy puts some mud on her face and then confronts the First Slayer in the desert.
The dialogue in “Restless” sounds old-fashioned, at least compared to the rest of the series. One example? When Buffy tells the First Slayer:
“I walk. I talk. I shop. I sneeze. I’m gonna be a fireman when the floods roll back. There’s trees in the desert since you moved out, and I don’t sleep on a bed of bones.”
This is when the dream reveals Buffy’s biggest worry: that she will be isolated and lonely because of her duty as the Slayer. Tara channels the First Slayer, who explains that she needs to go on this journey without anyone else. Buffy will win if she doesn’t pay attention to the First Slayer, who disappears.
What Is Buffy The Vampire Slayer Season 4 About?
While theBuffy The Vampire Slayerseason 4 finale is definitely one of thecreepiestBuffyepisodes, the rest of season 4 focuses onBuffy adjusting to college life. Season 4 features some of thebestBuffy The Vampire Slayer episodes.
Some stand-out episodes ofBuffy The Vampire Slayerseason 4:
In “The Freshman,” Buffy has a miserable time with her roommate Kathy Newman (Dagney Kerr), who is hiding a dark secret, and meets Riley. As Buffy tells Xander at the end of the episode, she is more comfortable and confident because:
“It’s turning out to be a lot like high school which I can handle. At least I know what to expect.”
In “Fear, Itself,” Buffy’s friends celebrate Halloween while she struggles with her mental health. “Beer Bad” and “Hush” are two of the most memorableBuffy The Vampire Slayerepisodes. In the former,male college students become Neanderthalswhen they drink beer. In the latter, no one in Sunnydale can speak anymore.Buffyfans don’t agree on whether the season 4 finale “Restless” or the season 4 episode “Beer Bad” are great or too strange and random. But no matter how fans feel about these two episodes,Buffy The Vampire Slayerseason 4
