The I in Team
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| Buffy the Vampire Slayer | |
| Season 4, Episode 13 | |
 | |
| Air date | February 8, 2000 |
| Written by | David Fury |
| Directed by | James A. Contner |
| Episode Guide | |
| previous A New Man | next Goodbye Iowa |
"The I in Team" is the thirteenth episode of the fourth season of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and is the sixty-ninth episode altogether. It was written by David Fury and directed by James A. Contner. It originally broadcast on February 8, 2000.
When Professor Walsh decides that Buffy is a threat to The Initiative, she decides to kill her by sending her on a dangerous mission. Riley discovers that Professor Walsh has tried to kill Buffy and begins to think seriously of leaving the organization.
Contents |
Synopsis
Giles visits Spike at his new crypt and gives Spike his money. Spike tries to make it clear that he has no interest in helping them anymore. Riley takes Buffy into The Initiative, which she is incredibly impressed to see. Led by Professor Walsh, Buffy is given the tour of the facility, and then is basically made a member of their team. Tara tries to give a crystal to Willow, but Willow doesn't want to accept. Professor Walsh enters their secure labs and Room 314. After exchanging words with her colleague, Dr. Angleman, Professor Walsh checks up on her special project, a part-demon, part human creature named Adam.
Buffy is an hour late meeting her friends, and when she does show, she brings Riley and other Initiative members. Willow and Buffy talk about things, and Buffy reveals that she's now working with The Initiative. Willow questions how much trust Buffy should put in with them, and then Buffy rushes off with Riley and friends when all of their pagers go off. After being abandoned by Buffy, Willow goes to Tara's dorm room. Buffy and the commandos go out in teams to find and bring back a Polgara Demon. Forrest is head of his own team, but is still upset because Buffy took his spot on Riley's team.
Forrest spots "Hostile 17" (Spike) and sends his team after the vampire. As Spike is running away, they shoot him with a tracer so that'll they'll be able to keep track of his location. The demon attacks; Buffy and Riley team up and fight it together. Afterwards, they go to Riley's dorm room and have sex. Professor Walsh watches from a secret camera hidden in Riley's room.
Desperate, Spike goes to Giles for help and is forced to give up the last of Giles's money in exchange for that help. That day, Buffy is surprised to see Riley is still in bed by her side when she wakes. They talk, but when Buffy asks about 314, Riley gets a call from Professor Walsh, requesting his help. Walsh talks with Dr. Angleman and they decide it's time to go with their plan to get rid of Buffy.
Giles tries to remove the tracer from Spike's shoulder, but it's difficult and they don't have much time. Buffy gets back to her dorm room just as Willow is also returning from her night out, now carrying the crystal she had previously refused to accept from Tara. Buffy is beeped by the Initiative and is sent on a new mission. Wearing a microphone and camera, complete with a heart monitor, Buffy goes on the mission alone, but it turns out to be a trap set by Professor Walsh and the Initiative. Riley goes out with a team to find and recover Hostile 17.
With Willow doing a spell to mask the tracer's signal to buy them time, and Spike passed out from drinking, Giles continues his attempts to get the tracer out of the vampire's shoulder. It is finally removed and flushed down the toilet just in time to save Spike from Riley and his team. Buffy fights with two demons, and the heart monitor loses her heartbeat when she drops it to the ground. When Riley returns from his mission, Professor Walsh informs him that Buffy is dead. Having killed the two demons, Buffy comes on to the video camera and informs Walsh that her attempts to kill the Slayer failed. Riley sees this, and then walks out on Walsh.
Buffy returns to Giles's place, now very upset that The Initiative cannot be trusted. Walsh talks to the sleeping creature, Adam. An arm from the Polgara demon Buffy and Riley were sent out to capture has been attached to him. The Initiative has not only been running tests, but using various body parts from demons to build Adam. When Adam wakes, he spears Professor Walsh with a skewer from the Polgara arm, speaking one word, "Mommy."
Starring
- Sarah Michelle Gellar as Buffy Summers
- Nicholas Brendon as Xander Harris
- Alyson Hannigan as Willow Rosenberg
- Marc Blucas as Riley Finn
- James Marsters as Spike
- Anthony Stewart Head as Rupert Giles
Guest Starring
- Amber Benson as Tara Maclay
- George Hertzberg as Adam
- Leonard Roberts as Forrest Gates
- Bailey Chase as Graham Miller
- Jack Stehlin as Dr. Angleman
- Emma Caulfield as Anya
- Lindsay Crouse as Maggie Walsh
Co Starring
Trivia
- When Buffy says "Oh, you mean the camo and stuff. I thought about it, but on me it's gonna look all Private Benjamin." she references the 1980 Goldie Hawn movie "Private Benjamin".
- David Fury named two characters in this episode after regular posters at the Buffy.com posting board, The Bronze -- specifically the Polgara demon and Dr. Angleman. "Polgara" is also the name of a character in David Eddings book series, the Belgariad and the Mallorean. She's also the main character in his novel, Polgara the Sorceress.
Quotes
Willow - "Guess she's out with Riley. You know how it is with a spanking new boyfriend." Anya - "(offhandedly) Yes, we've enjoyed spanking." Xander loses control of the deck he was shuffling.
Buffy - "Will, I think you better get used to- a Twinkie?!? That's his lunch? Oh, he is so gonna be punished." Willow - "(pouty) Everyone's getting spanked but me."
Anya - "Xander, you haven't been paying any attention to me tonight. Just peddling those process food bricks. I don't know why." Xander - "Well, let me put it in a way you'll understand. Sell bars. Make money. Take Anya nice places. Buy pretty things." Anya - "That does make sense. All right, I support you. Go sell more."
Willow - "(sheepishly) A funny thing happened with my prior social engagement. Pretty much ended when a friend of mine went off to do something with another crowd she hangs out with. Irony is kind of ironic that way."
Continuity
- This episode marks the first appearance of Adam (played by George Hertzberg), who will become the Season's Big Bad.
- Although Buffy tells Professor Walsh she has never owned a pager, in "Never Kill a Boy on the First Date", she tells Giles "if the apocalypse comes, beep me." and holds up a pager.
- The scene in which Buffy wakes up in Riley's bed after sleeping with him is a parallel or contrast to the episodes in which Buffy sleeps with Angel ("Innocence") and with Parker ("The Harsh Light of Day"). Each scene is similar in its portrayal of Buffy awakening, but this one is the only one in which Buffy wakes up and the man is still next to her; Buffy appears moderately surprised that this is the case.
- It is in this episode that Willow and Tara's relationship takes a romantic turn; although no romantic affection is explicitly shown, it can be inferred from the quality of their interactions.
- One of the overarching themes of Season Four, Buffy's friends feeling alienated from her role as the Slayer, is portrayed when Willow feels left out and hesitant about Buffy joining the Initiative. In the previous episode "A New Man" it was Giles who felt left out of Buffy's life and duties. This theme culminates in and is resolved by "Primeval."
Music
- Black Lab - "Keep Myself Awake"
- Delerium - "Window To Your Soul"
- Lavish - "Trashed"
