The Freshman
Written and Directed by Joss Whedon
Original Airdate: October 5, 1999
Plot: Buffy starts life at UC Sunnydale, but finds she has a hard time fitting in her new life. Meanwhile, a group of vampires is preying on freshmen on campus....
Review
Warning: If you're looking at a map for a way to avoid SPOILERS for the
fourth season premiere of Buffy, the Vampire Slayer, "The Freshman," I
suggest you turn back now. There are major SPOILERS just ahead....
In short: Buffy reinvents itself with flair.
For the third straight year, a new season of Buffy has been led off by a
Joss Whedon writing and direcing effort. Two years ago, we got the
superlatively good "When She Was Bad." Last year, we got the oft-maligned,
but not really as bad as it's been made out to be, "Anne." And this year,
we get "The Freshman," which falls somewhere in between the two in terms of
the overall success of what it's trying to do.
In many ways, this episode felt like a new pilot for Buffy. In many
ways, Buffy is reinventing itself, in an attempt to stay fresh, interesting
and as compelling as it's been for the past two and a half years. And if
"The Freshman" is any indication, then I'm excited about getting to go along
for the ride.
Certainly it wasn't a perfect hour of Buffy, but it certainly did a lot
of things right and gave me hope for the upcoming season.
What I liked most was the fact that Joss was willing to take a few
chances on the show. One of the strengths of Buffy is that the characters
are never static. They're always to dynamic and their continual change and
evolution has been one of the centerpieces of the last few years. And it
continued a bit here. We got to see Willow begin to blossom into her own
at college where it's acceptable to be smart and want to learn, we got to
see Oz fit in well with the campus life and we go to see Buffy struggle
awkwardly trying to find a niche. I liked all three of these moments,
especially Buffy's attempts to fit in. As we saw last year, while she wasn't
exactly the pinacle of Sunnydale's social scene, Buffy had found her niche
in high school and enjoyed it a great deal. She struggled at times, but I
think she had a definite role (culminating in her being appointed Class
Protector in "The Prom.")
To see her out of place and awkward here was nicely done. I will admit
that at times I kept thinking back to "When She Was Bad," two years ago when
Buffy was acting strangely. But this was a bit different. Instead of Buffy
trying to alienate her freinds, she was trying to find her niche.
One thing that really worked well was seeing Buffy return to her
"comfort zones" from high school--namely Giles and her mom. I thought that
worked well, especially the awkward moments when she found out you can't go
home again. From those points onward, we saw a new Buffy emerging and I
liked that. To see her have to leave the safe secure world, where she knew
her way around and could kill any evil that came her way, to having to face
an unknown world and face new forms of evil that could be pretty darn
vicious at times, the whole character arc worked. Yes, I know that Joss did
focus a lot on Buffy, but this is her show.
Not that any of the characters really got the short end of the stick in
terms of time on screen, with the exception, perhaps of Giles. But then
again, we've still got 21 more hours this season to see him and so I'm not
too concerned just yet.
Another aspect of the show I really liked was the return to Buffy having
a "secret identity." That was cleverly handled, especially in the sequence
with Buffy's roommate and the Scooby gang sending cryptic messages back and
forth. Once again, Xander had me absolutely on the floor in his comments
about the guys who a sleep all day and use lots of sunscreen. A true Joss
moment and one that really, really worked.
This dilemma was also nicely handled in the sequence when Buffy sees the
campus full of people after dark and wonders how she is going to fight the
vamps and still keep her secret intact. Again, a nice showing of Buffy being
out of her usual comfort zone of Sunnydale and having everyone off the
streets after dark.
And as for the vampires, I've got to admit I liked Sunday. She had a
certain energy and charisma to her as well as an underlying threat. In many
ways, she seemed like a female version of Spike and it only reminded me of
how anxious I am to see our favorite vamp back in the saddle as it were.
(Only two weeks, only two weeks!) And her gang worked fairly well, though
the obvious typical-frat-guy stereotype vampire really got all the good
lines. (He seemed like something out of Animal House gone bad!) The only
part of this plotline that bugged me was the fact that for much of the
episode it seemed Buffy's arm was broken and then in the final battle it's
not. It seems as though Joss had written himself into a corner and didn't
quite know how to get out and so had Buffy's strength be her strength here.
I didn't really buy it and it felt like a bit of cheat, marring an otherwise
near-perfect episode.
Finally, you've got to wonder just who those guys in the commando suits
were at the end. Is Joss setting us up for the rest of the season or is it
just a red herring? After all, Mr. Trick was rumored to be the villain of
the season last year and we all know what happened there....
So, I guess that about wraps it up except for a few small things...
--In some ways, I wish Sunday had lived. Can you imagine what a pair
she and Spike would make?
--Xander's summer vacation was nicely done. In fact, I think that once
Xander appeared the show picked up a new energy. Nicholas Brendon did some
nice work here...
--The first professor Buffy had--that's every student's worst nightmare.
As for the psych professor, I hope we see more of her in the future....
--I loved the fact that Buffy didn't seem to get really, really mad
until the vamps took her stuff. That worked on a lot of levels.
--OK, honestly--when you heard the rumors that Giles would be cuaght
with a woman, did anyone else besides me think it might be Joyce?
Well, that's about it for now. Overall, "The Freshman" is a strong
opener, along the lines of "When She Was Bad." I have a lot of hope for
season four...
Rating: 8.5 (out of 10.0)
Next up: Buffy's new roommate is driving her crazy....
"Are we going to fight here or is this just going to be a big sarcasm fest?"
Review Copyright 1999 by Michael T. Hickerson. All Rights Reserved.
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