Buffy the Vampire Slayer
"Goodbye, Iowa"

Airdate: February 15, 2000

Riley (Marc Blucas) isn't in Kansas -- er, Iowa -- anymore.

After a very uneven fourth year strained by cast departures, changes in character location, and wardrobes from the slutpool of hell (OK, not exactly a leviathan issue, but it had to be said), Buffy the Vampire Slayer has finally returned to its rightful position as the best genre series on television. "Goodbye Iowa" picks up immediately where "The I in Team" left off, both chronologically and in terms of taking the series into totally uncharted territory. Fourth-season Buffy never fully took advantage of its university setting in the way that past seasons brilliantly skewered high school; their current focus on The Initiative essentially abandons the college theme altogether, and thankfully so. "Goodbye, Iowa" gives us Buffy on a grand, sweeping scale -- the storylines are more intricate, the settings are more elaborate, the guys are more gorgeous -- and in this episode, they can really act.

I've been a Riley Finn fan since his first appearance earlier this season, and just when I thought my Marc Blucas love had been thoroughly sated with that shirtless scene in "The I in Team" (even if the sex scene itself was kind of gross), along comes "Goodbye Iowa" to pretty much transform Riley into the most intriguing character on the series. (Helped to no end, incidentally, by Blucas' terrific and emotional performance.) The episode also serves as an apt defense to naysayers of Finn; those complaining about his robotic tendencies found their answer in the fact that, well, he is a robot. Sort of, anyway.

Buffy's after Adam and trying to deal with her withdrawl-crazed boyfriend at the same time. Nothing's ever easy in Sunnydale.

"Goodbye Iowa" begins with Riley confronting Buffy about Professor Walsh's attempt to murder her in last week's episode. His attachment to the professor leaves him doubtful, his discovery that Buffy has been housing Hostile 17 (aka Spike, back in black and finally living up to that hostile name) makes him more suspicious, and the disclosure that Walsh has been murdered in a very stake-like fashion doesn't help matters either. The episode revolves around a series of confrontations between Buffy and Riley that no one could have imagined merely a few episodes ago -- Riley pulling a gun, Riley withdrawing from mind-altering drugs that had made him a man/machine, Riley breaking down in a hospital bed, clutching Buffy's scarf. This is riveting, compelling material, made more so because it comes as a complete surprise. I was doubtful of the Initiative arc at first because it seemed to be taking the series in an abstract, exaggerated direction, but "Goodbye Iowa" gives the series an emotional core it had lacked in recent installments.

This trait extended to the supporting characters as well. "Goodbye Iowa" showed Willow and new pal Tara summoning the goddess Lesbia -- er, Thespia -- in order to track the rumored Polgara demon. I've been digging this storyline since it first appeared, and it's nice to see the writers move away from that stuttering, doltish dialogue Willow's been getting ever since she first encountered her fellow thespian. The episode gave Tara more to do than just smile hesitantly as well, and also showed that the character may hold an agenda greater than previously believed.

On the villainous side of things, Adam -- Professor Walsh's Frankenstein-like creation -- turned out to be much more than a walking indication of Mutant Enemy's paltry FX budget. The character served both as a necessary plot point and as an interesting specimen unto his own -- and even more surprisingly, he got away. Also welcome was the reemergence of Willy the bartender and of Spike's more bad-ass self; while still decidedly neutered, he's looking sharper, talking meaner, and getting the shit kicked out of him for his recent, slayer-friendly actions. Which is exactly what he deserved.

This is a tremendous episode, and a brilliant return for the show. I'm glad to see that the Marti Noxon who wrote such classic episodes as "Surprise" and "Prom" has triumphed over the one who cowrote Angel episodes concerning intergalactic princesses. Now if only Mutant Enemy could do something about that other show...

-- Sarah Kendzior

Buffy the Vampire Slayer airs at 9pm EST/8pm MNT, Tuesdays on the WB.

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