Buffy the Vampire Slayer - Season 4 [DVD] [1998]

This DVD set is remarkable. The episodes themselves are pure class but the extras make them even more enjoyable. We've never had six commentaries before but if the standard of the ones on this set keep up, we should have one for every episode! Doug Petrie's enthusiasm for the show seeps over during both of his talks, whilst Jane Espenson is a delight during her commentary for one of her fave episodes Superstar. David Fury and James A. Contner are interesting but don't compare to Joss Whedon's double dutch of Hush and Restless. He speaks rapid-fire and lets us in on anecdotes, hidden meanings, and influences. He should be knighted! Meanwhile, we have five featurettes - these are not that fulfilling but offer up some interesting info such as interviews with Chris Beck (the man behind the musical scores) and an updated look at sets. After this, we get the usual scripts, biographies, trailers, and stills. However, this time around, the scripts (well, three out of the four) are actually interesting to read - because the three Joss Whedon scripts all have their own gimmick and 'special' twist, it's fun to read Whedon's stage directions and to get a sense of how he wrote a silent episode, for instance. The interactive menus are gorgeous, and the same thing can be said for the exquisite packaging.

So, you've probably seen the episodes before. See them again! While the quality of the season is bought down a little due to the overall arc, ninety per cent of this season is top and the extra features just compliment it even more. Watch as Faith emerges from her coma, see the Scooby Gang fall apart and then get back together even stronger than before, witness their dreams, their loves, their failures, and watch as their town is plunged into silence as part of The Gentlemen's sinister plan. And, after doing all this, hear the cast and crew chat about their roles, watch a live performance of the Buffy theme music, get a free tour of Sunnydale, read up on the cast's extracurricular activities, and listen to the rip-roaring commentaries. This is brilliance, through and through. So get it NOW! What are you waiting for? The end of the world? Again?!

A big risk was taken in introducing a more classic sci-fi element with the arrival of a secret government demon-hunting operation. But there's a big difference from other genre shows: the Initiative was never in control of its actions. And that's the gist of the season: that Buffy and her traditional methods will always be superior, and that it's through her skills and her friends that evil is defeated, not bureaucracy. Which is why there's no big finish in episode 22 (the grand climax happens in episode 21), because the most important storyline is about the reaffirmation of friendships, demonstrated in the most bizarre way imaginable in an episode composed almost entirely of dream sequences.

There are a few misses among the hits (watch "Beer Bad" for the cavegirl activities of Buffy, but don't expect much else), and some classics (the Emmy-nominated "Hush" was possibly the boldest piece of television attempted before "The Body" the following year). And in the final scene of the season, we get a great setting-up of what's to come, without knowing any specific details.

There's a featurette on "Hush" as well as a commentary, and Christophe Beck gives us a great insight into the work that goes into scoring an episode. Plus there's all the usual scripts, episode commentaries, stills gallery and cast bios.

All in all, a season that left a few minor gripes, but which in the overall scheme of things, has continued the journey of life into adulthood. Now they're all supposed to be grown up, but the future still holds a great deal of uncertainty, and that can only be good for the show.