The I in Team
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| “The I in Team” | |||||||
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| Buffy the Vampire Slayer episode | |||||||
| Episode no. | Season 4 Episode 13 |
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| Written by | David Fury | ||||||
| Directed by | James A. Contner | ||||||
| Production no. | 4ABB13 | ||||||
| Original airdate | February 8, 2000 | ||||||
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| List of Buffy the Vampire Slayer episodes | |||||||
"The I in Team" is the 13th episode of season 4 of the television show Buffy the Vampire Slayer.
Contents |
[edit] Plot synopsis
[edit] Summary
When Professor Walsh decides Buffy is a threat to the initiative, she decides to kill her. She sends her after dangerous demons with a faulty weapon, and when Buffy kills the demons anyway, she realizes Walsh wants her dead. Riley discovers that Prof. Walsh has tried to kill Buffy and begins to think seriously of leaving the organization.
[edit] Expanded overview
Willow, Anya and Xander play poker and discuss Xander's plans to start selling the incredibly healthy Boost bars. They question the intentions of Riley and the Initiative. Buffy impresses Professor Walsh as she quickly passes a test of her strengths and fighting talents. Buffy talks about her night but Willow's quiet evening spent with friends doesn't seem to compare. The Scooby Gang has plans that night to meet at The Bronze.
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 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 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 tusk growing from his hand, speaking one word, "Mommy."
[edit] Acting
[edit] 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
- and Anthony Stewart Head as Rupert Giles
[edit] 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
- and Lindsay Crouse as Maggie Walsh
[edit] Co-starring
- Neil Daly as Mason
[edit] Production details
[edit] Music
[edit] Quotes and trivia
- Note the similarities between this episode when Buffy wakes up after sleeping with Riley, and the episodes where Buffy sleeps with Angel ("Innocence") and with Parker ("The Harsh Light of Day"). Each scene is very similar, but this one is the only one where Buffy wakes up and the guy is still with her.
- 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.
[edit] Translations
- Italian title: "Il tranello" ("The trap")
- German title: "Schein und Sein" (German idiom, "Appearance and reality") Episode 5x05 has the same German title apart from permuted word ordering: "Sein und Schein")
- French title: "Piégée" ("Trapped")
- Spanish title: "Trabajo en equipo" ("Team work")
[edit] Continuity
[edit] Arc significance
- In this episode, Buffy and Riley finally realise that Professor Walsh is up to no good. Riley walks out on the Initiative at this point, only to help them soon after Walsh is killed by Adam.
- Adam will become the Big Bad of the season.
- It is in this episode that Willow and Tara's relationship takes a romantic turn.
- Willow acts like Giles in this episode. She feels left out and very hesitant about Buffy joining the Initiative.
[edit] Timing
- Stories that take place around the same time in the Buffyverse:
| Location, time (if known) |
Buffyverse chronology: January 2000 - Spring 2000 (non-canon = italic) |
|---|---|
| Sunnydale, 2000 | B4.12 A New Man |
| L.A., 2000 | A1.12 Expecting |
| L.A., 2000 | Angel graphic novel: Hunting Ground |
| L.A., 2000 | Angel comic: Strange Bedfellows/Love for sale |
| Sunnydale, 2000 | B4.13 The I in Team |
| L.A., 2000 | A1.13 She |
| Sunnydale, 2000 | B4.14 Goodbye Iowa |
| Sunnydale, 2000 | Buffy video game: Wrath of the Darkhul King |
| L.A., 2000 | A1.14 I've Got You Under My Skin |
| Sunnydale, 2000 | B4.15 This Year's Girl |
| L.A., 2000 | A1.15 The Prodigal |
| Sunnydale, 2000 | B4.16 Who Are You |
| L.A., 2000 | A1.16 The Ring |
| Sunnydale, 2000 | Buffy comic: Giles |
| Sunnydale, 2000 | Buffy comic: Jonathan (by Jane Espenson) |
| Sunnydale, 2000 | B4.17 Superstar |
| Sunnydale, L.A., 2000 | Buffy/Angel graphic novel: Past Lives |
| Sunnydale, 2000 | Buffy graphic novel: Out of the Woodwork |
| Sunnydale, 2000 | Buffy book: These Our Actors |
| L.A., 2000 | A1.17 Eternity |
| Sunnydale, 2000 | B4.18 Where the Wild Things Are |
| L.A., 2000 | A1.18 Five By Five |
| Sunnydale, 2000 | B4.19 New Moon Rising |
| L.A., 2000 | A1.19 Sanctuary |
| Sunnydale, 2000 | B4.20 The Yoko Factor |
| L.A., 2000 | A1.20 War Zone |
| Sunnydale, 2000 | B4.21 Primeval |
| L.A., 2000 | A1.21 Blind Date |
| Sunnydale, L.A., 2000 | B4.22 Restless |
| L.A., 2000 | A1.22 To Shanshu in L.A. |
| L.A., 2000 | Angel comic: Cordelia special |
| Sunnydale, L.A., 2000 | Buffy/Angel books: Unseen [Trilogy] |
[edit] External links
[edit] Reviews
- Soulful Spike Society analysis of The I in Team
- Peripheral Visions Review
- Section 31 Review
- Swing the Sickle Review
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