Buffy - S4E18

Where the Wild Things Are
First Aired: Tuesday April 25, 2000

Buffy and Riley's sexual energy releases something in the Lowell Fraternity house. When the guys of Lowell through a party, everyone is put into danger, especially Buffy and Riley.

The episode begins with Buffy and Riley battling a vampire/demon tag-team duo. Afterwards, their sexual energy leads them back to Lowell house instead of to Giles to report the strange occurrence of vampire helping demons. When they finally do tell him the next day, Riley comes to the conclusion that Adam is behind the unlikely pairing. Buffy and Riley run off to have sex again while the focus shifts to Anya and Xander. Xander, now an ice-cream man, is getting guff from Anya for not having sex with her the previous night, leading her to believe their relationship was over. Elsewhere, while preparing for the party, Riley's men overhear Buffy and him going at it again, but for some reason the fireplace erupts over one of the men. Later that night, Anya goes to the Bronze and encounters Spike, who tries to rob her, and they bound over dissing on their signifacant others. Back at the party, Buffy and Riley again go off to have sex and strange things begin to occur. Spike and Anya show up as well, but Xander is not willing to let her get under his skin. Once things start to get really out of hand, the Scoobies get out of the house and try to find Giles for help. They research and find out that the house used to be a boarding home, run by a decorated public social worker. They go to talk with her and in the process find out that she used severe punishment for the children being "unclean". The gang then surmises that Buffy and Riley are trapped in order to keep having sex, with the ghosts sucking the energy from them until they will ultimately die. Tara, Willow, and Giles try a spell to distract the spirits while Xander and Anya enter the house. While not successful at first, Anya's determination saves Xander and they get to Buffy and Riley shortly afterward. The episode ends with the Scoobies all talking about transpired, focusing more on the fact that Giles sings and plays guitar.

I am not a big fan of sexually themed episodes. When they are a part of the overall story, I do not mind the sex. Otherwise, it should be left to closed doors. I understand that they have to show the fact that Buffy and Riley were doing this, but it still irked me a bit. Overall, the premise of the episode was interesting, but it wasn't anything great. I think the best parts of the episode came from Xander and Anya, where there relationship continues to grow, as well as Anya's human side. Spike also added some very good lines/acting, which is always a given. Overall, I felt this was a good Xander/Anya-centric episode, but sub-par for the series nonetheless.

Score: 3 / 5