The first three seasons of BTVS are Buffy as a high schooler. The last three seasons are Buffy as an adult. Season four finds her stuck somewhere in the middle. Really BTVS is trying to find itself this season. The show is rebuilding after losing Angel and Cordy to the spin-off "Angel." The high school burned down on Graduation Day, so the show has lost most of its familiar places. Oz will be gone within a few episodes. Willow, Buffy, Xander and Giles are separated a lot of the time and the Big bad this season is kind of... Lame. All in all, season four is not BTVS's best year. That said, it deserves some credit for trying something new. The show could have left the characters in high school for season after season, instead they grow and change as time goes on. And if nothing else, season four gets extra points in my book just because it brings Spike back and tosses him (reluctantly) into the Scoobie gang. Season four gets a lot of bad press and certainly it's not up to the brilliance of season two, three or five, but it still has some really good parts. I recommend that you at least give it a shot.
Unfortunately, "The Freshman" is not the best episode of the season. Nothing really happens and most of the episode is spent watching Buffy adjusting to college life. Life at UC Sunnydale is more complicated than she would like. With mean professors, annoying roommates, difficult classes and a gang of vampires preying on freshman. Willow and Oz fit right in. Xander comes back from his road trip and moves into his parents basement. Giles has a new girlfriend. Joyce is filling up Buffy's old room with storage crates. Buffy feels like she no longer has a place in her world. She meets up with Sunday, the big vampire on campus, and is nearly beaten by her gang. Buffy and the Scoobies have to work together to stop Sunday and settle into college life.
There are some good parts to this episode. I like the UC Sunnydale logo, with its smiley face sun. And I also like the scene between Xander and Buffy at the Bronze. The characters play off of each other well. Especially, since neither of them really fit-in anywhere. And the idea of Xander working in a male strip-club is just funny.
On the downside, I really don't like Riely, Professor Walsh or the Inititive, all of whom are introduced in this episode.
My favorite part of the episode: Sunday and her goons collecting Monet and Klimpt posters from their victims.
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