First, we get some Oz closure. He returns to Sunnydale, able to control the wolf inside of him, and looking to return to Willow. Only problem is Willow has begun to move on with Tara and the Initiative captures him when he discovers this and turns into a wolf. Actually, that is two problems. This also leads to some Riley growth as he turns his back on the Initiative for good as with Oz's capture. Riley begins to realize that some demons and monsters are actually human. Oz realizes he has to leave Willow, which upsets the two of them, but Willow is able to return to Tara free from Oz.
Spike has some serious screen time working for Adam. He is able to play upon all the fears that everyone has been subtly expressing, and turn everyone against each other. He plays upon Giles's fears of Buffy no loner needing him, Xander's fears of being left behind, and Willow and Buffy's fears of their best friend choosing their significant other over each other.
However despite the basic story plot there is a lot of symbolism going on and a lot of wrapping up of those aforementioned subtle plots. After Adam is defeated the main group shares a dream where the spirit of the first slayer tries to kill them. This dream emphasizes the very fears everyone has been focusing on all season. Willow struggles with people not accepting the changes in her life. Everyone refers to her as being "in costume" and when that costume is finally ripped off she is no longer the confidant witch and woman she is growing into but a scared little high schooler who can't speak up for herself - with her two love interests (Oz and Tara) flirting with each other. Xander's dream focuses on everyone moving ahead with their lives and leaving him behind. It also shows him accepting that Buffy only loves him as a brother. While everyone else flirts with him Buffy does not and he is okay with that. Giles's dream shows him torn between Buffy and Olivia. Torn between being a Watcher and having his own life. He ultimately chooses Buffy, walking away from (and ignoring) a sobbing Olivia. Buffy's dream focuses on being alone, as slayers are supposed to be, and the fear of her future with Riley as he plots world domination after rejoining the army with a human Adam. This is a bit of foreshadowing as Riley will ultimately leave Buffy and return to fighting demons with the military. There is also a bit of foreshadowing of Dawn's coming and of Tara's supposed demonic heritage. However, there is also some Spike foreshadowing and explaining. Giles refers to Spike being like a son to him. There will be an episode where everyone loses their memories and Giles and Spike believe they are father and son. Spike also admits to being the way he is for the drama. His character will go through a lot of changes over the next few seasons as he will start to make the shift towards being a good guy in season 5, but even despite this shift Spike does enjoy creating drama and watching it unfold - like he willingly did for Adam.
My favorite episode probably is "Restless." I never really liked it much before but now, years later, I can appreciate just how deep - and different - this episode is.
The episodes:
New Moon Rising - Season 4, Episode 19
Synopsis - Oz returns to Sunnydale and Willow, only to discover that she has moved on.
The Yoko Factor - Season 4, Episode 20
Synopsis - Spike tears the group apart by playing on their fears.
Primeval - Season 4, Episode 21
Synopsis - The core group take on Adam with a spell that combines all their best attributes in Buffy.
Restless - Season 4, Episode 22
Synopsis - The first slayer returns to kill Buffy and her friends out of anger for how they defeated Adam.
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