Doomed

Season 4, Episode 11, Aired
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Episode Summary

Now that Riley knows that Buffy is the Slayer, and she knows that he is one of the mysterious commandos, they are having a hard time redefining their relationship. Meanwhile, to distract Giles from focusing on the commandos, Buffy tries to convince him that the recent earthquake might be a prophecy of doom and should be investigated. Then, when a new group of demons shows up in town stealing items of a mystical nature, it appears that she may be right after all.moreless
8.2
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Fan Episode Reviews (12)

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  • Suffers in comparison with what's gone before

    6.0
    "Fair"
    By joxerlives, Jan 20, 2012 Report Abuse
    The Good;
    Some good fights and character advancement and some excellent comedy. Favourite bit off all has to be Spike's 'American' accent (all the more brilliant when you think that this is an American playing an English character playing an American)

    The Bad;
    Riley says the demon is 3 metres tall which would make it nearly ten feet and seems way too much (drug dealers aside americans never did learn to use the metric system). He estimates it at 120kgs. How exactly? Buffy's leap down the Hellmouth beggars belief but maybe the laws of physics work differently there.

    Best line;
    Giles; It's the end of the world
    Xander/Willow; Again!

    Character death;
    One dead guy at party

    Knocked out;
    Giles again

    Women good/men bad;
    Poor Willow, inadvertently wounded by Percy at the party.

    Jeez!;
    Willow lying in the guys blood and the symbol carved into his chest

    Kinky dinky;
    The partygoers want to play 'naked limbo'. Riley says his skin is 'humming'. He also says he's not going to 'force himself upon' Buffy.

    Calling Captain Subtext;
    Spike calls Xander a poof.

    Apocalypses; 5, the demons want to open the Hellmouth

    Questions and observations;
    Percy back, hooray. Last time we'll see him unfortunately. Xander is now a pizza delivery boy just as Cordy predicted. Interesting that just as Spike says, Willow and Xander at the end are still the High School Nerds watching TV in their basement. Oddly enough Giles tries to 'Scully' Buffy both in this ep and in Hush. Marc Blucas appears in the titles for the first time. In many ways this is making the point that Xander and Willow are still the geeks they were in High School, Willow is lost at the party, she doesn't have Oz any more and doesn't have Tara yet. Reputedly the scene where Buffy objects to Giles' drawing of her was actually improvised by the cast.
    Riley says they track demons by their phermones, very like how Adam Baldwin's MiB's track the alien in Predator 2. Buffy refers to Faith and says that Slayers don't live past 25 (she and Faith both have now, they're the most successful Slayers ever). It's actually Xander who figures out the demons are the sacrifices. Quite a long ep coming in at 42 minutes (Amends is the longest at nearly 43).
    Marks out of 10; 6/10, nothing wrong with it but it comes after a very strong couple of eps
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  • Demons try to end the world by opening the Hellmouth? Cause that's never happened before.

    7.5
    "Good"
    By TwistedConverse, Nov 13, 2011 Report Abuse
    Doomed isn't a bad episode (no episode of Buffy is truly bad) but it isn't great. It just seems like a highly pointless, unmemorable episode. Of course any Buffy episode is generally better than most TV and it is still entertaining!

    The whole storyline of demons opening the Hellmouth has been done before. 3 times I believe. This episode just reeks of unoriginality and seems like the writers were out of ideas! Of course, they had their work set out for them making the outstanding "Hush" so I can forgive them for following up with this weak effort.

    The going back to high school was a neat idea. It was a good callback to the earlier seasons and it was nice to see the school again even if it was destroyed. The inclusion of Percy also was a nice callback. It would have been good to see more of the small characters who appeared in the earlier seasons but it was good enough to see Percy again.

    Spike was the best thing about the episode- him in Xander's clothes was hilarious and I loved him trying to stake himself saying goodbye to Dru. Also great was him making fun of Xander and Willow. Finally someone tells Xander some home truths! Being able to hurt demons was a good plot point for him also and furthers his inevitible turn to good in the later seasons.

    The Buffy/Riley drama just bored me all episode. It was so long and dull and annoying. Does anyone really want them to get together? NO. Riley's just boring and his speeches bored me. Less Riley! He's already gotten old by this stage.

    I don't have a lot to say on Doomed. It's a good episode but not great. It is very filler like and while it has some nice scenes, isn't remotely spectacular.moreless

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  • Doomed

    9.0
    "Superb"
    By TrueTvWatcher, Oct 22, 2010 Report Abuse
    Doomed was a great episode of Buffy the Vampire Slayer. After Buffy and Riley learn about each other's double lives they start to have doubts about being together. In the mean time there is an order of Demons collecting relics and things needed for a ritual sacrafice to bring about the end of the world. The story in this episode was really good, and there was also a lot of character development. We are starting to see the begining of a long journey ahead of Spike. Buffy and the Gang find the demons at the last minute, but with 2 of them already succeeding in their mission the fate of the world is on the line when Riley shows up and helps Buffy thwart the last demon. Their relationship is back on track which is cool, and Spike has found a way to get his bad on.moreless

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  • Season 4, Episode 11.

    9.5
    "Superb"
    By Wanted23, Jun 25, 2009 Report Abuse
    Buffy and Riley know each other's secrets, and they are having a hard time redefining their relationship. Buffy tries to convince Giles that the recent earthquake might be a prophecy of doom and should be investigated so he doesn't look into the Commandos too much. However, she soon learns she may have been right.

    Riley: What are you?
    Buffy: A Capricorn, on the cusp of Aquarius. You?

    LMAO! I liked this episode. The first half of season four is officially done. I liked seeing sexy Percy again, and the shirtless guy mixing the drinks was SEXY! I don't think Riley should be allowed to wear clothes. But I like the storyline about the new Doomsday thing. Not a bad episode at all, I guess. It's about average for this season, but I didn't give it 100% attention.moreless

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  • Back to The Hellmouth!

    8.0
    "Great"
    By goodridd, Apr 27, 2009 Report Abuse
    Buffy and Riley come clean with each other about who they really are. Buffy is not quite sure she wants to be in a relationship with someone in the same line of work as her. And an earthquake gives Buffy the feeling of Deja Vu, but Giles feels she is making too much of it.

    Meanwhile, a group of demons are going to try to open The Hellmouth by sacrificing themselves. Xander is still trying to adjust to his new roommate Spike. And Willow finds a dead guy.

    This episode isn't one of the best, but it's still a great episode. It makes up for an OK plot with fantastic dialogue, and some comedy from Xander and Spike.moreless

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Trivia, Notes, Quotes and Allusions

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  • Trivia

    ADD TRIVIA

    • The picture of the Word of Valios is actually just pasted into a King James Version Bible, in Ezekiel 30, to be exact. You can see that the verses skip straight from 15 to 22 behind it. Not only that, but in several places, the first letter of either 'Lord' or 'God' has been altered (presumably to make the substitution less apparent).

      Edit

    • Willow says: "...The dead guy, he was propped up, like whatever killed him wanted to drain the blood out of him..." However, when she turns the light on, he's flat on his back and remains that way.

      If you look closely though, you can see that his body is laying on a pile of pillows, which is what she could have meant.

      Edit
    • When Xander picks up the unconscious Spike in the library you can see Spike give Xander an assist with his right arm, pushing up from the floor. Edit

  • Notes

    ADD NOTES
    • "Doomed" is the first episode that we get to see what exactly happened to Sunnydale High from the explosion in Graduation Day (2). Edit
    • Spike calls Xander a "poof" in this episode. Roughly translated, he's calling Xander gay, which would be appropriate seeing as Joss was uncertain of whether Xander or Willow would turn out to be gay. Up until now, there are numerous instances to support either one. Edit
    • When Riley questions Spike, Spike fakes a bad Texan accent to avoid recognition. This is ironic, since when James Marsters(Spike) was originally auditioning, he gave Spike's character a Texan accent. The idea was rejected, and Spike ended up with his current accent. Edit

  • Quotes

    ADD QUOTES
    • Giles: It's the end of the world. Buffy, Willow, Xander: Again? Edit
    • Riley: No weapons. No backup. You don't go after a demon that size by yourself. Buffy: I do. Edit
    • Buffy: Death. Pain. Apocalypse -- none of them fun. Do you know what the Hellmouth is? 'Cause I went to school on top of it. For three years. We don't have that much in common. This is a job for you. Riley: It's not just a job- Buffy: It's an adventure, great, but for me it's destiny. Edit

  • Allusions

    ADD ALLUSIONS
    • Forrest: Maybe this is a bad time to tell you about Lara Croft. Lara Croft is the fictional heroine of Tomb Raider video games and comic books. Forrest is assuring Riley that the Slayer is only a legend. Edit
    • Riley: It's not just a job- Buffy: It's an adventure, great, but for me it's destiny. The Navy used to use the slogan "It's not just a job, it's an adventure" for their recruiting program during the 80's and 90's. Edit
    • Forrest: Granted they're a little rarer than the ones you grew up with on that little farm in Smallville... This might be a reference to Smallville, Kansas, the small town where Clark Kent (aka Superman) lived and grew up as a teenager. Interestingly enough Leonard Roberts (Forrest) later appeared in two episodes of the TV series Smallville. Edit

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