The Watcher Diaries - Goodbye Iowa - Buffy Episode 4.14

Posted by Jason Chamberlain on 07.15.2009

This week in Sunnydale, the Big Bad comes into sharp focus... Adam!



4.14 Goodbye Iowa
Writer: Marti Noxon
Director: David Solomon

Slayer Speak

Spike - Got to hand it to you, Goldilocks, you have bleedin' tragic taste in men. I have a cousin, married a Regurgitating Frovlax Demon, has better instincts than you.

Buffy: I'm gonna have to punch you, aren't I?
Willy: Just once. And it don't have to hurt, just make it look good.

Watcher’s Notes

Tara sabotages the spell because she believes she might be part demon, which will be revealed in Season Five's "Family"... This is Willy the bartender's final appearance on the show.

Mike Gorman has the full review!

I am not really sure if it is fair to be reviewing “Goodbye Iowa” as Riley Finn is one of the few Whedon creations that I cannot stand. As this is a very Riley-centric episode I will, however, do my best to remain objective. That said, this “Goodbye Iowa” seems like two different episodes running at once to me. One part is about Riley and his internal struggle now that the Initiative’s secrets are laid bare and the other involves the rest of the cast on a fact finding mission trying to determine just what it is they are facing this season.
The later portion of the plot plays out as a very quick game of catch up as our heroes adjust to the fact that Maggie Walsh tried to have Buffy killed and that there is more than meets the eye to the Initiative. It felt to me like this episode was a “mid season breather” in a lot of ways. Yes it has a pretty quick pace but it's really about shifting gears for the Scooby Gang as they realize there is a Big Bad out there besides the military. They spend the episode investigating and hiding. Riley on the other hand has a lot going on during this episode and I will admit his descent into madness is handled very well.

At first it seems we will be treated to a TV cliché as a character is made to choose between the life he trusted and his love. Riley is of course not at ease after discovering Professor Walsh may have put Buffy in jeopardy. Once he learns Buffy’s side of the story he is not sure what to believe. Soon more details of all kinds continue to be piled on top of poor Mr. Finn. Walsh is dead. His friends think Buffy did it. Buffy thinks it is a demon Walsh may have unleashed. And why is his hand so itchy? Riley starts to question everyone and loses his faith all around. It seems to make sense to the viewers but is he being a little harsh? Buffy starts to realize that something is wrong with Riley, something very wrong. At the same time we get to see Adam out and about making new friends in the park, and eviscerating one of them. Clearly the stakes are being raised.

As Riley can barely stand at this point, Buffy recruits Xander to help her invade the Initiative in hopes of discovering the cause of Riley’s breakdown. She leaves him in the watchful hands of Willow who ends up taking a hit when Riley discovers Buffy’s plan and thinks she is trying to take down the Initiative. He races off after her and soon we all learn that Walsh had been feeding her soldiers super-pills in their meals and Riley is effectively going through withdrawals. Ready for a touchy feely intervention moment? Well it never comes as Adam shows up to make his presence and plans known. He reveals Walsh’s handiwork and what has been done to the Initiative boys. A fight ensues, of course, where Riley is impaled and Buffy learns that kicking Adam’s butt is outside of her skill set at the moment.

The episode ends with Riley in the care of the Initiative clutching a handkerchief that Buffy had given him earlier. Things are bleak for Agent Finn right now but this moment shows that he knows who he can trust and who will help him through these next challenges. Riley’s head is far from on straight as we will see in the next few weeks but he is on his way to discovering if it was the pills that made the man or vice versa.


















GRR!!! ARGH!!!

Ronny Sarnecky	This episode brings us the aftermath of the events in “The I In Team.” Buffy is now back where she belongs; kicking butt with the “Scooby Gang.” In this show we learn about “Adam.” Whether true or not, “Adam” seems to be molded after the Frankenstein monster, complete with the scene where he talks to the child. “Adam” is supposed to be the “big bad” of the season. However, I never saw him as such. To me, “Adam” is a sympathic figure. He doesn’t know any better. He is only doing what he was programmed to do. He is like a child, who needs a parent to teach him between right and wrong. Instead, he was programmed to be very wrong. In “Goodbye Iowa,” we learned that the soldiers of the Initiative were being drugged. I guess to keep them under control. Despite this being a Riley heavy episode, Joss gave us another really good episode.	8
Jeremy Thomas	Ahh, the major Riley-centric episode. Honestly, this one bored me to death. We learn more about Adam in this episode and that's good; Adam had great potential to be a major-league Big Bad and while I don't think that potential was realized, they were doing a great job at this point. Right off the bat he's killed off Walsh, and then he follows that up by killing a kid so he can understand what is inside people better. I really enjoyed all of this; what I didn't enjoy nearly so much was all the Riley drama and the disintegration of the Initiative. These were the bad-asses that were such a force to be reckoned with throughout the first half of the season? Their leader gets killed off and immediately they fall apart? That's some military discipline that Walsh inspired. Marc Blucas gives it his all here and does what he can--I really don't blame him for the failures of Riley so much, it's more the way the character was written. Riley just seems to lose any semblance he had of being someone the fans could respect here, and he never even began to get that back. This is not Marti Noxon's best work, I'm afraid.	5.5
Ron Martin	Ah, the "get to know your bad guy" episode. After introducing us to ADAM, we want to know more. So does ADAM apparently. I always thought it was a good touch that ADAM killing the kid was insinuated, though without any onscreen evidence, it didn't help his character be any more of a badass in the fans eyes. The perfect thing would have been for him to have killed Oz at some point, but the writer's were too afraid to pull the trigger on that one. The other story in this one is the implosion of The Initiative. Riley finally realizes that he's being used and somehow mantains control even though it would have been pretty easy for the rest of the boys to just take over seeing as Riley was in no condition to lead. This has to happen to continue to let Riley compete on the side of the Scoobies, though it's clear that the writer's have no idea what to do with him after this. I've never hated the Riley character like other Buffy fans, I've always just felt he was written poorly. Whether or not we liked it, we needed this episode.	7.5
Jason Chamberlain	So this is Adam. At first he does seem kind of badass. At least, he looks pretty damn scary. Probably the most physically intimidating villain since the Master. But with like, an ounce of his cool and charisma. But we don't know that quite yet! As the other guys have said, this is a Riley episode, and Marc Blucas as a performer does a great job. But he doesn`t have much to work with.	7

The 411: I was not the most impressed with “Goodbye Iowa” but I was happy that it moved Adam into position and got us on track for a final confrontation. The storylines this week were a little “too much of the same” for me when it came to the Initiative. I felt there was a fair amount of “We know this already, move on” moments happening. There were some elements that did have their place though, like the resolution of Riley’s struggle. It will be into the next season before we actually do get to say goodbye to our boy from Iowa but after reviewing this episode I suppose I am okay with him hanging around until then.

Final Score:  6.5   [ Average ]