** Riley Finn, triple agent loyal to Buffy.

Buffy eventually finds a new love interest in the form of Riley Finn ( Marc Blucas ), a soldier in the demon-hunting government task force known as the Initiative.

Buffy suffers emotional turmoil throughout this season, including the realization Dawn is not actually her sister, the deterioration of her relationship with Riley, the discovery that Spike has become obsessed with her, and her mother's death from a brain aneurysm.

Spike's skills of analysis allowed him to realize Willow was barely holding it together after Oz's departure even though Giles and Buffy thought she was doing better, to be the first to see through Tara's abusive and controlling family, forced Buffy and Angel to admit that they were more than " just friends " and identify when and why some relationships, such as between Buffy and Riley, are not meant to last, masterfully feeding Riley's insecurities in an effort to sabotage his relationship with Buffy, so Spike can pursue her.

* Riley Finn, a character in the TV series Buffy the Vampire Slayer

However, when experiencing the powerful negative emotion of jealousy evoked by the discovery that Tara Maclay has replaced him in Willow's affections, he does change, and is seized by The Initiative and locked in their cells until Buffy, helped by Riley Finn, sets him free.

" Writer Jane Espenson draws comparisons between the characters of Buffy and Warren, claiming, " When Buffy's talking with Warren about his break-up with April, she's actually identifying with him, because she did a lot of the same stuff with Riley that he did with April.

Riley Finn is a fictional character created by Joss Whedon for the television series Buffy the Vampire Slayer.

Most notably, Riley is one of three long-term romantic interests for series ' heroine Buffy Summers ( Sarah Michelle Gellar ).

In stark contrast to broody, often pensive Angel, Riley is optimistic, trustworthy and reliable, and in theory presents Buffy with her first opportunity for a " normal " romantic relationship.

This allows him to interact with Buffy both in her civilian life and assist her with her duties as Slayer ; while Buffy has supernatural powers associated with her role, Riley must rely instead on his extensive military training.

A native of Huxley, Iowa, Riley was Buffy Summers ' boyfriend for parts of Seasons Four and Five.

Riley realizes his feelings for Buffy after punching Parker for an inappropriate comment he makes regarding their night together.

Even though he led a double life as part of a secret government organization known as the Initiative, Buffy found some normalcy in Riley as a regular college guy and someone to whom she could relate.

Buffy and Riley fought demons together and continued saving each other's lives and the world, although Riley was never quite let into Buffy's inner circle.

Over time, Riley began to see himself as below Buffy in strength, and began to push his body well past its limits.

Even with this knowledge, Riley initially refused medical treatment from the government out of paranoia, though Buffy eventually convinced him to do so.

Seeking thrills, and wondering what Buffy seemed to find so appealing about vampires-Buffy having allowed both Angel and Dracula to drink from her-Riley began to let vampires feed from him, which Buffy discovered in the episode " Into the Woods " when Spike reveals Riley at the vampire's nest.

During a large battle between the Slayers and Twilight's forces, Buffy recovers an injured Riley, revealing to the other characters that Riley was a double agent for her in an attempt to figure out Twilight's plans and identity.

For example, when he wants to create disharmony among the Scoobies, Spike divides-and-conquers with " The Yoko Factor ", exploiting tensions that exist under the surface to alienate Buffy and her friends against each other.

Much like Buffy, Angel is told in a serialized format, with each episode involving a self-contained story while contributing to a larger storyline.

The Christopher Nolan Batman movies, Battlestar Galactica, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and Doctor Who franchises have each had two nominations, but no wins.

The Master's incarceration underground was a device used by the writers to avoid having Buffy meet him and then thwart his attempts to kill her each week.

Whedon was concerned that audiences would consider this implausible and that weekly confrontations would leave no tension for the season finale when Buffy and the Master would finally meet and battle each other.

The plan to drive Buffy, Willow, Xander, and Giles apart works for a while ; at their lowest, the four refuse to speak to each other, but each of them realizes in " Primeval " that they were manipulated by Spike and return, apologetic.

The First appears in the video game Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Chaos Bleeds as the main antagonist, having helped Ethan Rayne escape from his imprisonment at the hands of the Initiative, and also participating in a battle between the two ( or rather, each of their five champions ).

Riley comes to visit Buffy in her dorm room and they sit facing each other, saying nothing.

Buffy and Riley are unable to act upon their attraction because they cannot stop babbling, primarily to keep their true identities concealed from each other, but also to avoid becoming closer emotionally.

The other two romantic couples ( Buffy and Spike, Willow and Tara ) are drawn to each other despite their memory loss.

** Although Buffy retains many of her Slayer instincts, she and Spike feel no instinctive animosity towards each other, foreshadowing the significant change in direction of the relationship between the two in that season.

Consistent with each dream is the presence of the First Slayer who hunts and kills them one by one until, in the final sequence, she is confronted and disempowered by Buffy.

The way in which each is killed is directly related to the role they had assumed when melding with Buffy in the previous episode — that role is indicated by the Tarot-like card used to symbolize the character's essence.

Joyce and Buffy are at first very ill at ease with each other during the next episode " Dead Man's Party ", while Buffy starts to understand how difficult Joyce's time has been without her.

Also, Slayers have been shown to appear in each other's dreams, and Buffy and Faith shared several dreams while Faith was in a coma.

Xander is despondent and this time Buffy consoles him on what happened with Cordelia, and suggests that they get together to " comfort each other ".

" The term " Big Bad " has since been used to describe the principal villain of each season of Buffy and Angel.

Still suffering from successive threats of losing one another, Angel and Buffy confess feelings each has been trying to suppress.

The 12th or 13th episode of each season is traditionally when Buffy celebrates her birthday ; her birthday takes place in episode 12 of Season Three (" Helpless "), episode 12 of Season Four (" A New Man "), episode 13 of Season Five (" Blood Ties ") and episode 14 of Season Six (" Older and Far Away ").

* This episode was the highest rated episode of Buffy ever, scoring a 5. 2 Nielsens rating and a 6. 7 overnight rating, with each ratings point representing 980, 000 households.

For example, Joyce sees the extremely attentive Giles merely as a teacher concerned about Buffy as a student who has experienced academic problems in the past.

Giles is concerned about Buffy, who has been patrolling non-stop for days without finding Adam.

* Although Angel and Spike have a particularly acrimonious relationship where Buffy is concerned, this adventure ( and Buffy having moved on from them both ) provides them with somewhat of a bonding experience-they drink together, engage in their most civil dialogue to date, and reminisce about the past.