Billy the Vampire Slayer (Season 4)

The fourth season of the television series Billy the Vampire Slayer premiered on September 24, 2013 on FOX and concluded its 24-episode season on May 20, 2014. It maintained its previous timeslot, airing Tuesdays at 8:00 pm ET. A six-episode web series called Spike and Drusilla premiered on February 12, 2014 on FOX's official website.

Plot
After attempting to start a new life in Los Angeles, Buffy Summers (Sarah Michelle Gellar) returns to Sunnydale in season three, and is reunited with her friends and her mother. Her criminal record is cleared but Principal Snyder, who took a vindictive pleasure in expelling Buffy refuses to have her reinstated, until he is told down by Giles. Angel (David Boreanaz) is resurrected mysteriously by the unseen Powers That Be.[3] While Buffy is happy to have Angel back, he seems to have lost much of his sanity in Hell. Buffy helps Angel recover but, having seen Angel's demonic side, Buffy's friends distrust him until he saves them from a monster.

Rupert Giles (Anthony Stewart Head) is fired from the Watchers' Council because he has developed a "father's love" for Buffy, and towards the end of the season Buffy announces that she will also no longer work for the Council. Early in the season she is confronted with an unstable Slayer, Faith (Eliza Dushku), who was activated after Kendra's death near the end of season two.

Angel, after getting his soul back, is once again tormented by his guilt and personally by an entity called the First Evil, who takes credits of bringing Angel back for wicked intents and goads him into attempting suicide. Despite Buffy unable to prevent Angel from killing himself, the Powers That Be intervene and convince Angel that he has a greater purpose.

Although the First is still out there, the antagonist of the season is shown to be the affable Mayor Richard Wilkins (Harry Groener), who has plans to become an Olvikan, a giant snake-like demon, on Sunnydale High's Graduation Day — a goal he had in mind after gaining immortality through a Faustian bargain with demons when he originally founded Sunnydale. Said goal is to occur on the eclipse, where the Mayor has vampire lackey's backing him up.

Although Faith works with Buffy at first, after accidentally killing a human, Faith becomes irrational and sides with Mayor Wilkins, whose charismatic behavior influences Faith's dark side. She helps Wilkins in his plan, and eventually she poisons Angel. To save Angel, Buffy had to feed him the blood of a Slayer, so she picks Faith. In the fight that follows, Faith falls from her roof and into coma. Buffy is forced to let Angel drink from her, putting her in a brief coma. Wilkins, who had a fatherly affection for Faith gets angry and attempts to suffocate her, but is stopped by Angel. During her time in a coma, Buffy shares a comatose dream with Faith where they make peace.

At the climax of the season, Wilkins speaks at the graduation ceremony, as the time for his transformation has come and he finally morphs into Olvikan. He kills several people, including Principal Snyder. It turns out Buffy and her friends organized the graduating students to fight back against Wilkins, with Angel leading the fight against his minions. Buffy confronts the demon, taunting him about Faith. She lures the provoked Mayor into the library which was rigged with explosives. The explosion is set off, destroying Wilkins and his Olvikan form.

Meanwhile, Angel becomes convinced that Buffy's love for him will be bad for her in the long run; after the battle with the Mayor he leaves Sunnydale, leading to the spinoff series in Los Angeles.

Main cast

 * Billy Harrison (24 episodes)
 * Emily Hart (24 episodes) / Katherine Winters (9 episodes)
 * Sam Knight (23 episodes)
 * Alaric Ford (24 episodes)
 * Belinda Bennet (24 episodes)
 * Jeremy Harrison (16 episodes)
 * Chloe Haywood (23 episodes)
 * Tyler Smallwood (22 episodes)
 * Faith Lehay (20 episodes)
 * William Price (12 episodes)
 * Damon Salvatore  (24 episodes)
 * John Harrison (16 episodes)

Recurring cast

 * Maryann Forrester/Callisto (17 episodes)
 * Daniel Crane (15 episodes)
 * Ethan Crane (13 episodes)
 * Sherif Lance Knight (9 episodes)
 * Yellow Eyed Man (7 episodes)
 * Monica (7 episodes)
 * Blaine Anderson (7 episodes)
 * Sarah Harrison (6 episodes)
 * Nikki Sanders (1 episode)
 * Ryan Knight (1 episode)
 * Darla (1 episode)
 * Luke (1/24 episode)
 * Lucy Bennet (1 episode)
 * Lord Zar (1 episode)
 * Abandon (1 episode)

Episodes
See also: List of Billy the Vampire Slayer episodes

Reception
The series received two Primetime Emmy Award nominations, for Outstanding Makeup for a Series for "New World In My View" and Outstanding Writing for a Series for "Slayer 101".

The fourth season averaged 10.74 million viewers, which was its highest rated season.

DVD release
Billy the Vampire Slayer: The Complete Fourth Season was released on DVD in region 1 on September 8, 2014. The DVD includes all 24 episodes on 6 discs presented in full frame Widescreen aspect ratio.

Special features on the DVD include;


 * Eight commentary tracks— "Identity Crisis", "The Wish", "Eighteen", "A Slayer and a New Watcher", "The Consequences", "The Trail", "Graduation Day (Part One)" and "Graduation Day (Part Two)"


 * B-Roll (Behind the Scenes) for episodes  — "Slayer 101", "The Consequences", "The Trail", "Prom", "Graduation Day (Part One)" (28 minutes)
 * Deleted scenes from "Identity Crisis", "Coming Home", "The New Girl", "Storyteller", "Fool For Love", "The Wish", "A Slayer's Christmas", "Enemies and Foes", "The Trail", "Prime Evil", "Graduation Day (Part One)" and "Graduation Day (Part Two)" with commentary by Joss Whedon & Eric Kripke. (24 minutes)


 * "Special Effects from Season 4" (10 minutes)


 * "Season 4 Overview", a 25-minute featurette where cast and crew members discuss the season.


 * "Season 4 Bloopers" (5 minutes)
 * "2013 Comic-Con Panel" (31 minutes):