The Wasted Talents of Riley Finn

Buffy the Vampire Slayer, season five, wastes the many talents of Riley without so much as a second glance. The writing here is terrible, as there is so much this character could have been used for but, instead, he was an Angel love stand-in until he was no longer needed, then they feared he would overshadow other castmembers' roles or something.

At many points in season four, we see Riley hold his own with The Slayer, knowing damned well what she's capable of, without becoming a mindless slave. He was as serious about Minion-hunting as The Slayer, even if he was not as well-equipped. He was also almsot as well-trained and went toe-to-toe with her many times throughout that season, faring a little better with each go as she was training him privately (away from the rest of The Initiative). He was a tough-as-nails go-getter chosen as the leader of a massive Black Ops Initiative.

In season five, he's just a blithering idiot.

There were really no consequences for his actions in season four, despite the fact that he was on a Black Ops mission. In season five, his military background and affiliations are barely mentioned to the point that we, the viewers, really have little idea if the guy's still involved with the military or not. Despite getting a few more good laughs off his personal history, it isn't really said one way or the other.

In brief, Riley should have become the Big Number Two and been riding shotgun on all of Buffy's patrols from the jump; instead, they turned him into just another Scooby - and one that barely did anything, at that! After all, Riley's a tank, then they shied away from the military and video game -like angles to force us to suffer through a lot of relationship problems. Buffy and Riley have problems, of course, now that he's just a simpering twit who slavers over her and waits for commands (only hers, apparently).

Even without his direct access to The Initiative's base or equipment, he should still have several contacts that could get them whatever they need. Buffy and the crew's little stint as Coats worked pretty well for getting them in to begin with, but we're talking about requisitioning gear and things like that - you know, things Riley could have been doing for them instead of all that nothing.

And what about all that Initiative knowledge Riley possessed? He would be invaluable in the field, even if flacid in the living room for some reason. The writers simply needed a tank for the last season, without thinking through what they were going to do with him after that story arc ended and couldn't have Riley overshadowing the Scooby Gang that already exists. 

Maybe if he was spewing out infoes on Critters like he should have been, for no good reason, someone in the writers' room apparently thought it would negate the need for Willow and her particular set of skills which, I should remind everyone, includes casting spells, so it's not like she would have been useless even if she had been displaced as Critter Oracle to The Slayers. (And there was no need for her to have been.)

Not to mention the fact that Riley was good with a gun or other ranged device all on his own. Like I said: He should have become the big number two in command and sat in charge of the Scooby Gang, at least for a while, protecting Giles and the Gang from the Big Bads until they could conclude the investigation, get Buffy the information she needed, devise a plan, and get the bad guys. Instead, we got a meathead who can barely hold his own end of a conversation with literally anyone.

© The Weirding, 2025