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* UnintentionallyUnsympathetic[=/=]DesignatedHero: Riley definitely hits this trope in this episode in particular. Firstly, he continues being insecure about his girlfriend one-upping him in the strength department, which is a guaranteed BerserkButton to most fans of a FeministFantasy show. Then he starts paying to be fed on by female vampires - which he initially claims is "evening the score" for Buffy "letting" Dracula bite her, even though the viewer is aware that Riley only quite recently started seeking out vampires after being confronted with evidence that Buffy cared more deeply for Angel than she did for him. He decides to indulge in this habit after having spent a romantic night with Buffy. Upon getting caught and Buffy getting validly upset about it, he jumps on the defense and, in her view, issues her an ultimatum that ''she'' needs to give ''him'' a reason not to leave her and rejoin the army. Not only is Buffy presented as the wrong party for being upset at such a demand, but Xander even tells her off for being a supposed "bad girlfriend" and all but guilt-trips her into taking Riley back. By the end of the episode, the audience was apparently intended to view Buffy just barely missing Riley before he leaves in a helicopter as some sort of grand tragedy. This is despite the entire season and episode making it about as clear as it possibly could be that they were just entirely incompatible and she wasn't in love with him. Which he already knew.
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* TookTheBadFilmSeriously: While not exactly a hated episode, this tends to be one of the more disliked Season 5 stories thanks to the writing's blatant CharacterShilling for Riley, and thus blaming Buffy for his actions which really didn't go down well with the fandom. But Creator/MarcBlucas puts in one of his best performances in the entire show, even as Riley's actions are generally seen as pathetic at best and outright unsympathetic at worst, Blucas does a decent job at portraying Riley's inner turmoil, culminating in a very haunting and despairful stare outside the helicopter as he leaves the main cast for good, even many fans who were glad to see the back of captain cardboard tend not to fault Blucas's performance here.
* UnintentionallyUnsympathetic[=/=]DesignatedHero: Riley definitely hits this trope in this episode in particular. Firstly, he continues being insecure about his girlfriend one-upping him in the strength department, which is a guaranteed BerserkButton to most fans of a FeministFantasy show. Then he starts paying to be fed on by female vampires - which he initially claims is "evening the score" for Buffy "letting" Dracula bite her, even though the viewer is aware that Riley only quite recently started seeking out vampires after being confronted with evidence that Buffy cared more deeply for Angel than she did for him. He decides to indulge in this habit after having spent a romantic night with Buffy. Upon getting caught and Buffy getting validly upset about it, he jumps on the defense and, in her view, issues her an ultimatum that ''she'' needs to give ''him'' a reason not to leave her and rejoin the army. Not only is Buffy presented as the wrong party for being upset at such a demand, but Xander even tells her off for being a supposed "bad girlfriend" and all but guilt-trips her into taking Riley back. By the end of the episode, the audience was apparently intended to view Buffy just barely missing Riley before he leaves in a helicopter as some sort of grand tragedy. This is despite the entire season and episode making it about as clear as it possibly could be that they were just entirely incompatible and she wasn't in love with him. Which he already knew.
* UnintentionallyUnsympathetic[=/=]DesignatedHero: Riley definitely hits this trope in this episode in particular. Firstly, he continues being insecure about his girlfriend one-upping him in the strength department, which is a guaranteed BerserkButton to most fans of a FeministFantasy show. Then he starts paying to be fed on by female vampires - which he initially claims is "evening the score" for Buffy "letting" Dracula bite her, even though the viewer is aware that Riley only quite recently started seeking out vampires after being confronted with evidence that Buffy cared more deeply for Angel than she did for him. He decides to indulge in this habit after having spent a romantic night with Buffy. Upon getting caught and Buffy getting validly upset about it, he jumps on the defense and, in her view, issues her an ultimatum that ''she'' needs to give ''him'' a reason not to leave her and rejoin the army. Not only is Buffy presented as the wrong party for being upset at such a demand, but Xander even tells her off for being a supposed "bad girlfriend" and all but guilt-trips her into taking Riley back. By the end of the episode, the audience was apparently intended to view Buffy just barely missing Riley before he leaves in a helicopter as some sort of grand tragedy. This is despite the entire season and episode making it about as clear as it possibly could be that they were just entirely incompatible and she wasn't in love with him. Which he already knew.
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Changed line(s) 3 (click to see context) from:
* UnintentionallyUnsympathetic[=/=]DesignatedHero: Riley definitely hits this trope in this episode in particular. Firstly, he continues being insecure about his girlfriend one-upping him in the strength department, which is a guaranteed BerserkButton to most fans of a FeministFantasy show. Then he, in a completely misguided and ridiculous attempt to understand what Buffy felt when Angel and Dracula fed on her, starts paying to be fed on by female vampires. He decides to indulge in this habit after having spent a romantic night with Buffy. Upon getting caught and Buffy getting validly upset about it, he jumps on the defense and, in her view, issues her an ultimatum that ''she'' needs to give ''him'' a reason not to leave her and rejoin the army. Not only is Buffy presented as the wrong party for being upset at such a demand, but Xander even tells her off for being a supposed "bad girlfriend" and all but guilt-trips her into taking Riley back. By the end of the episode, the audience was apparently intended to view Buffy just barely missing Riley before he leaves in a helicopter as some sort of grand tragedy. This is despite the entire season and episode making it about as clear as it possibly could be that they were just entirely incompatible and she wasn't in love with him. Which he already knew.
to:
* UnintentionallyUnsympathetic[=/=]DesignatedHero: Riley definitely hits this trope in this episode in particular. Firstly, he continues being insecure about his girlfriend one-upping him in the strength department, which is a guaranteed BerserkButton to most fans of a FeministFantasy show. Then he, in a completely misguided and ridiculous attempt to understand what Buffy felt when Angel and Dracula fed on her, he starts paying to be fed on by female vampires.vampires - which he initially claims is "evening the score" for Buffy "letting" Dracula bite her, even though the viewer is aware that Riley only quite recently started seeking out vampires after being confronted with evidence that Buffy cared more deeply for Angel than she did for him. He decides to indulge in this habit after having spent a romantic night with Buffy. Upon getting caught and Buffy getting validly upset about it, he jumps on the defense and, in her view, issues her an ultimatum that ''she'' needs to give ''him'' a reason not to leave her and rejoin the army. Not only is Buffy presented as the wrong party for being upset at such a demand, but Xander even tells her off for being a supposed "bad girlfriend" and all but guilt-trips her into taking Riley back. By the end of the episode, the audience was apparently intended to view Buffy just barely missing Riley before he leaves in a helicopter as some sort of grand tragedy. This is despite the entire season and episode making it about as clear as it possibly could be that they were just entirely incompatible and she wasn't in love with him. Which he already knew.
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** It's not brought up how reckless he was being by taking the risk of being killed or, even worse, turned, which would have endangered the entire group.
*** Although Giles does point out how dangerous and reckless it is, in general.
*** Although Giles does point out how dangerous and reckless it is, in general.
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** It's not brought up how reckless he was being by taking the risk of being killed or, even worse, turned, which would have endangered the entire group.
***group. Although Giles does point out how dangerous and reckless it seeing vamp prostitutes is, in general.
***
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** Riley does have a point about Buffy not letting him in and feeling like she has to put up a mask of invulnerability all the time even around her own boyfriend, and as the viewer knows, not even telling him the truth about Dawn (Riley doesn't know this exactly, but he can sense she's holding back about something). However, the correct response would be to have an honest conversation with her about how he feels, not see vampire prostitutes behind her back.
to:
** Riley does have a point about Buffy not letting him in and feeling like she has to put up a mask of invulnerability all the time even around her own boyfriend, and as the viewer knows, not even telling him the truth about Dawn (Riley doesn't know this exactly, but he can sense she's holding back about something). However, the correct response would be to have an honest conversation with her about how he feels, not see vampire prostitutes behind her back. Riley never takes responsibility for his own actions in this or acknowledges they were wrong, which is why he stands out next to the other Scoobies who, while they have all screwed up majorly at some point, eventually apologized for their mistakes.
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clarification; how is plainly looking straight ahead ridiculous?; addition
Changed line(s) 3,5 (click to see context) from:
* UnintentionallyUnsympathetic[=/=]DesignatedHero: Riley definitely hits this trope in this episode in particular. Firstly, he begins getting insecure about his girlfriend one-upping him in the strength department, which is a guaranteed BerserkButton to most fans of a FeministFantasy show. Then he, in a completely misguided and ridiculous attempt to "darken" himself for Buffy, gets addicted to being fed on by vampires. How exactly he thought doing this behind her back would make him more appealing to her in the first place is anyone's guess, but then he decides to indulge in this habit after having spent a romantic night with Buffy. Upon getting caught and Buffy getting validly upset about it, he jumps on the defense and issues her an ultimatum that ''she'' needs to give ''him'' a reason not to leave her and rejoin the army. Not only is Buffy presented as the wrong party for being upset at such a demand, but Xander even tells her off for being a supposed "bad girlfriend" and all but guilt-trips her into taking Riley back. By the end of the episode, the audience was apparently intended to view Buffy just barely missing Riley before he leaves in a helicopter as some sort of grand tragedy. This is despite the entire season and episode making it about as clear as it possibly could be that they were just entirely incompatible and that he just...wasn't that great.
** Also, the fact that he doesn't see Buffy because he doesn't even turn to look out the window in the helicopter while it's in flight and just looks straight ahead in a huff makes him look a bit ridiculous.
** Riley does have a point about Buffy not letting him in and feeling like she has to put up a mask of invulnerability all the time even around her own boyfriend, and as the viewer knows, not even telling him the truth about Dawn (Riley doesn't know this exactly, but he can sense she's holding back about something). However, the correct response would be to have a honest conversation with her about how he feels, not see vampire prostitutes behind her back.
** Also, the fact that he doesn't see Buffy because he doesn't even turn to look out the window in the helicopter while it's in flight and just looks straight ahead in a huff makes him look a bit ridiculous.
** Riley does have a point about Buffy not letting him in and feeling like she has to put up a mask of invulnerability all the time even around her own boyfriend, and as the viewer knows, not even telling him the truth about Dawn (Riley doesn't know this exactly, but he can sense she's holding back about something). However, the correct response would be to have a honest conversation with her about how he feels, not see vampire prostitutes behind her back.
to:
* UnintentionallyUnsympathetic[=/=]DesignatedHero: Riley definitely hits this trope in this episode in particular. Firstly, he begins getting continues being insecure about his girlfriend one-upping him in the strength department, which is a guaranteed BerserkButton to most fans of a FeministFantasy show. Then he, in a completely misguided and ridiculous attempt to "darken" himself for Buffy, gets addicted understand what Buffy felt when Angel and Dracula fed on her, starts paying to being be fed on by female vampires. How exactly he thought doing this behind her back would make him more appealing to her in the first place is anyone's guess, but then he He decides to indulge in this habit after having spent a romantic night with Buffy. Upon getting caught and Buffy getting validly upset about it, he jumps on the defense and and, in her view, issues her an ultimatum that ''she'' needs to give ''him'' a reason not to leave her and rejoin the army. Not only is Buffy presented as the wrong party for being upset at such a demand, but Xander even tells her off for being a supposed "bad girlfriend" and all but guilt-trips her into taking Riley back. By the end of the episode, the audience was apparently intended to view Buffy just barely missing Riley before he leaves in a helicopter as some sort of grand tragedy. This is despite the entire season and episode making it about as clear as it possibly could be that they were just entirely incompatible and that he just...she wasn't that great.
** Also, the fact thatin love with him. Which he doesn't see Buffy because he doesn't even turn to look out the window in the helicopter while it's in flight and just looks straight ahead in a huff makes him look a bit ridiculous.
already knew.
** Riley does have a point about Buffy not letting him in and feeling like she has to put up a mask of invulnerability all the time even around her own boyfriend, and as the viewer knows, not even telling him the truth about Dawn (Riley doesn't know this exactly, but he can sense she's holding back about something). However, the correct response would be to havea an honest conversation with her about how he feels, not see vampire prostitutes behind her back.
** Also, the fact that
** Riley does have a point about Buffy not letting him in and feeling like she has to put up a mask of invulnerability all the time even around her own boyfriend, and as the viewer knows, not even telling him the truth about Dawn (Riley doesn't know this exactly, but he can sense she's holding back about something). However, the correct response would be to have
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*** Although Giles does point out how dangerous and reckless it is, in general.
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** Also, it's not brought up how reckless he was being by taking the risk of being killed or, even worse, turned, which would have endangered the entire group.
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** Also, it's It's not brought up how reckless he was being by taking the risk of being killed or, even worse, turned, which would have endangered the entire group.
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** Also, it's not brought up how reckless he was being by taking the risk of being killed or, even worse, turned, which would have endangered the entire group.
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* CharacterShilling: It's almost like the writers knew fans didn't really like Riley and wanted to convince them that his departure was a serious problem for the show.
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* UnintentionallyUnsympathetic[=/=]DesignatedHero: Riley definitely hits this trope in this episode in particular. Firstly, he begins getting insecure about his girlfriend one-upping him in the strength department, which is a guaranteed BerserkButton to most fans of a FeministFantasy show. Then he, in a completely misguided and ridiculous attempt to "darken" himself for Buffy, gets addicted to being fed on by vampires. How exactly he thought doing this behind her back would make him more appealing to her in the first place is anyone's guess, but then he decides to indulge in this habit after having spent a romantic night with Buffy. Upon getting caught and Buffy getting validly upset about it, he jumps on the defence and issues her an ultimatum that ''she'' needs to give ''him'' a reason not to leave her and rejoin the army. Not only is Buffy presented as the wrong party for being upset at such a demand, but Xander even tells her off for being a supposed "bad girlfriend" and all but guilt-trips her into taking Riley back. By the end of the episode, the audience was apparently intended to view Buffy just barely missing Riley before he leaves in a helicopter as some sort of grand tragedy. This is despite the entire season and episode making it about as clear as it possibly could be that they were just entirely incompatible and that he just...wasn't that great.
to:
* UnintentionallyUnsympathetic[=/=]DesignatedHero: Riley definitely hits this trope in this episode in particular. Firstly, he begins getting insecure about his girlfriend one-upping him in the strength department, which is a guaranteed BerserkButton to most fans of a FeministFantasy show. Then he, in a completely misguided and ridiculous attempt to "darken" himself for Buffy, gets addicted to being fed on by vampires. How exactly he thought doing this behind her back would make him more appealing to her in the first place is anyone's guess, but then he decides to indulge in this habit after having spent a romantic night with Buffy. Upon getting caught and Buffy getting validly upset about it, he jumps on the defence defense and issues her an ultimatum that ''she'' needs to give ''him'' a reason not to leave her and rejoin the army. Not only is Buffy presented as the wrong party for being upset at such a demand, but Xander even tells her off for being a supposed "bad girlfriend" and all but guilt-trips her into taking Riley back. By the end of the episode, the audience was apparently intended to view Buffy just barely missing Riley before he leaves in a helicopter as some sort of grand tragedy. This is despite the entire season and episode making it about as clear as it possibly could be that they were just entirely incompatible and that he just...wasn't that great.great.
** Also, the fact that he doesn't see Buffy because he doesn't even turn to look out the window in the helicopter while it's in flight and just looks straight ahead in a huff makes him look a bit ridiculous.
** Also, the fact that he doesn't see Buffy because he doesn't even turn to look out the window in the helicopter while it's in flight and just looks straight ahead in a huff makes him look a bit ridiculous.
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** Riley does have a point about Buffy not letting him in and feeling she has to put up a mask of invulnerability all the time even around her own boyfriend, and as the viewer knows, not even telling him the truth about Dawn (Riley doesn't know this exactly, but he can sense she's holding back about something). However, the correct response would be to have a honest conversation with her about how he feels, not see vampire prostitutes behind her back.
to:
** Riley does have a point about Buffy not letting him in and feeling like she has to put up a mask of invulnerability all the time even around her own boyfriend, and as the viewer knows, not even telling him the truth about Dawn (Riley doesn't know this exactly, but he can sense she's holding back about something). However, the correct response would be to have a honest conversation with her about how he feels, not see vampire prostitutes behind her back.
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** Riley does have a point about Buffy not letting him in and feeling she has to put up a mask of invulnerability all the time even around her own boyfriend, and as the viewer knows, not even telling him the truth about Dawn (Riley doesn't know this exactly, but he can sense she's holding back about something). However, the correct response would be to have a honest conversation with her about how he feels, not see vampire prostitutes behind her back.
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Having just watched the episode, Spike isn't presented as being in the wrong - his impure intentions are made clear, yes, but the act of exposing Riley isn't treated as a bad one.
Deleted line(s) 1 (click to see context) :
* DesignatedVillain: The audience is apparently intended to view Spike as being the most in the wrong in the scenario for ratting Riley out to Buffy, and while his intentions [[RelationshipSabotage aren't particularly pure]], he's not ''really'' wrong for letting her know what was going on either--and he's certainly not more wrong than Riley is for doing the pseudo-cheating in the first place. As Spike points out; Riley wasn't going to keep it from Buffy forever, and it plain wasn't fair of him to be doing it behind her back at all.
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* InformedWrongness: While his intentions were hardly pure, Spike wasn't particularly ''wrong'' to inform Buffy that Riley was sneaking out behind her back to get off from vampire bites. Not only is it borderline cheating, but it put himself, Buffy and all her friends and family in considerable danger if he'd ended up being turned. However, despite his actions being fairly justifiable, Spike is largely condemned as the most in the wrong while Riley is posed as the DesignatedHero of the episode.
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* HoYay: Xander's speech to convince Buffy not to break up with Riley was surprisingly impassioned.
Changed line(s) 3 (click to see context) from:
* UnintentionallyUnsympathetic [=/=] DesignatedHero: Riley definitely hits this trope in this episode in particular. Firstly, he begins getting insecure about his girlfriend one-upping him in the strength department, which is a guaranteed BerserkButton to most fans of a FeministFantasy show. Then he, in a completely misguided and ridiculous attempt to "darken" himself for Buffy, gets addicted to being fed on by vampires. How exactly he thought doing this behind her back would make him more appealing to her in the first place is anyone's guess, but then he decides to indulge in this habit after having spent a romantic night with Buffy. Upon getting caught and Buffy getting validly upset about it, he jumps on the defence and issues her an ultimatum that ''she'' needs to give ''him'' a reason not to leave her and rejoin the army. Not only is Buffy presented as the wrong party for being upset at such a demand, but Xander even tells her off for being a supposed "bad girlfriend" and all but guilt-trips her into taking Riley back. By the end of the episode, the audience was apparently intended to view Buffy just barely missing Riley before he leaves in a helicopter as some sort of grand tragedy. This is despite the entire season and episode making it about as clear as it possibly could be that they were just entirely incompatible and that he just...wasn't that great.
to:
* UnintentionallyUnsympathetic [=/=] DesignatedHero: UnintentionallyUnsympathetic[=/=]DesignatedHero: Riley definitely hits this trope in this episode in particular. Firstly, he begins getting insecure about his girlfriend one-upping him in the strength department, which is a guaranteed BerserkButton to most fans of a FeministFantasy show. Then he, in a completely misguided and ridiculous attempt to "darken" himself for Buffy, gets addicted to being fed on by vampires. How exactly he thought doing this behind her back would make him more appealing to her in the first place is anyone's guess, but then he decides to indulge in this habit after having spent a romantic night with Buffy. Upon getting caught and Buffy getting validly upset about it, he jumps on the defence and issues her an ultimatum that ''she'' needs to give ''him'' a reason not to leave her and rejoin the army. Not only is Buffy presented as the wrong party for being upset at such a demand, but Xander even tells her off for being a supposed "bad girlfriend" and all but guilt-trips her into taking Riley back. By the end of the episode, the audience was apparently intended to view Buffy just barely missing Riley before he leaves in a helicopter as some sort of grand tragedy. This is despite the entire season and episode making it about as clear as it possibly could be that they were just entirely incompatible and that he just...wasn't that great.
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* InformedWrongness: While his intentions were hardly pure, Spike wasn't particularly ''wrong'' to inform Buffy that Riley was sneaking out behind her back to get off from vampire bites. Not only is it borderline cheating, but it put himself, Buffy and all her friends and family in considerable danger if he'd ended up being turned. However, despite his actions being fairly justifiable, Spike is largely condemned as the most in the wrong while Riley is posed as the DesignatedHero of the episode.
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Changed line(s) 1,2 (click to see context) from:
* StrawmanHasAPoint: The audience is intended to view Spike as being the most in the wrong in the scenario for ratting Riley out to Buffy, and while his intentions [[RelationshipSabotage aren't particularly good]], he's not ''really'' wrong for letting her know what was going on. As Spike points out; Riley wasn't going to keep it from Buffy forever, and it plain wasn't fair of him to be doing it behind her back in the first place.
* UnintentionallyUnsympathetic: Riley definitely hits this trope in this episode in particular. Firstly, he begins getting insecure about his girlfriend one-upping him in the strength department, which is a guaranteed BerserkButton to most fans of a FeministFantasy show. Then he, in a completely misguided and ridiculous attempt to "darken" himself for Buffy, gets addicted to being fed on by vampires. How exactly he thought doing this behind her back would make him more appealing to her in the first place is anyone's guess, but then he decides to indulge in this habit after having spent a romantic night with Buffy. Upon getting caught and Buffy getting validly upset about it, he jumps on the defence and issues her an ultimatum that ''she'' needs to give ''him'' a reason not to leave her and rejoin the army. Not only is Buffy presented as the wrong party for being upset at such a demand, but Xander even tells her off for being a supposed "bad girlfriend" and all but guilt-trips her into taking Riley back. By the end of the episode, the audience was apparently intended to view Buffy just barely missing Riley before he leaves in a helicopter as some sort of grand tragedy. This is despite the entire season and episode making it about as clear as it possibly could be that they were just entirely incompatible and that he just...wasn't that great.
* UnintentionallyUnsympathetic: Riley definitely hits this trope in this episode in particular. Firstly, he begins getting insecure about his girlfriend one-upping him in the strength department, which is a guaranteed BerserkButton to most fans of a FeministFantasy show. Then he, in a completely misguided and ridiculous attempt to "darken" himself for Buffy, gets addicted to being fed on by vampires. How exactly he thought doing this behind her back would make him more appealing to her in the first place is anyone's guess, but then he decides to indulge in this habit after having spent a romantic night with Buffy. Upon getting caught and Buffy getting validly upset about it, he jumps on the defence and issues her an ultimatum that ''she'' needs to give ''him'' a reason not to leave her and rejoin the army. Not only is Buffy presented as the wrong party for being upset at such a demand, but Xander even tells her off for being a supposed "bad girlfriend" and all but guilt-trips her into taking Riley back. By the end of the episode, the audience was apparently intended to view Buffy just barely missing Riley before he leaves in a helicopter as some sort of grand tragedy. This is despite the entire season and episode making it about as clear as it possibly could be that they were just entirely incompatible and that he just...wasn't that great.
to:
* StrawmanHasAPoint: DesignatedVillain: The audience is apparently intended to view Spike as being the most in the wrong in the scenario for ratting Riley out to Buffy, and while his intentions [[RelationshipSabotage aren't particularly good]], pure]], he's not ''really'' wrong for letting her know what was going on. on either--and he's certainly not more wrong than Riley is for doing the pseudo-cheating in the first place. As Spike points out; Riley wasn't going to keep it from Buffy forever, and it plain wasn't fair of him to be doing it behind her back in the first place.
at all.
*UnintentionallyUnsympathetic: UnintentionallyUnsympathetic [=/=] DesignatedHero: Riley definitely hits this trope in this episode in particular. Firstly, he begins getting insecure about his girlfriend one-upping him in the strength department, which is a guaranteed BerserkButton to most fans of a FeministFantasy show. Then he, in a completely misguided and ridiculous attempt to "darken" himself for Buffy, gets addicted to being fed on by vampires. How exactly he thought doing this behind her back would make him more appealing to her in the first place is anyone's guess, but then he decides to indulge in this habit after having spent a romantic night with Buffy. Upon getting caught and Buffy getting validly upset about it, he jumps on the defence and issues her an ultimatum that ''she'' needs to give ''him'' a reason not to leave her and rejoin the army. Not only is Buffy presented as the wrong party for being upset at such a demand, but Xander even tells her off for being a supposed "bad girlfriend" and all but guilt-trips her into taking Riley back. By the end of the episode, the audience was apparently intended to view Buffy just barely missing Riley before he leaves in a helicopter as some sort of grand tragedy. This is despite the entire season and episode making it about as clear as it possibly could be that they were just entirely incompatible and that he just...wasn't that great.
*
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Changed line(s) 1 (click to see context) from:
* UnintentionallyUnsympathetic: Riley begins getting insecure about his girlfriend one-upping him in the strength department, which is a guaranteed BerserkButton to most fans of a FeministFantasy show. Then he, in a completely misguided and ridiculous attempt to "darken" himself for Buffy, gets addicted to being fed on by vampires. How exactly he thought doing this behind her back would make him more appealing to her in the first place is anyone's guess, but then he decides to indulge in this habit after having spent a romantic night with Buffy. Upon getting caught and Buffy getting validly upset about it, he jumps on the defence and issues her an ultimatum that ''she'' needs to give ''him'' a reason not to leave her and rejoin the army. Not only is Buffy presented as the wrong party for being upset at such a demand, but Xander even tells her off for being a supposed "bad girlfriend" and all but guilt-trips her into taking Riley back. By the end of the episode, the audience was apparently intended to view Buffy just barely missing Riley before he leaves in a helicopter as some sort of grand tragedy. This is despite the entire season and episode making it about as clear as it possibly could be that they were just entirely incompatible and that he just...wasn't that great.
to:
* StrawmanHasAPoint: The audience is intended to view Spike as being the most in the wrong in the scenario for ratting Riley out to Buffy, and while his intentions [[RelationshipSabotage aren't particularly good]], he's not ''really'' wrong for letting her know what was going on. As Spike points out; Riley wasn't going to keep it from Buffy forever, and it plain wasn't fair of him to be doing it behind her back in the first place.
* UnintentionallyUnsympathetic: Riley definitely hits this trope in this episode in particular. Firstly, he begins getting insecure about his girlfriend one-upping him in the strength department, which is a guaranteed BerserkButton to most fans of a FeministFantasy show. Then he, in a completely misguided and ridiculous attempt to "darken" himself for Buffy, gets addicted to being fed on by vampires. How exactly he thought doing this behind her back would make him more appealing to her in the first place is anyone's guess, but then he decides to indulge in this habit after having spent a romantic night with Buffy. Upon getting caught and Buffy getting validly upset about it, he jumps on the defence and issues her an ultimatum that ''she'' needs to give ''him'' a reason not to leave her and rejoin the army. Not only is Buffy presented as the wrong party for being upset at such a demand, but Xander even tells her off for being a supposed "bad girlfriend" and all but guilt-trips her into taking Riley back. By the end of the episode, the audience was apparently intended to view Buffy just barely missing Riley before he leaves in a helicopter as some sort of grand tragedy. This is despite the entire season and episode making it about as clear as it possibly could be that they were just entirely incompatible and that he just...wasn't that great.
* UnintentionallyUnsympathetic: Riley definitely hits this trope in this episode in particular. Firstly, he begins getting insecure about his girlfriend one-upping him in the strength department, which is a guaranteed BerserkButton to most fans of a FeministFantasy show. Then he, in a completely misguided and ridiculous attempt to "darken" himself for Buffy, gets addicted to being fed on by vampires. How exactly he thought doing this behind her back would make him more appealing to her in the first place is anyone's guess, but then he decides to indulge in this habit after having spent a romantic night with Buffy. Upon getting caught and Buffy getting validly upset about it, he jumps on the defence and issues her an ultimatum that ''she'' needs to give ''him'' a reason not to leave her and rejoin the army. Not only is Buffy presented as the wrong party for being upset at such a demand, but Xander even tells her off for being a supposed "bad girlfriend" and all but guilt-trips her into taking Riley back. By the end of the episode, the audience was apparently intended to view Buffy just barely missing Riley before he leaves in a helicopter as some sort of grand tragedy. This is despite the entire season and episode making it about as clear as it possibly could be that they were just entirely incompatible and that he just...wasn't that great.
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* UnintentionallyUnsympathetic: Riley begins getting insecure about his girlfriend one-upping him in the strength department, which is a guaranteed BerserkButton to most fans of a FeministFantasy show. Then he, in a completely misguided and ridiculous attempt to "darken" himself for Buffy, gets addicted to being fed on by vampires. How exactly he thought doing this behind her back would make him more appealing to her in the first place is anyone's guess, but then he decides to indulge in this habit after having spent a romantic night with Buffy. Upon getting caught and Buffy getting validly upset about it, he jumps on the defence and issues her an ultimatum that ''she'' needs to give ''him'' a reason not to leave her and rejoin the army. Not only is Buffy presented as the wrong party for being upset at such a demand, but Xander even tells her off for being a supposed "bad girlfriend" and all but guilt-trips her into taking Riley back. By the end of the episode, the audience was apparently intended to view Buffy just barely missing Riley before he leaves in a helicopter as some sort of grand tragedy. This is despite the entire season and episode making it about as clear as it possibly could be that they were just entirely incompatible and that he just...wasn't that great.
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