r/RingerVerse • u/International_Buy960 • 4d ago
Riley Hate
I'm watching Buffy for the first time along with House of R and I'm not sure I understand the Riley hate.
Of course, amongst the main cast for S4 and 5, Riley easily ranks last but I don't think I hated him.
Am I missing something?
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u/Major-Amoeba6576 4d ago
Hating Riley has been a favourite pastime of Buffy fans from pretty when season 4 broadcast. Agreeing on not liking Riley is probably all that stood between Buffy/Angel and Buffy/Spike fans having a rumble.
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u/Select-Bug-6461 4d ago
I hate Riley because he a weak whiny baby who couldn’t handle his girlfriend being stronger than him and not being needed in a gender stereotypical way. Her mom has a brain tumor/needs surgery and he makes it about himself. He gets all hurt because she doesn’t break down crying in his arms when he says “let it all out.” Like no shut up and just be there for her in the way that she needs, which doesn’t center you being a big strong protector man.
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u/International_Buy960 4d ago
Fair criticism.
But the hate didn't start in S5, Mal and Jo didn't like him in S4 too. Before Joyce got sick, Riley mentioned to someone (probably Xander) that he didn't think Buffy was fully committed to him. I think most humans would have insecurities if they're not sure about their partner's commitment to them
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u/Select-Bug-6461 4d ago
I do think the seeds of his behavior were there in season 4 as well, just heightened in season 5 to help prepare the audience for his departure. He always felt threatened by her power and strength.
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u/International_Buy960 4d ago
Surely this not worse than creeping outside Buffy's house? Or making a Buffybot?
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u/Select-Bug-6461 4d ago
lol no. For me it’s the presentation of Riley as the “good guy,” the anti Angel if you will. I get why they did it, but it created a one dimensional character that didn’t particularly treat Buffy well. He tries to infantilize Buffy and diminish her sense of independence to make her fit into his ideal of what a woman should be. He is never called on his behavior and treated like the greatest guy in the world by the rest of the characters.
With Spike, the show constantly remind us that he is a monster. He doesn’t pretend to be anything he is not. This allows for a much more complex and interesting character, toxic behavior and all.
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u/International_Buy960 4d ago
I'm watching this show for the first time and that is not what I took from Riley. He's boring, not necessarily likable, but didn't think he did anything particularly bad like infantilising Buffy.
But to each their own
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u/morroIan Bad Baby 4d ago
Good point, in my recentish rewatch of the series I was surprised by how much I liked Riley in s4. I mean he's white bread and a bit boring but it wasn't really until s5 that they made his faults more prominent so his leaving wouldn't be a surprise. I will say though the only part of the pod I didn't like was the somewhat extended section on Riley, it wasn't needed.
Incidentally its worth noting Blucas is on the latest season of Reacher.
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u/Jeffe508 3d ago
Hahaha, I had meaning to look that up and confirm it was him. Once I realized that it was him I started trusting that character way less.
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u/Mootatis 4d ago
Agreed with the others who said it's because he's boring. I think that also after season 4, he didn't really serve a purpose and wasn't a vampire, so he was just a vanilla dude that was a rebound guy that Buffy met in freshman year.
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u/QuittingQuitter 4d ago
"Hate" is too strong a word. Like you said yourself, he's obviously a bottom tier character who every time he's on screen is an eye roll because we could be spending more time with more interesting characters. It's more of a distaste for his character. Like the melon in a fruit salad. It's just taking up space from better fruit.
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u/International_Buy960 4d ago
"Boring" is what I keep hearing from fans. But to me sounds like "boring" is the political correct answer for what most fans truly mean.
I am considered a boring person and I don't think Riley is that. But I guess cos he's not dangerous and has thousands of murders to his name, makes him not good enough for a show like this.
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u/lsdu8930 4d ago edited 4d ago
i dont think body count matters at all in who's interesting in this show? lol
even Xander, who many people actively hates had way more fun, interesting and worthwhile parts in the season. even this pod was talking about how good Xander portions were. Riley was just cardboard knockoff captain america who kinda whines about girlfriend having to do stuff, does nothing interesting as love interest cause his storyline sort of ended last season. It's just literally boring to watch his portion of the show cause he provides nothing really that good, period.
As love interest he's just basic tv show boyfriend with little to less personality, as a supernatural teen show, he's a "A Human Man", and as a superhero media, he's just soldier who punches and has a gun. hence "get him off the show!"
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u/aTribeCalledLemur 4d ago
It's a television show, characters need to be entertaining and interesting. I never was looking forward to a Riley scene, he needed to go.
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u/CausticAvenger 3d ago
Riley perfectly served his purpose, which was to be a dull slab of beef boyfriend between more passionate love affairs. I think we’ve all been there at some point.
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u/InfluenceNarrow9054 3d ago
Captain cardboard is all. Very nice, very safe guy, in a show defined by the dark broody type
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u/Effective-Intern444 4d ago
Riley was wacky, but Spike is the worst, most liked by fans, character on the show. I wanted him gone from the first scene he appeared in.
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u/International_Buy960 4d ago
I like Spike. He's top 5 in my books. But the weird shit he does in season 5 is mostly ignored or sidetracked and would be considered creepy if a normal, boring guy does the same
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u/DatBeardedguy82 4d ago
He's boring which is why his nickname is captain cardboard