From: liam@valentijn.nu   
      
   Op 20-7-2021 om 00:18 schreef David:   
    >   
   https://screenrant.com/buffy-the-vampire-slayer-fans-questions-the-initiative/   
      
    >   
    >   
    >   
    > Buffy The Vampire Slayer: 10 Questions Fans Still Have About The   
   Initiative   
    >   
    > The Initiative had a major impact on the fourth season of Buffy The   
    > Vampire Slayer. However, fans still have lingering questions about the   
    > group.   
    >   
    > BY JONATHAN THOMPSON   
    >   
    >   
    > After the fan-favorite season 3 finale, Buffy the Vampire Slayer set its   
    > sights on the college experience, which resulted in the   
    > love-it-or-hate-it fourth season. There were aspects of the season that   
    > were refreshing, with new characters and engaging storylines involved.   
    > However, one thing that did confuse fans was the introduction of the   
    > Initiative. As the Scoobies would learn, the Initiative was a secret   
    > government effort to study and harness the power of the supernatural for   
    > military purposes.   
    >   
    > In season 4, viewers and Buffy were guided into the Initiative by   
    > Buffy’s love interest, Riley Finn, who was a secret Initiative   
    > operative. The idea that after three seasons of supernatural activity   
    > and near-apocalypses, there was a government monster squad lurking in   
    > Sunnydale the whole time mystified fans. It also raised a lot of   
    > questions, many of which have gone unanswered but persist with each new   
    > Buffy binge watch.   
    >   
    >   
    > 10   
    > How Was The Initiative Allowed In Sunnydale?   
    >   
    > Considering what the Initiative’s agenda was, it is puzzling to   
    > determine how the government operation ever came to open its doors in   
    > Sunnydale. In season 3, fans discovered that Sunnydale was founded on   
    > the Hellmouth by one of Buffy the Vampire Slayer's major villains, Mayor   
    > Richard Wilkins III.   
    >   
    > Wilkins himself was not only evil, but he was strategic. He founded   
    > Sunnydale as part of his plan to become a pure demon and feast on the   
    > town in the process. However, this has led fans to question why did he   
    > not do anything about the Initiative establishing itself in his sleep   
    > demon town? It also begs the question of why the Initiative did   
    > absolutely nothing to stop the Mayor’s ascension.   
      
   I think the Initiative being a 'dark off the books' thing kept to itself   
   and stayed under everyones radar. Their main mission was one of   
   exploitation of monsters. Making weapons. Direct defense of people   
   wasn't the goal.   
      
      
      
    >   
    >   
    > 9   
    > Why Did The Initiative Set Up Under A College?   
    >   
    > Whatever the reason, the U.S. government was able to set up shop in   
    > Sunnydale. Some fans wonder, though, why the organization chose to   
    > insert itself below a college campus and integrate some of its key   
    > leaders and operatives into the academic population. Other than the fact   
    > that UC Sunnydale was an important new location in Buffy, it does not   
    > add up.   
    >   
    > The extra lengths that the organization must have gone through to make   
    > this happen seem ridiculous, as was their risk of exposure. Narratively,   
    > the campus made sense because Buffy was starting school there. The   
    > setting also allowed for Buffy and Riley, a teaching assistant, to meet   
    > and fall in love. Logically, however, the location makes little sense on   
    > its face.   
      
   Maybe to use intellecutual potential? Covertly of course. But yeah, it   
   is a funny place.   
      
    >   
    >   
    > 8   
    > How Did The Government Convince Anyone To Join The Initiative?   
    >   
    > During or after establishing itself under UC Sunnydale, the Initiative   
    > needed to recruit operatives. Riley mentioned to Buffy that he was   
    > trained in special operations with the U.S. Air Force before he was   
    > selected for the Initiative. While it is unclear what Riley saw while in   
    > Special Ops, the larger question is how the government convinced him or   
    > anyone else to join the Initiative?   
    >   
    > How did they introduce these candidates to the idea of the supernatural?   
    > How did they all respond to learning that monsters are real? What   
    > happened to recruits who could not handle it? Even for members of the   
    > military, this is a big leap, but somehow they staffed the Initiative   
   well.   
      
   Maybe it's a military thing. Serving country against any kind of ememy.   
      
      
    >   
    >   
    > 7   
    > Was There A Relationship Between The Initiative And The Sunnydale   
    > Military Base?   
    >   
    > In the season 2 episode “Innocence,” viewers learned of a very public   
    > and visible military base in Sunnydale. In fact, the Scoobies managed to   
    > steal a rocket launcher from the facility to destroy the Judge. So, when   
    > the Initiative appeared in season 4, many fans wondered if there was a   
    > relationship between the two military organizations.   
    >   
    > That question lingers today. Sunnydale was a one-Starbucks town, so it   
    > was unlikely it was a two-military complex town. Since viewers were   
    > meant to suddenly believe the Initiative had been there all along,   
    > connecting it to the known base would have made the concept more   
    > believable and less jarring.   
      
   I don't think the official base knew anything about the covert one.   
   Something of a need to know thing.  Secrecy was important. Things could   
   be denied.   
      
    >   
    >   
    > 6   
    > Where Were The Initiative's Fraternity Commandos In Reptile Boy?   
    >   
    > When season 4 revealed that numerous UC Sunnydale fraternity members   
    > were secret monster hunters, many fans thought back to Buffy’s   
    > frat-demon experience in season 2’s “Reptile Boy.” Some then wondered   
    > how the Initiative missed the Delta Zeta Kappa annual human sacrifices   
    > to the demon Machida.   
    >   
    > Riley mentioned he had been living in Sunnydale for a few years, so it   
    > stands to reason that the Initiative had been around in season 2. Would   
    > that annual demonic event not have been something the military frat   
    > members would have heard of? It is hard to believe, given their   
    > fraternity cover along with the Initiative’s mission.   
   Had they infiltrated /every/ fraternity? Would the Machida boys spill   
   the beans to every student?   
      
      
    >   
    > 5   
    > How Did The Initiative Not Know About Buffy?   
    >   
    > One of the most bizarre moments in the introduction of the government   
    > monster hunting squad and the research facility in Sunnydale was that   
    > said organization had no idea Buffy was the Slayer (or the fact that she   
    > was the latest in a long line of known Slayers in Buffy canon). In fact,   
    > Maggie Walsh stated that they thought the Slayer was a myth.   
    >   
    > Given every supernatural event that occurred in Sunnydale over the   
    > previous three years and Buffy’s role in them, it seems truly   
    > unbelievable that the Initiative did not know about her. Big Brother   
    > Walsh had security cameras in Riley’s bedroom, but she had no idea one   
    > of her students was the Chosen One, feared throughout the supernatural   
      
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