Riley running from his bad choices to go play hero, then blaming it on Buffy and using it as an ultimatum to punish her for her lack of emotional vulnerability, is just such a wild fucking twist. That's leaving out the gory vamp bordello and the mom cancer details.
And then the narrative is like "they're willing victims. They don't deserve Buffy's help. Buffy the vampire slayer wants to slay those vampires for selfish reasons!"
And then the torturing? With a plastic stake? Bruh
Masterpiece of character assassination. At this point, after so many rewatches, I can only pity Riley for being the narrative's dumb tool.
"Hey I just cheated on you. Decide you still want me or I disappear."