This is a good, positive interiview of "Dead Things," except for this paragraph, which makes me wonder if the interviewer was even watching the same show I was watching:

That's when the episode took it up a notch. Spike, sensing an opportunity to prove himself to Buffy, asked her to TRUST him, to let him take care of this, to make her problem go away. But Buffy, in a moment of heroic clarity, realized she must turn herself into the police. She told this to little sister Dawn, who has felt neglected by her never-around sister. Dawn asked Buffy not to go, but held back expressing another, more surprising feeling: relief. In finally re-taking responsibility for her life. Buffy became safe again for Dawn.

*SIGH* Even people who like this season as much as I do often just don't get it when it comes to Spike. He wasn't about proving himself to Buffy. He was all about protecting her, keeping her from throwing her life away over an accident, and more selfishly, about not wanting to lose her again. And he wasn't necessarily wrong in not wanting her to go to the police. There was a huge parallel between this episode and Season 3's "Consequences," in which Faith accidentally killed a human in the midst of slaying a bunch of vampires. Back then, even when thinking clearly, Buffy didn't necessarily think Faith should turn herself in, because it was an accident. Giles agreed, and said that these things happen sometimes, and when they do the Council of Watchers usually deals with it internally. I have no doubt that if Buffy had called Giles to ask what she should do, he would not have advised her to turn herself into the police. That she didn't call Giles speaks volumes about her state of mind. She wanted to be punished. Part of her still wants out of this life. Buffy didn't even consider what turning herself in would do to Dawn, who would most likely have ended up in foster care. Nor did she consider the consequences on the world that she's supposed to protect. Spike made a valid point when he pointed out how many lives she's saved. How could she continue to save lives if she were sitting in jail? Buffy was not thinking clearly, and Spike knew it, and he wasn't about to let her throw her life away, regardless of whether it was "the right thing to do."

Similarly, I sensed no relief from Dawn when Buffy told of her plans to turn herself in. She knew that Buffy wanted out. That Buffy would rather go to jail than have to take care of her. There was no sense of Buffy "finally re-taking responsibility for her life." It was the exact opposite. Buffy had an excuse to get out, and she was grabbing at it. Any breakthrough toward Buffy getting her act together came at the end, when she realized that she didn't come back wrong, and has nothing but herself on which to blame her recent behavior. Including her mistreatment of Spike, as well as her desire to be with him. Buffy realized in her confession to Tara that she now has to own not only her actions, but also her feelings. That was Buffy's moment of clarity, and hopefully it will prove to be the beginning of her healing process as well.