I got stuff done today! Go me! Laundry (and isn't that exciting, boys and girls?), and lots of band manager type stuff. And speaking of the band, their MP3.com page is up and running with all of the music from their CD. Just go to their site and click "Downloads." If practice doesn't get rescheduled on me again, tomorrow I'll be meeting with them to pick out photos for their press kit and CD covers, so before too much longer we should have CDs available to purchase.

Also, they're on the soundtrack for this movie. I didn't have anything to do with that, but it's pretty cool nonetheless.

So. Buffy. Because I'm far too lazy to come up with new thoughts, here's what I wrote about it in the Clubhouse:

I need to watch it again, but right now I can't think of a single thing I didn't like about this episode. Well, I do think they could've stood to shave a couple of minutes of Willow's screen time to focus more on Spike's trials. That deserved the same kind of poignancy as what he went through in "Intervention," but it didn't get it. But then, if they'd chosen to use those couple minutes simply to linger on the beauty that is Spike in all his shirtless glory, I'd've been cool with that too. There just aren't enough words to convey how beautiful that man is.

I knew Giles was going to show up at some point, but by the time he did I'd forgetten to watch for him, and his entrance knocked me out of my chair as sure as it knocked Willow on her skanky evil ass. This was followed by sqealing, and then wildly giggling all through the commercial. I think I also hugged my dog. LOVED that immediately after Buffy confessed she'd been sleeping with Spike, he burst into laughter. Loved that whole scene. And when he said he was dying I shouted right along with Anya, "No you're not!" I missed Giles so much. I wish he could stay. Damn ASH for being a family man.

Also, I share in the Anya love.

Apparently it was Mercedes McNab's turn to wear the flaming liar pants, because I read an interview with her just a few weeks ago in which she said she was appearing in the final two eps. Alas, no Harmony. Also, people who were asked not to share their spoiler knowledge with me nevertheless dropped unsubtle hints that Juliette Landau was also supposed to appear in the last ep. So I kept expecting Dru and Harmony to show up and for Spike to have to kill them to pass his tests. I'm a little disappointed that they didn't go there.

As for Spike, I'm going to assume that he's only been ensouled until I see otherwise onscreen. He was a souled being before, and he's been returned to a souled being. That's as valid an interpretation as any, and I fear if I get too literal in my interpretation I'll be disappointed. Or possibly relieved. But probably the former, because if I start believing that they made him human I'll talk myself out of all of my reservations over the summer and be in love with the idea by the time next season begins. And I have way more reservations about him being human than I do about him being souled.

Anyway. This is not an Angel retread. They both have souls now, but that's where the similarities end. One, Angel's soul is a curse, a punishment; Spike's is a reward, one that I believe he sought out, regardless of the ambiguity regarding such. As others have pointed out, the wording of his lines suggests that he knew exactly what he was getting as much as it
suggests he expected to get dechipped. Even if consciously, he just wanted to get rid of the chip, subconsciously, this was what he really wanted; but I think it was a conscious choice, and that the anger in his tone was because, as willing as he was to take on a soul for Buffy, he resented that he had to resort to that in order to be good enough for her. And I'm pretty
much right there with him, even though I do understand why it was a necessary step to get past Buffy's guard.

Two, Spike is far too practical-minded and action-oriented to sit around and brood. He is not a Champion for the PTB. He's all about Buffy. Part of the problems with Angel was that he felt he had to put his and Buffy's duty to fight the good fight above their feelings for each other. I don't think Spike will ever have that problem. His only duty is to Buffy.

Three, no happiness clause. As I said before, this is not a curse. Spike gets to be happy. Hence, I would imagine, why he had to pass all of those tests to earn his soul. He did earn it, so he gets to keep it. He and Buffy can have all the perfect happiness they want to have. And I imagine they'll have quite a lot of it after they make up. I imagine they'll have quite a lot of make-up perfect happiness, for that matter.

As much as I don't think he's human now, I do suspect that this is a step in that direction. As Terrence pointed out, this puts Spike in line to receive Shanshu. Which cracks me up, because as much as I love Angel, he's at his best when he's suffering, and how funny -- er, I mean, tragic -- would it be for him to lose his big reward to Spike? But Spike has already fought on
the side of good through just as many apocalypses as -- and maybe more than -- Angel has. The Prophecy of Aberjian could just as easily apply to Spike as to Angel. God, I wish they could have crossovers, because this would screw with W&H so much if they knew about it. Hee.

And, by the way, Jane Espenson said last night on the Succubus Club that getting his soul back was indeed Spike's intention all along. So, Yay!