Too. Many. Thoughts. "Buffy" spoilers ahoy ...

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First off, I just want to say that I hereby forgive Doug Petrie for "As You Were." I'm sure he'll sleep much better at night knowing this.

Wow. Last night's episode was just ... wow. I don't even know where to begin. So I guess I'll start at the beginning.

The girl in Germany, and the girl last week in Istanbul: Potential Slayers in training? This is the most obvious answer. If this is what they are, and this big new (or really, really old) evil is being so thorough in covering its bases, then what about Faith? I don't know any spoilers or casting info, I have absolutely no idea whether Eliza Dushku has made any agreements to appear this season; but if this Mighty Morphin' Big Bad (tm adj, or possibly g. By they way, they're both much better at this whole analysis thing than I am, so you should go check out their LJs if you're into the speculating) is indeed wiping out all of the potential Slayers before it faces Buffy, then chances are it's going to try to take out Faith as well. The Slayer lineage carries on through her, and if the MMBB had deemed her safely tucked away in prison and unlikely to interfere, then why bother killing off her potential replacements? I'm not a huge fan of Faith, but I hope whatever happens with her doesn't happen off-screen and we're then told about it via exposition. At any rate, I'm intrigued.

Spike. Oh, Spike. In his first scene, when the walls begin to shake and he freaks out, he shouts, "Stop! Please, mum! Begging now! Make it stop!" Insight into William's past, or the insignificant ravings of a crazy man? I don't know, but again, I'm intrigued. More on Spike later. Of course.

I love Giles. That can't be said enough. I hope hope HOPE he's coming back to Sunnydale with Willow. Speaking of Willow, I'm still not down with the stereotypical Wicca-ness of her, but barring that, this is a Willow I can get behind. My Willow love is coming back, and I find I'm giving more than a rat's ass about her once again. So that's nice.

My Xander love is coming on pretty strong, too. He's still protective of Buffy, but not so much so that he doesn't know when to back down. I'm kinda sad that he didn't lift a finger to help Anya when Spike started whaling on her. I was really hoping those two kids would work things out. Also, he's accepted that Buffy had a relationship with Spike and, though he doesn't like it, he seemed to accept that Spike may still have a place in their lives. I also loved that Spike seemed to respect Xander's place in Buffy's life and his protectiveness of her. No taunting, no snarky comebacks or putdowns, just, "I'll be quick." Also, the HoYay! look exchanged between the two boys when Nancy asked if any of them hadn't slept together was abso-frigging-lutely priceless. I almost have hope again that Spike & Xander can actually get to be friends.

Speaking of protectiveness of Buffy, I love "unbelievably scary" Dawn! I'm so happy with the way she seems to have matured. She's no longer the irritating, spoiled, self-centered teen; she's a poised and assertive young woman with a good head on her shoulders who can see that it's not all about her. And if she doesn't scream "Get out get out GET OUT!" once this season, I'll be a happy Jean.

Poor Rocky, indeed. How much do I love that it was the vengeance demon and the vampire who expressed the most concern over the dog? That Spike managed to carve a moment out of his complete and total breakdown to express sorrow for the little puppy was absurdly touching. More importantly, by the look on Buffy's face, I think it was her first tip-off that he wasn't faking or playing some kind of game. Whoa, Spike gives a shit about the dog? Something's definitely up.

There's probably nothing I can say about that final scene that hasn't already been said elsewhere, but, damn. Props to both JM and SMG for some of the finest acting of both their careers. Everybody's going on about Spike in this scene, as well they should; but I'm going to focus on Buffy. Her confusion and mistrust was palpable here, and it went from that to out-and-out fear when Spike said he'd dreamt of killing her. This was the first time she'd raised a stake to him since "Fool for Love," and the first time since probably "School Hard" that she did so out of fear instead of intimidation. For the first time she was at a total loss as to what to expect from him, and I think she realized for the first time that this was not the same Spike. And then the look on her face when he mentioned Angel, the moment it clicked for her that he was talking about his soul. Understanding, but still with the confusion and disbelief, until she finally asked why? "Shame on you," he said. Shame on Buffy, indeed. Again and again since he first confessed his love for her, she's berated him for not having a soul and has refused to let herself believe that he was fully capable of loving her. He's wanted nothing more than for her to see him for who he is instead of what he is, but she hasn't allowed herself to see beyond "vampire." She came close, in "Intervention," after he withstood all that hellgod torture to protect her, but then she got distracted with Glory and her death and resurrection and subsequent deep depression and lost sight of whatever it was she'd seen in him that day. But now she's confronted with the truth of it, forced to face it in such a way that she can't possibly deny his love for her. Spike got his soul back for her. He's now enduring untold suffering and torment because he loves her. And she saw this, and finally really saw him, and she wept for him. And that, my friends, is huge.

Sigh.

The imagery of Spike draped over the cross was powerful indeed, but also exciting in that it harkens back to Giles's dream in "Restless." G has probably mentioned all of this already but I haven't read her LJ yet so I'm just gonna forge ahead. In Giles's dream, he comes across Spike, literally posing as the Big Bad for some paparazzi (which brings to mind both the fact that Spike was initially a facade carefully crafted by William after he was first turned and the way he hid behind his Big Bad persona when Anya threatened to expose his soul). Before leaving, Giles says, "I still think Buffy should have killed you." Spike responds by striking a Crucifix pose. This gives me hope that the other Spike segment in "Restless" has yet to be fully realized and that it's coming. I am, of course, talking about the bit in Xander's dream in which Spike is apparently human (as he's fully in sunlight and not burning up) and being trained by Giles to become a Watcher. He's already filled in as a pseudo-Watcher of sorts since then. Even tonight, he was the one with all of the knowledge about the demon they were fighting. But I'm growing more and more to suspect that Spike is going to end up human before it's all done with. But that's a whole 'nother post.