This really is the best season of Buffy EVER! Spoilers through "Never Leave Me" ahead ...

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I don't even know where to begin. Well, yes I do. I'll begin with the gloating. I KNEW it! I SAID the MMBB was the First Evil, but everybody was all, "Oh no, that's way too obvious, poo-pooh!" Well, NYAH! Sometimes things look obvious because they're exactly what they appear to be. On the one hand, I'm thrilled that they're fleshing out such a cool concept to its full potential. On the other, I'm peeved at how much relevance this all lends to "Amends." And how come Spike doesn't get any special magic life saving snow? Stupid PtB. But I guess they had to save Angel because he's their champion. Spike is Buffy's champion, so it's all up to her to save him. And she will. Because nobody messes with Buffy's boyfriend. And he is SOOOOO her boyfriend. And it's all coming full circle now, because the first time she said that was when Spike kidnapped Angel. I'm basking in the irony and loving it.

But how will she save him? This is just one of about a million and fifty questions this ep raised. Where's Giles?!!! Is he dead? Is he out gathering up the remaining proto-Slayers? My belief is the latter, and I will continue to believe so until ME shows me Giles's severed head and proves otherwise. He's not dead, la la la la la! Others have speculated that he is dead and that the First will masquerade as him for the rest of the series. That scared me at first, but I feel better after FE-Warren pointed out that it can't become corporeal (and yet it was able to touch Spike. Maybe because he's technically dead? Or maybe it can become solid just for short periods of time, just enough to wig the people it's screwing with -- it managed to claw Dawn's face, after all. Hmmm), and I think they'd notice a non-corporeal Giles as soon as Buffy tried to hug him. Plus, from what we've seen so far the First can only show itself to one person at a time.

And what the what is up with Wood? I don't want him to be evil. I like him too much. I think he was being controlled. He acted like he was being controlled. After all when he left his office he was just leaving, not heading to the basement. It wasn't until he reached the basement door that he suddenly seemed compelled to go down there. And has the Council really been wiped out? There are still field Watchers, right? I can't believe the CoW went boom. DL3 got Jossed in a major way last night.

That First Vampire looked like it stepped right out of the pages of Fray. Which really lends credence to my whole big FE/Fray/Shanshu theory, which I need to type up the rest of still. And if we have the First Evil and the First Vampire, does that mean we'll get a return of the First Slayer? And does "From beneath you it devours" really refer to First Vamp? I kinda think it does. Scare. Eee.

I loved all of the Scoobies in this ep. Nobody bugged me. Xander is learning to keep his mouth shut and not mouth off all self-righteously about Spike, which shows enormous growth for him, and that alone made me love him again. But then what he told Andrew about how he's all empty now since he left Anya at the altar ... sigh. Anya seriously cracked me up, but that's nothing new. When she got carried away and hit Xander? Hee! And I can't blame her for being a bit resentful that Spike didn't get a sword ran through his chest after he killed a bunch of people. I also loved Willow. Her confrontation with Andrew brought some old school Willow, and that was fun. And she was the only one who seemed to realize (or was willing to acknowledge) how hard Spike's troubles are on Buffy. Dawn didn't have much to do, but I was impressed with the way she held her own against that Harbinger, and her scene with Wood was awfully cute. It's interesting that Dawn and Anya are the most anti-Spike of the Scoobies right now, even moreso than Xander. Anya's overall situation isn't all that different from Spike's, so you'd expect her to be more understanding. And Dawn, well, I'm just sad that she's so distrustful of him right now. I can see why -- he was her hero, and she had her illusions about him shattered in a big way. I'm holding out hope that they'll mend their fences again, though it's pretty thin hope seeing as how ME pretty much threw the whole Spike/Dawn friendship out the window a long time ago. *Sniff*

But for now ... Buffy believes in Spike. That made me cry. I'm all verklempt now just thinking about it. She finally SEES him -- sees beyond what he is to who he is and the full meaning of everything he's done for her and the full impact of everything she did to him -- and she's mightily impressed with what she sees. I really believe she's finally letting down her guard and starting to let herself fall in love with him. She has faith in him, not only that he's truly changed and turned his back on evil, but I think also that he's the kind of man who won't betray her, won't abandon her, won't use her love to crush her. She keeps holding him up in comparison to Angel, and I think she finally sees that Angel is the one who's found wanting. I am such a happy little 'shipper right now, I can't even tell you. And I'm more in love with Spike than ever, and that's saying a whole lot. I also love Buffy so much right now. And I'm absolutely thrilled to see that the soul only changed Spike's morality and enhanced his humanity -- it didn't change his personality at all. That whole basement scene (why do Spike and Buffy keep winding up in basements this year?) was exactly what I've always wished for. Buffy's gentle cleaning of Spike's face was just the cherry on top of a whole sundae of Spuffy goodness.

I love this show. I'm in awe of Mutant Enemy. And I think I want to marry Drew Goddard.