I figured it was something the Initiative used in training sessions. Though why he used it instead of just threatening Spike with an actual stake, I have no idea.
Fair call. It was just worse for Angelus, to me. I've just come to expect Spike being treated like a joke. Aside from his first episode they almost never took him seriously as a threat. Angelus was the opposite. Even when they did not give him the best written storylines (season 4) everyone around him was treating him like the biggest threat going. I appreciated that. Then for some reason they decide to make him a punchline rather than a vicious manipulative psychopath for one episode.
Oh I agree 100%. Spike had been comic relief for quite some time so we're used to that (even if his characterisation in that episode is still bizarre by Buffyverse standards) but what they reduced Angelus to was a complete WTF!
I think the logistics of Smashed work out fine. The height difference is accounted for as you can see Buffy lifted higher up against the wall. It's the building destruction that gets me these days - it looks so fake! Boards and walls just do not crack in that way. The set design hasn't aged well and it's so obvious that it's artificial. I mean:
Yeah that was a bit odd (though it's not a major wtf moment for me, more of an 'okkaaayyy...'). Did they start off on top of the carpet then crawl underneath - in which case, why? Or did they decide to do it under the rug - in which case, again, why?
I always assumed that there was more time between him waking up in pain and stumbling out into the alley than it seems on screen. The original shooting script has him actually sitting on the bed, holding his head in pain before moving off so it seemed to me that even from what we finally get in the episode, there was a steady increase in pain through which he was able to quickly put on some clothes and rush outside (I headcanon that was trying to get to Giles for help). I figured it would be a bit like someone feeling chest pains before a heart attack - you can feel the pain building before the actual attack comes on.
Like Cheese Slices says Spike didn't wear any underwear and Buffy's could easily be pulled aside. As for the skirt, it could have just been undone and pushed off completely - in the wider shots I think they use Spike's duster to cover the two of them up so I just figure the skirt's been taken off.
I don't get the hate for the Loan Shark. Sure, it's silly, but the whole kitten poker thing is silly to begin with, and it's not the only over the top thing to ever happen on the show. I like him, he's got style.
