What I liked is how Dana forced Spike and Angel look at their past. Dana is a slayer and Spike's killed slayers. She was also sadistically tortured and that was more Angelus' thing.
I also like how their methods of doing good reflect how they did their evil.
SoullessSpike was more about rush, the chaos and unpredictability. SoulledSpike rushes out, goes on impulse and follows his keen senses. He finds the girl faster than Angel.
Angelus was more about the methodical destruction of a human being. Angel thinks things through, conducts an orderly investigation and sets up the team to subdue Dana. He also finds out before Spike that they are dealing with a Slayer.
Also there is the issue of Spike as a hero and Angel being out of the picture. This is still part of Lindsay's plan. Spike most likely got the info from our fake Doyle who found out that Angel was trying to help Dana. I actually believe that Spike does at least buy into what Lindsay is saying (hence his embarassment about it in YW) and he actually echoes what he said.
"I'll be out doing his job"
Angel feels this as he almost goes out and does a 'Spike'. Spike doing what Angel used to do going out on the streets, so he seems like he's in a morally better place than Angel. However Angel should not forget that doing the champion of justice thing by yourself has it's dangers especially for someone like Spike who has a history of acting on impulse.
Angel following on from the last ep definitely doesn't trust Eve and actually wants to get her back, but although Gunn sounds icky, he is actually right in that they don't have any evidence and Angel knows this. Wes talks about the real world having more immediacy but Charlie is thinking realistically about the rammifcations. If they wish to use W&H for good they have to play by those rules however it's not wrong to break those rules but only if you make a conscious decision to do so, accepting the consequences and Angel does, later on.
Spike finds himself captured by Dana, tortured and nearly killed. In the hospital bed he thinks he may deserve it. Interestingly Angel says he didn't say that. So as much he may claim to detest blondie bear, he seems concerned and knows at least in terms of blame and responsibility (murky when it comes to vamps but I'll talk about that in a sec) he's on the same boat. What is also interesting is that Spike for once is being more negative and Angel is being more positive, but I've always seen Spike as somewhat more in the middle, steeped in realism whereas Angel goes from idealism and cynicism or nihilism. At the beginning of the series he was more of the latter but soon we'll see he'll become more of an idealist, the man with the vision (as Spike refers to Angelus interestingly enough) Skipping to the end, because we've talk about the whole different natures of evil and good when it comes to our vamps, the conundrum about responsibility.
Dana was essentially innocent but was turned against her will into a monster. This relates to Spike and Angel. What happened to them wasn't their fault but as a result they did a lot of damage. Dana is not responsible for her actions legally. Without a conscience to follow, are Spike and Angel responsible morally (assuming they are quantively the same people as they were, if they are not then the answer is simple, no.) I think Xander and Buffy summed up the quandry quite well.
Buffy: What happened to Angel wasn't his fault.
Xander: But what happened to Miss Calander is.
Buffy doesn't trust Angel anymore. Angel is hurt by this along with his general malaise. What is interesting to note that Buffy no longer believes they are on the same side because of where he has chosen to be but it makes me wonder about Spike. He too has called Angel on his decision however, he doesn't say Andrew double crossed you he says 'us'. Now it could be because Andrew was helping both of them but maybe Spike still recognises that while they are in different places they are fighting on the same side. He sort of echoes this later on. He used to bang on about how bad being at W&H is but later he sort of joins. Now one could say he's not really joining W&H but he doesn't contradict Hamilton when he says "Welcome to the team" and he also says that they are on the 'wrong side' yet he stays. It seems things aren't quite so clear cut but more on that later.
Great ep overall, there just so much there.
I liked Lorne's "Gonna need a whip" line, I just burst out laughing.
Dana is Theresa from The OC, random, fact.
I argued that Gunn was right earlier but it's becoming more apparent how invested he is in W&H. Scary, like I said before.
This is also a great answer to question 'Did Buffy do the right thing?" It sounds great on paper, and the feminist elements are prevalent but like all things, it can be questioned. She has to be at least a little responsible for Dana but I credit Buffy because she does try and take responsibility for the slayers but she's got her work cut out.
