I don't get why Spike could hit Buffy.

[Aloverssoulz]

When Spike hit Buffy in "Smashed" his chip didn't go off. Why? Yes, I know Buffy had Tara check her out and Tara told her that she did come back a little different, but Spike didn't know that.

When Spike hit Buffy he fully believed she was 100% her normal human self. His brain would have sent signals to the chip telling it she's human and it would have shocked the Hell out of him. It's a chip, it doesn't have it's own AI.

 

[white avenger]

Spike hit Buffy during an argument and his chip didn't react, so he quickly faked the pain, thinking that it had malfunctioned somehow. Then he tried to attack some girl in an alley, and it went off properly. He had Warren check out it's status (without telling him just what it did) and realized that he could hit Buffy, but no other humans. He didn't know, and most likely didn't care, why that was possible, despite the fact that he told Buffy that she "came back wrong." He just reveled in the violence and passion of the moment, but I don't think that he expected the kind of passion that he actually got.

 

[Aloverssoulz]

Spike hit Buffy during an argument and his chip didn't react, so he quickly faked the pain, thinking that it had malfunctioned somehow. Then he tried to attack some girl in an alley, and it went off properly. He had Warren check out it's status (without telling him just what it did) and realized that he could hit Buffy, but no other humans. He didn't know, and most likely didn't care, why that was possible, despite the fact that he told Buffy that she "came back wrong." He just reveled in the violence and passion of the moment, but I don't think that he expected the kind of passion that he actually got.

I know that, but it doesn't explain why the chip didn't hurt Spike. Warren told Spike the chip was working fine, but the first time Spike hit Buffy in "Smashed" he believed that she was perfectly normal. His brain sends signals to the chip telling it whether or not what he's about to attack is human or not and the chip reacts accordingly. With Spike believing Buffy came back perfectly the chip should have shocked him regardless of Buffy's condition.

 

[AndrewCrossett]

I think Buffy, being a Slayer, had enough demon essence in her that she didn't read as "human" to the chip.

It's kind of weird how the chip (technological, not magical) knew whether someone was human or demon, even when Spike himself didn't know. (Proven by the time he hit Tara to find out whether she had demon blood or not.) I don't know how the chip would know that.

 

[Icarium]

The chip is one of the clumsiest plot contrivances ever, that's why. In one episode Spike can't even point a toy gun at someone, in another he can totally hit people before being electrocuted. And of course, it makes no sense whatsoever that a chip made by people who had no clue about magic and little clue about demons would manage to distinguish between demons and humans. They should have at least made it working or not depending on Spike's intent - yes, it would still be a bit unbelievable that the ship would read Spike's thoughts like that but far more believable than a chip being a demon detector who even recognizes demons that look like humans.

 

[hazzard]

I know that, but it doesn't explain why the chip didn't hurt Spike. Warren told Spike the chip was working fine, but the first time Spike hit Buffy in "Smashed" he believed that she was perfectly normal. His brain sends signals to the chip telling it whether or not what he's about to attack is human or not and the chip reacts accordingly. With Spike believing Buffy came back perfectly the chip should have shocked him regardless of Buffy's condition.

it's because the chip didn't have anything to do with what spike believed or not--it worked independently of spike's own thinking. it wouldn't matter if spike thought someone was a demon or not.

 

[white avenger]

I know that, but it doesn't explain why the chip didn't hurt Spike. Warren told Spike the chip was working fine, but the first time Spike hit Buffy in "Smashed" he believed that she was perfectly normal. His brain sends signals to the chip telling it whether or not what he's about to attack is human or not and the chip reacts accordingly. With Spike believing Buffy came back perfectly the chip should have shocked him regardless of Buffy's condition.

As has been noted, exactly how th chip works is never explained, but one thing that we DO know is that it has some method of determining human from non-human beings. It has nothing whatsoever to do with what Spike might believe or not believe. Assume that humans have some sort of "aura" surrounding them that the chip recognizes and prevents Spike from doing any actual harm to a human by firing if he tries anything. When Buffy was resurrected, that "aura" was somehow altered or eliminated entirely, which meant that the chip no longer recognized her as human, so Spike could hit her without his head hurting.

Beyond that, the chip worked however the writers wanted it to at a particular time. As was pointed out earlier, it was a bad plot device, primarily because it was supposedly based on science, therefore there should have been some sort of consistency in the way that it worked. There wouldn't have been any such problem if it had been revealed that the Initiative employed one or more practitioners of magic. Come to think of it, though, Maggie Walsh Was something of an old witch, so maybe magic was involved in the construction of the chip after all.

 

[hazzard]

As has been noted, exactly how th chip works is never explained, but one thing that we DO know is that it has some method of determining human from non-human beings. It has nothing whatsoever to do with what Spike might believe or not believe.

exactly. spike can think or not think whatever he wants about whomever or whatever he is about to hit/threaten/etc. but it won't affect the chip.

 

[white avenger]

exactly. spike can think or not think whatever he wants about whomever or whatever he is about to hit/threaten/etc. but it won't affect the chip.

Except for the one scene in "Fool For Love," when he could swing at Buffy all night long, knowing that she could easily block every punch, without any pain. But then, if he actually tried to hurt her, the chip fired. Just another of the inconsistencies that makes the chip so hard to accept or explain. The writers just did whatever they wanted to with it, however it suited the current story line.

 

[Joan the Vampire Slayer]

I always thought it had something to do with how Tara explained it - that when Buffy was brought back she was changed on a molecular level, like a "bad sunburn" - so therefore due to that change, the sensors in Spike's chip no longer registered her as human.

 

[Skytteflickan88]

There wouldn't have been any such problem if it had been revealed that the Initiative employed one or more practitioners of magic. Come to think of it, though, Maggie Walsh Was something of an old witch, so maybe magic was involved in the construction of the chip after all.

Come to think of it, they could have used magic, if they simply viewed it as science and didn't realize it's actually magic(they seemed ignorant of such things).

Maybe they captured a demon who could sense what specie other creatures were, and they could copy the process or whatever that made the demon able to do that, and made a chip out of it.

 

[white avenger]

Maybe they captured a demon who could sense what specie other creatures were, and they could copy the process or whatever that made the demon able to do that, and made a chip out of it.

That's quite possible, and might even be seen as an offshoot of Maggie Walsh's work transplanting various demon body parts onto Adam.

 

[FaithsFollower]

When Spike hit Buffy in "Smashed" his chip didn't go off. Why? Yes, I know Buffy had Tara check her out and Tara told her that she did come back a little different, but Spike didn't know that.

When Spike hit Buffy he fully believed she was 100% her normal human self. His brain would have sent signals to the chip telling it she's human and it would have shocked the Hell out of him. It's a chip, it doesn't have it's own AI.

Do you guys think that Buffy had demon blood in her? I was just thinking, remember when Angel fed Buffy that demon's heart/blood/whatever in "Earshot"? Do you think that had anything to do with it? I mean, I know that it was a long shot seeing as that was back in S3...but I wonder.

 

[Skytteflickan88]

Do you guys think that Buffy had demon blood in her? I was just thinking, remember when Angel fed Buffy that demon's heart/blood/whatever in "Earshot"? Do you think that had anything to do with it? I mean, I know that it was a long shot seeing as that was back in S3...but I wonder.

My reputation comment got cut short.

I think it's doubtful, unless the blood " activated" in season 6. And then it should have shown, for example the telepathy starting up again.

It's a interesting theory, but i doubt that was it. I guess the chip just read her as "dead", the way it may do with vampires. Maybe even zombies.

 

[FaithsFollower]

My reputation comment got cut short.

I think it's doubtful, unless the blood " activated" in season 6. And then it should have shown, for example the telepathy starting up again.

It's a interesting theory, but i doubt that was it. I guess the chip just read her as "dead", the way it may do with vampires. Maybe even zombies.

Yeah, I realized this after I pressed submit. 🙁

 

[Carina]

I've been thinking that maybe Spike could hit/hurt Buffy because she let him.
Remember what the Buffybot said in "Intervention"? That she believed he could bite her if she let him. Sooo, robots are smart 😛 so maybe she/it was right.
And Buffy was in a dark place during season 6, and she did want him (like she said in "as you were")...
So maybe he could do all those things to her because she let him...
🙂