The people who tortured her by dragging her out of heaven may be people she cares about, but they aren't people she trusts, nor should she ever, particularly Willow
Well that's certainly a statement. Buffy's friends did act out of good intentions and ignorance. To me that's a mitigating factor regarding the 'torture'. When they knew the truth they tried to help, in their own way, and certainly did a better job than Spike did when he found out his chip doesn't work. He then tries to kill Buffy.
Post-Wrecked' Willow is a pretty good friend to Buffy actually, without the magics she saves her life in 'DMP', supports here when Riley returns, saves her from the effects of demon crazy juice...
And saves her from Warren's bullet that almost killed her.
What the hell did Spike do? Make Buffy hate herself even more than she did so she had to break up with him and his toxic demon-love.
And why would she trust Giles? He abandoned her and then less than a year later, he's dumped the worst fight they ever face on her lap and also the responsibility of a bunch of whiny, out of control children who are a drag on her resources and a major disruption... and they certainly don't help her trust her friends more.
And he later returned to save Buffy and co from Dark Willow. Abandoning is an awfully emotive word. He left her, he told her why and he trusted her to be strong enough to be the adult she had been in S5. Tough love indeed.
I have my own problems with the way Giles acts in S7 but he didn't kill any innocents (unlike Spike who made vampires), he rescued a whole bunch of Potentials from Bringer-death and oh,
cured Spike of his trigger.
That's not nothing and she did at least one of those for Buffy.
I think people who don't like Spike taking the place of Angel are enraged at him and hate him
Nah, the reasons I hate Spike-with-a-soul have little or nothing to do with Angel.
if she trusts him, (as she did immediately after the incident, when she went looking for him to take care of Dawn after Willow loses it)
Is this a reference to the AR? And explain why should Buffy trust Spike and not her friends when Spike just knowingly tried to rape her? The chip? That can be shown to be worked around, especially in the later seasons where Spike starts punching humans unconscious and then merely going 'ow'.
This scene is mostly gross and disgusting.
I'm guessing that Buffy panicking overrides any rational thought rather than actually thinking she can trust Spike Mc-rapey with anything.
if she continues to rely on him b/c she knows she can trust him to be on her side no matter what... well, that is a problem.
Yes blind loyalty is a problem if you're following somebody who's becoming increasingly unstable and paranoid. He also offers to kill for her, like the champ that he is.
Her friends are untrustworthy. Her surrogate father has utterly abandoned her, and now demands she come to heel like his faithful council dog, and there's no way any adult warrior is going to accept that.
So Giles abandons her but ALSO tries to control her? How does he do these seemingly contradictory things?
Surely if he was manipulating her then he would never leave her side and go on and on about the things he's done for her and how he cares for her so much...
That doesn't sound like Giles' actions in S7.
Whilst he does put a lot on her, what choice does he have? She is the slayer, the one the First is ultimately gunning for. Should he have left all those girls to die just so Buffy wouldn't be so bummed out at having a bunch of 'bratty children' around her house? Bratty children who are in fatal danger?
Spike may have had a trigger (he was fighting it, and was tied up when she wasn't around) but Buffy knew one thing without a doubt: Spike's intentions were to have her back. She doesn't know that about ANY of her so called friends.
I'm just gonna say that if The First asked any of Buffy's friends to kill her then they would say 'uh, no' but The First wouldn't even have to ask Spike, he would just rage-hulk out and have a go, so Buffy isn't trusting Spike, she's trusting The First.
And Spike wasn't always tied up or around Buffy; he went to find her when she was on a date with Wood, he went out drinking with Anya, Buffy went back in time for half a goddam episdoe and Spike was alone in the house all not tied up...
I'm just gonna leave the rest of what you've got there since to me it seems like gross distortion. I guess if you ignore the entire run of Seasons 1-5 and the numerous times Buffy's friends have had her back, kept her alive and sane and happy you...nope, you wouldn't even have the ghost of a point.
Buffy's friends are her constant way back when Spike was trying to kill Buffy for his 'true love' and end the world by bringing The Judge into being.
