If Riley had come back to Sunnydale without Sam as his wife...

[Joshua]

If Riley hadn't come back to Sunnydale being single and wanting Buffy back in his life in As You Were would that mean the end of Spuffy if she went back with him? Or would she be even more confused

 

[brinkster130]

She would have been even more confused. By this point Buffy had realized that she never cared for Riley the way he cared for her, and she had come to terms with him being gone. She may have wanted to start things up again as a way to "make up" for her relationship with Spike but I (unfortunately) don't she would have genuinely wanted to get back together with Riley.

 

[Ripper666]

Mhm, I think that Buffys sex-appeal was to hot to resist. ;O Without Sam as reminder I am sure Riley would have got in temptation. I think he would have kissed Buffy, remembering to the great time they had. There had been some chances for that.

 

[BuffyElevated]

I think Buffy would have wanted to try again with Riley. At that point she was unhappy with her life and she wanted to get back to a point when she was happy and Riley showed up jut in time to remind her of a time when things were better for her: before her mom was gone, before she was having to pay the bills, and before she was loathing herself for sleeping with Spike. She would have jumped back into Riley's arms without really thinking about things if Sam hadn't been in the picture, I think...

 

[Kana]

My mother would say, absolutely, without a doubt, but she's not a fan of Spuffy and a huge Ruffy shipper.

I personally think that they may have at least kissed but I don't think it would have worked out at that time. Buffy needed to get the fire back herself.

I definitely think it would have ended her relationship with Spike, because she wasn't happy in it anyway, but personally, I don't think a romantic relationship was what she needed at that time anyway...

 

[Kean]

I think they could have rekindled things. Maybe even had a really good couple of months. But ultimately it would have fallen apart again because the fundamental issue would still be there: neither were capable of being to each other what other one needed. That wouldn't be through any fault of their own or through lack of trying; Buffy and Riley just don't quite fit together. Not for the long haul, anyway.

What would certainly have happened is that Riley would have helped her get back on her feet, I think he would have been a great support to her. And ultimately, I think they would end up being the great friends that they are now, maybe even best friends. It certainly would have ended her relationship with Spike. And maybe Riley would have seen Willow's breakdown coming? Who knows...I just think he would have been a wonderfully calming and stabilising effect on the group.

 

[white avenger]

What would certainly have happened is that Riley would have helped her get back on her feet, I think he would have been a great support to her.

But that was basically the reason that Giles left, and while I deplore his methods, his reasoning is undeniable. Buffy didn't need the kind of support that Riley would have almost certainly wanted to give. What she needed was someone telling her to get up off of her grieving ass and get back into the game. I just can't see Riley as being the person who could do that, especially if he knew the truth about where she had been and what she had lost by being resurrected.

 

[Kean]

But that was basically the reason that Giles left, and while I deplore his methods, his reasoning is undeniable. Buffy didn't need the kind of support that Riley would have almost certainly wanted to give. What she needed was someone telling her to get up off of her grieving ass and get back into the game.

That is exactly what Buffy did not need. Buffy plunged into the abyss and crawled her way back out in the absence of any genuine help or support. Buffy survived Giles' absence, it was not the making of her. What we saw in S6 was not a girl who needed to find her own way. It was a girl so lost that she ended up in the darkest part of herself and just about managed to survive and pull some semblance of herself back, and not without huge personal cost.

Buffy was always going to grieve in the aftermath but the sheer calamity and desperation of her life in S6 stems from her being so thoroughly overwhelmed and completely lacking in genuine support.

 

[Willow My Love]

Honestly, that's what I was hoping when I first saw the episode. I was really hoping it was just Riley and that they'd get back together. I think Buffy had come to realize she never really gave Riley the chance he deserved. It was seeing him that changed something in her. I think seeing him really made her think about how she had treated him, and what Xander had said. I think it made her realize she had to work on herself.

She may have gone back to him, but it wouldn't have been the same, and I don't think it would have lasted. He was doing something he loved anyhow.

 

[rob2269]

I don't think they would have had any more chance than before. Even less so given Buffys confused state of mind regarding her return. I don't really see his marriage lasting either, given his issues with strong women.

I'm not even sure what the point in bringing him back was, except to tidily close that relationship.

 

[white avenger]

That is exactly what Buffy did not need. Buffy plunged into the abyss and crawled her way back out in the absence of any genuine help or support.

But it was the realization, finally, that she had a job to do and that she actually did need to do it simply in order to get past the depression, to quit crying about the past and begin looking forward to what the future could bring that did get her out of that abyss, both figuratively and literally, in the season finale. And that had to come from within herself, not from anyone else trying to sympathize with her or protect her from the real world, which is exactly what Riley would have wanted to do. His very reason for leaving in the first place was that he was never able to feel that Buffy really needed him for anything beyond sex. He WANTED to be her hero, her champion, her protector. She couldn't allow him to do that in Season 5, and it would have wound up almost certainly getting her killed in Season 6. Buffy didn't need a protector by that time, and she hadn't needed one since sometime in Season 3 at te very latest. Remember what Whistler told Angel. "She's gonna need a lot o' help, that Slayer." And at that point, she did. But she grew up. She survived, she learned, and she became, if not totally self sufficient, at least mature enough to face her own demons, whether they were real or emotional. Someone, ANYONE, there at that point, saying, "I'm here, darling. I'll protect you," was absolutely the worst thing for her.

Plus, just on a practical level, Riley wasn't up to the job. No human was, or ever could have been, on a full time basis. Not even Angel or Spike, powerful as they were, would have been able to do it, and the longer Buffy depended on them to do it, the less her chances of survival would have become. In order to survive, the Slayer has to get back up, on her own power, one more time than she falls. And, ultimately, she has to do that getting up on her own. Come the day when she can't do that, she's dead, and the next girl on the list gets Called.

 

[WWGD]

I don't think they would have gotten back together. It would have been nice if the whole Spuffy shenanigans ended there, but wasn't Riley still working for the gov't and travelling all around the world? Their relationship couldn't have worked.