Spoiler! Preview for BTVS S10 Issue #20

[gite63]

Triggers

Called in for a supernatural-crimes case, Buffy and Spike discover an incubus demon is targeting women in San Francisco. Meanwhile, Xander and Giles work on an exorcism that stirs up some questions about Ghost Anya.

*Guest artist Megan Levens (Madame Frankenstein)!

SOURCE

 

[EVIL UU]

So Xander's not crazy - well, that's a plus, I suppose. Why isn't he listening to country music?

He took the freedom to choose away from you. But he's going to pay for it. And I promise you...we'll make sure he doesn't get the chance to hurt anyone else.

Oh shut the #@%! up Buffy. What did you do to the last maggot who took the freedom away from you, huh? Nothing! And I'm not even going to talk about your current boyfriend. Just shut up.

 

[thetopher]

Oh shut the #@%! up Buffy. What did you do to the last maggot who took the freedom away from you, huh? Nothing!

Not true! She hugged him! Apparently Buffy does consider 'severe huddling' to be a punishment. I thought she was just being sarcastic and bratty in 'Sanctuary.'

Yeah, Buffy and Spike investigating some deeply skeevy sexual doings, that's not at all awkward/ironic. Nope.

I what is the contiued 'not so subtle' retconing of Buffy and her relationships? When Dowlings says that Buffy seems to 'pull away when things gets too serious' and Spike seems to agree- where the hell is that coming from? When is it refering too? (It's not refering to Dowling that's for sure) Who kissed who in the graveyard and who pushed who again? Oh yeah, so shut up Spike.

 

[EVIL UU]

Yeah, Buffy and Spike investigating some deeply skeevy sexual doings, that's not at all awkward/ironic. Nope.

Unless this issue specifically addresses "Seeing Red" in some way it's pretty much bordering on ridiculous. And obviously, it's not my intention to defend an Incubus but he does not kill. So how is that even a job for a slayer? I mean, they find him and what? What is Buffy going to do? Kill him? With a boyfriend who liked to rape children to death by her side?

Oh yeah, so shut up Spike.

Yeah, I mean Buffy didn't pull back - she got dumped, repeatedly. Angel, Parker, Riley - that's three times in a row.

 

[gite63]

Unless this issue specifically addresses "Seeing Red" in some way

I hope that they don't do some retconning after 12 years or so - that would be ridiculous.

What is Buffy going to do? Kill him? With a boyfriend who liked to rape children to death by her side?

You keep saying that but souled Spike didn't kill anyone. He is the only one that hasn't kill anyone, by the way (controlled by the First Evil doesn't count).

Willow killed (that was retconned, but whatever), Giles killed, Xander caused many deaths by summoning a demon, Faith killed 2 people - one of them an old good innocent man - Angel as Twilight killed hundreds of Slayers.

 

[thetopher]

I hope that they don't do some retconning after 12 years or so - that would be ridiculous.

Hell, they already retconned it in Season 7, so they can always retcon it again. These writers have retconed every other damn thing about personal relationships.

You keep saying that but souled Spike didn't kill anyone. He is the only one that hasn't kill anyone, by the way (controlled by the First Evil doesn't count).

If Twilight counts surely First!Spike counts. Mind control is mind control. You can't dismiss one and then accept the other.

And even saying that I would say that all these characters (apart from Xander) care about the bad things they did more than Spike, who really has not a f*ck to give about his past.
We're talking about moral culpability here- is Buffy going to kill somebody who doesn't kill, when in the past she let a dangerous killer (several in fact) live?

 

[gite63]

If Twilight counts surely First!Spike counts. Mind control is mind control. You can't dismiss one and then accept the other.

Angel killed Giles under mind control; he said himself that the deaths he caused, the Slayer's deaths, he is guilty because it was his choice to do what he did.

And even saying that I would say that all these characters (apart from Xander) care about the bad things they did more than Spike, who really has not a f*ck to give about his past.

"I feel very bad about killing an innocent man, I even cry at night - but I won't spend my entire life in prison for that, no f****** way!" Yeah, that's much, much better...

We're talking about moral culpability here- is Buffy going to kill somebody who doesn't kill, when in the past she let a dangerous killer (several in fact) live?

Well, that's a good question, but how do you stop an Incubus? Maybe using some potion that can neuter him? Besides, Buffy says that they will make sure he doesn't hurt anyone else anymore, not that she will kill him.

 

[EVIL UU]

@gite63
All I'm saying, Buffy's righteous indignation over a rapist is funny considering she sleeps with one. What was the first thing Buffy wanted to do to Spike after he tried to rape her? Make him pay for it? Make sure he doesn't get a chance to hurt anyone else? No, she wanted to leave Dawn with him. Yeah, shut up Buffy!

Well, that's a good question, but how do you stop an Incubus?

Simple. First you make sure that there's a law that makes what he does illegal. Then you find evidence that he broke it and let the system serve the justice. Lock him up and you have to make sure that he doesn't die by providing him with prostitute services. What? Buffy's basically a pig now, she needs to play by the rules. So again, how is that a slayer's job?

 

[gite63]

Simple. First you make sure that there's a law that makes what he does illegal. Then you find evidence that he broke it and let the system serve the justice. Lock him up and you have to make sure that he doesn't die by providing him with prostitute services. What? Buffy's basically a pig now, she needs to play by the rules.

I keep forgetting that the supernatural is not a secret anymore... yeah, that's a solution. And Buffy said she will stop him, not kill him, although she said that with a fierce look...
 

All I'm saying, Buffy's righteous indignation over a rapist is funny considering she sleeps with one. What was the first thing Buffy wanted to do to Spike after he tried to rape her? Make him pay for it? Make sure he doesn't get a chance to hurt anyone else? No, she wanted to leave Dawn with him. Yeah, shut up Buffy!

She understands the differences, the circumstances. Unless, of course, they decide to retcon the whole thing.

 

[thetopher]

Angel killed Giles under mind control; he said himself that the deaths he caused, the Slayer's deaths, he is guilty because it was his choice to do what he did.

Yes, Angel is culpable. But so is Spike (to a degree) for coming back to Sunnydale and getting mind controlled. There are always degrees of culpability.

"I feel very bad about killing an innocent man, I even cry at night - but I won't spend my entire life in prison for that, no f****** way!" Yeah, that's much, much better

Every person you mentioned doing bad things helps fight the good fight (and has done as much good, if not more, that Spike has) so I fail to see your point.
Btw- 'not going to prison' or whatever is different from mocking a victims pain or demanding forgiveness instead of earning it.

Well, that's a good question, but how do you stop an Incubus?

Exactly my initial point. If Buffy sets out to kill a non-killer then that would be a moral quantry now wouldn't it? For example Faith was sent after a killer rogue slayer who was being manipulated by an older man- she was conflicted about straight up assassination (becasuse of her past)and tried a different approach.
I will expect some sort of similar reaction from Buffy. 'What do I do?'

 

[gite63]

I what is the contiued 'not so subtle' retconing of Buffy and her relationships? When Dowlings says that Buffy seems to 'pull away when things gets too serious' and Spike seems to agree- where the hell is that coming from?

Yeah, I mean Buffy didn't pull back - she got dumped, repeatedly. Angel, Parker, Riley - that's three times in a row.

Maybe they are trying to make us see how she feels now – knowing Buffy, and knowing everything she has been through in her life, do you think she would jump into any relationship without fearing that things could go awfully wrong? Be dumped for a reason or another? Have to kill the partner? See her partner being killed?

With Angel, things ended badly; then came Parker – she seemed ready for a rebound relationship, but he just used her. With Riley, many people argue that she pushed him away, that she didn't gave him her heart and soul - and then she ended up being dumped.

After all that, Buffy got scars that have been preventing her to enter a relationship with a light heart, without worries and fears. Add to this her issues with her father, and even with Giles – both men have abandoned her at crucial moments of her life.

So, she developes the pattern “I want what I can't have” - soulless Spike, Satsu, Xander, mad god Angel, because she:

Doubt about herself, that she doesn't deserve it... an instinct to run... that getting hurt now is better than later.

Dowling may have picked it up (trained detective, after all) when she went to talk to him...

BUFFY: I have a pattern. Normal people, even though ones who know the world I move in, tend to get crushed by my life.

...or the writer is just using him to make a point.

Add to all this what hapened with Xander and Anya

BUFFY: Yes. Happy. Happy for you. That makes me happy for me. You and Anya give me hope. It's like... you two are proof that there's light at the end of this very long, long, nasty tunnel. (Hell's Bells)

And Willow and Tara...

And Xander and Dawn.
 

For example Faith was sent after a killer rogue slayer who was being manipulated by an older man- she was conflicted about straight up assassination (becasuse of her past)and tried a different approach.

She was really great that time - and not thanks to Giles.

 

[thetopher]

Maybe they are trying to make us see how she feels now – knowing Buffy, and knowing everything she has been through in her life, do you think she would jump into any relationship without fearing that things could go awfully wrong? Be dumped for a reason or another? Have to kill the partner? See her partner being killed?

That's great and all but how about some evidence of how they came to this conclusion- I would consider that a prerequisite for skilled writing.

For example I could say that Xander has a tendancy to sabotage his relationships because of emotional imaturity or whatever- and then lay out my evidence and make it make sense (if I believed or wanted to that is) and I could also write that Xander screws them up intentionally because he's actually still deeply in love with Buffy (its surprising how many believe that) but I would then lay out my evidence if I expected my (many imaginary) readers to follow my logic. See?
And I'm not seeing an explanation- just a couple of guys going 'dude, yeah, she does that.' wtf?

Maybe we'll eventually get Buffy's thought on what Buffy's doing/thinking these days. Here's hoping.

With Angel, things ended badly; then came Parker – she seemed ready for a rebound relationship, but he just used her. With Riley, many people argue that she pushed him away, that she didn't gave him her heart and soul - and then she ended up being dumped.

This is another example of the (s7) writers getting it a bit wrong because they have Buffy saying 'It's like I target the unattainable ones with deadly accuracy'. Well Buffy; Angel, Riley and Spike all targeted you. Yeah, they all found you irresistable- whether it was at first sight (really inappropriate), just sitting in that lecture hall (kinda inappropriate) or whilst trying to kill you a bunch of times (kinda creepy), they all fell for you without you having to do a whole lot of targeting.

Then they pursued you (well with Angel it was at least mutual but still) and bam- you're in a relationship. Buffy didn't really activly target anybody (well, maybe Parker) so how can it be her fault? Because Buffy's the slayer and if something goes wrong then it must be her fault right?

Thankfully by the end of the season she's come to her senses and in the cookie dough speech she just goes 'eh, probably not really me that's the problem then. I'm young and care free and I've got to save the world now.'
Basically I don't see a whole lot of scars- just maturity and perspective.

After all that, Buffy got scars that have been preventing her to enter a relationship with a light heart, without worries and fears. Add to this her issues with her father, and even with Giles – both men have abandoned her at crucial moments of her life.

Yeah then we got s8 when Buffy seemed to have regressed and is very lonely and angsty really- she informs Satsu and Xander that she can't really connect to anybody, not even the slayer girls surrounding her (or even physically connecting with one) and she's all confused. She does seem to voice the whole 'there's something wrong with me' bit (again) which comes and goes apparently. Basically people around her die or leave because there's something wrong with her or whatever. (because that never happens to her friends see. Holy shit- it does!)

To be honest- Buffy has a sister an a couple of really good friends so I don't get why she whines so much about 'people always going away'. There's already somebody out there who knows eactly how Buffy feels as a isolated slayer- they had a big moment in S7 where they connected over it- but they don't hang around because of reasons. I dunno.

I get she has issues with her Dad but honestly I think she was over Giles 'abandoning her' in S6 'Graves' when they had a big laugh together. She told Giles (whether you agree with her or not) that he was right to do what he did in leaving her, but that things weren't going so well in his absence.

The whole Buffy has abandonment issues with Giles is blown out of proportion to make Giles look bad. Your kids grow up, you either let them use their bambi legs (and they'll thank you for it later) or they end up turning into poor William and his Mother- unable and unwilling to let go (and it turns out Spike resents her for that).

So, she developes the pattern “I want what I can't have” - soulless Spike, Satsu, Xander, mad god Angel,

That's not 'I want what I can't have', that's I'm desperate and I don't know what I want. There's a difference.
Buffy didn't really want soulless Spike (she was horrified by her own behaviour) she just wanted to feel, she didn't really want Satsu (which she found out after they slept together) or Xander (loneliness, thinking that deep friend love could maybe turn in romantic love if you wanted it bad enough),
and well TwilightAngel is a whole ball of crazy which involves lonliness, the glow-ey thing and still kinda being in love with him even though he did 'bad things' (that's a theme with Buffy and her vampire beaus).

When Spike rejected Buffy after that graveyard kiss he told her that very thing- he was the one one was wary of rejection (and I guess I could see his point) and he explained his reasoning. I got that, I didn't understand why he was referencing things he had no knowledge of, but I saw his logic.

...And now we're being told something else entirely- not that Buffy doesn't know what she wants, but that she consciously rejects things before they get serious. I don't think you can have both, and could I have an example of that latter one 'cause I don't buy it.

This actually doesn't bother me that much (ever though I've written scads) but I'd like some character consistency- it really the only thing Buffy's going for it this season- the characters do sound/feel like the characters (who occassionally say stupid stuff but whatever) so why are they saying this? What are the writers actually trying to tell us?

You know what it sounds like? It sounds like a set-up. An 'uh-oh' fake will Buffy reject Spike/pull away because things are getting serious question (no, because she's clearly not the one with the issues here) and so they can flip-it and have Spike do something in the end. At least I hope that's what they're doing because otherwise its going to be Bufyf rejects Spike AGAIN. Which would be moronic and just a wee bit cruel- and that's coming from me.

 

[Skanky Vamp]

He took the freedom to choose away from you. But he's going to pay for it. And I promise you...we'll make sure he doesn't get the chance to hurt anyone else.

Isn't it rich that Buffy is vilifying someone taking another's freedom to choose away from them when that's exactly how the show ended and exactly what she did? Again she proves to be a hypocrite.

 

[The Bronze]

Isn't it rich that Buffy is vilifying someone taking another's freedom to choose away from them when that's exactly how the show ended and exactly what she did? Again she proves to be a hypocrite.

I don't know. I think there is a big enough gap between raping somebody and giving them the ability to defend themselves from imminent death and the destruction of their planet to make being a hypocrite a mute point. Especially after having had a vote with representatives of the people who were going to be affected.

 

[NothingVentured]

That's great and all but how about some evidence of how they came to this conclusion- I would consider that a prerequisite for skilled writing.

For example I could say that Xander has a tendancy to sabotage his relationships because of emotional imaturity or whatever- and then lay out my evidence and make it make sense (if I believed or wanted to that is) and I could also write that Xander screws them up intentionally because he's actually still deeply in love with Buffy (its surprising how many believe that) but I would then lay out my evidence if I expected my (many imaginary) readers to follow my logic. See?
And I'm not seeing an explanation- just a couple of guys going 'dude, yeah, she does that.' wtf?

Maybe we'll eventually get Buffy's thought on what Buffy's doing/thinking these days. Here's hoping.



This is another example of the (s7) writers getting it a bit wrong because they have Buffy saying 'It's like I target the unattainable ones with deadly accuracy'. Well Buffy; Angel, Riley and Spike all targeted you. Yeah, they all found you irresistable- whether it was at first sight (really inappropriate), just sitting in that lecture hall (kinda inappropriate) or whilst trying to kill you a bunch of times (kinda creepy), they all fell for you without you having to do a whole lot of targeting.

Then they pursued you (well with Angel it was at least mutual but still) and bam- you're in a relationship. Buffy didn't really activly target anybody (well, maybe Parker) so how can it be her fault? Because Buffy's the slayer and if something goes wrong then it must be her fault right?

Thankfully by the end of the season she's come to her senses and in the cookie dough speech she just goes 'eh, probably not really me that's the problem then. I'm young and care free and I've got to save the world now.'
Basically I don't see a whole lot of scars- just maturity and perspective.




Yeah then we got s8 when Buffy seemed to have regressed and is very lonely and angsty really- she informs Satsu and Xander that she can't really connect to anybody, not even the slayer girls surrounding her (or even physically connecting with one) and she's all confused. She does seem to voice the whole 'there's something wrong with me' bit (again) which comes and goes apparently. Basically people around her die or leave because there's something wrong with her or whatever. (because that never happens to her friends see. Holy shit- it does!)

To be honest- Buffy has a sister an a couple of really good friends so I don't get why she whines so much about 'people always going away'. There's already somebody out there who knows eactly how Buffy feels as a isolated slayer- they had a big moment in S7 where they connected over it- but they don't hang around because of reasons. I dunno.

I get she has issues with her Dad but honestly I think she was over Giles 'abandoning her' in S6 'Graves' when they had a big laugh together. She told Giles (whether you agree with her or not) that he was right to do what he did in leaving her, but that things weren't going so well in his absence.

The whole Buffy has abandonment issues with Giles is blown out of proportion to make Giles look bad. Your kids grow up, you either let them use their bambi legs (and they'll thank you for it later) or they end up turning into poor William and his Mother- unable and unwilling to let go (and it turns out Spike resents her for that).



That's not 'I want what I can't have', that's I'm desperate and I don't know what I want. There's a difference.
Buffy didn't really want soulless Spike (she was horrified by her own behaviour) she just wanted to feel, she didn't really want Satsu (which she found out after they slept together) or Xander (loneliness, thinking that deep friend love could maybe turn in romantic love if you wanted it bad enough),
and well TwilightAngel is a whole ball of crazy which involves lonliness, the glow-ey thing and still kinda being in love with him even though he did 'bad things' (that's a theme with Buffy and her vampire beaus).

When Spike rejected Buffy after that graveyard kiss he told her that very thing- he was the one one was wary of rejection (and I guess I could see his point) and he explained his reasoning. I got that, I didn't understand why he was referencing things he had no knowledge of, but I saw his logic.

...And now we're being told something else entirely- not that Buffy doesn't know what she wants, but that she consciously rejects things before they get serious. I don't think you can have both, and could I have an example of that latter one 'cause I don't buy it.

This actually doesn't bother me that much (ever though I've written scads) but I'd like some character consistency- it really the only thing Buffy's going for it this season- the characters do sound/feel like the characters (who occassionally say stupid stuff but whatever) so why are they saying this? What are the writers actually trying to tell us?

You know what it sounds like? It sounds like a set-up. An 'uh-oh' fake will Buffy reject Spike/pull away because things are getting serious question (no, because she's clearly not the one with the issues here) and so they can flip-it and have Spike do something in the end. At least I hope that's what they're doing because otherwise its going to be Bufyf rejects Spike AGAIN. Which would be moronic and just a wee bit cruel- and that's coming from me.

It all boils down to one thing: Bad, contrived writing. None of Buffy's 'romantic' entanglements have made sense in the comics and each time they create these out-of-nowhere explanations. She sleeps with Satsu because she's 'lonely' yet makes no attempt to form any connection. Unless she's somehow cross-connected lonely with horny. Oh, and that's what girls do in college, they experiment! (Seriously, Joss.) Then she suddenly is making moves on Riley and Xander despite being aware they're involved with other people--one of whom being her own sister. (Oh, for the days of Him.) Why? Oh, because she's lonely. And, uh, people want what they can't have! Whatever romance novel cliche the writers can come up with to explain bizarre OOC behavior. Then Twangel because apparently it was meant to be and the Universe was drawing them together. (Whatever happened to this, btw?) Then Dowling. I guess. We never see this. We're told it happened off-panel somewhere. Then Spike, who she couldn't be bothered with for 2 seasons, now she's all a'googly-eyed. Gage's pitch was she never gave soulled Spike a chance (not that she was distracted by 100 other things in S7) and Joss's comment would was it would make her uncomfortable (Why?). That says all you need to know about how much thought they put into this.

Anything can happen and the writers will just say "Oh, you didn't know?" It's a trash-tier soap opera driven by sales and publicity stunts, not characterization.

 

[thetopher]

It all boils down to one thing: Bad, contrived writing.

Sadly I'm inclined to agree. The characterization is all over the map. And if I here one more 'this is what Buffy thinks' or 'Dr. Mike says this...' my eyes will roll out of my head.

Then Dowling. I guess. We never see this.

Dowling is basically the equivelent of Scott Hope or NurseBen or that one guy who came to Buffy's never ending Birthday house-party. Basically he was a non-event relationship-wise.

Then Spike, who she couldn't be bothered with for 2 seasons, now she's all a'googly-eyed.

Almost the opposite of interest I'd say. Some real avoidance issues/rejection that...went away all of a sudden.

Gage's pitch was she never gave soulled Spike a chance (not that she was distracted by 100 other things in S7)

I dunno. I remember Buffy having a lot of time for Spike for most of S7 and barely any time for anyone else.

and Joss's comment would was it would make her uncomfortable (Why?).

Maybe because the events of S6 were never actually addressed properly by anybody- certainly not Buffy herself- so we have to guess that she've still maybe been uncomfortable around him. But that's clearly changed now so we'll never know.

 

[gite63]

Maybe because the events of S6 were never actually addressed properly by anybody- certainly not Buffy herself- so we have to guess that she've still maybe been uncomfortable around him. But that's clearly changed now so we'll never know.

It seems that people, including Joss Whedon, forget Season 7 entirely; as if it had never happened. The time for Buffy to be uncomfortable around Spike has passed.

 

[NothingVentured]

Sadly I'm inclined to agree. The characterization is all over the map. And if I here one more 'this is what Buffy thinks' or 'Dr. Mike says this...' my eyes will roll out of my head.

Dowling is basically the equivelent of Scott Hope or NurseBen or that one guy who came to Buffy's never ending Birthday house-party. Basically he was a non-event relationship-wise.

I'd say it was meant to be more involved than that since she apparently told him of her relationship problems.

Almost the opposite of interest I'd say. Some real avoidance issues/rejection that...went away all of a sudden.

Yeah. She was apparently not interested enough to even look for him in S8. S9 she was annoyed. Then in the couple days or a weeks between 9/10, a transformation.

I dunno. I remember Buffy having a lot of time for Spike for most of S7 and barely any time for anyone else.

I meant in terms of a relationship. First there was the new soul, fallout over Seeing Red, then he was killing people, abducted, then the Potentials. By the end, she was thinking about it.

Maybe because the events of S6 were never actually addressed properly by anybody- certainly not Buffy herself- so we have to guess that she've still maybe been uncomfortable around him. But that's clearly changed now so we'll never know.

As sad as it might be, I thought CWDP made it clear she blamed herself, but so does the narrative. And she wasn't uncomfortable around him from mid-S7 on. So...yeah. Considering she was considering starting something at the end of S7 (Maybe when...) the idea that she'd be uncomfortable or she never gave him a shot so much as had other things on her plate is dumb.

But hey, it's not just Buffy. Xander claims Spike was in love with self-hating Buffy, completely ignoring that Spike started jonesing at the beginning of S5, one of the more stable times of her life. Spike didn't go back to his crypt because of trauma from the AR, yet had no problems living with her in the house where it happened. It's gaslighting the audience.

 

[gite63]

She was apparently not interested enough to even look for him in S8.

The fact that she didn't look for him was odd, because after S7, she would have; still, she had him in her mind. But S8 had a plot where Spuffy really didn't fit - the story that Joss created - while on drugs, apparently - was about something very different from what had been told on the past 7 seasons of BtVS. It was about Twilight.

S9 she was annoyed.

When Spike returned to Earth after his little adventure on space, she asked if he had come to stay; later, she called him to help her, and when he decided to leave, she asked him to stay. Buffy has never cut Spike from her life for good. Never.

Then in the couple days or a weeks between 9/10, a transformation.

So, no, no “transformation”. Spike finally stayed in San Francisco, and they started working together on a daily basis; they were two people that have known each other for years, and, for the first time, both were at a good moment of their lives and enjoyed to be with each other. They being together didn't come from nowhere.

Spike didn't go back to his crypt because of trauma from the AR, yet had no problems living with her in the house where it happened.

Spike said that he didn't want to live in the crypt because it remembered him what he used to be, not only because of the AR.

Xander claims Spike was in love with self-hating Buffy, completely ignoring that Spike started jonesing at the beginning of S5, one of the more stable times of her life.

That can be true, but the show had many inconsistencies and plot holes, too...

 

[thetopher]

It seems that people, including Joss Whedon, forget Season 7 entirely

Except for the whole 'Spike has a soul now' thing...but yeah in terms of Buffy I would agree- its like the cookie dough/content with herself thing never happened because of 'drama'.

I'd say it was meant to be more involved than that since she apparently told him of her relationship problems.

Like she did with Holden Webster? Sometimes Buffy opens up to people she doesn't know that well instead of her friends. In general I think, from what we're shown, it was a non-event really.

I meant in terms of a relationship. First there was the new soul, fallout over Seeing Red, then he was killing people, abducted, then the Potentials. By the end, she was thinking about it.

I always think its all muddled up because Spike is saying he 'got a soul for her' time and again and then Buffy is wailing 'he has a soul now' to everybody. The 'relationship stuff is not very subtly weaved in among the plot- chip, trigger betrayal etc.

But in general I agree, by the end Buffy was ready to maybe think in those terms without any other distractions. But I don't think was too broken up about it not happening, judging by that smile at the end.

As sad as it might be, I thought CWDP made it clear she blamed herself, but so does the narrative. And she wasn't uncomfortable around him from mid-S7 on. So...yeah. Considering she was considering starting something at the end of S7 (Maybe when...) the idea that she'd be uncomfortable or she never gave him a shot so much as had other things on her plate is dumb.

One of the reasons why I hate the entire thing really. The fact that Buffy AND Spike to a certain extent put most of the blame on her pisses me off no end.

And yes, I don't know where Joss gets 'uncomfortable' from, unless he considers 'couldn't have sex with her attempted rapist' as 'uncomfortable.'

When Spike returned to Earth after his little adventure on space, she asked if he had come to stay;

And she pointedly didn't invite Spike into Dawn's apartment (talked to him on the fire escape) and called him 'stalky the clown' in S9. It wasn't all blanket acceptance from his appearance in S8.
The moral of Spuffy seems to be that if you stalk/hang around the girl you like long enough then she'll eventually cave in because she's lonely.
Truly romantic.