In "Smashed", Willow finally figures out how to change Amy back from a rat. The Trio steals an expensive diamond from a Sunnyvale museum and freeze the security guard in the process. Amy and Willow hit the town and start using magic a bit more recklessly. Spike figures out that something's wrong with Buffy when he hits her and feels no pain from his chip afterwards. A scuffle between Buffy and Spike leads to romance as the two's will they/won't they ends in a sexual encounter inside an abandoned building.
I'm still processing my thoughts on how I feel about this season's romantic angle between Spike & Buff. This is now Buffy's third romantic tryst with a vampire (Angel, Dracula (very briefly), and now Spike). There's always been a sexual element to slaying and as the show has progressed, this seems to have increased. Now that we have nihilist Buffy after her post-heaven vacation, there seems to be a distance between herself and the rest of the gang, accented by Giles' departure. Her struggle to identify with her brethren has led her to grasp desperately for anyone she can cling to; Spike's obsessive and prolonged stalking seems to be just the ticket.
So where do we go from here? Buffy seems to be going through the motions still. Luckily, the big baddies in town right now are just 3 dweebs with a freeze ray in a basement. If there was any real danger out there, I'm not sure Buffy would be in the right mindset to cope with it. The prescience of the show using keyboard warriors upset about not being noticed and trying to wreak havoc on the world is all too real nowadays. The darkness surrounding Buffy and her sexual longings is far less interesting to me.
I'm still processing my thoughts on how I feel about this season's romantic angle between Spike & Buff. This is now Buffy's third romantic tryst with a vampire (Angel, Dracula (very briefly), and now Spike). There's always been a sexual element to slaying and as the show has progressed, this seems to have increased. Now that we have nihilist Buffy after her post-heaven vacation, there seems to be a distance between herself and the rest of the gang, accented by Giles' departure. Her struggle to identify with her brethren has led her to grasp desperately for anyone she can cling to; Spike's obsessive and prolonged stalking seems to be just the ticket.
So where do we go from here? Buffy seems to be going through the motions still. Luckily, the big baddies in town right now are just 3 dweebs with a freeze ray in a basement. If there was any real danger out there, I'm not sure Buffy would be in the right mindset to cope with it. The prescience of the show using keyboard warriors upset about not being noticed and trying to wreak havoc on the world is all too real nowadays. The darkness surrounding Buffy and her sexual longings is far less interesting to me.