- I feel so bad for Dawn at the beginning, feeling so scared for the fate of Buffy and Willow when both of them had irresponsibly lost track of time, drowning in their pleasures and forgetting their responsibility to Dawn. I wonder about Dawn's state of mind if Tara had left last night (like she'd wanted) and Dawn had to wake up alone, not finding Buffy and Willow at home.

- I love Spike's post-sex attitude, it's why he's one of my favorite characters. I enjoy him like this much more than when he's all quiet and broody and "making moon eyes" to quote Buffy.

- SPIKE: I just don't see why you have to run off so quick. Thought we could-

Wow, once Spike's relationship with Buffy hit a new level –skipping second base, heeee- he seems to forget entirely about Dawn. Buffy had already told him that she was in a hurry because she'd left Dawn alone all night, and he doesn't seem to think it's reason enough? Bad Spike :mad:

- Both Buffy and Spike are acting immaturely here. Buffy returns to her usual "initiating the act and then pretending it never happened/claiming it'll never happen again." She's obviously ashamed of what she had done, losing herself to passion in a moment of weakness, and forgetting about her responsibility to her kid sister. Spike, who had finally got so close to Buffy, wants things to progress in their relationship, that he's persistently keeping Buffy from doing what's right –checking on her sister- and compelling her to do as he wishes (have another round with him) even though she says "stop" and "no".

- Apparently, Buffy is all "My body is saying let's go, but my (mind) is saying no." Personally I don't think that excuses Spike's pushy behavior.

- Spike ruins the moment by saying the stupidest thing a man would say: "I knew the only thing better than killing a slayer would be fucking her."  He's so aggressive here he reminds me of Spike in Spander stories where they both talk aggressively to each other while shagging (I'm not complaining, I like the rough talk in fics/TV, it's why I enjoy S6 Spuffy so much. Both of them are awful toward the other.)

- Buffy is so offended, and perhaps hurt, when Spike said that. She feels suddenly used. I'm wondering why she's offended by that when it's obvious she's using him as well. 

- BUFFY: You're just convenient.

Now it’s Buffy's turn to throw the punch (though I believe Spike was just being clueless when he babbled about fucking a slayer, hurting her feelings wasn't his intention.) Spike is offended now, and reacts badly to it like Buffy did earlier to his comment, at least he's standing up to himself and calling her on her shit.

- Buffy looks so heartbroken in this scene, I'm not so sure if it's because she gave him what he wanted and now there's no going back or because she lost herself in passion, showing Spike that she is attracted to him –at least physically- and she can't deny it now. Perhaps because he had told her that she came back wrong, that she's less than a human now. Too much hurt and sorrow and no one seems to be on her side, even Spike is more or less taunting her about giving in to him (pleasure wise). She lost the tolerant friend she had in Spike the second they had kissed in OMWF and apparently now she won't be able to get him back.

- BUFFY: Like you're god's gift.
SPIKE: Hardly. Wouldn't be nearly as interesting, would it?

Oh, I agree. :)

- SPIKE: You never had it so good as me. Never.

Cocky much? Lol

- Dawn should just move in with Tara. Who would've thought the most self-doubting person among the Scoobies is now the most level-headed responsible one? Tara came a long way.

- Poor Tara must have thought that Amy was Willow's date until Willow explained that Amy had been their pet rat.

- Willow knows exactly why Tara had left her, which is why she's so uncomfortable when Amy started blurting out how irresponsible Willow was with her magic last night.

- I'm glad to see the guilty expressions on both Buffy and Willow's faces for acting so irresponsible and leaving Dawn alone without even giving her a reassuring phone call.

- It seems like Willow can't live her life without magic. She became such a lazy person. Anya nailed it when she said that the responsible ones are the easiest to fall into temptation once they have a taste of irresponsibility.

- Buffy, Xander and Anya are still stuck in research duty, except Anya gave up long time ago, and decided to give in to temptation as well by reading bridal magazines.

- Xander suggests they get Spike to help, Buffy frantically vetoes it. For very obvious reasons.

- ANYA: What about Willow, can't she do something?
BUFFY: Maybe. But she's home sleeping.
XANDER: Sleeping? She sick?
BUFFY: No, she was out late. With Amy. (Xander looks annoyed)
ANYA: And I'm bizarre. At least I didn't dump you to hang out with an ex-rat.
BUFFY: No, it's not like that, you know, she's just ... helping Amy through a transition.
XANDER: And making herself a playmate to do magic with. Someone who won't monitor her like Tara.
BUFFY: No, Willow's a grownup. You know, maybe she doesn't need to be monitored (Xander stares at her) You know, she's going through something, but we're not her. I mean ... m-maybe she has reasons for acting this way. (Anya staring at her) And, so what if she crossed a line? You know, we all do stuff. Stupid stuff. But, then we learn. And, and we learn, and, and we don't do it again. Okay, so, you know, who are we to get all judgey?
XANDER: Not judgey, Buff. Just, observey.
ANYA: Yeah, all we're saying is, she's acting different. You know, she's not herself.

From the conversation above, Xander and Anya aren't approving of Willow's palling out with Amy. Amy doesn’t monitor Willow like Tara does. Actually, she's pulling her more and more to the path of no good, and there should be a stop to that. What bugs me is that Xander and Anya just talk about Willow needing help, yet they do nothing. Is it because catching the demon is more important at the moment?

- Self-involved Buffy defends Willow, only because she herself is doing something bad as well, and thinks that it's okay for Willow to cross the line, only to justify her crossing the line too.

- Willow feels comfortable about going for another night of irresponsible fun, especially since it had consequences, but with a little push from Amy, she reluctantly agrees to be "bad" again.

- I hate, hate, hate the drug-metaphor! Urgh! I hate that they turned magic from a sex metaphor to a drug one. Magic was supposed to be a good thing, not weed.

- RACK: You taste ... like strawberries.

And ever since then, Willow uses nothing but strawberry scented shampoos, soaps, creams and when Spike drinks from her blood it tastes like strawberry, while Buffy's tastes like vanilla and Xander's like chocolate. (I miss the classic fanfics! Hee, back in my first year with fanfic -7 years ago- I used to get a tingle in my pathetic heart whenever Spike called Xander "chocolate eyes." Guh! *is so embarrassed*)

- I actually felt bad for Willow when she created a Tara body to hug her, she's clearly lost because Tara isn't here. She was the one who was vocal about Willow's excessive use of magic. Sadly Willow's friends don't have the courage to talk to her about it, when they obviously should.

- Dawn is the one breaking my heart the most this episode. Poor thing is so happy and grateful that Willow is gonna take her to a movie and dinner. It makes me wonder where Janice is. Doesn't Dawn have other friends to hang out with when her sister and Willow are busy having a life?

- AMY: I like your coat. When does the slayer find time to shop?

Where does she have the money to shop? Seriously, if you wanna play the "Buffy is broke" card, the least you can do is have her repeat her outfits and make her wear something less expensive.

- Willow the junkie needs her drugs, and that makes her too desperate and less awake and less reliable. At least she fed Dawn before she takes her to Rack's place.

- Gentlewoman Buffy looks away when Spike starts wearing his clothes, and Spike mocks her for it. Cute. :)

- While Willow deserves Buffy's cold stares and Dawn's slap, I felt bad when she dropped to the floor crying her guilt and remorse out. Yeah, I'm a softie. I don't get her "I tried but can't" though, because I don't think Willow tried to stop.

- I feel that Buffy had it coming when Willow almost got her sister killed, everybody knew that Willow had a problem and Buffy was the one who defended her, even though she had admitted that Willow went out of line, but because Willow's bad behavior is linked to hers, she was selfishly defending herself and not really thinking about Willow.

- I love Willow's insecurity about why Tara loves her. Tara knew Witch Willow, but never knew Nerd Willow. What are the chances that she'd like Nerd Willow? Buffy believes that Tara will love that Willow, but Willow isn't sure, because she hates her old nerdy self.

- While is Buffy thinking of herself whenever Willow's problem is talked about? They're NOT similar! Buffy isn't hurting anyone but herself and Spike by having violent sex while Willow's abuse of magic is hurting her and others. Having violent sex isn't wrong, because it doesn't hurt people, and Buffy obviously enjoys it.

And Spike's right--she took no issue about Dawn's well being the night before--all night, in fact.

But Spike wasn't criticizing her for forgetting Dawn yesterday. He doesn't even think about Dawn, at that moment (which is the morning after) all he seems to think about is having sex. He's wondering; why is Buffy in such a rush after she had explained that she needed to go and check on Dawn?

He didn't keep Buffy from doing anything, and it is Buffy who in fact progressed their relationship (as I stated before) kissing him, and jumping on his penis. Doesn't get more progressive than that. Or pushy.

I'm not talking about Smashed. I'm talking about the morning after, I'm talking about Wrecked. Spike doesn't want Buffy to go, he pulls her to his lap and kisses her and still grabs her, even though she explained she needed to go and said, "stop" and "no".

He only said that to see what reaction he would get.

Nah. I think he really meant what he said, but I don't think he meant to hurt her. He was stupidly speaking his mind and didn't expect Buffy to get offended.

What moment would he be ruining?

The kissing? He got Buffy to stay and kiss him and then get on top of her, but he ruins the moment with his comment.

I think that in her own (sick) way, she was testing him first.

If she was testing him because of what had happened with Angelus, why would we describe it as sick? The girl has issues and she fears she's gonna get stumped on again. I'd describe it as sad and heartbreaking.

Maybe deep down, she wanted him to be a bastard--give her a reason to be angry with him, when so far that morning, she had unjustifiably been so.

I don't think she's angry with Spike. I think she's disgusted with herself for losing control and slipping into temptation, and she turned her self-loathing on Spike. Yelling at him and insulting him... Spike isn't helping the matter with his sure attitude, the fact that he's lying down, happy and content, throwing teasing remarks at her makes her mood get even worse, and she lashes out at him.

I agree that she'd much prefer Spike being a bastard, because it'll be easier to hurt him and hate him. I don't think she'd have felt that guilty over how she treated him in the future if Spike was being a jerk to her.

Jeebus H, it wasn't bad--it was blown ridiculously out of proportion. That makes no sense to me as to why that would be bad. So she had sex--possibly kinky sex with a guy she's not only more than familiar with, but who's in love with her. Get over it already.

I agree.

Not only that, but that whole crosses and garlic scene was also annoyingly stupid, sitting on her bed all curled up as if he was going to swoop in and put some thrall on her or something equally ridiculous. The shit just goes further down the hill for me after this.

Yeah, the whole scene was stupid.

okay, Buffy is talking about herself, but how annoying is it to be an adult and having everyone you know monitor your behavior. It sucks. Especially if you aren't doing anything that is hurting anyone else. The sad part is that Buffy doesn't (eventually) tell them that she's sleeping with Spike and if they don't like it they can all blow out their a**. The whole we are your friends and have the right to stick our nose in your business anytime we want is irksome.

You don't think Willow needs someone to guide her? Xander and Anya have a point, Willow needs someone who stands up to her and tells that she's hurting herself and others by her actions, but sadly, they don't act on it. I really wish Xander had a talk with Willow instead of discussing it with Buffy and Anya.

As for Buffy, she's the one who has doubts about how her friends would react. We can't blame her friends when they know nothing about it. We saw their reactions: Tara, Dawn and Willow were fine with it. Giles actually laughed when she told him about it. Xander knew at a very bad time, he was in a lousy state of mind and reacted badly to it: unlike how calm and mature he had reacted to the news of Buffy sleeping with Spike in S5. At that time he wasn't depressed and hadn’t seen his ex having sex with Spike, he was a happy, content young man and was able to handle the news of Buffy and Spike sleeping together rationally.

So, if Buffy told them about it in normal circumstances, I don't think they'll be judgmental about it. Buffy is the one who ruins it for herself, not her friends.

Buffy's way stronger than Spike, so I don't buy that at all.

It's not about who's stronger than who. Buffy obviously wants more kissing and groping with Spike, but she knows she had to leave, and Spike isn't helping at all, even though he knows Dawn is alone at the house, probably scared because she doesn't know where Buffy is.

But he laughs at her when she's all like "Is that what this was about?" which implied (to me) that he did say it on purpose to see what she'd say/do.

I think he laughs because he doesn't think it's a big deal.

But why would she feel like it was self loathing if she wasn't disgusted by him in some form or fashion? She wasn't all, "Oh man--that was wicked irresponsible of me, staying out all night. Maybe next time it should be at my place, or we call it a night early," she was saying it was wrong, perverse, yada yada yada.

Her disgust isn't about Dawn as much as it's about having sex with Spike, she's so angry with herself, she's throwing it all on Spike. Which is immature and cowardy on her part.

For what? She's an adult, she knows what she's doing is over the top, her la la la attitude shows that she doesn't give a damn what they think (until Dawn gets hurt).

So, if my friend is on drugs I should just stand by and let her ruin her life because she's an adult? Adults also make  mistakes, and personally, I want my friends to talk to me if they thought I was ruining my life, even if I was such a pig-headed person who doesn't want to listen to reason, I wanna know that my friends love me enough to try and save me. I wanna know that they actually tried to help me. That's not being judgmental, that's about being friends.

Actually, Anya calls her on it and basically says what you're doing is stupid and Xander sort of shuts her down. I guess only one of the core group can criticize another core member.

Anya tried, and as you said Willow didn't listen, but that doesn't mean that you give up one your friend right away. It shows that you don't care at all. "Oh. I tried. Didn't work. I give up." I'm actually more angry at Xander for not stepping up and talking to her. She's his best friend, and he did nothing.

Anya spoke about what Xander wanted to tell Willow (in a tactless manner, which I think is the reason Xander got uncomfortable with Anya, not that she spoke her mind.) and she showed that she's a better friend to Willow than both Buffy and Xander.
 

The time to do something about Willow was after Tabula Rasa when she'd injured and endangered them all, yet only Tara acted.

Tara didn't break up with Willow for Willow, she broke up with Willow for herself (I don't blame her, she has the right to leave if the relationship isn't working anymore.)

So, no one really acted for Willow. None of them did a thing. The only one who spoke the truth to Willow was Anya, and sadly Willow and Anya aren't close, so Anya's words aren't enough to wake up Willow. She needs to hear it straight from her best friends. After all, Xander was the one to wake her up in Grave.

Buffy and Xander are obviously concerned about Willow's use of magic, but they did NOTHING to help her. They just let her be.


I also think Xander gets uncomfortable not just with Anya's tactless manner, but with her refusal to ignore problems and let them fester in the approved scoobie manner.

I'm not sure I understand you here. Xander was uncomfortable with how Anya tactlessly approached Willow, I never got the idea that he doesn't want her to express her opinion. He usually gets uncomfortable when she says stupid stuff or talks about their sex life. Other times, he gets really proud and happy when she brings something clever to the table.