Xander banging his head into the mirror and cackling "Where's Anya? Where's Anya?"

Snerkity snerk.

See, you all make really articulate cases for Spike not being staked. The problem is (sorry, Ted) the writers have fallen down on the job.

Gloomcookie, I was just thinking the very same thing. I read the thoughful analysis here on the board and I think, where's *that* show? That's the show I want to watch.

See, you all make really articulate cases for Spike not being staked.

GC, I'm arguing something slightly different. If Spike had been staked because he'd gone back to feeding on people, no problem. He became the enemy soldier again, and if Buffy had no reason to know about the trigger, she couldn't be blamed for not acting on that info.

I'm just saying that Wood had no special moral ground to stake Spike over the death of his mother. For the reasons I gave above.

w/r/t the finale....

Well, I think that there's going to have to be a Slayer transferrence of power, so that there's only one Slayer again. Faith mentioned it in the last episode, and that's not the kind of thing she normally mentions (although, yes, a few years in the slammer have given her some maturity).

And the quickly-forgotten Botox Eye said the Slayer line was fucked up. (I will be PISSED if they pull a S5-ending trick ["Oh, remember the dagon sphere from 15 episodes ago?" and suddenly start talking about the damn creepy eye thing.)

I feel like it's been set up that a transferrence of power is going to happen.

So, Buffy to Faith, or Faith to Buffy?

Or will Buffy die (again), thus ending the problem?

Will Faith die, and Buffy have to transfer her power to hat!girl? (I'm not spoiled; just thinking of what SiT would REALLY irritate me to be Slayer.)

Or if Faith dies, will Buffy *take* the power from the new Slayer?

I'm thinking that *Buffy* is the one whose power has to be transferred, because *she's* the one who shouldn't be there.

Thoughts?

(Sorry, it's lunchtime here. So I don't have cereal on my mind.)

I read the thoughful analysis here on the board and I think, where's *that* show? That's the show I want to watch.

Er, um, uh, you know, there could be a S8. We'd just need a thread so we could write it ourselves....

Fred, I understand all of the arguments and see the points. I just don't agree. I think Wood became twisted in his quest for his mother's killer but I still think he would have been justified in killing him. Torturing him? NSM.

So do you think there are others who would be justified in staking Spike? If so, I'd be interested in who and for what reasons.

Interesting idea, Steph. So one of them gives up their power to the other, creating a (maybe short-term?) SuperSlayer - a variation on what they did in t memfault to defeat Adam?

It would almost have to be Buffy giving over to Faith - if Faith gave up her power to Buffy, doesn't the FE win? Because from everything we know, Buffy is no longer part of the line of succession. But Buffy's become so subsumed in her Slayer identity that it would be a major deal for her to give that up.

Steph, I'm not purposely ignoring your finale stuff. I'd love to participate in the finale discussion but I'm spoiled :)

Interesting idea, Steph. So one of them gives up their power to the other, creating a (maybe short-term?) SuperSlayer - a variation on what they did in to defeat Adam?

Oh, you know, I didn't think about that. Although maybe that, combined with the Fray!Axe, is what's needed to defeat the FE.

I'm not spoiled; just thinking of what SiT would REALLY irritate me to be Slayer.

Oh, come on! You don't want to start each Tuesday wih ASH saying, "Previously, on Hat Girl the Vampire Slayer?

BTW--we saw the girl who plays Vi on a commercial for Financial Planning Services. She was playing the cello!

I think Wood became twisted in his quest for his mother's killer but I still think he would have been justified in killing him.

I think the fact that Wood had to trigger Spike to return "monstrousness" is enough of a clue that Spike had changed so much that even Wood couldn't justify killing him.

Which leads me to a thought about where Buffy and Spike seem to be coming from about the same place, vis a vis Wood: the fair fight. Pre-chipping, Spike and Buffy saw themselves as fair targets for each other. As Spike put it in LMPTM, that's the game. Slayers vs. Vampires. When the rules changed, when Spike was chipped, it was no longer a fair fight. I can see why Buffy had problems staking him right off there.

Also, I've been thinking about the "Predator" Spike of Sleeper and the "Feral" Spike of LMPTM, and realize the difference now--in the earlier episodes, the FE was directly influencing brainwashed Spike. In the later one, Spike's got his demon up, but with nothing directing it.

Just thoughts. I need to go write now.