The closing off has to be more than just a mention that Spike exists. At the ending of The Chosen, Buffy's feelings about Spike were made deliberately ambiguous. The question about Buffy's feelings have weight beyond the shipping angle. Spike represented a closure to her whole vampire arc that began when Angel went bad and concluded when Spike gives himself up to save the world. This is all about Buffy's relationship to the dark side of herself, and we need to know how Buffy felt about it if we want to understand her. (Just like it would be impossible to understand Buffy in seasons 4-7 if we didn't know how things "resolved" with Angel).
The line about the Immortal in the opening pages of LWH directly contradicts Allie. Buffy does NOT know why Andrew wanted to set the fake slayer up with the Immortal. I agree that it's more likely than not that she knows the raw fact that Spike is back. But we still don't know how she understands that fact, since she's missing at least some information. The fact that it could go either way means that the story is open. And if the story is open, that means that there's a good chance that the resolution of that story (or the revelation of exactly how that story was resolved) will play a role in season 8.
I agree that we don't know whether Spike will make a flesh and blood appearance. But I think somehow the story about him will be important. And I do think it carries weight that Joss brings Angel up specifically in the context of a past to which Buffy can't return. It tells us a bit about how to understand the cookie dough speech, for example.
My point about Spike's absence in the dream space is not that it's meant to conceal something. Just that it's distinctly odd that he's not there, and that his absence of itself could well turn out to ber significant.
no subject
The closing off has to be more than just a mention that Spike exists. At the ending of The Chosen, Buffy's feelings about Spike were made deliberately ambiguous. The question about Buffy's feelings have weight beyond the shipping angle. Spike represented a closure to her whole vampire arc that began when Angel went bad and concluded when Spike gives himself up to save the world. This is all about Buffy's relationship to the dark side of herself, and we need to know how Buffy felt about it if we want to understand her. (Just like it would be impossible to understand Buffy in seasons 4-7 if we didn't know how things "resolved" with Angel).
The line about the Immortal in the opening pages of LWH directly contradicts Allie. Buffy does NOT know why Andrew wanted to set the fake slayer up with the Immortal. I agree that it's more likely than not that she knows the raw fact that Spike is back. But we still don't know how she understands that fact, since she's missing at least some information. The fact that it could go either way means that the story is open. And if the story is open, that means that there's a good chance that the resolution of that story (or the revelation of exactly how that story was resolved) will play a role in season 8.
I agree that we don't know whether Spike will make a flesh and blood appearance. But I think somehow the story about him will be important. And I do think it carries weight that Joss brings Angel up specifically in the context of a past to which Buffy can't return. It tells us a bit about how to understand the cookie dough speech, for example.
My point about Spike's absence in the dream space is not that it's meant to conceal something. Just that it's distinctly odd that he's not there, and that his absence of itself could well turn out to ber significant.