Yes, yes, yes! I agree with so many of these points. I've been posting a lot recently about how Spike needs to be addressed in Season 8. You make a very clear argument for how he's been alluded to yet not referenced out loud. How weird is it that we haven't read his name yet in print? It almost seems too obvious, that they're trying too hard not to mention him specifically while referencing him with imagery and situations.
There is the mysterious absence of Spike from Buffy’s dream space (#3)
Do you more specifically mean that Spike is not included in the dreamcubes? Are you not counting the threesome image of Buffy with Angel and Spike in chains in Buffy's dream space where Ethan pulls back the curtains and she hastily shuts them closed? Hmm tirer la couture. Ethan pulls back the curtain to what Buffy's been fantasizing about during her "slow year" and we find Angel and Spike. It's the only time Spike is referenced overtly and Buffy immediately hides the image. It's hidden deep down in her psyche. Perhaps it's too painful to think about...I really don't think she knows he's back yet. She wouldn't just brush off the knowledge that he'd been hiding his return for over a year. She'd be pissed that she was grieving for someone that wasn't dead-dead, just undead and annoying.
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There is the mysterious absence of Spike from Buffy’s dream space (#3)
Do you more specifically mean that Spike is not included in the dreamcubes? Are you not counting the threesome image of Buffy with Angel and Spike in chains in Buffy's dream space where Ethan pulls back the curtains and she hastily shuts them closed? Hmm tirer la couture. Ethan pulls back the curtain to what Buffy's been fantasizing about during her "slow year" and we find Angel and Spike. It's the only time Spike is referenced overtly and Buffy immediately hides the image. It's hidden deep down in her psyche. Perhaps it's too painful to think about...I really don't think she knows he's back yet. She wouldn't just brush off the knowledge that he'd been hiding his return for over a year. She'd be pissed that she was grieving for someone that wasn't dead-dead, just undead and annoying.