I agree about wanting Buffy to be done with this already -- but seeing as how it's the issue she's struggled with her whole life, I can totally see why it'd take more than a night of Spike holding her for it to go away.

I like season 8 a lot when look at it in this light -- the truth about life is that stories we construct for ourselves when young really can capture us, and can be very hard to break out of. Season 8 seems primed for an epic breaking out.