Spoiler Slayer

I've gotten an email or two about some a TV-Guide entry (Chicago Tribune), which lists 'Smashed' as follows...

"The mischievous trio (played by Danny Strong, Adam Busch, and Tom Lenk) who had some sinister fun with Buffy (Sarah Michelle Gellar) recently is back for more in this new episode. Instead of making Buffy the main target, they focus on Spike (James Marsters), who suddenly begins assaulting people. Meanwhile, Willow (Alyson Hannigan) encounters an old friend again."

Which I wouldn't say is out of the question, but also strengthens the idea that the chip itself isn't malfunctioning or broken. If you recall, I brought that theory up myself a while back. Which could tie in with the fact that there's a shot of what appears to be Spike talking to Warren, on the Buffy.com site. Maybe what we're seeing, isn't Buffy being possessed by a demon. Maybe Spike's perception of reality is being tampered with by the Troika, in order to make him think that Buffy is possessed. Either that, or the Troika is doing something to bring out the bad-side of Buffy. It could go a lot of different ways. Heck, why not just build another Buffy-bot, but one that hates Spike instead of being a love slave.

In any case, I'm sticking with the original downgrading, that Spike's chip is not malfunctioning. Mainly, because there are spoilers which are claiming that it was deactivated or has been broken since the fall from the tower in 'The Gift'. In addition, if the Troika is capable of disabling the chip, that creates another new set of possibilities. It won't be a random accident, Spike will effectively have discovered a cure to his problem. The choice however will be his, it's going to be a conscious decision on his part, not something that just happened. Having the chip malfunction is not the same as having it actively being tampered with. The problem is that it wouldn't explain why the chip still goes off when he tries to attack the girl. Maybe some kind of dampening field, which has a specific area of effect? It's going to come down to one of these two things;

Spike can attack Buffy because she's possessed
The Troika is negating the effects of the chip through technology, magic, or manipulation.