Spoiler Slayer

Looks like I picked a good time to work on the site, as I was mentioned on the BuffyNewsWire. I logged on to discover that instead of the normal 100 or so visits I was getting daily, I had over 1000. I can't imagine what this is going to do with my transfer-limit, but my provider is pretty flexible, so not a big issue.

News of the day. First, I've come across another reference to the Musical now being episode 7. Not sure if it's from a casting call sheet or not, but AutumnT over at the Buffy Cross and Stake Spoiler Board posted that Joss is writing/directing episode 7, which would be the musical. I'm going to now confirm Episode 6 & 7 as Halloween and The Musical. Which means that either episode 4 or 5 will be the new episode, but what we know all depends on whether or not AICN actually got the outlines for the first eight episodes right.

I've added the general spoiler that Spike's chip is deactivated. With the confrontation between Xander and Spike in front of Buffy's house from the shooting location report, it was noted that Spike did not react to throwing Xander around. I've got two takes on this. Either it is indeed inactive, and Joss and Crew are going to drop hints through the first section of episodes that it isn't working anymore. Alternately, they might have filmed the reaction shot later, or even forgotten to do so. For example, if Spike had his back to the camera's when he did this, they wouldn't be able to film the reaction shot just then (because it would pick up the equipment). But it's something to think about, and there have been hints that the chip may have been non-functional since the Initiative was shut down.

Finally, it seems that no matter how you look at it, Willow is going to be involved with bringing Buffy back. However, I'm not sure that this means automatically that she is going to end up being the 'Big Bad' for the season. My gut is saying that we're going to return to the Formula, and that the troika of sorcerer's are going to end up being the 'Little Bad'. I would think that Amy and Jonathan will be involved, and maybe the third sorcerer will be incognito, with us assuming that it's Willow. Since everyone has been guessing that it would be Willow since late last season, I think Joss is going to fake us out. Buffy, while some facets can be predicted, in general is not a predictable show.