Between you and the "Lie to Me" meta - this morning has turned into a meta fest. What a wonderful essay describing what was really going on in these four episodes. I often thought that, instead of Buffy breaking up with Spike after these episodes, that she could have accomplished more for herself emotionally if she had tried to fix up her relationship with him. Wouldn't have fit in with the show as they wanted Spike to get a soul but still...would have been interesting and maybe a little more healthy for both of them.