Hehehe! Well it was a long time coming, but yay, we finally got to see Buffy and Spike get in ON! WOO-HOO!!!! Nice way to help us recover from the Angel reunion, while not avoiding. Well done! ;0>>>>
BtVS is certainly a winner even without Brood guy, but as for the Angel series - that's only still standing because of default loyalty from Buffy fans. "Something Blue" was a good ol' bag of Buffy fun - granted, carrying a coupla dumb sceners and bad actingness - but a general gasp and laugh all round.
"Oooo, ooo, Rewind - Rewind!" scenes:
ALL Spike-Buffy interaction - especially when they were heavily into the action part! ;0>
- Buffy's "ooh Spike, look at my juicy exposed neck" torture scene
LOVE these two together!! Yay the writers for bringing fanfic to reality. Of course, this means this'll never happen again, dammit. So glad Spike (mmm - that jacket!) is back to stay! And happiness that he and the Buff are in full swing mode - I was getting a little worried that his attentions had turned more Willow-wise of late.
Giles' "Buffy, I'm so touched that you'd want me to give you away instead of that father of yours whom we haven't seen since the beginning of season two but who conveniently keeps popping up when it advances plotline" scene. (Well OK, the scene wasn't that long.)
Xander trying to go jogging with his memory at Giles' place when they figure out that Willow has cast a spell.
"Sheesh, change the channel" scenes:
Basically, all Willow stuff was barf-inducing.
Buffy-Riley "Lesbian Alliance" scene:
Buffy-Willow "love should have passion and pain" scene:
Misc Stuff:
Characters: I liked the way Spike and Buffy changed their attitudes towards and preoccupation with, each other while under the spell, but how they didn't do a complete 180 character-wise. Buffy was still the Slayer --she just had conflicting alliances, that's all. And Spike, though accepting of the Scooby gang, wasn't about to give up his identity as a vamp.
Giles: My God, was he in an episode for - gasp - more than two seconds?!! I can see him and Spike exchanging many funnies together, hehehe ;0>>> Loved the eye-rolling when Buffy started Spike on the neck torture. Good that they're still keeping up that him as a father figure for Buffy thing. But aaahh- I miss that tweed!
Xander: Again, I feel for you, pal. Willow was uber-mean, don't listen to that self-obsessed whiner. I think your issues are way more complex than hers - being a failure, feeling disconnected from your peers, lacking direction in life - all steady, unhealthy things. Just cuz you're not given enough screen time to actually explore these issues, doesn't make you less of a mess.
Anya: Ooooh, potential character insight. Who was that heartbreaker in her past who drove her into demon-becoming?
I guess this episode marks the beginning of a new tide of events. From now on, the gang is complete. No more Angel, no more Cordy, now more Oz (please- make it stop!). Buffy's and Spike's individual character changes from the past to now reflect the transformation of the show as a whole. It has lost its dark underground; the shadows of lustful danger that hunted at night. Now all is sunlight and above ground. And really fake looking demon guys that are too easy to kill.
Oh wow Spikey, I LUV U!! Marry ME! No actually, go back and marry Buffy - you guys ROCKED the realm of cuteness together! How did that go again Spike? Oh yeah, "You'll fight and you'll shag but you'll never be friends." Tell words, chappie. Dru was too crazy, Harmony was too densey, and Willow is too cutesy. But Buffy: she's the one, Spike ol' boy. The kick to keep you in your place, the bit to keep you begging for more, and the fire so things always stay alive. It's fate!
Of particular gush-worthiness:
- Spike being jealous of Angel
- The blonde figurines - hey, wonder how Spike would look in a tux…
- Spike insulting Buffy about her name - I'm right there with you buddy!
- Spike being all protecty about Buffy (despite the girl power thing) in their demon-o-rama fight. 
Buffy-Riley scene in front of the wedding dress store. A bit of a dud response from Fish boy, but Buffy was a cack! ;0>
Cripes, Buffy didn't make half as much of a boo-hoo about Angel and they were like, the forbidden immortal love couple. But nooo, Willow just has to whine whine whine. Fine - but do it on your own time, hunny.
Pretty much started hating little Miss Witch when she was so way harsh to Xander - twice. He is much too good a friend to them both. (Oh woah - did I just defend Annoying Guy?!)
Just plain awkward, with Buffy's mind clearly being elsewhere, and us all wishing Riley would shut his yap and quit distracting Buffy from important Angel-linked thoughts.
B-R "driving talk with browning apples" scene:
Their picnic was also quite not clicking-ish. Ok, if I'm gonna be liking Riley, he has got to get over this Aladdin "whole new world" routine. Geez, self-flattery much?! And what was with that try-hard poetic driving analogy as a 'have-they-never-heard-of-subtlety" parallel to B and R's potential relationship. Don't analyse, just let it flow, writer people.
OK, like the idea. (Any scene with the "A" word automatically gains points). However could this have been acted with any less meaning?! SMG, where did you go during that little stroll around the graveyard?!
I guess Buffy is just over the whole angst thing. This new Buffster's perky and permed, and in no mood for a longing for tragic love, whether it's in the script or not. A shame.
Spike: OK, don't get me wrong, I ADORED him in this episode, and he's always a charmer with Buffy, but - he's not the same Spike that graced out screens oh so evilly in season two. Back then, Spike had poetry in him - a vampire lover with a mission. Maybe Druscilla was his power source, I dunno. Cuz now - well, he's just a naughty puppy dog - in a cartoon. No wonder Dru left him.
I guess the new enemy is the Initiative, which has its own sense of X-File like danger - but c'mon, if Riley's a head henchman, how threatening can it be?! Nope, if anything has to change, it's the need for some serious full on VAMPIRE action. Enough with the endless chain of demons of differing species - is she the Vampire Slayer, or is that title just there to fill the bottom of the screen after the ad break?
But who am I kidding? The point of this episode - this whole series - is that this is a new BtVS, a new Buffy. A new family.