Episode Analysis - The Gift

1. In the Magic Shop: 'Cause it's always got to be blood. speech; planning strategy to take Glory down; talking about weaponry.
2. At Buffy’s house: The reinvite; the promise; the talk on the stairs
3. In the Magic Shop: Collecting weaponry; St. Crispin's Day speech
4. At the tower: offering flask to Willow; shooting minion with crossbow; jumps two minions; more minion-fighting; getting hit by a brick; mental message from Willow; the charge; confrontation with Doc; plunge from tower; in Buffy’s flashback; weeping over Buffy’s death.

This episode is significant in terms of Spike’s redemption for the following reasons:

Spike chooses to fight alongside Buffy, *expecting* to lose his own life in the progress, even *after* having resigned himself to never receiving the reward of Buffy's affections. [chuck]

In the big council scene in the Magic Shop, it is my subjective impression that Spike's "'Cause it's always got to be blood" speech was delivered with ruefulness and regret. Though this is not spelled out explicitly, Spike seems to be thinking about what vampires do (preying on the blood of the living) in relation to what Glory does (ruthlessly using people in any way she pleases in order to get what she wants--sucking their brains for sustenance and opening the portal by means of Dawn's blood without regard for their suffering). Spike was not one bit happy about the idea of Dawn being used as a sacrificial victim to open a portal, whereas in the season 2 episode Becoming, Spike coolly and indifferently watched Angelus sacrifice a human victim in an attempt to awaken Acathla (which would have had similar results for the world as Glory's portal opening). What Angelus tried did not work, and Spike didn't really want it to work anyway since Spike didn't want the world destroyed at that point either--but the point is that Spike did not care at that time if innocents had to suffer. It is still an open question whether Spike cares much about strangers or would put himself out to save a stranger, but Spike's concern for Dawn and his seemingly greater sensitivity about what it means to be a blood-drinking predator are encouraging signs. [clairel]

It's also worth noting that the old Spike would likely have at least considered killing Dawn when he got to the top of the tower in order to stop the world ending (compare with B2). Now, like Buffy, he's willing to die and let the world be destroyed, rather than see Dawn die by friendly hands. [mistral]

This episode is significant for a future Buffy/Spike relationship for the following reasons:

Because Buffy treats him like a person in this episode. She doesn't
shoot him down when he makes his speech after the reinvite; she listens.
She gives him her full attention, just as she gives Giles and Willow in
her private conversations with them. She doesn't encourage him, because
it's not the time to get into it, but the fact that she listens shows a
huge change in her attitude towards him. [mistral]

Analysis of Script

Transcript by joan the english chick for the Psyche transcripts site:

http://www.psyche.kn-bremen.de/100thegift.txt

There is a reaction shot of Spike when Xander says "We can kill a regular guy." Spike, the one who has spent 120 years killing "regular guys" is the one whose face we see reacting. One would expect his reaction to be "Yeah, right, let's do it!" But that's not his expression. There is definite regret there. He *knows* they can't do it. And although we're not privy to *why* he knows it, the expression to me speaks of something gut level. Spike *knows* it wouldn't be right, and not just because Buffy wouldn't like it. Of course, that's purely subjective, but that's what that reaction shot said to me. [kelly]
On Spike's "I made a promise to a lady." He wasn't giving the whole (right) answer, and probably isn't ready for it at this point. But I also thought the phrasing of "a lady" made his vow to Buffy sound almost old-fashioned, a reminder that his human self, William the romantic poet, the Victorian gentleman, is still in residence. It also says a lot about his sense of honor, something I wouldn't think would be of value to a vampire. [michelle]
As for what this says about Spike's redemption, this might be personal bias here, but I think this scene change adds to the potential for Spike's redemption. The entire scene is a statement to Spike's change from Crush when he was pressuring Buffy and insistent that she did have feelings for him and also a wonderful juxtaposition with his de-invite in that episode.
In Crush, Spike is following Buffy home, asserting himself as part of her life, and he cockily follows her into her home, only to be shocked that he is barred from admittance.
In The Gift, not only is Spike accepting of his status as unwelcome, he must *remind* Buffy that he is not able to enter the house. After doing so, he immediately gives her an option other than inviting him in: hand the weapons to him over the threshold. This is HUGE. He's gone from asserting that he has some sort of *right* to be in Buffy's house (and by extension, her life) to quietly backing away. The Spike of Crush would've smiled and made some smart-ass comment about "guess you have to invite me in now," but instead he does the exact opposite.
When she does reinvite him, his surprise and gratitude is absolutely compelling. Again, the Crush Spike would've been smug. This Spike was anything but; he was awed and humbled and grateful. [kelly]

Signs that Spike cannot be redeemed:

Well, Doc does confirm that Spike has no soul, in case anyone was doubting that.

It could be argued that Spike's willingness to place Dawn's well-being above that of the world is a moral shortcoming, but if so, it's one he shares with Buffy. [jerry]

Key Changes from Shooting Script:

See the shooting script at:

http://www.psyche.kn-bremen.de/shooting/thegift1.html

In the shooting script, Giles and Spike say the lines, "We happy few..." together, but onscreen Giles says it first, then Spike follows up with "We band of buggered." I like the way this scene played out on screen better than on the shooting script because with Spike's followup with the band of buggered line, we viewers instinctively understand that Giles and Spike are on the same wavelength, a team. Also, the buggered line serves as a comic relief line in a moment or impending moment of extreme tension. [khali]

In the re-invite scene, the script reads:

Buffy: I'm counting on you. To help protect her.

But it actually airs with: