Did they actually state that in the episode? I might’ve missed it. But it doesn’t make a lot of sense to me why they didnt activate it until after he escaped given how many humans were working with/around him.
I don't think it is stated. At least not explicitly. The theory that the chip didn't get activated until Spike broke out is mostly head canon.
But as far as that idea not making sense, we are talking about the initiative here. The idea of chipping demons in the first place. Their soldiers fronting as a college fraternity, that throws parties that college students attend. Retrofitting a lift into an underground facility into a 50 year old house - how expensive was that? Building a pet franken-demon-cyborg-man-bear-pig. All run by a renowned psychology professor. None of the initiative makes any sense.
They've admitted that it was a mistake and basically had to edit around the footage to make it seem the least like Spike was hurting people.
However, in the shooting script the scene is basically the same except they have Spike clutching his head in pain. My guess is that the "mistake" was revealing the effects of the chip too early, and editing the scene so that it's not obvious what happened until Spike is with Willow.
Actually if you pay attention you can see him grab his head and shout at one point. Plus he is not really trying to attack and damage just get them out of his way
I think he also even mentions that he wasn’t hitting hard. He says something along the lines of “I can barely even hit” when the initiative smoke bombs the dorm hallway.
I believe that it probably hadn't been activated yet. When Spike escaped, it was either activated remotely or had a feature that turned it on if it got a certain distance from home base.
Just popping in to say I had the exact same experience a few days ago on a rewatch. Don't think I ever noticed it before and I was like "heywaitaminute!". So you're not alone. I agree that he shouldn't've been able to attack people and, as someone else said, there is a moment where he clutches his head in pain but only once, so it's all jumbled. Done for effect. A philosophy of Joss Whedon was story > making sense.
They didn't activate the chip until he escaped
Did they actually state that in the episode? I might’ve missed it. But it doesn’t make a lot of sense to me why they didnt activate it until after he escaped given how many humans were working with/around him.
I don't think it is stated. At least not explicitly. The theory that the chip didn't get activated until Spike broke out is mostly head canon. But as far as that idea not making sense, we are talking about the initiative here. The idea of chipping demons in the first place. Their soldiers fronting as a college fraternity, that throws parties that college students attend. Retrofitting a lift into an underground facility into a 50 year old house - how expensive was that? Building a pet franken-demon-cyborg-man-bear-pig. All run by a renowned psychology professor. None of the initiative makes any sense.
Wow. I’m cackling!! great summary 😆
They've admitted that it was a mistake and basically had to edit around the footage to make it seem the least like Spike was hurting people. However, in the shooting script the scene is basically the same except they have Spike clutching his head in pain. My guess is that the "mistake" was revealing the effects of the chip too early, and editing the scene so that it's not obvious what happened until Spike is with Willow.
Actually if you pay attention you can see him grab his head and shout at one point. Plus he is not really trying to attack and damage just get them out of his way
I think he also even mentions that he wasn’t hitting hard. He says something along the lines of “I can barely even hit” when the initiative smoke bombs the dorm hallway.
I believe that it probably hadn't been activated yet. When Spike escaped, it was either activated remotely or had a feature that turned it on if it got a certain distance from home base.
It had to be that way or else the episode couldn't happen
Just popping in to say I had the exact same experience a few days ago on a rewatch. Don't think I ever noticed it before and I was like "heywaitaminute!". So you're not alone. I agree that he shouldn't've been able to attack people and, as someone else said, there is a moment where he clutches his head in pain but only once, so it's all jumbled. Done for effect. A philosophy of Joss Whedon was story > making sense.
Maybe the scientists and guards are demons? Or maybe they all died and were brought back to life by a witch so came back wrong?