You might want to take that up with the Militant Lesbian Clique. They are currently burning Joss Whedon in Effigy (and other places) because he didn't give them the "MTV lesbian teen-humper schlockfest" they were "entitled" to.
They thought he was giving them a nice "safe place for lesbians" when he was setting up to retell The Illiad and how the best of characters can descend to shocking brutality.
But that's Buffy, there are always long term consquences. It's not a 7th heaven where the faux plot "moral dilemma" is tidyly wrapped up in one episode, never to reoccur.
Like real life, it can take a long time for the results of our actions to become apparent.
I suppose that SMG could have been seen as sleepwalking through her role last season, but then she was supposed to be diplaying emotional numbness after being brought back to life into a world she now sees as Hell. Difficult to tell which was the case until the episode Normal Again demonstrated that she can give performances the like of which Allison Janey is never required.
And TANJ. For "sleepwalking though their roles": It's in the dictionary with last years West Wing next to it.
Stockhard Channing gets best supporting actress for "gamut of emotions from A to B", when brave little toaster Alyson Hannigan has been acting her heart out for 6 years?
sorry. my stuff