The Resurrection of Spike
As fans of Buffy the Vampire Slayer know, Buffy's longtime nemesis-turned-lover vampire Spike died in the series finale. This was quite a shocking ending for a lot of viewers, especially those who noticed a few weeks before the finale that James Marsters (the actor who plays Spike) had joined the regular cast of next season's Buffy spin-off, Angel.

Naturally, this little development led to a lot of fan speculation over how exactly Joss Whedon (the brainchild behind both Buffy and Angel) would accomplish this. Of course, being a series laden with supernatural goings-on, resurrections are fairly commonplace. Still, we fans have been chomping at the bit.

Then, I found a short article at Ain't It Cool News entitled Learn How Spike Returns to Angel???. According to the article, someone got their hands on the first act for episode one of next season's Angel, and forwarded it along. My curiosity overcame my normal resistance to viewing spoilers, so I read the synopsis. I have to agree with Hercules (the staff writer) -- either this is one of the best pieces of fan fiction I've read or its real. Either way, it's bloody brilliant. Joss Whedon rocks. I am definitely going to be watching Angel this season.