I was wondering if the apocalypse referred to is the kinda apocalyptic scenery which is at the moment going on in the streets of L.A. in "After the Fall" (however then we'd need to know if Buffy Season 8 happens at kinda roughly the same time as "After the Fall"

As for all of those who're a little bit disappointed with Season 8 so far: You should give Whedons run on "Astonishing X Men" a try. Although I like Buffy Season 8 I think Joss' X-Men are fabulous, probably because there's lots of "Buffy feeling" in it. :-)