Top 6 Spike Episodes

I was very late in the game on the TV Buffy love because I’m a silly, silly girl. I was blinded by my original love for Kristy Swanson and Donald Sutherland’s voice. They were my first. They were both so beautiful and hadn’t done anything wrong. How could I betray them? Enter: Spike. By being a sentimental super-weenie, I deprived myself of a whole lot of awesome. At this point, I’d follow Joss Whedon off a cliff if he said it’d be good.

To be honest, Spike isn’t my favorite character, but he is, without question, the coolest one and he absolutely should be my favorite. I’m a little bit ashamed that he’s not. Here are six episodes that showcase how awesome Spike is and how stupid I am for not loving him more:

6. Destiny (Angel, Season 5, Episode 8) – This episode is a mix of Angel and Spike kicking each other’s asses and flashbacks dealing with why they started hating each other (and some story for the other characters that is connected, but not nearly as sexy). The best part of this episode, for me, is when Spike picks up a big cross that Angel had previously batted away after it burned him. It highlights Angel’s fear that Spike has become the stronger of the two and there’s just something undeniably badass about a man who doesn’t care that his hands are burning.

 

5. Once More, With Feeling (Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Season 6, Episode 7) – The ever-vanilla Dawn accidentally unleashes a demon that makes people sing and dance. As lame as that sounds, this is one of my favorite episodes period and I promise it does nothing to lessen Spike’s edge. I love, love, love his song. We definitely see a softer side of Spike, but at least he’s angry and funny about it.

 

 

4. Lies My Parents Told Me (Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Season 7, Episode 17) – This episode has my absolute favorite piece of Spike backstory. It’s so fucked up and, somehow, makes him even more like-able. It also provides him with future ammo that the audience will understand for the type of mom humor that I’m all about. Of course, this isn’t all backstory. We’re also treated to Spike being locked in a room FULL of crosses with the grossly muscular son of one of the slayers he killed. It’s fun.

 

3. Dead Things (Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Season 6, Episode 13) – This is the height of Buffy and Spike’s tumultuous, wanton relationship. It’s deep, it’s fucked up, it’s very sexual, and it’s even kinda sad. I love how bold Spike is and I love that Buffy can’t resist him despite very desperately wanting to. Theirs is one of my all time favorite romances.

 

2. Lessons (Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Season 7, Episode 1) – There’s not a whole lot of Spike in this one, but I chose it because this is where The First starts messing with Spike’s head. He goes pretty batshit and I think it’s James Marsters’ best acting in the entire existence of Spike. He plays it so convincingly and it’s a little heartbreaking. Really, you can’t watch this one without watching the next decent handful of episodes to see how this storyline unravels. Crazy Spike offers up some pretty amazing, raw moments.

 

1. Fool For Love (Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Season 5, Episode 7) – As far as I’m concerned, this is the number one Spike episode because it’s pretty much the story of Spike. Buffy has a close call with a rather unimpressive vampire and because she’s rattled by the experience, she asks Spike to tell her how he killed two slayers. We get flashbacks interspersed with moments of Spike and Buffy recreating the incidents with the added bonus of sexual tension. We learn some of the best things about him, including how he was made, where his aliases came from, how he got his swagger, and where he got his trademark leather jacket. What more could you want?

 

Bonus Mention: Why We Fight (Angel, Season 5, Episode 13) – The only reason to watch this episode is because it gives you the only other thing you could possibly want:

 

 

-Baby Jane Grey