Tangled Up In Words

Spike thematically represents morally grey areas. He’s not the simple black and white worldview that Buffy has as a young teen. It’s not good vs evil. It’s not Angel vs Angelus. Spike truly is evil, and sometimes he truly is good. Canonically he has done countless reprehensible, immoral, disgusting things. But he also supports Buffy. He cares for Dawn. He would sacrifice himself for either of them in a heartbeat. He tries to do better. Some of that is rooted in selfish reasons and some of it isn’t.

My main point is that Spike isn’t simple. That is the entire point of his character. He’s a representation of Buffy growing up and having to face that morality is a lot more complex and confusing than you want it to be.

When people defend him so much that they pretend he hasn’t done anything wrong, it erases why he’s a good character. It erases everything he represents and all the work he puts in to grow. So many of the opinions I see on Spike are “he’s done nothing wrong” or “he’s purely evil no one should like him”. It’s ironic that people have very reductionist views of him. The whole point is that he forces Buffy, and you as the viewer, to think about moral grey areas. To make you uncomfortable. Because we want morality to be simple. The older you get the more you realize it isn’t.

Buffy, the Vampire Slayer (1997-2003)