Sometimes I think about Tabula Rasa and yeah, it was a hilarious episode and one of my favourites and it had the hottest kiss of the show, but it also showed us something interesting about Spike.
Their memories were wiped clean, but everyone pretty much retained their core personalities. Spike was goofy and snarky, he got on with Buffy/Joan right away and felt at home fighting by her side. But there was zero "monstrosity" there, he showed no bloodlust, no violence, didn't even know he was a vampire until they got in a fight and he vamped out out of reflex. He had no urge to bite Buffy/Joan. He thought he had a soul.
There were no memories to impact his perception of self. I just think it's pretty remarkable how human Spike appears and feels, even when all of his memories are taken away. Tabula Rasa is who he is at his core, and it's so very ... William.











