One of my favorite spike quotes is when he says Joyce “always had a good cuppa”

"I love what you've, um, neglected to do with the place." -- That always cracks me up.

I absolutely loved Joyce and Spike's dynamic. It was sweet, and you can tell Spike appreciated her not always treating him as a threat.

I can't explain why but this was by far one of my favourite friendships in the whole show. They both seemed to get something they needed out of it.Spike was a mommas boy who missed his mum and Joyce wanted to look after someone but Buffy was so self reliant. A lot of people don't hey it but BTVS had some genius writers.

The scene from Season 5's "Crush," with Spike, Joyce, and Dawn in the Summers kitchen, sums it up for me. If you didn't know the context you'd think Spike was just some neighbor kid who liked to hang out at the Summers house. What's funny about it is that by this time that's pretty much how Joyce thinks of him. 😊

Liam was a hooligan who respected no-one and constantly got up to no-good. Therefore Angelus used the template to become a demon that actively sought chaos and to take pride in the “art form” of evil. William was a sensitive, doting poet. Deeply sweet and respectful. Therefore Spike used the template to become a demon that had a primary focus on possessing, obsessing and owning the object of his affection (since a soulless being cannot love, but can only want to own) - and not once did he care or even consider “evil”. They are remarkable parallels. They both share the same human name, one was disowned and hated his father, the other was the caretaker of his mother and loved her. And while Angel was cursed with a soul, Spike actively fought to have his restored.

Not me crying watching this video because Spike was a sweetheart to his mom and Joyce. I haven't watched the show in the long long time and forgot that that was a part of his character

What I find interesting is the vampire lore in Buffy, we start out thinking they are „demons“ inside their Body’s but I guess it’s heavily colored from the watchers perspective. I think it’s more like they turne in the worst version of themselves, who like to snack on people they don’t care about. Angel goes full blown serial killer. Harmony just turns into a vampire. She already was a Highschool bully now she is one that likes blood.

What a neat idea to tie Spike running away from Joyce when they first meet to his later revealed (and like you say definitely later thought of) mother issues! You have such a talent for these comparisons and drawing connections! I also liked how you pointed out he had strategic reasons not to hurt Joyce. He doesn't hurt her, they get to know each other, he grows to like her - almost like in real life, just that we don't see everyone we aren't friends with as potential murder victim ;)

Thank you! Joyce and Spike just hanging out was a nice touch in the show.

When Spike brings flowers for Joyce's death, it was upright and nice. Xander was an ass for assuming the worst.

The comedy in this show is pure gold

What could be fun is a look at Willow and Anya’s relationship. It’s interesting in Doppelgängland, that when Anya talks about getting her powers back, both Willow and Evil Willow just scoff at her. I know the show tends to frame their antagonistic relationship as being about Xander, but it shows that there’s more to it. I think it’s about their unequal power dynamic.

On the angel/angelus dilemma: if we watch Angel, we see some snippets of his pre gypsie curse vampire: he was bad, but he still had attachements, he wanted to please darla, he forgave darla after she abandoned him. The cruelty of his kills were to impress her, to get a paternal approval of some sorts. My theory is, if we split humans into body, spirit and soul, and accept that in a vampire the soul gets replaced with a demon, that still leaves the spirit, likes and dislikes, some ability to form attachements. I think the curse altered this for angel, and bound some of his spirit to his soul, which would explain why he is so much more vicious after the curse breaks..in many ways worse then he was after he was turned, and why the show treats him as an interally different person than angelus.

Thank you for appreciating their dynamic! Even though it was played for laughs, it was all established in that awkward living room scene. When Spike reminds Joyce that she had hit him on the head with an axe, there isn't a hint of anger or bitterness about it - he's very matter of fact, which I always took to mean, "of course a mother would protect her child" so there's something between understanding and respect there. Joyce responds by remaining polite in kind - and therein a strange detente is formed. It's good that any kind of "rules" we hear about vampires can always taken with a grain of salt, as it's either subjective from the pov of vampires, or from dubious sources like the Watchers' Council. That way, the writers weren't handcuffed to a strict way of handling them. As you stated, Spike had genuine reasons to not hurt Joyce in all those instances, but similar to the chip, I think that as long as a vampire has a self-motivated reason to not hurt someone, there's an opportunity for their typically suppressed human aspects to come a little more to the forefront. (I see it as the human leaves an "imprint" of who they were on the demon that takes over their body, so it's just remnants of their strongest desires and personality traits even though the person is dead and gone) In terms of Angel, I have no doubt he would've grown to be a horrible person - using women, manipulating people, lording any sense of power he had over them, etc. Like you say, "an abuser." As a vampire, it all got cranked to 1000. Without becoming a vampire, then regaining his soul, I don't think he would've developed the empathy that he got as a result.

Joyce reminded Spike of his mama

I dont think Spike was ever truly evil, IMO he had the personality of an eternal caretaker. He spent his entire human life being loved by his mother and taking care of her so his personality was developed around looking after someone, when he got turned he became Drusilla's caretaker and that meant indulging her bloodlust and penchanche for violence later on when she got sick he went back to playing nurse to her in a similar way to what he did with his mother. So naturally when she dumped him he cracked, the lack of purpose issue where he started questioning "what do I do now?" If you look at it it kind of poses the question "whats the nurses job when there are no more patients?". Its also why I think he latched on to the Summers women, in Joyce he saw a glimmer of his own mother, Dawn looked up to him in a big brother role and in Buffy he found someone who enjoyed the fighting as much as he did and bonus he could provide her with the extra support in a fight that the others couldnt, so in a way he was still playing caretaker only in a different scenario. During the bathroom breakup scene I think the whole thing was a trigger moment for him, not only was he reminded of the disaster with Cicily that resulted in his turning, but he was being tossed aside once again by someone he had grown to care for and he couldnt do anything about it so he cracked and lashed out. Though to be fair I still think that episode was more of a hail mary from the writters to recapture the audience that had been slipping all season, what I wouldve done is have them breakup amicably and sent Buffy to individual counseling to work out her own issues, and him going on his self discovery journey, then have them later reunited having solved their own problems ready to work on a more healthy relationship dynamic, it would have brought more mental health awareness, though to be fair therapy and counseling had just started being talked about beyond the stigma of needing one bc youre crazy. I think they were the right person for one another but at the wrong time in their lives

I really wish this show had explored Spike and Joyce's unique friendship in more depth

I absolutely love these two together! I wonder how it would have been if she'd still been alive in s6 when Spuffy happened. Great video!!

Their relationship is my favorite in the show

Interesting concept about the juxtaposition between spike and angel you gave me an unrelated story idea thanks!😊

I like to think that Spike's Good actions as a demon were due to the remaining goodness of his past self, while Angel was a not bad, but mediocre person whose remorse made him become better after reclvering his past self

Another fantastic video! Very enjoyable. They have such a wonderful dynamic.

I love joyce and spike's friendship to me joyce did remind spike of his mother 🤔even though they did had conflict with each other due to spike having feelings for buffy it wasn't until i rewatched the show as an adult did i realize that he always bonds with the female characters

Really, really interesting idea!

Would you ever do videos on the show interview with the vampire 🤔

The whole Spike turning his mom is a bit reminiscent of Anne Rice's The vampire Lestat, who also turned his mother. I admittedly don't know the whole story behind Spike, as I didn't see this one

Good video