Spike's Soul - Who's plot?

[grrarg]

I was just thinking about it, and it seems to me that Spike regaining his soul was MUCH more important to plot of the Angel series than to BtVS.

Do you think that this was written into the storyline with the initial intention of writing Spike into Angel season 5 or do you think it just became a convenient factor? Joss and his writers would have had to known at least by the end of season 6 in BtVS that they had to take the story in that direction, and the abrupt appearance of the notion of this happening kind of supports this theory.

I don't know, what do you guys think? Or if you have heard anything about this, I'd be interested to know.

 

[white avenger]

Joss said that he knew before the beginning of Season 7 that it would be Buffy's last season, and Joss MIGHT have anticipated back then that the WB would want Spike on "Angel." I prefer to think that Spike seeking out his soul was just part of the natural ongoing evolution of the character, not just a gimmick to put him on more equal footing with Angel once they were together. And Angel's reaction when he found out about it was great. "Ya know, I had mine first. Back before it was all the big new thing..." A whole new issue to brood over. And Spike certainly was the perfect foil for Angel. An enemy who was also a reluctant ally. The only character in the history of the show who could hold his own against Angel in a battle of fists and fangs or wits (of course. in the wits department, Spike had to only half try, but still...) And the best part was that he could positively infuriate Angel without ever uttering more that a few words ("I AM listening. With beer.)

If Spike's move over to "Angel" wasn't planned well in advance, it was one of the luckiest accidents to ever happen in either series.

 

[Edmund Blackadder]

Wasn't Spike being written out of some, if not all, of season 7 because there was a potential film role?
I want to say Bareback Mounting but I could be thinking of the wrong film.

So when that didn't pan out, Joss and co did the Spikes Soul.
Plus, lest we forget, Spikes inclusion in season 5 is heavily down to network interference.

Maybe the plan was to set Spike up for a TVM or a Spin-off and season 7 and 5 gave them the ability to explore it already.

 

[SpuffyFan4Life]

It was meant for Buffy. They were still considering doing a Spike spin-off with Faith at the end of season 7, that's why they have a couple scenes together in Dirty Girls. It was convenient however for when he went onto Angel and made a great storyline for those two. Plus being a Spuffy it would have pissed me off if they went on a show together and ended up together. It would be the first time I was truly angry with Joss (even though I didn't buy Cangel either until the "You're Welcome".

 

[Revolver]

^ This is correct. They make reference to the possible Spike/Faith spinoff in the commentary for "Dirty Girls." Thus, they didn't write that plot for Angel. However, I don't think they were doing that for a possible spinoff necessarily either. They began setting up Spike getting his soul in season six when he attempted to rape Buffy. Who knows if they had given any serious thought to a Spike/Faith spinoff at that time? Maybe they had, maybe they hadn't but I see Spike getting his soul at that time as sort of a necessary evolution for the character. If you think about it, Spike had been a reluctant ally for three seasons, one for money (mostly), one because he'd fallen for Buffy, and one because he and Buffy had been involved (sort of, but you know, it's less graphic and simpler just to say they were for the purpose of this post). Where else do you go from there with a reluctant ally? To keep his story going, they really had to either make him a better man or make him completely evil. The latter doesn't seem like a great option because the viewers have already seen Spike as Buffy's enemy. A Spike with a soul was something viewers hadn't seen and really the most interesting way to keep his character growing.

 

[SpuffyFan4Life]

^ This is correct. They make reference to the possible Spike/Faith spinoff in the commentary for "Dirty Girls." Thus, they didn't write that plot for Angel. However, I don't think they were doing that for a possible spinoff necessarily either. They began setting up Spike getting his soul in season six when he attempted to rape Buffy. Who knows if they had given any serious thought to a Spike/Faith spinoff at that time? Maybe they had, maybe they hadn't but I see Spike getting his soul at that time as sort of a necessary evolution for the character. If you think about it, Spike had been a reluctant ally for three seasons, one for money (mostly), one because he'd fallen for Buffy, and one because he and Buffy had been involved (sort of, but you know, it's less graphic and simpler just to say they were for the purpose of this post). Where else do you go from there with a reluctant ally? To keep his story going, they really had to either make him a better man or make him completely evil. The latter doesn't seem like a great option because the viewers have already seen Spike as Buffy's enemy. A Spike with a soul was something viewers hadn't seen and really the most interesting way to keep his character growing.

I couldn't agree more, and I was mostly referencing that commentary as well so I think you're awesome!