Dancing In The Dark Or My Ten Years With Blondie Bear
There's something happening somewhere baby I just know that there is...
I need a love reaction come on now baby give me just one look
You can't start a fire, you can't start a fire without a spark
This guns for hire even if were just dancing in the dark
...
Let me quote from my post celebrating the Tenth Anniversary of "BtVS" because amazingly enough I didn't see a single episode until I watched School Hard during Summer reruns on the WB.
"BtVS in its second Season changed nights and then suddenly it was something I could watch. So I tuned in and low and behold, it was School Hard . Interesting premise so far... and then... this car crashed into the Welcome to Sunnydale sign and the car door opened and... these big black boots appeared.
And then the rest of him, yes it was a him, appeared.
And yes, he's a vampire and he looks interesting. And then he shows up where all these other vampires are hanging around and he's tough and cocky and then he hears something behind him and as his head turns... Wow! what a transformation.
And it was official, I was hooked and I've been hooked ever since."
The appearance of Spike in School Hard is,IMO, one of the greatest entrances a character ever had on television. He's cool, he's tough, he's tender and he's out for the Slayer's blood. He's come to town to cure his Dark Princess and no little blonde is going to get in his way. Of course, being Spike things don't exactly work out the way he planned. That little blonde proves to be much harder to kill and then there's that family and friends thing... What's a vampire to do! Well, we can always have a lot more fun until we come up with a cunning plan, and that's just what Spikey does.
And, of course, the rest of us buckled ourselves in for the ride of our life. Who would have predicted the course of Spike's unlife after his fateful meeting with Buffy. Could anyone have seen that he'd lose Dru, fall in love with Buffy, be "outed" as a poetry writing wimp who became a vampire because a woman dissed him, regain his soul and die saving the world. If you'd have predicted that back after watching School Hard for the first time, you would have been laughed at. Vampires were for killing, unless they were Angel of course. Not this guy.
So here's a special toast to a short, snarky vampire with a soft center who found himself on the road to redemption and became a big damn hero :
Here's to William Henry Pratt aka William the Bloody aka Spike the Slayer of Slayers aka The Savior of the World.
And for my favorite review of this episode, I give you Spring Summers of The Soulful Spike Society who finds thing I'd didn't see no matter how many times I've watched that episode.