It's a wonderful character. I think that "Becoming" was the first episode I watched and of course I noticed Spike's hotness but he had a minor part and wasn't very developped in the finale then I watched reruns of season 1 and kept being in love with Giles and relating to Willow (for both her geekiness and her crush on Giles!)and it's only when I watch reruns of season 2 and "School Hard" that I decided that Spike was my favourite character! But I wasn't a BTVS fan yet...

Then I got the cable where season 4 was being shown (yeah I saw season 4 before seeing season 3! LOL)and I was thrilled by the accents, the puns and episodes like "The Intiative" and "Something Blue" that turned me into a Spuffy shipper (even if I didn't know the expression at the time). In season 5, I was definitely hooked and when I saw "Fool For Love" it was like the proof I was right and I melted because you know James' acting skills fleshed him out. Ah William's nod!

They (the writers and James)created something grand when they made him.

Good times!