I just went to the link about Joss saying that his interest in Spike at first had nothing to do with Buffy, but I actually don't think that's what he says. He tells the interviewer that Spike was always meant to be more than a cardboard villain so that he could become "thematically useful", which is pretty much exactly what I'm arguing here.
(no subject)
Date: 2009-01-30 09:03 pm (UTC)See? More and more evidence. :P