25 of TV’s best (and worst) on again off again couples
By Sundi Rose
Buffy and Spike – Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Their love story: The whole “thing” between Buffy and Spike might be better described as a “self-sabotage and self-loathing” story rather than a love story. It started out as a way for Buffy to escape her feelings of helplessness and anger at the world around her. She was disgusted to learn that Spike had real feelings for her, and she regretted every one of those early trysts they had.
However, Buffy softened toward Spike when it became clear he would do anything for her, including enduring torture to keep her and her family safe. She grew to trust him, and eventually, he became an integral part of the Scooby Gang. That is until he let his feelings of unrequited love get the best of him, and he attacked her. His guilt over this drove him out of Sunnydale, and when he returned he wasn’t the same
Did they or didn’t they: They never really did. They were together for a short while, but Buffy outgrew what she was getting from Spike and decided she needed more. She also decided to put mostly all romantic entanglements on the back burner. Saving the world doesn’t leave much time for boyfriends.
How to watch it unfold: Thankfully, Hulu finally decided to make all the Buffy episodes available — all 144 of them. If you want to just skip over the whole Buffy/Angel thing, then head straight for season 4.