He was superfluous. Not in a malignant way, but since his screentime took time away from other characters and storylines (Lorne!), his contribution was ultimately detrimental to the show. Dawn in seasons 6 & 7.

since his screentime took time away from other characters and storylines (Lorne!)

But we don't know he did. We know that we might have given his time to Lorne, but Wesley could have gotten it. Or Harmony. Or Nina. Or Eve. Or naked sweaty Lindsey.

It's like the lack of Xander in late Buffy.

In the first third of the season, I found Spike actively annoying, and wanted him off my show. Since then, he's been better integrated, but I'm still not sure the season's been made better by his presence. He's fine, but whatever.

I'm dreadfully Spike-centric, so I was all excited about the change. I've loved seeing Angel have to deal with this blast from his past, having someone around who knows exactly how to make him furious fastest. True, Spike was shoehorned in a couple of places for contractual obligations, and his parts could have been done by others occasionally, but they've pretty much kept it a Spike-Angel dynamic.

The Fred-Spike angle seemed forced, but not too badly so.

He's fine, but whatever.

That's my opinion too. Unless someone told me what they'd have done if they hadn't written for him, who the hell knows?

But we don't know he did. We know that we might have given his time to Lorne, but Wesley could have gotten it. Or Harmony. Or Nina. Or Eve. Or naked sweaty Lindsey.

No, we can't know what they would have done with the time. But, new character is shoehorned into the show and another character gets far less facetime and no arc? I feel confident that they are correlated. (I also feel like all the other characters were not underserved.)

Moreover, a lot of Spike's purpose could have been filled by Lorne--e.g., watching Illyria; being the Anya/Cordelia "truthteller." I think every Spike storyline and his character arc could have been discarded this season with no net loss to the show's arc and storyline.

Then what explains last season's underuse of Lorne? It'd have been nice if they'd sat down and figured out what his best use was, but it wasn't Spike stopping them from doing it.

I feel like he's far more sidelined this season, but I could be wrong.

I still feel that he AND Spike is one wacky sidekick too many.

I think Spike could have been better used (to draw parallels and show growth in Angel) than he was.

I also agree Lorne could have been better used, but hell, even the time he's been given this season has been wasted. Since about mid (I'm fudging the timeline), he's been useless. Gunn, Angel, Wesley, even Spike get to use what they're good at to move any given episode along. Lorne, NSM.

Though I cheered this week when Angel said Lorne was right -- about his viewpoint on good vs. evil. Because that's the one I'd always thought he had, whether or not he's actually right.

In the first third of the season, I found Spike actively annoying, and wanted him off my show. Since then, he's been better integrated, but I'm still not sure the season's been made better by his presence. He's fine, but whatever.

I agree that he doesn't really add to the show. However, I think he fits into Angel's Avengers (hee) a ton better than he ever fit in with the Scoobies. He just gels better with this cast, even if he doesn't really improve anything by being here.