Any of them would have been equally boring. The character outlived his usefulness and killing him would have been necessary, not interesting. Spike needed killing and the writers just wouldn't do it.

So blase, Narrator? It doesn't inspire any narrative intrigue at all?

The Sunnydale Poetry Slam runner-up.

Now see? That's entertainment.

If you killed Spike, who would make the most interesting story as his killer?

If it had been pre finding out about the attempted rape (while she still trusted him), I vote Dawn.

Throw in Dawn dies too, and they should film it and show it every Christmas.

So blase, Narrator? It doesn't inspire any narrative intrigue at all?

Yeah, and I'm sad about it, too. Because killing a character like that ought to be compelling and pull the narrative/character arcs/etc. forward. But I so didn't care about Spike by the end of the show that I didn't care if he lived, died (again) or opened an office supply store in Las Vegas. I suppose that Xander should have been the one to stake him -- that boy wanted to stake Angel and I guess, maybe, Spike would do. So, fine -- I choose Xander to stake Spike. Or to screw him. I dunno, whatever.

I wouldn't have minded a "Xander kills Spike and must hide his awful secret" storyline.

Only if there's nudity.

I dimly remember there being foilers about Drusilla killing Spike at some point. That would have been funny. It was something like, at the end of the episode, Spike is talking to someone when he suddenly crumbles to dust, which reveals Dru standing behind him with a stake.

I would have liked to see him trip and stake himself on a broken chair or something.

It'd be a nice change of pace to see the scenery chew him.

My favorite scenario was one in which I got to kill Spike.

Harmony should have gotten the chance to do him in. With her precious wooden unicorn figurine. Or perhaps a tragic emery board accident.

Is the slash phenomena the result of all the poor, traumatized het women who had their illusions destroyed by Spuffy?

With regard to the Buffyverse shows, I think it's the result of Eliza Dushku and Christian Kane shooting enough sparks at their respective leads that you could have landed a 747 by the light.

I liked Spike. It was the Spoldemort faction of his fen that I couldn't stand. Between the Spoldemorts and the kttns, I started having fantasies about bringing down the interbunny, worldwide. Fandom (at large) enriched and enhanced my love for the 'verse for my first few years, and then tried to kill it, from then on in.

I do think in season 7 though, that the writers didn't have a frigging clue what do to with Spike, next. That's too bad. To me, his story read like:

1) We have to have him do something bad enough to motivate him to get a soul.

2) He's different. He has a soul now.

3) Oh shit, that thing he did to motivate him to get the soul was too bad to now let him do what we'd intended for him to do once he had a soul.

4) Maybe we should have him be crazy for a while.

5) Nope. He still ain't coming back from that attempted rape (a.k.a. the a/r in the b/r in SR grr argh).

6) But he's different. He has a soul, now.

7) But he's different. He has a soul, now.

...

100) But he's different. He has a soul, now.