It only took me five years.

This essay on the Buffy episode "Flooded" has a lot of good insights not only into this particular episode, but also Season 6 as a whole. It made me see what I always took for a lackluster episode in a new light and gave me a new appreciation for the thought that went into the season.

It also gave me a new insight into the choice to have Spike sexually assault Buffy, something that has never jibed with me or felt true to the character. I could never understand why they (the writers) couldn't have achieved the same result (prompting Spike to seek out a way to get back his soul) simply by having him do something more seemingly in nature with his character, e.g. attempting to bite Buffy, instead of going for the shock value of an attempted rape, not only apparently betraying his character, but also reducing an iconic feminist superhero to a rape victim cliche in the process.

I still suspect that the writers didn't fully think through the consequences of this choice; several comments I've read over the years from the former writing staff, and from Whedon himself, have indicated that they planned an all-out romance between Spike and Buffy in the show's final season, but they had to pull back because of the outcry surrounding the rape attempt. But the following has at least helped me to understand the reasoning behind the decision:

During season six, for the first time it is Sunnydale’s human monsters that take centre stage. These human monsters certainly include the Trio (who slowly become more and more villainous as the season progresses) but it also includes characters like Buffy, Willow, Xander, and Spike; each one of whom will commit monstrous acts at some point in the season.

What I believe I'm finally starting to get is the necessity, at least insofar as keeping with the central theme of the season, of having it be an act of human violence and betrayal that ultimately lead Spike to choose between his lingering humanity and his demonic nature, ultimately making the choice to be a better human being. As this essay also points out, each of the Scoobies in turn succumbed to the darkest parts of their nature, and each of them had to deal with their own penchant for monstrosity before they could grow into healthy adults.

Spike was no different. The monster inside him was more blatant, closer to the surface, and literal than the rest, but ultimately it wasn't the demon in him that attacked and betrayed Buffy. That attack had nothing to do with him being a vampire. It was the man who was broken and defeated by Buffy's refusal to even allow for the possibility of his existence, who ultimately snapped and tried to dominate her and force her to acknowledge and validate him in the most violent way possible. And it was the man who then chose to overcome his dark nature and seek out redemption. Anything else he could have done to her could and would have been attributed to the demon, but it wasn't about his demon nature. It was about humanity, the good, the bad, the disgusting, and the sublime.

That's... actually pretty cool, and I'm sorry it took me so long to get it. The writers deserve kudos for sticking to their guns and knowing what they were all about, even when the rest of us didn't.

Link: “It’s unbelievably important”: “Flooded” as Blueprint For Season Six