And then as the episode progressed, Spike gets his cool back. There's a part of Joss that doesn't want to please everybody. I don't think he's comfortable unless someone is mildly offended. He wants characters to get under your skin. And the moment they say they like a character because of one specific quality, he'll go the opposite way.
Nothing ever stays the same season to season.
I don't think dangerous is interesting to Joss, frankly. He can create a character that is that way, but it's usually a setup - he's exploring something much more human which has gotta be about fallability and degradation, really. Spike was never meant to last. It made me pathetic and more human. ASH Which became instantly attractive to Joss.