Spiked

It's nice to know I wasn't the only person who wondered what the hell was going on with Spike for most of the character's tenure on the latter seasons of Buffy. Turns out James Marsters himself was often at a loss:

"...That was the problem with Spike. In all honesty, that character had no objective 90 percent of the time. I would have to make it up ... To find your objective is like a gas pedal for acting. And if you can find that objective and play it honestly, it's like 'Wham!' And if you can't find it, you're mired."