That's true. We don't really know Souled Spike at that point.

As Buffy herself said "you don't even know you". The old Spike would have snarked and snapped and made derogatory remarks about all of them, then sauntered out with a dramatic sweep of his coat. This Spike tries to sneak out of the room before Buffy stops him. I can see him wanting to separate himself from the angry mood, which is pretty normal - and in a RL situation I'd call it healthy, but this isn't RL. Whether that's because he's feeling battered or whether he's still making the mistake that Willow is making re: magic, and "holding back" because he wants to snap at Buffy but thinks he oughtn't I don't know. In some ways, she's right - the old Spike, or certain qualities he possessed is exactly what she needs, and not just in terms of fighting skills.

"if I need someone to get weepy or whaled on, I'll call you". *lol* That is SO Angel.

I once read somewhere that Fillon auditioned for Angel.

I read that somewhere as well - he probably could have done a good job of it, but it would have been a very different performance. Speaking of trivia, you probably know that "supposedly" that was to be Riley not Angel in EoD/Chosen, but I'm a little more skeptical about that. It doesn't make as much sense to me thematically.

I really think a big dropped ball was Joss not killing Xander as he planned.

Then Emma Caulfield asked to be written out.