Big-big big time Spike fan here, but it really kicked in for me with "The Pack"--mos def the first ep to show real promise. "Nightmares" is also very good.

Season two doesn't start until "School Hard." In fact, I can't even remember what the first ep even is...oh wait, I can. Well, the second ep--don't remember what it is...At any rate, one of my favorite seasons which is nearly Spikeless (even though he gets his face on one of the DVDs anyway) is season three.