I think it was the closest thing to Spike's character growth we've had all season.

I agree. With a few definite exceptions, I was a bit disappointed with how Spike's character was handled at times during this season. Granted, the writers don't want to make too many references to what happened on Buffy, since that show is over and they'd want to work with the series at hand, but it often struck me odd the way much of Spike's previous development was swept under the rug. It was wonderful to see this bit of growth here.