Okay, so Joss was asked by a woman in the audience, how the audience was supposed to accept Spike or a Spike/Buffy relationship after the attempted rape in season 6. Joss said, after that scene, the writing staff felt very ambivalent about that relationship and they discussed its ramifications a LOT and that very ambivalence is what they wanted the audience to feel. Joss said they wanted to look at whether the action of rape made Spike automatically 'inhuman' or whether there was a chance that he could genuinely feel contrition for his actions, understand that they were wrong and truly repent those actions and spend the rest of his time dealing with the consequences of it and changing his behavior, evolving into a better person. Joss said that after the rape the writers absolutely did not want to suggest that a future romantic relationship between Buffy and Spike was possible or acceptable. Joss specifically cited that he found the "Luke & Laura" saga disgusting (on General Hospital, Luke originally raped Laura, then married her in what is considered one of the biggest soap opera romance ever) and that's NOT what the Buffy/Spike relationship was going to be. What the writers DID want to explore was the issue of trust. Could Spike's behavior prove that he's worthy of Buffy's trust again -- not her romantic love -- but could they get to a place of intimacy of trust.