 Although " Once More , with Feeling " allows all the characters to confess truthfully , with the exception of Willow , it does not resolve the behavior that demanded confession in the first place . At the end of the episode , Buffy kisses Spike , initiating a romance that she hides from her friends . Their relationship lasts until the end of the series , marked for a time by Buffy 's loathing of him because he has no soul . Her relationship with Spike , however , allows her to feel lust and attraction , which she yearns for after being pulled back from a heavenly dimension . In The Psychology of Joss Whedon , Mikhail <unk> writes that , although Buffy 's first step toward re @-@ engaging with her life is telling the Scoobies the truth in the song " Something to Sing About " , she does not find meaning again until the end of the season . In his essay " A Kantian Analysis of Moral Judgment in Buffy the Vampire Slayer " , Scott Stroud explains that Buffy , as the central character throughout the series , is torn between her desires and her duty , in a Kantian illustration of free will vs. <unk> , symbolized by her responsibility as a Slayer and her adolescent impulses . In earlier seasons , this takes the form of simpler pleasures such as dating and socializing , interspersed with defeating evil forces . It reaches a climax in the ultimate sacrifice when Buffy offers to die to save the world . However , " Once More , with Feeling " , according to Stroud , is the turning point at which she begins to face her responsibility to the community , her friends and her family . Not only does she continue her Slaying despite a lack of inspiration , but for the rest of the season she works at a humiliating job to provide for her sister and friends . 
