Buffy The Vampire Slayer 3x02 “Dead Man’s Party” Reaction

Now that I am a parent (especially of a teen) I can feel what Joyce was feeling in that moment when she told Buffy that if she leaves to never come back. She had just learned about vampires and about Buffy being the Slayer. She just learned about Kendra being killed. She was desperate to keep Buffy safe and said the one thing she thought had a chance of keeping her home and safe with her. Not saying it was the right thing to say, just saying that I feel her desperation in that moment.

Most definitely, I honestly expected them to keep it a secret for a few more seasons. But I’m glad she knows now.

najaé

My position on Joyce is that she becomes a much better mother when everyone stops lying to her.

Thom Purdy

How would she have saved Angel?! She was trying to prevent the world from being sucked into hell! How much more urgent did it need to be for the outcome to change? Her knowing would not have made a difference in the outcome. Also, there's nothing like a life or death struggle to bring people back together!

Thom Purdy

I'll make one point in favor of Joyce. Obviously her telling Buffy never to come back was a terrible mistake. However I will side with her against Giles. She had no idea Giles was acting as another parental figure. She had no idea about Buffy's slayer life. And Giles was the one that prevented Buffy from telling her about being a slayer, even when Angel was sneaking into their house at night and harassing Joyce. Every time Joyce talked to her friends, they were hiding Buffy's secret from her. She must feel terribly betrayed by the gang, and especially Giles as an authority figure. It's not that telling Buffy to never come back was okay, its that she should not have been put in that position where she would say something so hurtful. And that is Giles' fault. For what it's worth, I love this episode. 🙂

spacejack

This episode reads like bad fanfiction for me. I feel like the writers were having a really off week when they wrote this, I can't fathom any other reason they would have the characters so out of their elements. Very awkward and stumbling plot with an abrupt anticlimactic conclusion. Definitely a bottom of the barrel episode

Anastasia Bartocha

Exactly! Oz and that dialogue about some party was so ooc from him. At first I thought it was for him to lighten the mood and ease the tension, but it was very odd for him. And Willow literally compared her bf to Angel, I was baffled.

najaé

Haha why is the Joyce heat making me laugh so much 🤣🤣🤣 I love how just the mention of her name has an impact now 😝😄 Xander pisses me right off this episode mind. It's one thing for the group to share their feelings of being left with no word from her but jeez.....everyone on her back so aggressive? 😮😵😒 On the plus side, everything's out on the open and the group can now heal 😍 Hang in there with Joyce, she's a pretty sweet lady once we get to know her. The writers have kept her at a distance till now afterall (to impose the secret life/alter ego/strained relationship) x

Kyle Jordan Ashley Brown

A consistent thing with Xander has been that when he's angry, he just goes immediately for the hurt. "Girls don't usually hope a greyhound over boy troubles" is incredibly cruel (and it makes me think of his "Guess a guy has to be dead to make time with you" from season 1). He needs to do some HEAVY reflection because no one should be saying such cruel things when they're upset. I also personally find Oz a little out of character in this ep - usually he's quite perceptive and it seems off that he'd go along with this party thing, I don't know. Joyce's attitude I feel is a sign of the times. Although there are still parents with that attitude, I feel like nowadays it's more acceptable for a parent to say "I'm sorry, I was wrong" to their child, but they really used to discourage stuff like that in the past. As for Willow, I'm sorry, sure there's stuff going on with her but Buffy has only had a summer to deal with her grief and she still needs help. "I'm dating now" to the girl who had to kill her boyfriend, seriously?

Laura_Ali

There aren't many really badly done Buffy eps. This one is.

Chas Summers

THANK YOU THATS EXACTLY WHAT I WAS THINKING.

najaé

This episode pisses me off. Everyone is mad because THEY had to pick up the slack when Buffy left. Oh BOO FUCKING HOO!!! She does it every day, and no one gave her a choice. Not only that, had Xander not have lied, she might have been able to save Angel. Then Xander acts righteous... ugh. The nerve of people.

KiwiJello

I was trying to be understanding but they pissed me off truly.

najaé

This is one of my least favorite episodes of the entire show. I want to fight Buffy's friends in this one.

John Sturchio