Buffy the Vampire Slayer 6x6 FULL Reaction
Added 2024-06-04 15:42:12 +0000 UTCI've heard there's a portion of the fanbase that hates Dawn, I'd love to hear from people who both fall into this category (why don't you like her?) and also defenders of Dawn. For the record, I'm a fan of her character (adds a nice sibling dynamic, feels realistically like a kid, and is almost where Buffy was in some ways at the beginning of the show)
Comments
Keep in mind when you ask stuff like this, you might get some fan wars going xD but seriously... I used to hate her, then I disliked her, but tolerated her... now I'm kinda 50/50 on her, tbh. It's more like, she's grown on me, I guess? I'm like that with a lot of characters. A lot of people find her whiney and immature, which seems to be a lot of the issue most of the time; she's just seen as annoying.
fatalfae
2024-08-15 17:10:58 +0000 UTCi don't think she acts dumb for her age at all, though she kinda is the product of what the monks think a teen should be like. I think everything she does is typical for her age. This episode for example is absolutely typical for 15 year olds. The problem is that we never really see it from her perspective. like when Buffy jumped into bed with Parker or when Buffy told Angel in a mean way that his heart isn't beating, or when Buffy was hiding the fact that Angel is back, or when she first saved Jonathan but then talked about him kinda rudely to Giles, we usually understand her perspective. We know enough to empathize with her. And the episode "When she was bad" has everyone angry at Buffy, but we still get it. Dawn simply doesn't have enough scenes showing her inner feelings enough, that would make us empathise with why she's doing what she's doing.
Viera Galikova
2024-06-27 22:47:22 +0000 UTClol, nobody ever hums "pop goes the weasel" for other than ominous reasons the metaphor is a little on the nose in this episode :)) Dawn actually is so infatuated that she considers letting him turn her. as in, letting him sleep with her. The other vamp says to Giles about Dawn's friend: "She was asking for it."
Viera Galikova
2024-06-27 21:57:54 +0000 UTCI don't like Dawn. I think it's mostly due to the fact that she was originally written to be a lot younger. Then they cast Michelle who's certainly doing a good job – but she just seems so obnoxious and annoying because she's acting really dumb for someone her age. Picturing her as a 10 or 12 year old during the first couple of episodes of Season 5 really helps me understand her better. She's a much better character in Season 6, but at that time I've already disliked her for too long to just go "Ah, okay, she's fine now."
G. Smith
2024-06-27 20:04:47 +0000 UTCNobody's keeping you from watching it. You don't need Nick for that.
G. Smith
2024-06-27 19:54:22 +0000 UTCI REALLY NEED TO WATCH 6x7.... pretty please???? How much do I need to wait? I want to watch it soooonnn (hahaha). Greetings! Enjoy your weekend both of you, lovelys!
Sofía Reyes
2024-06-15 20:37:41 +0000 UTCi like dawn 🤣 i didn’t as a child, but the older i get the more i can appreciate what her character adds to the show.
Erika
2024-06-05 18:05:22 +0000 UTCI remember hating Dawn’s character when I was younger watching the show because she was such a brat and she changed the atmosphere of the show as soon as she arrived. At the time she made me uncomfortable.
KP
2024-06-05 03:50:49 +0000 UTCI did not like Dawn when I first watched the show in the 00's. I was in my 20s then. But I've grown to appreciate her over the years. She's just a kid really. And so was I. Yes, Anya was overplanning. But my advice as someone a little older is to make sure that what you want and what your partner wants is the same thing. Because it's hard to force if it doesn't come easily.
Jennifer McIntyre
2024-06-05 01:55:08 +0000 UTCI think this is a big aspect that people overlook. Dawn has SO much trauma when you really look at everything. I really feel for her.
Jennifer McIntyre
2024-06-05 01:16:22 +0000 UTCCan’t wait for the next Buffy episode. Prepare yourself!
John Schone
2024-06-04 19:56:36 +0000 UTCI just started the reaction, and I'm leaving this now because I'll forget if I wait until I finish watching. When talking to Dawn at the start of the episode, Anya said, "This is a special kind of angel called a Charlie." The line is a reference to a show from the 70s, about three women who "fight crime" under the direction of a mysterious man named Charlie, who only talks to them over a radio, and whom we never see. Or, that's my impression of the show, though I only saw an episode or two, and it was a long time ago. One of the women looks more or less like Anya did in that scene. She's satirizing it, but not by much. I think there was one episode where they were on roller skates. That Anya's wearing them in the scene suggests she watched the one ep where the Angels had them, and interpreted it to mean they always wear them. There was a not so great movie based on the show in the early 2000's, and it stars Drew Barrymore as one of the Angels. There was also a remake of the show later, but it didn't do well either. Oh, and before I forget to ask, did you die your hair, Nick, or is it just the lighting? Either way, it looks nice!
Raven Dark
2024-06-04 18:32:40 +0000 UTCI should say, while watching each episode, I don't hate her at all! I enjoy the character, I promise, and I don't want to yuck her for anybody. And I love that you like her! You always have the best eclectic taste in characters. Your love for Principal Whatshisname from the first season, and for Gilderoy Lockhart in Harry Potter bring me joy. But, you asked why we don't like her as a whole, and that's my reason. All other Buffy characters (even Faith) feel organic, like it makes sense why they exist in that world. All but Dawn.
Lola Lirola
2024-06-04 17:34:00 +0000 UTCI never liked the character because it always felt like a very clunky "writer's room" artifact. I can imagine the conversation: - Well, team, we're in a bit of a rut. We need to freshen up the show. Original characters and actors are now grownup, so we need a teen hook for the audience, we need a naive character as an audience proxy to make exposition to (because we can no longer pretend the OGs are just discovering what's going on), we need a damsel in distress quota... - So let's make up a character! - But... we need her to be permanent, we can't make the effort of making new characters to fit that slot every week... - I know! What if Buffy had a younger sister? - A sister? But where would she come from? We haven't even written any mentions of a sibling, or even step sibling, ever at all... Wouldn't Buffy have mentioned she had one? Wouldn't we know Joyce had another kid? Wouldn't Buffy have been affected if her dad had had a kid with someone else? - Dangit, you're right. Well... Let's make her magical! We'll say everyone is under a spell to believe she's always existed, so the *audience* will also be tricked to believe she's always existed! I'm a genius!! ...Sigh. I like the character itself, and I like the writing for her, I really like that she's very much a teen, I *love* her interactions with Spike, I very much like the way the actor plays her! But her basic presence in the show feels like they barely even tried to disguise how shoehorned and mcguffiny she is, and that irks me. I wanted them to make at least some effort to make Dawn's existence make sense. When I see her, I see writer's laziness and focus-grouped decisions.
Lola Lirola
2024-06-04 17:28:53 +0000 UTCOh, and just one other comment. I actually watched the series way back when as it first aired. It wasn't just a "portion" of the fanbase that hated Dawn. I dare say it was probably around 80 percent or so. It's definintely died down over the years. The hate was pretty vehement back then.
Christina Gmiterko
2024-06-04 17:15:53 +0000 UTCOn the whole, I like Dawn as a character. I think the show just didn’t always know what to do with her. And in season five, she was so integral to the season long arc, I think season six can feel like it took a while to find it’s footing with her to some viewers.
Elle Blank
2024-06-04 16:49:36 +0000 UTCFirst time watcher and I like dawn. She is a bit annoying but she is Buffy’s little sister and like 13.
Petra Marie
2024-06-04 16:13:57 +0000 UTCYeah I think that's one of the strengths of the show is having characters that grow on you I don't know how high Dawn would rank in a character tier list of mine (gonna have to do one soon) but she never was a character that I hated
Nicholas Crowell
2024-06-04 16:10:53 +0000 UTCI've never had a younger sister (just a little brother) but I actually think that Dawn comes across believably as a young teenager. The way she processed the passing of Joyce, her emotional responses and poor judgment, and the way she often feels like an outsider to the older people around here were all things that I could relate to thinking back to being 14. But to be fair I might be forgetting other things that happened where she acted younger than her age
Nicholas Crowell
2024-06-04 16:07:30 +0000 UTCI think the Hate is because nobody likes change and she was a big change. People say she was immature and annoying 🙄 and to those people I ask, "and you weren't at 14?" Plus, you gotta acknowledge how much trauma this poor girl has gone throug! Of course she's gonna act out.
Kristen Rose
2024-06-04 16:07:00 +0000 UTCI didn't like Dawn at all on my first watch but she's grown on me over the years. I think it's because I had 5 children (4 girls) and Dawn could out-whine the lot of them combined 🤣 I think she had been written as a 12 year old but SMG had worked with Michelle before and asked for her to be Dawn so they made her older but didn't alter the script.
CeNedra
2024-06-04 16:03:21 +0000 UTCI didn't like her much when I was younger because as you said, she's a realistic teenage kid, but grew to appreciate her more now!
Liam
2024-06-04 16:00:23 +0000 UTCI think some of the dislike is from the writers odd choice to write her way younger than she actually is. They write her like she's 8, not a teenager and all the charecters except maybe Spike treat her like she's 8 as well.
Christina Gmiterko
2024-06-04 15:50:08 +0000 UTC
