# Buffy 3/12 **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 13, 2002, 2:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buffy-3-12/97969 "2002-03-13T02:05:36Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Nefarious\_Chipmunk](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nefarious_chipmunk/32/1045_2.png) [@Nefarious\_Chipmunk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nefarious_Chipmunk)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2002, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buffy-3-12/97969/21 "2002-03-13T17:16:09Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Dinsdale \* > \*\* > And I guess the Double Meat Palace is a pretty forgiving employer, welcoming her back after strolling away in the middle of a shift. Did she call it a mental health day? > \*\* Well, you have to keep in mind that she has the dirt on the Double Meat Palace, with the whole burgers not actually being meat, and all. Was anyone else wanting to shoot Dawn when she went off trying to make the problem of Buffy’s delusion’s all about her. I mean, seriously. My sister has been stabbed by a psychosis causing demon, and when she hallucinates, she doesn’t hallucinate about me. I am, therefore, the most unloved person in the world and I am going to run off at a time when my sister needs me to be supportive, and go somewhere where they are stupid enough to actually want me around… I really hate Dawn, in case you haven’t noticed… ---
**Author:** ![Fiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e274bd/32.png) [@Fiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fiver)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2002, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buffy-3-12/97969/22 "2002-03-13T17:29:49Z")
And her character’s fifteen years old, in case you hadn’t noticed. How many teenagers do you know who aren’t hopelessly self-absorbed. All you Dawn-haters really flummox me. Why are you so shocked and incensed that a teenage girl _is acting like a teenage girl?_ Would you rather she was the precocious, too-capable, too-adult sort of teenager seen on _Dawson’s Creek?_ Dawn’s character as is gives us believable and useful story complications. I just don’t get all the hate. ---
**Author:** ![Nefarious\_Chipmunk](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nefarious_chipmunk/32/1045_2.png) [@Nefarious\_Chipmunk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nefarious_Chipmunk)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2002, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buffy-3-12/97969/23 "2002-03-13T17:47:29Z")
I don’t know when you were last a fifteen year old girl, but when I was one, about 5 years ago, I may have had my moments of self-absorbtion, but nothing like that. If my sister was going through something like, I would NEVER have reacted that way. No one I know would have, unless they were completly selfish. You can’t explain something like that away by saying she is just being a teenager. Some of her stuff you can, but that sort of thing is just bad. Besides, even if that were the excuse you gave, in the Buffyverse, when all of the Scoobies were 15, the only person we saw making all the problems hers was Cordelia, and it was used as a method to show how complete self-absorbed she was. I think that when most of us saw Cordelia doing something like that we saw it as, “Wow, she is a real spoiled princess, hehe.” It worked for Cordelia because they used it as humor. In Dawn it is just annoying because they are trying to make such self-absorbed behavior dramtic. ---
**Author:** ![Hazel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e56c9b/32.png) [@Hazel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hazel)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2002, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buffy-3-12/97969/24 "2002-03-13T18:01:05Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Fiver \* > > \*\*Was anyone else reminded of the final episode of _St. Elsewhere_ by last night’s episode? > > \*\* Yes, I was reminded. And now some misc thoughts. I was surprised that Zander came back so soon. I’m wondering what Warren and Andrew had in those packages. I hope that J.T. Cornpone is correct about the explanation for the final scene. Re Buffy’s Dad, I think we did see him in a few early episodes. I, too, am both bugged and puzzled by his continuing absence. Surely by now he should have found out about Joyce and rushed home. I’d like to find out if he thinks he has one daughter or two. He wasn’t around when Dawn joined the family, so may not have been included when Buffy, Joyce, and their immediate circle suddenly started thinking Dawn had always been there. ---
**Author:** ![panamajack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/47e85d/32.png) [@panamajack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panamajack)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2002, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buffy-3-12/97969/25 "2002-03-13T18:06:59Z")
The was the first episode I’ve seen in a while, and I thought it was good but the possibility that it’s all been in her head wasn’t really believable, even with the final scene. It seemed more like a subtle joke on the show, which is both amusing but shows the age of the series. One of the show’s primary features (and strengths, I think) is expanding metaphors into real-life (well, in a fantasy world) situations. This is more of the same, only now it’s the Joss (and probably others) projecting the ideas of creating a whole fictional show and having to live with these characters you’ve created. I think the line about adding Dawn, “to create a familial bond” was along these lines. Sort of like, “I guess the spirits though the main vision was a little weak.” ---
**Author:** ![Fionn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/a587f6/32.png) [@Fionn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fionn)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2002, 7:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buffy-3-12/97969/26 "2002-03-14T19:47:19Z")
I’m surprised by how much the Tara spoiler bummed me out. All along people have said she’s doomed. I myself have joked that she couldn’t be more marked for death if she were traipsing down a dark deserted wearing a short skirt and saying “I’m not going to let a broken-down car and a psychopathic killer on the loose stop me from reaching that haunted house.” Even so, I love the character and I think she’s an important part of the show, both with Willow and in her own right. I was hoping the rumors would turn out to be wrong. ---
**Author:** ![Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e19adc/32.png) [@Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2002, 9:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buffy-3-12/97969/27 "2002-03-14T21:24:26Z")
I thought it was a top-notch episode; a perfect opportunity taken to remind the fans that it is just a show. But even better, it was a fantastic ep that brought the show back to its roots. Buffy isn’t a show about vampires and demons; it’s a show about the hell that is growing up, no matter how strong or capable you are. If all you want are some chicks kicking demonic ass, go watch \* Charmed\*. ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2002, 10:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buffy-3-12/97969/28 "2002-03-14T22:45:46Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Ballybay \* > \*\*Even so, I love the character and I think she’s an important part of the show, both with Willow and in her own right. I was hoping the rumors would turn out to be wrong. \*\* History has shown that there are many false “Spoilers”. I have little faith that the spoiler posted above is anything more substantial than some fan’s idea of what should happen. It may be correct, but history would advise you to remain suspicious. ---
**Author:** ![Hirka\_T\_Bawa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/db5fbb/32.png) [@Hirka\_T\_Bawa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hirka_T_Bawa)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2002, 2:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buffy-3-12/97969/29 "2002-03-15T02:13:45Z")
> [@](#): > > Missing Parents: > > So, when did we ever see Buffy’s dad before? I never recall seeing him in previous episodes. Likewise, did we ever meet Xander’s parents before the wedding? (I just seem to recall shouting up and down th basement stairs prior to that.) Ok, the times I remember seeing Buffy’s dad before was in season one, episode 10: Nightmares. He also made a quick apperance in season 2 episode 1 talking to Joyce after dropping Buffy off for the summer. I never recall seeing Xander’s mom before, but his father was shown in Season 4 episode 22, during Xander’s dream sequence, but I’m not sure if it was the same actor or not. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Tim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@The\_Tim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Tim)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2002, 2:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buffy-3-12/97969/30 "2002-03-15T02:57:22Z")
Watching the Gift it occured to me why Dawn takes so much offense to being ignored by Buffy. Just as Buffy feels like Dawn is an extension of her Dawn feels the same connection. Being ignored by Buffy is not just being ignored by her big sis for Dawn it is being spurned by part of yourself. The very source of your existence doesn’t want you. Like a parent’s hate but even worse because the extension is more literal. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2002, 6:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buffy-3-12/97969/31 "2002-03-15T06:43:38Z")
Buffy’s dad also made an appearance in Buffy’s memories of her parents bringing lil sis home in season five, when she went catatonic after letting Glory get her hands on Dawn. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Devil\_s\_Grandmother](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/74df32/32.png) [@The\_Devil\_s\_Grandmother](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Devil_s_Grandmother)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2002, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buffy-3-12/97969/32 "2002-03-19T20:28:51Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Kirkland1244 \* > \*\*Xander and Anya are in love… yea! Wait, no, the wedding falls apart because of a moment of weakness by Xander… and now Anya’s a demon again, and that’s not good. > \*\* So if Anya’s a demon again, who’s running the magic shop? Could the writer use that to get out of the corner of Buffy’s money probelms? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buffy-3-12/97969.md?page=1)