Did anyone else hate Dawn in this season?

[Faith 2019]

Dawn was not really Buffy's sister, she was dropped in as being the key. Buffy accepted her, and talk about her being the key was dropped. It was not good writing how she was dropped into the series.

 

[DeadlyDuo]

Dawn was not really Buffy's sister, she was dropped in as being the key. Buffy accepted her, and talk about her being the key was dropped. It was not good writing how she was dropped into the series.

I agree. I think Dawn should've been Buffy's cousin who ended up having to live with Joyce and Buffy. Add in a tragic reason why, and then you've got a conflict where Buffy is annoyed by Dawn but can't really say anything about it because of the tragic reason.

 

[ChaseRules]

True . They could have said that Joyce younger sister was Dawn mother so Buffy would have know & not want to get her mom mad at her because of what had happened to Dawn.

 

[S Rou]

True . They could have said that Joyce younger sister was Dawn mother so Buffy would have know & not want to get her mom mad at her because of what had happened to Dawn.

Your name has me wondering how Cordelia would act towards dawn if they met... How would.they get along? That would be interesting.

 

[ChaseRules]

Agreed . Would it be funny if Cordelia & Dawn bonded & were more like sisters to each other then Dawn & Buffy was

What do you think ?

 

[FaithLehane16]

Dawn was not really Buffy's sister, she was dropped in as being the key. Buffy accepted her, and talk about her being the key was dropped. It was not good writing how she was dropped into the series.

It was crappy writing, which is why I dislike this season the most.

 

[ChaseRules]

What I really disliked was they dropped the idea of Dawn being special . They spent Season 5 making Dawn special & then nothing …...

 

[QueenVictoria]

I never disliked Dawn, in any season, but I now know that I am not the majority.

In case you were not aware, Dawn was originally written as an 8-10 year old, but Joss decided to cast Michelle and apparently also decided not to re-write the role, for some reason.

That makes perfect sense. I wasn't aware that Dawn was originally supposed to be younger. I know teenagers can be bratty but I have NEVER met a teenager who behaved liked Dawn did. It's kind of hard to put into words... It actually creeped me out to see a teenager acting like she had the mental age of a little girl of 7 or 8.

 

[thrasherpix]

Anyone of any age can be that way. A few months ago I had to deal with a guy with the LITERAL maturity of a toddler, always shouting, screaming, throwing things, and crying. Unsurprisingly, he's homeless (and I'd guess mid-20s). I see him from time to time and also unsurprisingly he seems to have no friends. He's the most extreme example I can think of an adult like that but I've known plenty of adults and teens (though a distinct minority) who act more or less about like Dawn.

But fans just aren't going to convince me that's normal (not on a day by day basis) teen behavior, or if they do for their area then I will reconsider my position that considers corporal punishment something to be avoided. And verbal and witty skills aside, the teens in the early seasons of Buffy--or even Lizzie McGuire--were much more relatable to being teens (as opposed to drooling ice cream or having screaming fits like that). I've seen teens act like her on YT but it's like "what a freak" or "look how bad I can troll my sibling to make him totally lose it." Not "I remember being that way at 14 in 8th grade" anyway. It would seem a lot more natural and believable to me if she were under 10, at least in season 5.

That said, I still find her plausible (especially in season 6 where she's worse, but with reason), and have come up with two headcanons for it. The simpler one is that ascetic monks would envision a girl Dawn's age that way (they probably would) and so created her that way and made it seem normal to those around her. The complex version is that Dawn and her friends would be natural targets for Angelus and even bad Faith and the Mayor (in addition to their own supernatural hijinks) so that Dawn felt the only friends she could have (may even need them for survival) was her older sister and the Scoobies, in addition to being much closer to her mother as she was than many 14-year-olds and that could do much to explain her behavior.

 

[DeadlyDuo]

@thrasherpix Even 4 year olds can eat ice cream neater than Dawn did.

It annoys me that Dawn did nothing to help Buffy in Season 6. Even when social services were breathing down Buffy's neck, Dawn did nothing to try and help allieviate the situation eg going to school on time, putting effort into her schoolwork etc. Season 6 was the "throw as much crap at Buffy as you can and watch her struggle to deal with it" season. Buffy struggling with being resurrected was enough for her to deal with but nope, got to add an unhealthy sexual relationship, financial worries, a complete lack of support from the scoobies, an unappealing job, a bratty sister, and social services threatening to take Dawn away on top of that because otherwise Buffy just isn't miserable enough.

 

[Bluebird]

I can relate to Dawn because I eat food just as clumsily as she. Maybe I'm also a badly written character.

 

[one eyed chicklet]

My brother is 14 and worse behaved than Dawn (not joking - tantrums and everything) so for that reason, it makes Dawn look that much better.

 

[telperion66]

If I ever watch Buffy for the seasons with Dawn in them, its for vastly different reasons to why I watch the first three seasons.

The first season has a great energy about it which is a world away from the type of show they developed while Dawn was on the show.

The second and third seasons are cathartic for me in terms of their depiction of Buffy and Angel's romance; this is primarily why I watch them.

I like the seasons with Dawn a lot less, however I appreciate them from a different perspective, for example for the "delicate" dialogue and increased sensitivity the characters seem to have toward one another during this era. It might not have the same intensity or energy, but there are some good, different things about the show in the later seasons.

 

[Btvs fan]

I always think Dawn was a 1 season character and the writers didn't have a clue what to do with her post S5.