Hank Summers...M.I.A.

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Sunnydale Siren

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Thought it really was terrible that he was nowhere to be seen during Joyce's illness and eventual death. Despite being divorced, they appeared to be warm/civil to each other the last time Hank came to Sunnydale.


Even if he only attended her funeral, Buffy and Dawn could've used his emotional support. Wonder why Whedon opted not to have Dean Butler guest star on The Body/Forever?


does anyone know?
 
I don't know about meta-fiction wise, but as far as the story, it made sense. The point was to have the girls dependent only on themselves (hence why Giles left, as well), and having Hank around would defeat that purpose.
 
I have always thought that the reason Joss Whedon didn't have Buffy's dad in it was because the show was all about women doing it on their own. When Joyce died and Buffy's dad didn't show up, Buffy was forced to step up. The show was all about girl power, as Whedon once said, and I'm sure he felt that if Buffy's father where to come to rescue her and support her and Dawn, that would be counter to what he is trying to do with the show.

I thought it was a good idea to show as little as possible of Buffy's father. Not that I'm against fathers, my dad has been the only one of my parents that have been there for me, but I like the idea of a strong community of women.
 
Well, the sad fact of it is that sometimes dads do just leave and never look back. I did think it was sad that Hank never came around/called after Joyce died, but honestly, I know a few dads in the lives of some friends and family who walked out and never looked back, and I think this was the type of man Joss wanted to paint Hank Summers as. And the last time he appeared on the show, he did seem to be all about buying Buffy's affection rather than actually bonding with her, so this seemed like it was in his character NOT to call or show up at the funeral.
I always just thought of Hank as an ass, so other than feeling sorry for Buffy and Dawn that their biological dad wasn't around, I never really gave Hank enough credit to think that he might come back into the girls' lives after Joyce died. Besides, I always saw Giles as Buffy's father, so it was more heartbreaking for me when he left than the fact that Hank never came around again after "When She Was Bad".
 
Ooo good thread.

I hated how father figures in the buffyverse were completely neglected (heck the one chance we got to see it...with Connor...he gets thrown into an alternate dimension!). I think it stems from Buffy the show trying too hard for female empowerment. When in actual fact, empowering fathers is just as big of a deal. In fact, most people seemed to have a mom on the show, the closest to a dad was Uncle Rory...and he sucked! haha Cant have everything I suppose.
 
I liked that they didn't have him come back. I mean it was horrible for Buffy and Dawn but for the storyline I don't think it would have worked to have randomly brought him back. I thought from the begining they were trying to portray him as the type of father who would just abandon his children. So I'm glad they kept him that way.
 
I think they could have included Hank in Forever and still make the message that Buffy and Dawn were on their own now. They could have done that really easily, actually....Hank could have attended the funeral and patted them on the shoulder and said something really cliche, like "This too shall pass." And then they could have stood there awkwardly, not hugging or talking, until he eventually walked off. That would have been more powerful, maybe, than his general absence was. To show that yes, they had a father, but he was not there physically or emotionally for them.

But, no matter, Hank is nowhere to be found after S2 (unless you count Normal Again). And personally, it feels out of character to me. The last time we saw him, Buffy had stayed the summer with him and he'd bought her a ton of clothes and things...he seemed at least a little interested in his daughter's life before and right after the divorce. It just seems OFF that he wouldn't attend Joyce's funeral. Or at least give his girls a phone call.
 
BuffyElevated
BuffyElevated
You definitely raised some good points....
fly on the wall said:
I think they could have included Hank in Forever and still make the message that Buffy and Dawn were on their own now. They could have done that really easily, actually....Hank could have attended the funeral and patted them on the shoulder and said something really cliche, like "This too shall pass." And then they could have stood there awkwardly, not hugging or talking, until he eventually walked off. That would have been more powerful, maybe, than his general absence was. To show that yes, they had a father, but he was not there physically or emotionally for them.

But, no matter, Hank is nowhere to be found after S2 (unless you count Normal Again). And personally, it feels out of character to me. The last time we saw him, Buffy had stayed the summer with him and he'd bought her a ton of clothes and things...he seemed at least a little interested in his daughter's life before and right after the divorce. It just seems OFF that he wouldn't attend Joyce's funeral. Or at least give his girls a phone call.
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great post, my thoughts exactly.
 
From what very little we know of him I think it makes sence for him to not want to be involved in that part of his life with his ex-wife and their children. He has moved to Spain with his secretary (sounds slightly familiar to personal matters) which sounds to me like he's trying to cut off from his former life as husband and father of two. Sounds very mid-life crisis.
 
fly on the wall said:
I think they could have included Hank in Forever and still make the message that Buffy and Dawn were on their own now. They could have done that really easily, actually....Hank could have attended the funeral and patted them on the shoulder and said something really cliche, like "This too shall pass." And then they could have stood there awkwardly, not hugging or talking, until he eventually walked off. That would have been more powerful, maybe, than his general absence was. To show that yes, they had a father, but he was not there physically or emotionally for them.
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I guess I don't really see the point of this. Why bother bringing him their just to prove that he wasn't their for them emotional or physically? I think it was a stronger statement to not have him come at all. It shows that he not only isn't there, but he doesn't want to be there.

Also, there is mention of him in season 3 when he is suppose to take Buffy ice skating but cuts it because of work. I know that work gets tough sometimes, but family comes first and this was something he did every year with her. I saw this as the beginnig of him cutting himself from Buffy's life. The fact that he didn't show when her mom died was just a result of that.
 
A
anyalover17
[No message]
Willowsgirl said:
I guess I don't really see the point of this. Why bother bringing him their just to prove that he wasn't their for them emotional or physically? I think it was a stronger statement to not have him come at all. It shows that he not only isn't there, but he doesn't want to be there.
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Because it just feels STRANGE that he wouldn't attend his ex-wife's funeral. He and Joyce may have had an unhappy marriage, but they were still quite civil to each other after the divorce.

It wasn't like this was some six-month marriage that ended badly...he had two daughters by this woman. Yes, he'd been distancing himself for some time, yes, he may have been going through a mid-life crisis of sorts, but IMO that doesn't explain why he wouldn't attend something like that. As I said, he could have at least called, but we never see him do that either. It honestly makes me think that a) the writers were lazy or b) they couldn't get the actor to appear for whatever reason.
 
fly on the wall said:
As I said, he could have at least called, but we never see him do that either. It honestly makes me think that a) the writers were lazy or b) they couldn't get the actor to appear for whatever reason.
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I thought they did mention something about trying to call him or him calling. Something about him not being able to get away or they couldn't get a hold of him. If I am miss remembering here, and it is possible, I would have to go with B for the reason he didn't show. For the most part the writers of Buffy where excellent.
 
T
The_Final_Cylon
It is stated that Buffy is unable to contact him when Joyce dies.
Willowsgirl said:
I thought they did mention something about trying to call him or him calling. Something about him not being able to get away or they couldn't get a hold of him. If I am miss remembering here, and it is possible, I would have to go with B for the reason he didn't show. For the most part the writers of Buffy where excellent.
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I agree, and that's why it leaves me feeling confused.

There were a few episodes where Buffy mentioned trying to get a hold of her dad, back when Joyce was sick. Also, in S6 (S6 SPOILER)
they instructed the Buffybot not to answer the phone in case it was Hank.
But beyond that, I don't think he was ever in contact with them. (If I'm wrong, feel free to correct me.)
 
Willowsgirl said:
I thought they did mention something about trying to call him or him calling. Something about him not being able to get away or they couldn't get a hold of him. If I am miss remembering here, and it is possible, I would have to go with B for the reason he didn't show. For the most part the writers of Buffy where excellent.
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Buffy mentioned trying to contact her dad when Joyce fell ill, to no avail. She did allude to Hank being in Spain with his Secretary.

After Joyce died, Buffy said the phone number she tried was no longer in service.

Or something to that effect.
 
fly on the wall said:
I agree, and that's why it leaves me feeling confused.

There were a few episodes where Buffy mentioned trying to get a hold of her dad, back when Joyce was sick. Also, in S6 (S6 SPOILER)
they instructed the Buffybot not to answer the phone in case it was Hank.
But beyond that, I don't think he was ever in contact with them. (If I'm wrong, feel free to correct me.)
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I pretty sure the Buffy bot was because Hank already thought Buffy was dead. Makes sense from that stand point. I guess what I took from Buffy not being able to contact her dad is that he didn't really care. They had been apart long enough for him to get into the mind set of "she is there, I am here and why should I care?" a kinda of out of sight out of mind sorta thing, same thing for Joyce. He seemed to have moved on. It was easier not to come then to see the pain.

Buffy herself may have felt like he didn't care about her after he didn't really make an attempt to stay in contact. Communication is a two way street and I could see where Buffy would get fed up and not really care. It really didn't seem to me that Buffy or Dawn was that upset that their father wasn't at the funeral. It makes sense to me. But I can relate to how Dawn and Buffy felt.
 
A
anyalover17
[No message]
Willowsgirl said:
I pretty sure the Buffy bot was because Hank already thought Buffy was dead. Makes sense from that stand point. I guess what I took from Buffy not being able to contact her dad is that he didn't really care. They had been apart long enough for him to get into the mind set of "she is there, I am here and why should I care?" a kinda of out of sight out of mind sorta thing, same thing for Joyce. He seemed to have moved on. It was easier not to come then to see the pain.

Buffy herself may have felt like he didn't care about her after he didn't really make an attempt to stay in contact. Communication is a two way street and I could see where Buffy would get fed up and not really care. It really didn't seem to me that Buffy or Dawn was that upset that their father wasn't at the funeral. It makes sense to me. But I can relate to how Dawn and Buffy felt.
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Oh, I was never under the impression that Hank knew Buffy was dead.

They didn't want the Buffybot talking to Hank because if he suspected something was wrong and found out Buffy was dead, he would take Dawn away.

I can maybe see why he wouldn't come to the funeral, because of the "out of sight, out of mind" thing. But still, I don't recall any hints that Buffy or Dawn had even talked to their dad since Joyce had fallen ill and that's truly odd.
 
S
Silum
[No message]
In Forever Buffy ask Giles to answer the phone when it rings because she's "phoned out". Only if it's her dad she wants to take it.

I always had the impression that she had contact with him and was waiting for him to call.
But I'm not sure. Perhaps they was still trying to find him and left messages everywhere and she was just hoping that he would call.

/SK
 
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