Here's hoping the writers don't screw Michelle Tracthenburg over again!!

A

Archmage48

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NO ACTOR OR ACTRESS ON THE SHOW HAD TO PUT UP WITH A CRAPPIER CHARECTER ARC THEN SHE DID LAST SEASON.

That being said, what the hell were the writers thinking last season regarding Michelle/Dawn? Do they hate her or something? At the beginning of S6 she seemed on her way to being a good charecter, but then for some inexplicit reason, they decided that Dawn would suddenly and for no reason start acting like a total bitch, and Michelle pulled that off very well. But WHY is my question? They have a proverbial gold-mine in Michelle/Dawn as a charecter, there is so much they could do with her, yet they abuse her badly. Can someone please explain to me WTF the Btvs writers were thinking regarding her? If I were Michelle, death threats would become my means of dealing with the writers. Fortunately for them, Michelle must be less vindictive and more professional then I am.
 
I agree...Dawn, apart from being super brat and bitch, was also underused. Her character was so relevant in the fifth season that I fear the writers didn't want to play her up too much in the sixth. It's a shame to introduce a character and give him/her a fantastic storyline (i.e. Glory and the Key) and then completely disregard her presence in the following year.

Furthermore, Xander was underused as well. Besides ditching his own wedding we really didn't see much of him until the finale.

Hopefully next year everyone will get some action.
 
They better give her a bigger and better role, it just annoys me that just because she had a major role in S5 she can't have another in S6? I mean seriously, we saw traits in her suddenly come out in S6 that were nonexistent in S5. She was generally pretty much a sweet girl in season 5 except in 'Blood Ties', and her freaking out then was perfectly understandable, and in 'Tough Love' she got kind of bitchy with Buffy, but then Buffy was also being a bitch, so again, totally understandable. So what was their excuse for her turning into a super-bitch in S6?
 
Her excuse was....Everyone kept dying or leaving her and no one would be paying attention to her. The only way she knew how to get attention was to do something BAD.
 
I just have the biggest crush on Michelle T. Well I agree that the show vastly underused Dawn in season six. But I think Dawn's behavior was understandable and justified in view of the horrible tragedies that came her way since season five. It's amazing to me that Dawn did not go completely loony and psycho with her horrid lot in life. She's so young and has been through so much, it's normal for her to have behavioral problems. Considering her massive problems, she has handled herself remarkably well!

Plus I for one think the writers almost destroyed all of the characters last season with very bad writing. Hopefully next season all of the characters including Dawn will get better writing, storylines, and more action on the show. I think Dawn will be much improved, more mature, proactive and humorous. I have faith in Dawn and think the writers will redeem themselves and the show in season seven!
 
I agree that the writing last season, with the exception of OMWF and the last 4 episodes, was pretty much not up to standards. But Dawn got the worst of it. Everyone else had an arc of some significance last season, but all Dawn was really was a part of Buffy's gloom and doom.
 
Dawn is a teenager. Teenagers are supposed to be superbrats. (no offence to teenagers! I am one myself, at least for one more day!). Dawn lost her mother, she went through traumatic experiences, she found out she was a ball of energy and not an origional part of the family, her sister tried to kill her, Willow almost killed her (twice), although those last two were after she turned into superbrat. Did you expect her to be all nice and mature about it? Sure, a lot of teenagers are mature and all, but you can't reasonably expect a character to go through what she went through and be totally level headed. I think what Joss did made her even more realistic and believable. If she behaved perfectly, that would take a lot out of her character.
 
Originally posted by spacemankgh
Dawn is a teenager. Teenagers are supposed to be superbrats. (no offence to teenagers! I am one myself, at least for one more day!). Dawn lost her mother, she went through traumatic experiences, she found out she was a ball of energy and not an origional part of the family, her sister tried to kill her, Willow almost killed her (twice), although those last two were after she turned into superbrat. Did you expect her to be all nice and mature about it? Sure, a lot of teenagers are mature and all, but you can't reasonably expect a character to go through what she went through and be totally level headed. I think what Joss did made her even more realistic and believable. If she behaved perfectly, that would take a lot out of her character.
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Okay, I grant you that it might be more realistic for her to act like that. But my problem is that she wasn't acting like that hardly at all in S5 and even early S6 she was pretty mild. So my only problem is that behavior did not fit any of her earlier patterns of behavior...so overnight we're supposed to believe she starts acting like a bitch? Whats the excuse? Hormones? The thing I would think that would mess her up the most would likely be an identity crisis, but she seemed to have gotten over that.
 
As a parent of a teenager, I can testify that drastic (non-drug related) personality changes can take place almost overnight.
It's not uncommon for a teen to go from being momma's little darlin' to the spawn of satan in no time flat.
I did it myself a long time ago in a galaxy far far away.
The transformation doesn't last very long - maybe a year or two - then they return to human form again.
Sometime in S7, Dawn should be back to her bland boring self.
 
Umm, Dawn lives in Sunnydale, she'll be going to HS on the Hellmouth, I highly doubt her life will be boring. But thats an interesting point you make. She did quite literally grow up on the show. You don't even need to look at personality to see that. When she started on Buffy, she was 5' tall. 2 years later she's the tallest female on the show at 5'7(And dare I say she is turning into quite the babe). And not even taking into account the monster aspect of her life, she's had to deal with some pretty screwed up events in her life, mother dying, sister dying, sister being back but totally ignoring her, sister's best friend nearly killing her. She's had a lot to deal with. And that doesn't include the being beaten around and almost bled to death by an angry hell-god. Also, she's had to deal with an identity crisis which would drive most people bonkers.
 
Also, if you're a passive person, you do tend to 'explode' into a different personality when the pressure gets too much.
 
I think it's wise to add that although Dawn whines incessantly, her whining isn't that of fear or fright, but of frustration. Everyone treats her like a child, always protecting and coddling her. How many times have we heard her insist that she's not a kid and demand that the Scoobies stop with their overbearing ways? I mean, they barely let her help with research and that only involves flipping through books. She is undeniably a brat and superbitch, however she kind of has a right to be. After all, she is a teenage girl and as many posts point out, has been through a great deal of turmoil in her two real years of life. Maybe if everyone stopped treating her like a kid she'd stop acting like one.

Anyway, I think S7 will see many changes in the young one's personality.
 
No joke. I remember one ep last season where she was doing research, and she found the demon that Buffy had been fighting. What did Buffy say, "You do research now? You want a cup of coffee and a pack of ciggerettes too?" Yeah, I wouldn't be too nice to anyone who got up in my face everytime I wanted to read a book and help out.
 
How 'bout it, man. Dawn actually asks if she can go patrolling with Buffy and Buffy (perhaps rightfully) says no. But she can't look at a few books and help out? Buffy was kicking all kinds of demon ass when she was Dawn's age, but she won't let her check out some words and pictures? Ooh, I just thought of 'Blood Ties' when Dawn actually says something about, god forbid I should be exposed to like, words. Girl's onto something...
 
Younger siblings tend to get overprotected in general, which can be very frustrating. And being the younger sister of the Slayer in Sunnydale must make it an order of magnitude worse. No wonder Dawn needs to vent a lot.
 
If you say so, I'm the youngest in my family, and I can kinda understand what your saying. And she was quite a good thief, especially with the leather jacket, thats like a $300 item there(maybe more), she just forgot to take out the security tag.
 
I would put Dawns bitchiness down to her feeling left out and alone. As you said Archmage48, Dawn was a central character to the plot of S5, but now that the whole thing about her opening a portal is over, nobody is paying much attention to her anymore. I think she was just expressing her anger by lashing out with her bitchiness, but hopefully, next season dawn will be a reformed character and stop having those temper tantrums 🙂
 
Well, another thought is she quite literally grew up on the show, they may have decided to use that in the show. She was 5 feet tall when she started on Buffy, now she's 5 foot 7, so they may have decided to say, she's growing up, so now, hey, she's acting like a bitch, this combined with the all the other crap in her life that she's got to deal with, like everyone getting up in her face everytime she wants to read a book.
 
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