When Tv Characters Depart

slayerpower

battlestar/veronica lover
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'Buffy the Vampire Slayer'

Character: Joyce Summers (Kristine Sutherland)

The story: Buffy (Sarah Michelle Gellar) lost her strong, single mom, Joyce, in a remarkable, Feb. 27, 2001, episode (written and directed by series creator Joss Whedon) called "The Body." Joyce, a regular on the show since its 1997 debut, had always been Buffy's anchor, even before she knew about her daughter's calling as the Chosen One. Having been treated for a brain tumor, Joyce did not die unexpectedly. But her demise arrived with much of the suddenness and disorienting shock of a loved one's death in real life. Joyce's eyes were open, her body at an awkward angle on a couch. She was there ... and, yet, not there.

Behind the scenes: Season 5 of "Buffy" was the year Whedon gave his heroine loads of grief (including the goddess-villain Glory, and a pesky little sister who turned out to be the much-sought-after "key" separating dimensions). Six episodes after "The Body," Buffy herself would die (albeit temporarily) in a season finale.

The fallout: Part of the point of writing Joyce off the series was to force Buffy to face adult responsibilities, from which she never got a break despite being savior of the world many times over. The strategy worked.
 
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