You Exist Within Her Shadow: Dawn, Buffy and Him
by Vanilla Tiger
Feedback to fitchers_bird@yahoo.co.uk.
Even allowing for the general dislike of the seventh season of Buffy the Vampire Slayer that can be seen all over fandom, Him is an episode that comes in for much criticism. Frequently criticised as an inferior retread of the Season 2 episode Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered, the episode nevertheless offers the viewer a fascinating insight into the relationship between Dawn and Buffy.
The plot of the episode can indeed be seen as clichéd, with all four principle female characters fighting over the affections of one unwitting man due to a love spell (caused here by a magic jacket). Yet it is in their responses to the situation that new light on the attitudes of Dawn and Buffy towards each other.
From the start they are shown as close and affectionate. They discuss the nature of love on the bleachers while the football team practises. In contrast to the usual sibling rivalry often portrayed on television, they have no qualms about being seen together, neither do they hesitate in opening up to each other. The Buffy here appears in great contrast to the more reserved, uncommunicative woman of later episodes. Although she is undergoing great emotional turmoil, she still attempts to explain herself to her sister with an openness that many viewers would later see as highly lacking.
Dawn here is presented as highly naïve, fitting with her sheltered background. Her inability to understand love can be seen as symbolic of the other characters’ own difficulties. In her naivety she highlights the problems and the dangers of an emotion, though seen as the pinnacle of human feeling, that has been shown throughout the series to cause much pain. The examples referenced are Spike’s attempted rape of Buffy and the aborted wedding of Xander and Anya, each caused by someone ostensibly in love. Other examples from the show’s history could be Warren’s killing of Katrina, Willow’s mindwipe on Tara and much of the original Angelus storyline.
It is interesting to note that the discussion of Dawn and Buffy focuses only on romantic love, ignoring the repeatedly shown importance of both platonic and familial love. In the end it is these loves, frequently seen as lesser by society, that end up saving the day.
After the love spell affects Dawn, she could be said to act in the stereotypical fashion of a teenager in love. She becomes obsessed and histrionic, claiming that she “knows his soul”. Her actions lead to social humiliation, as in her failure during the cheerleader tryouts, and eventually to violence when she pushes one of RJ’s competitors down the stairs. Although her actions have no serious consequences, they demonstrate the dangerous nature of romantic love. In contrast, Buffy remains caring and supportive throughout, attempting to understand and guide her sister even when it leads to conflict, as in the scene outside the Bronze.
This scene reveals many of Dawn’s insecurities with regards to Buffy. She claims, “You've always been the special one. Hot little Buffy with her boyfriends. The Slayer. And now someone likes me, and you just can't stand that I'm getting the attention.” Buffy has given no indication of any jealousy at this point. Dawn is rather venting her fears that, compared to her superhero sister, she has nothing to offer. Her admiration of Buffy has led her to see herself as useless in comparison.
Another of Dawn’s retorts plays into this, as she asks “suddenly you’re Mom now?” In Forever, Dawn reacted very strongly against Buffy’s attempt to act as a substitute for Joyce revealing that while she missed her mother what she needed was her sister. Nevertheless, Buffy has been forced to act as Dawn’s mother. By conflating these two roles, she has become the focus of Dawn’s world. With Dawn’s history of being abandoned by parental figures, it is easy to see how this could cause further insecurity, as loss of Buffy would leave her without any family.
At this point a girl starts a fight with Dawn over RJ. The expected route for such an episode would be for this scene to be constantly repeated with every character that is affected by the magic jacket. This, however, is not so and offers the most illumination of the relationship between Dawn and Buffy.
Once Buffy falls under the control of the love spell, she acts as might be expected. Her pursuit of RJ is immediate and headstrong, and she deliberately undermines her own sister’s chances. Despite this, Buffy still tries to comfort Dawn. Behaving a manner reminiscent of Something Blue, she is easily convinced that Dawn is under a spell while unable to apply this realisation to herself.
While seeing herself in competition with her sister, Buffy’s concern for her is still readily apparent. She finds it hard to accept that the two of them could ever really be in competition, explaining her readiness to believe that Dawn’s behaviour alone has been caused by magic. Dawn too displays disbelief that this situation could ever have come to pass, crying “You're not supposed to do this!” The strength of their previous bond has rendered this betrayal even worse.
Although the other women affected by the love spell constantly fight to prove that their love is the strongest in order to win RJ, this is not the case with Dawn. Once convinced that Buffy will not stop her pursuit, she just gives up. Once again her low opinion of her own worth in comparison with that of her sister is demonstrated. Her violent reaction against Buffy’s desire for RJ is stimulated not just by fear of another, but by what is to her the certainty that no-one could ever prefer her to her sister.
While Anya, Willow and Buffy all perform acts in an attempt to prove that they are the best suited to be with RJ, Dawn is forfeiting any chance she ever had to be with the person she loves. Although Willow refers in the episode to the “dangerous” nature of love spells, it can be seen as a more general commentary on the destructive nature of love itself.
Dawn’s explanation for her actions here is worthy of further study. She says, “if I did this then his whole life he'd know there was someone that loved him so much they'd give up their life.” Although not explicit in the text, this scene contains parallels to the end of The Gift. Again we have one sister sacrificing herself for the other’s happiness. It could be hypothesised that this was Dawn’s rationalisation for Buffy’s actions in the summer following her death. She has previously been shown to worry that she was the cause of all the terrible events that had happened to her family. After the traumatic experience of watching her sister die in her place, this might have been an easier way for Dawn to have coped. Rather than being responsible for the loss of her last close blood relation (since there is no textual evidence for Hank’s appearance during that time) or viewing it as suicide, she chose to see Buffy’s death as an expression of her love, demonstrating another way in which death was her gift.
This casts a fresh light on Dawn’s behaviour throughout Season Six. Having convinced herself that Buffy only jumped out of love for Dawn, she is now confronted with a sister that for all appearances has no desire to be anywhere near her. Thus her outbursts in Dead Things and Older and Far Away. If she believes that Buffy no longer wishes to be with her, then it could seem to her that Buffy never wished to be her. Jumping off the platform in The Gift was a conscious rejection of life with Dawn, making Dawn responsible for her sister’s death.
This leads to Buffy’s epiphany in Grave. As Dawn is the character most affected by Buffy’s depression, it is natural that this occurs while with Dawn. The two sisters fight together, reaffirming their connection. In contrast to her previous choice, Buffy decides to live for Dawn, symbolising her ability to finally move on from the events of The Gift. Dawn is also able to move past her guilt because of this. Through their sisterly bond, they save each other.
We can link this back to Him, where Buffy saves Dawn from being run over from the train. It is another rebuttal to The Gift, where the putative sacrifice is prevented from occurring. Yet Dawn aids Buffy here too. When confronted with the extremes that the love spell has caused, familial love is able to overcome the more destructive romantic love. The pair put aside their brief enmity and are able to accept that their erratic behaviour was spell-induced.
The episode serves to reaffirm the strength of the love between Dawn and Buffy, displaying it as one of their strongest assets able to overcome any obstacles. It is a welcome reminder of their humanity in a season which many has seen as portraying Buffy as cold and unemotional.
Plus, it has the Breeders. You can’t disrespect an episode with the Breeders in it.