Well...*emphasis* I thought it was a good bit.
And I was going to carry it forward into this episode and be all like, "Dawn has had a very
Joyce-like presencence so far on the series, mostly acting as a tool of the plot rather
than having any character herself.
Remember that time Buffy was trying to stop the werewolf but Dawn was all like..."
But then I looked at how many episodes I would have to be sticking with the bit and I got
really sleepy.
Plus one of the crazy patrol says explicitly in this episode
“You don’t belong here.”
So, yeah.
Okay fine.
Let's just talk about Dawn and this severely underrated episode.
As much as I love this one, I’m still not going to spoil the rest of the season so get
ready for a lot of me saying we’ll get into that later on.
Real Me opens with a nice continuation from Buffy vs Dracula.
Giles and Buffy are spending time focusing on looking inwards to understand the source
of her power.
The music and edits are terrific and everytime I watch this scene I curse the life that doesn’t
include Anthony Stewart Head coming over and speaking softly to me at bedtime.
“Fall away…”
It’s all very Empire Strikes Back including the use of actual rocks.
And, just like a vision of doom interrupted Luke’s moment of inner tranquility:
Dawn sets up the premise of the episode but it’s important to remember that, with rare
exceptions, most of the episodes relate to Buffy directly.
Every moment counts more than you might think.
201
D:
Nobody knows who I am.
Not the real me.
...Also she said the title of the episode so mark your bingo cards.
Dawn lays out the trials and tribulations of being the younger sister of the Slayer.
Holy Hecate do I love this single shot of the morning breakfast square dance at the
Summers’ residence.
What a cute little grounded moment.
[3:22]
Buffy spaced plans with Riley.
“We’re not gonna hang today.”
“Are you mad at me.”
“No, not at all.”
* Sigh
My feelings about Riley’s character so often bump up against how sweet and charming Marcus
Blucas’ performance of him is.
Buuuut we’ll get into that later…
301
Giles has apparently not fully put his midlife crisis to rest.
Remember, Spike crashed the Giles Hooptymobile in A New Man and Giles has chosen to replace
it with a cute little red number.
6:45 “Giles are you breaking up with your car?”
“Well it did seduce me.
All red and sporty.”
I am sooooooo happy that we’re in season 5.
Speaking of, the gang minus Xander plus Dawn find their way to the local magic shop, whose
latest in a long line of owners has named The Magic Box! ...and was just murdered.
Buffy pushes Dawn out to the street and while the team investigates what happened…
11:40 “I know you...curds and whey…”
“Little Miss Muffet counting down from…”
“You don’t belong here.”
Dawn keeps the exchange to herself or...she forgot it...it’s a bit odd...but Tara comes
out and offers some comfort over the dead man.
Boy do I love their relationship.
Tara is probably the older sister Dawn always wanted and this moment emphasizes that they
both feel like outsiders to the Scooby Gang.
401
T: Do you want to thumb wrestle? D:
Okay.
Willow discovers that an item of a great value is missing from one of the cases ...a ceramic
unicorn.
G: Which begs the question what kind of an unholy creature favors cheap, tasteless, statuary?
H: Okay!
*sigh...I love this episode….
Buffy and Joyce argue over whether Buffy can go patrol with Riley and Buffy throws out
a possible babysitter for Dawn.
B: Xander D:
Okay.
Dawn is nursing a hardcore crush for the Xand man.
Tara expresses the solidarity she feels with Dawn to Willow
18:30 “It’s just hard.
That outsider feeling.”
Out on patrol Buffy is venting to Riley about Dawn and Riley very admirably comes to her
defense.
R: She doesn’t get the sacrifices.
She’s a kid.
B: And that’s what bugs ...sometimes I would like to be the one to curl up in Mom’s lap
and not worry about the fate of the world.
Is it weird that Riley’s defense of Dawn actually makes me like him more?
Harmony goes to call out Buffy for like...battle and stuff and Dawn accidentally invites her
in.
When Xander tries to relate the story to Buffy the next day she gets distracted by the wrong
detail.
25:30 “Harmony has MINIONS?”
501
She’s less amused when she finds out about the invitation.
Buffy rages about Dawn to Xander and Riley and a tiny lightning storm of a moment occurs
you might miss if you aren’t fast.
30:30 X: People slip Buffy.
Your Mom did.
She invited in the Masss....Dracula.
B: That was different....she was....lonely.
And she didn't know he was a vampire.
Interesting, Buffy’s reaction.
As it happens Dawn is listening outside to hear just the wrong amount of what’s said
to make her run off.
I was reminded of Buffy overhearing peppermint Joyce and her poison juice box in Dead Man’s
Party.
As when it happened in that episode, this is still a storytelling contrivance I hate
- a character overhearing just enough to be incited to action but missing full context.
Buffy calls Dawn an idiot but softens the blow JUST after she walks away.
Dawn runs.
Anya is injured trying to protect them from Team Unicorn.
And in her lair Harmony vents to Dawn.
601
H: They don't respect me.
They treat me like I don't even matter.
I love the way Mutant Enemy so often layers stories and arcs into each other and somehow
it usually doesn't feel forced or heavy-handed.
Harmony speaking Dawn's mind back to Dawn is great.
And Buffy annihilates Team Unicorn.
And Dawn ends the episode by teasing the rest of the season.
“She still thinks I’m little Miss Nobody.
Boy, is she in for a surprise.”
701 Review
All right, so there were many many hints along the way to let us know about the incoming
Dawnster.
There are elements to the dream state Faith and Buffy conversation in Graduation Day Part
2 that we’re not ready to unpack yet but Faith made the comment:
Little Miss Muffet counting down from 730
That is an obvious reference to a nursery rhyme:
*Dramatic Readings of Silly Things Little Miss Muffet
Sat on a tuffet, Eating her curds and whey;
Along came a spider[2] Who sat down beside her
And frightened Miss Muffet away.
*Dramatic Readings of Things that Don’t Deserve It
Which connects in Real Me to: “I know you, Curds and Whey.
In This Year's Girl, even though they were no longer linked in an unconscious dream state
Faith, who as a Slayer also has prophetic dreams, was still getting hints about Dawn
coming.
“Little sis coming.
I know.
SO much to do before she gets here.
801
Restless is packed with hints about Buffy’s incoming sister.
For a full rundown you can watch my episode guide about it (there is a non-spoiler version
if you haven’t finished the series yet) and just listen for everytime I say the word
Dawn.
“Be back before Dawn.”
There’s a reason Mutant Enemy spent so much time building up the Dawnster’s arrival
and it isn’t simply for the sake of plot.
Everything threads through Buffy herself.
And, while I can’t spoil anything just yet, Buffy gives a very important clue as to what
Dawn’s thematic role is.
R: She doesn't get the sacrifices.
She's a kid.
B: And that's what bugs...sometimes I would like to curl up on Mom's lap and not worry
about the fate of the world.”
*Innocence *Long sigh.
That specific line in the context of this season is its own kind of agony but we’ll
get there.
For now, just note that Buffy desires to have something that Dawn has but is stuck between
that desire and her calling.
The push and pull is demonstrated literally in the opening scene where Buffy reaches for
the inner power of the Slayer and has her concentration broken by her sister.
901
I love Real Me, and not in a yeah I can see why some people don’t, Candy Episode kind
of way.
This episode is charming, hilarious, and deeply foreshadows the coming events of one of the
show’s best seasons.
And yet I’ve anecdotally found fan response to this one, somewhat mixed.
It’s rating is currently sitting at 6.4 on IMDB.
If you’re new to the show and this fandom understand I can’t fully elaborateyet but
Dawn is a bit of a polarizing character.
So this would probably be a good time for me to just...
I’m just gonna come out and say it.
“Hello...my name is Ian.
And...I like Dawn.”
“I like Jerry.”
- “BEN.
NO.” 1001
Look I’m not gonna say she’s one of my absolute favorites and there are certainly
aspects to her that could have been handled better.
But I mean, look she likes all the same things we do like chocolate ice cream and...probably
other things.
She also dislikes things a lot of us do.
Like …. Riley and Buffy kissing.
[5:18]
Her hunger for recognition and independence are very relatable and all of her emotional
beats in this one, from resenting her older sister to even her crush on Xander feel very
grounded and relatable to me.
Even if I wish the crush was on Giles.
Or Willow.
Or Tara.
Or Oz.
Or Anya.
Or...
Dawn is just like us.
BUT...we’ll get back to that.
I’ve heard some fans express the view that, in the later seasons, the fight choreography
isn’t as good.
In the DVD commentary for this episode David Fury said they deliberately changed up the
fighting style starting with this season.
Less martial arts and more raw bare knuckle boxing.
The alteration in the way Buffy fights was driven by story and Buffy’s desire to get
more at the core of what it is to be the Slayer.
Her gaining greater access to raw power meant less reliance on technique.
I get it, but I’m kind of with the people who prefer the earlier fisticuffs.
My favorite fight is still the kinetic brutal one in Doppelgangland where Angel de-fac-i-fizes
that vamp with a cue ball.
11
There are a few other things of note here.
15:00 Tucker’s brother appears to have spent a brief stint as a vampire.
I’m head canon-ing that one as a glitch in the Matrix brought on by the Monks.
What?
I’m not spoiling.
I was talking about the monks from I Robot...
You, Jane.
What were YOU talking about?
Or maybe this is Tucker’s brother’s BROTHER.
Chuck...er...
9:40 Willow [Buffy’s metaphorical Spirit] is taking a drama class.
Confronting her fear and terror brought up in both Nightmares and Restless.
It’s a nice parallel to Buffy exploring what it is to be a Slayer.
There is a lot lurking beneath the surface of Real Me but that’s really all we can
get into right now.
I love this one.
I think if you’ve watched the show a few times, it’s easy to take for granted just
how impressively lived-in life with Dawn immediately feels.
She has a rapport and a history with everyone already.
What a testament to the great writing going on and some wonderful performances.
It all feels very organic and real despite us knowing that in reality that isn’t quite
the case.
And, in some way, I wonder if we can read it as a success of Dawn’s character that
the episode has such a low rating on IMDB.
If part of the metaphor is that we are all Buffy, and the show’s entire perspective
is her’s then maybe it’s fitting that Dawn’s first dedicated episode should grump
a rating from the internet lower than...Teacher’s Pet and Go Fish?!?
Lower than Go Fish?
Really, Internet?
Really.
It's a slap in the face to every one of us who studied hard and worked long hours to
*earn* our D's.