Dawn Summers: Most Valuable Scooby?

by John J. Mesh, Guest Columnist
February 27, 2003

Warning: Reference to well-known casting spoilers at end of article.

As Season 7 of Buffy the Vampire Slayer is heading into the final stretch with the show possibly drawing its final breath, I would like to step back and take a look at the most underrated member of the Scooby Gang -- Dawn Summers, played by Michelle Trachtenberg. It won’t take very long for anyone reading this column to figure out which cast member of BTVS is my favorite. Dawn Summers has grown up right before her eyes, but has had to do it as a role player as Season 7 unfolds.

But she has had many memorable moments this season:

• Episode 7.1 “Lessons” -- Dawn is tutored by Buffy on how to fight. Then she has the cool to get hold of her sister when she and her friends Kit and Carlos get trapped in the basement at the newly rebuilt Sunnydale “Hellmouth” High School.

• 7.2 “Beneath You” -- She doesn’t have much to do in this show, but has a memorable scene with Spike. She tells him if he tries to hurt Buffy “you’ll wake up on fire.” Spike asks Buffy later “when did your sister become so unbelievably scary?”

• 7.3 “Same Time, Same Place” -- Dawn showcases her computer/internet, and digs up vital information on the parasite Gnarl. She also displays her physical comedy skills when she is temporarily paralyzed by the demon.

• 7.4 “Helpless” -- This is the episode featuring Cassie, the girl that tells counselor Buffy that she’s going to die. Dawn is sent on a mission by Buffy to reach out to Cassie and becomes her friend.

• 7.6 “Him” -- This is probably my least favorite episode of the season, but it shows off Michelle’s dramatic and comedic skills. She can also get down on the dance floor.

• 7.7 “Conversations with Dead People” -- First Dawn does the “Anchovy Pizza” song, which is destined to be a classic. Then she goes through a harrowing experience as she tries to vanquish a demon and converse with what she thinks is the spirit if her dead mother Joyce. Joyce tells Dawn that when sides are chosen for the big battle between the Scoobies and The First, Buffy wouldn’t pick her. It seems that those words have already been proven prophetic because Buffy has pretty much neglected Dawn throughout the recent storyline involving the Slayers in Training.

• 7.11 “Showtime” -- Once again, Dawn doesn’t have to much to do in this show. Dawn figures out that Buffy, Willow and Xander set up the “Thunderdome” sequence where Buffy kills the Turok-han as a way to build the confidence of the potential slayers.

• 7.12 “Potential” -- Willow works a spell to locate a Potential living in Sunnydale. The bolt of light hits Dawn, who is understandably emotional about her possibly becoming a Slayer. When she realizes that she is not a Potential (although personally I believe she is still one) and that the spell singled out Amanda, Dawn stepped aside graciously. This led to the touching scene at the end of the show between Dawn and Xander in which Xander tells her she isn’t special, she’s extraordinary. “Potential” is my favorite show of the season right now and probably ranks in the top 12-15 shows in the seven years of BTVS.

• 7.15 “Get it Done” — Dawn leads the “Shadow Caster” puppet show and gets to read Sumerian text. She also gets to fight, although she gets knocked on her tail.

• 7.16 “Storyteller” -- One has to realize this is strictly an Andrew-centric episode, so Dawn is merely eye-candy. I don’t mind it, but she has only two scenes and has like three lines. One of those lines consists of saying “hello” into Andrew’s camera and smiling. However, Andrew says something interesting which may or may not be foreshadowing of things to come. As an aside, he says “Dawn used to be a key. I don’t know what that means.”

• 7.17 through 7.22 -- Who knows what lurks in the mind of Joss Whedon and the writers when it comes to Dawn? Dawn and Xander (played by Nicholas Brendon) have been pushed into the background by Buffy’s power trip, the Willow-Kennedy romance, the upcoming showdown between Spike and Principal Wood and the future homecoming of Faith (the Slayer-turned killer-turned jailbird).

Dawn has become the most versatile member of the Scoobies. In sports terms, Dawn Summers is the team’s utility player. For two years, she waited to be able to help out her sister and the gang. Here are the reasons why she is such a valuable utility player:

• She has become an adept and capable fighter and has become quite skilled in the art of swordplay.

• She can give Willow a run for her money in using the internet and is a valuable researcher.

• Dawn apparently has become part-Wiccan, most likely with some encouragement from Willow. She tried a spell to try to bring her mother back in “Forever,” she used a spell to cast out the demon that was keeping Joyce from speaking to her in “Conversations with Dead People” and explained to the Scoobies what the circle of sand meant in terms of opening a portal in “Get it Done.”

• Dawn is Buffy’s eyes and ears at Sunnydale High School and whipped up an excuse for why Buffy was not able to come to work during 7.9 “Never Leave Me.”
• She is a meticulous note-taker and keen observer, an angle which has not been explored since she ripped up all her diaries -- the so-called Dawnmeister Chronicles -- in “Blood Ties.”

In our first full exposure to Dawn on 2.2 “Real Me,” she was reading us her diary. I believe “Real Me” was a nod to her journal-keeping abilities in “Harriet the Spy.”

• Dawn showed remarkable improvisational skills with a fire extinguisher, a California flag and a bunsen burner in fighting off the vampire and the Bringers on “Potential.”

• And last but not least, Dawn is the “Key.” I suspect this is why the Bringers tried to grab Amanda instead of Dawn on “Potential” -- her origins as a ball of green energy cloaked and veiled her from danger.

Dawn’s Key status has been the most overlooked storyline during the last two seasons after it was the focus for most of Season 5. Her Keyness has been explored in fiction novels by Misty and the Bard on the “Michelle Trachtenberg Nexus” website. In a novel called “Timeless,” Dawn is able to pass through time dimensions -- she transports her and others to the 26th and 46th centuries -- and doesn’t age. If fully explored, Dawn could be a pretty powerful package -- the combined power of the Key, the Slayer, Summers blood (the Monks that created her used Buffy as a model), wiccan power and much-needed maturity. Maybe she could use some of her Key powers to help the Scoobys defeat the First, the Bringers and the Turok-han Army.

One has to remember that Michelle Trachtenberg, despite being just 17 years old, is a veteran actress. She has played the autistic Lily Montgomery on “All My Children” and as a 10-year-old was in every minute of “Harriet the Spy.”

And during her first season on BTVS, she went toe-to-toe with the formidable Sarah Michelle Gellar as the storyline of Dawn a.k.a “The Key” unfolded. The scenes of her discovering her origins in “Blood Ties,” dealing with her mother’s death in “The Body” and “Forever,” and realizing that she could die “Weight of the World” and “The Gift” are major acting coups.

Even during a lost Season 6 in which Dawn was a self-centered, whiny kleptomaniac flunking out of school, she had her moments -- particularly in the first two episodes “Bargaining Part I” and “Bargaining Part II,” in which Buffy returns from the grave and she and Buffy reverse the roles they played on the tower in “The Gift.”

In the final episode “Grave,” Dawn shows Buffy that she is strong and is an adept fighter, which gave fans the impression that if there was a Season 8, Dawn would be a focal point.

However, various spoilers have cast doubt on whether Michelle Trachtenberg as Dawn would play a part in a spin-off. From what I have read, she has not declared her intentions. SpoilerSlayer has contradicted itself. One spoiler says that Dawn could be sacrificed and that Buffy has told Giles she wouldn’t be able to save her. I’m paraphrasing here. Another spoiler said that Dawn would leave if Buffy left Sunnydale. I would think Dawn is mature enough now to make up her own mind and no longer needs Buffy to hold her hand. When the monks charged Buffy with the responsibility to be Dawn’s protector, indeed Dawn was innocent and helpless.

In Season 6, Dawn became her own worst enemy, but so did everyone else in the cast. This culminated in Willow’s addiction to Black Magicks, the flaying of Warren and the near-destruction of the world. But this season, Dawn has come into her own -- not to mention that Michelle Trachtenberg has developed into a stunningly beautiful young woman. There’s no question Dawn could carry the show or she could become quite an asset, ally (or foil) for Faith in whatever form Season 8 evolves into.

Speculation at the beginning of the season was that Dawn was possibly the focus of Season 8 (Dawn the Vampire Slayer?) Now that Sarah Michelle Gellar will officially bow out with an interview in Friday’s “Entertainment Weekly” and Eliza Dushku is reportedly signing up for a Fox show (I think Fox is sabotaging Joss again like they did with killing Firefly -- conspiracy theory -- hint, hint), maybe Joss Whedon and company will refocus on Dawn, Xander and Spike.

But you never know what evil thoughts are lurking in Joss Whedon’s mind. He has no problem killing off his main characters -- two principals, Jenny Calendar, Angel, Buffy twice, Tara, etc. Lest we forget Doyle and Lilah on Angel.

Or if Angel survives, maybe Dawn could move to Los Angeles. Hopefully, Joss Whedon and crew continue with the development of Dawn’s character and not entertain thoughts of killing her off. It’s about time the writers utilize and appreciate the considerable talents of Michelle Trachtenberg portraying the now very versatile utility role player Dawn Summers.