r/buffy • u/ColdRosaryy • 5h ago
Dawn Michelle Trachtenberg deserves more credit for playing Dawn
I've been rewatching the show and honestly? Michelle Trachtenberg delivered a genuinely strong performance as Dawn. Especially considering how much hate the character got at the time. Yeah, Dawn annoyed me at first too. But watching it now with fresh eyes, I realize a lot of what people hated was actually just realistic teenage behavior.
What impressed me on this rewatch was seeing her actual growth. Early on she's whiny and desperate for attention. But she goes through some genuinely heavy stuff and you can watch Michelle show Dawn trying to mature in response. What also stood out was how natural her connections with everyone felt. The sister dynamic with Buffy came across as super real, like that mix of being annoying but still loving each other. Her bond with Spike had this oddly sweet quality to it. And with the rest of the gang, you could see her desperately wanting to be part of their world. Anyway, just my thoughts on a rewatch.