I was thinking about season 4 and season 5 tonight, and it suddenly hit me that there is a drastic difference between the Buffy at the end of S4, and the one we see in S5. It's not just her attitude, either, but her look, too. We went from a sweet freshman coed who's trying to figure out how to balance Slaying, a steady boyfriend, her friends, her mom, and school, to a newly primped I'm-better-than-everybody-and-you-should-know-it brat. 

In just one summer, Buffy got dramatically better hair, better clothes, and a ton of attitude. What gives? Is it a side effect of the joining spell and the First Slayer dream? A side effect of Dawn's sudden insertion? There's a whole new level of superior sarcasm on her fights, along with the "hunting" every night. A whole new level of darkness, even, if you want to use the term....

Thoughts? I guess it's standing out in my head because the change is very abrupt with just what we see onscreen.

Heh, when I saw this thread title, I thought it was gonna be about the difference between seasons 5 and 6, lol.

I think the change in attitude is probably a combination of all the things you mentioned, Caro. I think tapping into the First Slayer thing brought out the new level of darkness - Buffy even says it herself, when she tells Giles she wants to up their training and they start doing the meditation stuff. I think the insertion of Dawn brings out a brattier side of Buffy - she makes some comment about how Dawn is annoying her more than usual, which I take to mean that in the fabricated memories, Dawn was there, but sort of just in the background, so Buffy still functioned as an only child. Now, Dawn is front and center, and getting on Buffy's nerves, so she's acting more as an older sister, which I think accounts for some of the change.

I also think it's just a matter of her growing up. She was timid in season 4 because she was adjusting to college and going through a lot of changes. She's much more settled in her life now (well, up until Glory and Joyce's illness turn things upside down), she's more confident, both as a Slayer and as a person. And I think that manifests as a superiority complex.

I think having Riley around changes her, too. She was so shell-shocked from the fallout with Angel that she's not really sure of herself in season 4. But since she's proving to herself with Riley that she can maintain a stress-free long-term relationship (at least, as far as she thinks), she's gotten a lot of her self-esteem back.

The change in hair and clothes? Well, partially to reflect the new attitude, but probably mostly because the costume department finally got a clue. I don't know if there were some staff changes or what, but the season 4 costuming was *horrendous* (for everyone, not just Buffy) and I, for one, was grateful for any improvement.

I hadn't thought much about the change, but now that you mention it you're right.  I think Eowyn has given us a pretty good run down on how that works.  I'd be interested to go back and see if there's much change between the first and second episodes -- since it's at the end of episode 1 that Dawn is 'inserted' into the world.  The change in memories should have had some effects (and it's always bothered me that they don't seem to have much).

Maggie, I don't think the memories would significantly change anyone but Buffy (and maybe Joyce). The impression I get is that they all suddenly have memories of Dawn being amorphously "there" without really knowing any specifics. Like, for example, if any of them had thought back and said, "Hmm... what was Dawn doing on Halloween the year we all turned into our costumes?" they'd have a vague sense that she was there, but not really be able to remember anything.

There are a few specific "anecdotes" that were implanted - like Buffy's memory of her parents bringing Dawn home from the hospital, or Dawn's birthday carousel memory - but on the whole, I don't think the monks were as detailed as we're led to believe. I don't think, for example, that Dawn would've played a significant role in any of the things we watched... like getting kidnapped instead of Joyce in Helpless or something.

Thus, the only real impact Dawn has is *after* she becomes human. She fundamentally changes the family dynamic, making Buffy a brattier older sister who's always annoyed at Dawn tagging along with her and jealous of the attention Dawn gets from their mother. But overall? Not much effect on the gang's memories.

The clothes were better because SMG finally gained some weight, and she didn't have to hide behind all of the potato sack clothing, or have horrible, wavy hair that some actress use when they're under weight.

Like Calista Flockhart.

As for her bitchy attitude, well, maybe (no, definitely) Riley wasn't hitting it right, lol.

Also, she was quite bitchy in "When She Was Bad," but that was due to her "I died" issues, which makes me reevaluate s6... In the beginning of s2, her friends called her on her change of behavior, and Willow's impending death and Xander threatening to kill Buffy snaps her out of it.  She doesn't have that in s6- people either avoid her (her friends), or accomdate her (Spike).

~Scarlet

Eowyn, I'm just expressing my puzzlement about Dawn out loud.  You are right that the effect shoud be greatest on Joyce and Buffy.  A Buffy who is an only child ought to be different from one who is an oldest sister.  So let's think about those two relationships.  Seems to me there are two possibilities.  First, the memories don't really go that deep.  Buffy really is an only child suddenly having to deal with a younger sister.  That makes most sense to me.  But then it poses a problem for Dawn -- cause it means that she really hasn't had any effect on the world.  The people who know her best are the same whether they remember her or not.  Second, the memories do go that deep.  In that case, Buffy should be a signficantly different person.  I kind of think it's the first and that's why Dawn has very real problems about whether or not she matters.  Because she really doesn't.  We all live in worlds where the people around us are not the same as they would be if we weren't there.  Dawn doesn't.  Anyway -- I've just always found it puzzling.

Being annoyed by one's little sister isn't that big of a deal.  However, Buffy's overall attitude changed with everyone.  Particularly Spike- she's more punch happy.

Anyway, the only signicance as far as I can tell is that she would have more responsibility being the older sister.  But I still don't see this as making a huge impact since being an only child, especially in a single parent home, already puts her in the position of having more responsibility than others, and on top of that, she had the responsiblity of saving the world for quite some time.

Maybe it was never leaving Sunnydale for so long?

Also, we see some of Dawn's memories- like spending the day at the beach with Buffy, and playing on swingsets.  Just regular, family or sisterly stuff.  The only impact Dawn actually has is when we learn that she is in danger of Glory.  If she never was the key, then I think her role, beyond the occasional vamp kidnapping, would've been minimal.

As for Buffy being the seemingly bratty older sister, well, that's the effect of having a bratty kid sis.  We have to keep in mind that Buffy's older, and in their childhood memories, she's younger- more immature, and therefore closer to Dawn's level.  Now she's Ms. College Student- Dawn's still in grammar school.  The age and maturity gap has to be taken into account.

As for her bitchy attitude, well, maybe (no, definitely) Riley wasn't hitting it right, lol.

Ha! That's true... although, before Riley, she wasn't getting any... so you'd think anything he did would be an improvement, even if it wasn't totally satisfying.

I kind of think it's the first and that's why Dawn has very real problems about whether or not she matters.  Because she really doesn't.  We all live in worlds where the people around us are not the same as they would be if we weren't there.  Dawn doesn't.

Maggie, that's a very insightful observation. If I were moved to write Dawn-centric fic, I think I'd want to explore that idea more. The only time she really matters is when she's "dangerous" because of what she can do as the Key - and Buffy only reinforces this by ignoring her in season 6, making her feel like, "Well, I'm not the Key anymore, so I don't matter." Kinda makes me feel bad for the kid...

Being annoyed by one's little sister isn't that big of a deal.

I think it's different, though, Scarlet. Even though Buffy remembers Dawn as always being there, she is essentially, as Maggie said, an only child who is suddenly saddled with a younger sister. I can imagine that I (as an only child for 23 years) would change rather significantly if I suddenly had a younger sister, as opposed to growing up with one. 

It's not just about responsibility... it's about suddenly having to compete for your mother's attention and love (which is even worse when it's a single parent), it's about losing your privacy (which was more important to Buffy with her Slayer life than anyone), and it's about having this annoying little  person following you around, tagging along with your friends, wanting to be like you, stealing your clothes and your stuff, ruining your plans... (Keep in mind, I'm sure there are good points to having a younger sister - and I think Buffy figures that out eventually - but at first, she's definitely just seeing the annoying side of Dawn.)

I do think there are other factors involved in Buffy's change in behavior, but I wouldn't discount the impact of Dawn suddenly appearing.

Actually, E, I know what it's like.  I was an only child until age 11, and dumped, I mean, blessed, lol with a baby brother, and then a baby sister the following year.  I literally became the mama- those kids went with me everywhere.  I was Dawn's age, saddled with toddlers when I hung out with my friends.  More than half the time I hung out with my friends, the kids came with me.

I bring this up because I was more upset with mom for dumping them on me then with the kids themselves.  Competing for mom's affection wasn't much of an issue either- I was eleven years older than them, and aware of the fact that yes, a baby clearly needs more attention than me.  Unless Buffy is just totally selfish, I don't think that competing for Joyce's affection was that much of a big deal.  I think she complains about it once or twice- tops.

I think five years is different than eleven years, though. I mean, obviously your siblings aren't going to be emulating you or trying to snoop through your stuff. Also, the wide age gap makes it obvious that your siblings need more attention than you. But think of Buffy, at age 19, thinking, "I wasn't much older than Dawn when I started slaying, why can't she just be more mature?" I think the closer in age you are, the more your siblings get on your nerves.

Yeah, that's true. I saw it all the time with my friends who had siblings only a couple years from them. I'm an oldest, but only on one side of my family - my dad re-married and had 2 kids. I'm 8 and 11 years older, so they really felt more like my kids most of the time than my siblings. I taught my sister how to hold silverware, even.

My cousin, though, is only 3 years younger, and she bugged me like crazy when we went to visit. She'd pull my barrettes out when she was a toddler, attracted by the bright colors, and tickle me until I threatened not to come over any more when she was a bit older. So I can see where Dawn was a more constant annoyance to Buffy.

It's the difference in so short a time to how Buffy is with everybody that really made me think of it. S4 ends in May, and by Sept., whammo - Buffy that seems years older, not just a few months. The other seasons had a much more natural progression into each other - except these two.

CM

 costuming was *horrendous*

Who could forget those fab spotted pants Buffy was wearing the night she slept with Angel?  LOL