Complex TVMain MenuIntroductionVideos for IntroductionComplexity in ContextBeginningsVideos for Chapter 2AuthorshipCharactersComprehensionEvaluationSerial MelodramaOrienting ParatextsTransmedia StorytellingEndsVideo GalleryTable of ContentsJason Mittell06e96b1b57c0e09d70492af49d984ee2f68945deNew York University Press
BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER introduces Dawn in the 5th season premiere - even though she is a teenager who has seemingly lived her whole life in Buffy's family.
12015-03-12T11:32:25-07:00Jason Mittell06e96b1b57c0e09d70492af49d984ee2f68945de13501Buffy's sister Dawn makes her first appearance in the 5th season, creating a narrative enigma that will not be answered for over a month during the original broadcast.plain2015-03-12T11:32:25-07:00Jason Mittell06e96b1b57c0e09d70492af49d984ee2f68945de
12015-03-12T20:42:53-07:00p. 86: BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER1plain2015-03-12T20:42:54-07:00In 2000, Buffy the Vampire Slayer suffered a crisis of faith. I am not referring to the titular character, although Buffy Summers certainly suffered many crises of faith over her serialized transmedia existence. Rather, I mean the series itself was the site of such a crisis, with fans freaking out over a plot development that threatened to undermine the program’s integrity and vision as they had come to know it. The crisis was triggered by the introduction of a new character in the final moments of the fifth season debut, “Buffy vs. Dracula”: Buffy’s 14-year-old sister, Dawn. Fans who had spent four seasons, more than 50 hours of screen time, watching the series, knew Buffy as an only child; suddenly they were being told that she had a teenage sister who had never been seen before. The next episode, “The Real Me,” did little to clarify matters, as Dawn became a central character in the ensemble with no explanation for her sudden existence. Despite numerous references to her teen angst that “nobody knows who I am” and hints that something supernatural was afoot, the established characters all acted as if Dawn had always been part of the storyworld.