The first time Dawn Summers appears in “Buffy the Vampire Slayer,” she’s greeted with a question: “What are you doing here?”
Portrayed by Michelle Trachtenberg, who was found dead Wednesday at age 39, Dawn was introduced as Buffy’s younger sister at the beginning of the show’s fifth season. Despite seeming to have materialized out of thin air, Dawn was treated as if she had been a part of the show the whole time and audiences, including myself, were initially puzzled over her addition to the story. (Spoiler: It was magic.)
For some of us, Trachtenberg was already a familiar face. A child actor we first met on “The Adventures of Pete & Pete” as the quirky, arm-cast-wearing best friend Nona F. Mecklenberg. Or as the edgy eponymous sleuth in “Harriet the Spy” (1996) who inspired us to stay curious and to scribble detailed notes of our observations.
And though Trachtenberg would go on to other prominent roles — like the bad girl socialite Georgina Sparks in “Gossip Girl” — for me, Dawn remains Trachtenberg’s most memorable.
Dawn was Buffy’s annoying kid sister, and she was very much received as such during the show’s run. Much like any young teen, Dawn was a bit impulsive and self-centered and seemingly insensitive to Buffy’s plight as a chosen savior. Buffy’s perception of her sister likely clouded some of the audience’s response to her, along with Trachtenberg’s ability to channel a very specific younger sibling energy. She became a younger (TV) sister to many of us and also helped make Buffy a bit more relatable too. We may not understand having the weight of the world on our shoulders, but we can understand wanting to protect our family.
Much like my relationships with my actual siblings, my perception of Dawn has shifted with the passage of time. She was introduced as the troublesome younger sister who wrote about her Buffy-related angst in her diary, but, like her older sister, she was also someone that had to bear much more than any young person should have to.
Dawn was a kid who had to measure up to having a sister who saved the world. A teenager who learned that everything she thought she knew about herself and her existence was a lie. She kept having to grieve the deaths of those most important to her — her mother, her sister (temporarily) and even her surrogate guardian.
(Trachtenberg herself allegedly had to deal with more than she should have had to during her time on the show. In 2021, the actor accused series creator Joss Whedon of inappropriate and “very bad” behavior and alleged he was not allowed to be alone with her.)
Unlike Buffy and other members of the Scooby Gang, Dawn didn’t have any superpowers or magical abilities or even special training to help her get through everything life on the Hellmouth threw at her. But Dawn persevered. Along the way, she learned that even if she wasn’t originally human, the love she shared with her family and friends made her just as real a person as everyone else. That should give the rest of us non-superpowered folk a glimmer of hope that we can get through our hardships too.
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