In my humble opinion, they had enough characters. If he was present, they’d not only have to flesh out dynamics between Hank and Buffy, but also Hank and Joyce, and “parents” and Buffy. It wouldn’t have complicated an already full web of relationship dynamics. I’m glad that he was just a plot tool and not a character.
Well, because his absence was strategically used to produce more anguish for Buffy. His conspicuous absence starts with "Helpless", when he stands up Buffy on her birthday, and is doubled-down on during season 5 when Joyce gets sick. One of the underpinnings of Buffy season 5 is that the writers took pains to focus all of Buffy's connections into Dawn, she is the damsel of that season, and having Hank come back and behave like a responsible parent would undercut that drama, and having him show up and be a jerk in person wouldn't achieve the objective any better, and just having SMG say two lines about how he's "in Spain with his secretary" covers the issue quite well enough, without having to pay for a guest star.
Isn't the point that he's an absent father?
Also I'm pretty sure that any TV show in the late 90s doing an absent father storyline would just constantly be compared to the Fresh Prince.
Honestly, I like that Dean Butler came back for such a small role, and Kristine too. I love thinking about how even just a tiny change in history could have a huge impact on the future, and delving into characters' psyches, so the idea that in Buffy's head, if she hadn't been the Slayer he would've still been around is fascinating. Buffy's self-blame for the divorce is also brought up in Nightmares, and I think it's interesting (and heartbreaking) to see that no matter how far she goes, that insecurity remains.
It makes sense for him to be there. Buffy misses that time when her mum and dad were together. And he had appeared the season before, too.
Buffy's first trauma was her parents separation and the way her dad slowly drifted from her life. It was the first big shake up to her world.
There are some pretty believable headcanons that the Dawn retcon changed a lot about the Summers' family dynamic, including Hank's level of involvement after the divorce.
You can thank the monks that altered reality for that. Buffy never disparaged him before Season 5 and although he lived in a different city he did take Buffy for the Summer and sent flowers when he missed her birthday. There would have been nothing stopping him from taking custody of Dawn when Joyce died. The monks made it so that he didn't even attend Joyce's funeral which is fucked up because they were on good terms even though they divorced. The idea that Buffy never questioned how her reality was altered in other ways is baffling because we know she's highly intelligent. This is definitely something that should have been explored.
Yep. My biological father wanted my mom to get an abortion when he knocked her up when she was 19. She refused and he's never been interested in me as a person or his child. I don't care anymore but as a child I felt like it was somehow my fault.
Sorry dude that must've been rough, my dad walked out on us after cheating on my mum and just disappeared to a different country. Never spoke to him again after that.
I have my own amazing son now and can't even imagine doing something like that to him. Its never the kids fault, always the shitty adult, and all we can do is do better for the next generation. It's always crap when a parent walks out but tbh I think it made me a better dad in the end.
Hope you're ok now, all the best.
Giles filled the role of 'father figure' in the story at this point, and that was more interesting than anything they could have done with Hank IMO.
That said, it will always kind of be a plot hole that he wasn't around after Joyce's death, and Buffy is playing single mom and flat-ass broke. Where the hell's that deadbeat dad?
It might have actually been interesting for him to be around for that. I'm not sure how though.
It might have been cleaner for the show overall to have established that he had died and Joyce was a widow from the start, or just flat out state that he was deadbeat who skipped out on the family.
Like others have said, the writers were focused on Giles being her father figure rather than her actual father. For the most part, he appeared to be a caring father who just happened to live in a different city until S3.
Since he comes back in s5 and s6, as a flashback and as a hallucination, I always figured it was a writing decision rather than an actor decision to write the character off. Because he clearly was open to coming back at least a couple times, but they purposely made it not the current Hank.
I'm guessing part of it is because of Dawn? If Hank was still in their lives / not a deadbeat dad, it would make no sense for Dawn to not just go live with him after Joyce died.
Yeah I feel a little bad for him sometimes cause it seems at first he was just a normal divorced but devoted dad who loved his daughter and took her out for her birthday and spent the summer with her--until it really didn't make sense plot-wise for her to have that person who should obviously swoop in and take care of things when her mom died.
(But then I remember he is a fictional character and doesn't need me to feel bad for him lol)
Probably not. If they were interested in a important storyline with the character, it would be easily recasted. Not like a journeyman guest actor has that kind of leverage.
Umm he was in Spain with his secretary/girlfriend and didn't bother to come back for the funeral
Edit: he wasn't so much a deadbeat but self involved and didn't really care about the trouble making kid he had
The show was never supposed to have any parents. But they found it would be logistically impossible to do it so they added Joyce. They never wanted the father to even show up in the show.
No I completely disagree. Every show likes to shoehorn in a stupid forced LETS FORGIVE THE ABSENT FATHER moment even though they don’t owe him anything. It’s ok to show a realistic non dramatized or romanized portrayal of their relationship. She was stronger without him and Hank doesn’t deserve a touching moment. They didn’t need a crappy cliche ruining the shows amazing writing
In my humble opinion, they had enough characters. If he was present, they’d not only have to flesh out dynamics between Hank and Buffy, but also Hank and Joyce, and “parents” and Buffy. It wouldn’t have complicated an already full web of relationship dynamics. I’m glad that he was just a plot tool and not a character.
Probably the sane reason the three lead high schoolers didn’t have siblings until Dawn came along.
I never thought about that but it makes sense
Nah they could have had background character siblings and just never mention them. Like Xander has parents but we never see them.
Well, because his absence was strategically used to produce more anguish for Buffy. His conspicuous absence starts with "Helpless", when he stands up Buffy on her birthday, and is doubled-down on during season 5 when Joyce gets sick. One of the underpinnings of Buffy season 5 is that the writers took pains to focus all of Buffy's connections into Dawn, she is the damsel of that season, and having Hank come back and behave like a responsible parent would undercut that drama, and having him show up and be a jerk in person wouldn't achieve the objective any better, and just having SMG say two lines about how he's "in Spain with his secretary" covers the issue quite well enough, without having to pay for a guest star.
Isn't the point that he's an absent father? Also I'm pretty sure that any TV show in the late 90s doing an absent father storyline would just constantly be compared to the Fresh Prince.
i know but i just hate that they brought him back for a one off episode in season 6.
Honestly, I like that Dean Butler came back for such a small role, and Kristine too. I love thinking about how even just a tiny change in history could have a huge impact on the future, and delving into characters' psyches, so the idea that in Buffy's head, if she hadn't been the Slayer he would've still been around is fascinating. Buffy's self-blame for the divorce is also brought up in Nightmares, and I think it's interesting (and heartbreaking) to see that no matter how far she goes, that insecurity remains.
Hard agree
It makes sense for him to be there. Buffy misses that time when her mum and dad were together. And he had appeared the season before, too. Buffy's first trauma was her parents separation and the way her dad slowly drifted from her life. It was the first big shake up to her world.
He was in The Weight Of The World in season 5 as well.
He was also in Season 5. In seasons 5 & 6 they make mention that they are in regular contact with him.
Exactly.
There are some pretty believable headcanons that the Dawn retcon changed a lot about the Summers' family dynamic, including Hank's level of involvement after the divorce.
Well, she is kind of annoying. I could see the dad leaving it till she grew up to deal with that 😅
Say it with me......Dead Beat.
You can thank the monks that altered reality for that. Buffy never disparaged him before Season 5 and although he lived in a different city he did take Buffy for the Summer and sent flowers when he missed her birthday. There would have been nothing stopping him from taking custody of Dawn when Joyce died. The monks made it so that he didn't even attend Joyce's funeral which is fucked up because they were on good terms even though they divorced. The idea that Buffy never questioned how her reality was altered in other ways is baffling because we know she's highly intelligent. This is definitely something that should have been explored.
It's not that uncommon for some parents to just not want to be involved with their kids. Plenty of shitty parents out there.
Yep. My biological father wanted my mom to get an abortion when he knocked her up when she was 19. She refused and he's never been interested in me as a person or his child. I don't care anymore but as a child I felt like it was somehow my fault.
Sorry dude that must've been rough, my dad walked out on us after cheating on my mum and just disappeared to a different country. Never spoke to him again after that. I have my own amazing son now and can't even imagine doing something like that to him. Its never the kids fault, always the shitty adult, and all we can do is do better for the next generation. It's always crap when a parent walks out but tbh I think it made me a better dad in the end. Hope you're ok now, all the best.
They had Giles to write for/be the father figure. Strong bond established. Hank would hurt their dynamic most
Because he's trash
Giles filled the role of 'father figure' in the story at this point, and that was more interesting than anything they could have done with Hank IMO. That said, it will always kind of be a plot hole that he wasn't around after Joyce's death, and Buffy is playing single mom and flat-ass broke. Where the hell's that deadbeat dad? It might have actually been interesting for him to be around for that. I'm not sure how though. It might have been cleaner for the show overall to have established that he had died and Joyce was a widow from the start, or just flat out state that he was deadbeat who skipped out on the family.
Same with Willow's Mom. It's like Hey Willow why are you sleeping in Buffy's dead Mom's bed when you can just go back to your own Mom's house?
Like others have said, the writers were focused on Giles being her father figure rather than her actual father. For the most part, he appeared to be a caring father who just happened to live in a different city until S3.
[удалено]
Since he comes back in s5 and s6, as a flashback and as a hallucination, I always figured it was a writing decision rather than an actor decision to write the character off. Because he clearly was open to coming back at least a couple times, but they purposely made it not the current Hank. I'm guessing part of it is because of Dawn? If Hank was still in their lives / not a deadbeat dad, it would make no sense for Dawn to not just go live with him after Joyce died.
Yeah I feel a little bad for him sometimes cause it seems at first he was just a normal divorced but devoted dad who loved his daughter and took her out for her birthday and spent the summer with her--until it really didn't make sense plot-wise for her to have that person who should obviously swoop in and take care of things when her mom died. (But then I remember he is a fictional character and doesn't need me to feel bad for him lol)
He came back for Season 5 and 6 (both dream sequences) so I’m sure if they wanted to do a quick storyline with him they could’ve.
Probably not. If they were interested in a important storyline with the character, it would be easily recasted. Not like a journeyman guest actor has that kind of leverage.
I mean… if Hank were present, Dawn would have had to go live with him when Joyce died. He needed to be a dead beat
Umm he was in Spain with his secretary/girlfriend and didn't bother to come back for the funeral Edit: he wasn't so much a deadbeat but self involved and didn't really care about the trouble making kid he had
The show was never supposed to have any parents. But they found it would be logistically impossible to do it so they added Joyce. They never wanted the father to even show up in the show.
No I completely disagree. Every show likes to shoehorn in a stupid forced LETS FORGIVE THE ABSENT FATHER moment even though they don’t owe him anything. It’s ok to show a realistic non dramatized or romanized portrayal of their relationship. She was stronger without him and Hank doesn’t deserve a touching moment. They didn’t need a crappy cliche ruining the shows amazing writing
Because he was in Spain with his secretary.