WWDD: S1E3 “WITCH”

Dawn is in homeroom starting to get familiar with her new classmates, while Buffy breaks the horrible news to Giles that she is trying out for the cheerleading squad. When Joyce picks her up at the end of the day, Dawn tries to tell her about the rumor at her school that a girl caught on fire during cheerleading tryouts at Sunnydale High. Joyce is preoccupied about inventory for the gallery and distractedly responds with a platitude.

Joyce’s disinterest upsets Dawn, especially since it’s so close to her birthday. She runs up to her room and shuts the door before Buffy gets home from school, so we don’t see her when Buffy talks to Joyce in the kitchen.

The next morning, Dawn sits in Buffy’s room asking questions about the girl who spontaneously combusted at school. Frustrated by her older sister’s lack of information, she runs to the bathroom to affix butterfly clips to her hair before school while Buffy goes downstairs and talks to Joyce about Joyce’s yearbook staff escapades.

The following morning when Buffy wakes up spell-drunk, she dances her way into Dawn’s room before going downstairs. It’s Dawn’s 10th birthday and Buffy is acting uncharacteristically silly. Buffy puts chopsticks in Dawn’s mouth and chases her around the room yelling “I am the Slayer! I'm going to get you!" before dancing her way out of the room singing “Macho Man” by the Village People.

Dawn goes to school and no one knows it’s her birthday and she is too shy to tell anyone. With Joyce engrossed in the inventory for the gallery and Buffy too busy being a cheerleader, Dawn is sad and feeling forgotten about on her birthday.

She has all but resigned herself to her room for the night when Joyce breaks the news that she has rented out the entire carousel for Dawn’s birthday. Joyce, Buffy, and Dawn ride the carousel for the whole hour, making sure they get their moneys worth, while Joyce tells Dawn all about why she should join the yearbook staff.