Weekly Musings 2/27/25
I had to write something about Michelle Trachtenberg. I’m the Buffy guy, am I not?
The thing is, I don’t just associate her with Dawn Summers, but we will definitely get there. I first discovered Michelle on Nickelodeon, where she was one of the surprisingly few real children on the channel- the stars were largely pre-teens if not older, but she was only a few years older than me and was clearly making an impression from the word go. The three things I’ll associate her the most with on Nick was
The Adventures of Pete & Pete, where she played Nona F. Mecklenberg for the second and part of the third season. With a perpetual cast on her arm, Nona was weird enough to fit right in with Little Pete’s adventures- like she had a choice, her dad was Iggy Pop!- and soon became a fan favorite. Pop Arena delves into why she wasn’t utilized much in the last season with his excellent Pete & Pete retrospective in his highly recommended Nick Knack series, as it seemed like she was intended to be a part of that last season with the show’s increasing focus on Little Pete, but she was too busy with production of
Harriet the Spy, the first film from Nickelodeon Movies where she plays the titular, memorably inquisitive Harriet. I don’t think I’ve seen the film since it was in theaters, but I still remember her emotional goodbye to Rosie O’Donnell as her nanny. I’m definitely going to look it up soon.
As a regular contestant on Figure It Out, the game show where Michelle and other Nickelodeon stars try to discover what today’s featured kid’s special talent is. Kind of a dumb show, but Nickelodeon made game shows like these appointment viewing.
But before all of that, here she is annoying Melissa Joan Hart in Clarissa Explains It All.
It seemed like Michelle was poised to be one of the channel’s key faces, but she had a greater calling, one which referred to an earlier role- during her time on Pete & Pete, Trachtenberg was a regular on All My Children, playing Lily Montgomery, and she’d reunite with one of her co-stars who happened to be the lead on one of her favorite shows. The story is that Michelle appeared on the Buffy the Vampire Slayer set near the end of the show’s fourth season to catch up with Sarah Michelle Gellar, who convinced Joss Whedon to cast her as the next season’s special new character.
Buffy is a series with a lot of game-changing moments and decisions, but possibly the biggest turn it ever did was introduce Buffy’s sister Dawn, not as a long-lost character or someone mentioned in the background, but by gaslighting the audience into thinking she was always there. Of course, we soon learn the truth, as she leads into a memorable season of television, one of the show’s finest.
This shouldn’t have worked and could have turned into a Cousin Oliver situation, and I’m sure read as one to skeptics- Buffy’s ratings were dropping in the fourth season as her college life and a spotty narrative was alienating viewers. Bringing in a little sister had the potential to win a new audience who may have dismissed the show as something for the previous generation of teenagers while giving long-time viewers a change of dynamic. Whedon always insisted that the addition of Dawn wasn’t just to fit the story, but to give Buffy a strong, non-romantic bond.
And it worked. While the character wasn’t a favorite at first- keep in mind that Dawn was initially written for 12 or younger, and Trachtenberg was already 14 when she took on the role. It shows, and it took a couple of episodes for her to really find something in the character. I do think that as the season goes along and we see how Dawn reacts to her reality, realizing that while she’s a real human now, everything up to when we first see her is a figment of falsely-crafted memories to give the illusion that she has always been alive. It’s a sad role, and I think by the time we hit “The Body”, which called for serious acting, she finds Dawn’s core.
The fact is, even with this, Dawn never became one of my favorite characters, but I think she has her moments in the show’s last two seasons even if she appears to matter a little less at this point. I’ll never forgive her and everyone else who kicked Buffy out of her house, though.
My knowledge of Michelle’s post-Buffy career is hazy, but I know that she featured regularly on television over the years and appeared in a share of features, including memorable roles in Disney’s Ice Princess, horndog comedy EuroTrip, and in Greg Araki’s Mysterious Skin, among others. Her television roles include recurring roles in Six Feet Under and Weeds, a memorable guest appearance in House, a lead in short-lived medical drama Mercy, and most notably, as fan favorite Georgina Sparks in Gossip Girl, where she featured in all six seasons and even appeared again in both seasons of Max’s sequel series.
I’ve seen an outpouring of admiration and love shared for Michelle on social media, who passed earlier this week at the age of 39 possibly due to complications from a recent liver transplant. Some of the roles I’ve seen most noted include her stints in Pete & Pete, Mysterious Skin and Gossip Girl, but Dawn Summers will probably always be her signature role. Buffy the Vampire Slayer remains one of the greatest television shows of all time, and many a viewer hoped to have Buffy as their big sister. It’s not like we could have annoyed her as much as Dawn did, right?
My opinion on Buffy and Dawn are obvious if you’ve followed this blog for a while, which is why I had to say something. I regret not touching on David Lynch’s recent passing, despite Twin Peaks being an eventual part of OTH as Buffy was. Unfortunately, I don’t know if I have it in me to write an eulogy for every person involved in an OTH series.
Maybe when Dick Van Dyke or Larry David pass.
Movie To Watch:
Mubi is a streaming platform that I feel skeptical towards- $15 a month for just a handful of movies and no television, past or present, and if you want benefits like their theatrical access or their magazine, you have to pay even more- but whenever they do a deal, I will sign up. Before January ended, they offered 3 months for $1 total, and I had to say yes. This is likely their way of promoting the service as The Substance, the surprise hit body horror which is likely going to give Demi Moore an Oscar, has recently hit Mubi.
It’s been less than a month and I’ve already seen everything that I want to, but there’s been a few winners that I’ve hit. My favorite movie that I’ve seen her is Witches, a documentary by British filmmaker Elizabeth Sankey, where she connects the history of witchcraft, particularly how it’s been portrayed in film, but dating back to in ancient times. This isn’t a comprehensive look at witchcraft, however, but a personal endeavor as Sankey uses the subject to discuss her feelings of post-partum depression and anxiety, how this affects the mental health of women, and how that all relates to witches. Young girls are taught to not be the Wicked Witch of the West, but why?
I thought this was an engrossing film, if not an easy watch, and worth the look. And if you’re going to ask, no, there are no Buffy clips, but I’m not really surprised. Witchcraft in the series has decidedly queer subtext, and this is a deliberately het-leaning narrative. Willow and Tara would probably understand.
Three Albums I’ve Been Listening To:
R.E.M.- Monster
Dio- The Last in Line
Heart- Dreamboat Annie
It’s funny how that R.E.M. album continues to haunt used CD sections at any given Goodwill, but it’s always been one of my favorites, I like their downtuned turn here. I lose interest right after.
Currently Reading:
Palace of Desire by Naguib Mahfouz, Grass by Sherri S. Tepper