Joyce Summers Appreciation Thread

[IndianaSolo221]

I didn't see a thread for Joyce, so I thought I'd create my own. Welcome to the Joyce Summers appreciation thread...aka: 100 things I love about Joyce.

I love Joyce. I love how she whacks Spike in the back of the head with an axe to protect Buffy in School Hard. I love how we get to see her go wild with Giles in Band Candy. I love how she is obviously fearful for Buffy when she first learns that her daughter is the Slayer, but she eventually comes to terms with it and loves Buffy regardless. I love how she's motherly, gentle, kind, and polite to others. I love how she calls Dawn her "little pumpkin belly," and how she makes Spike the hot cocoa with the little marshmallows while listening to him bemoan over Drusilla's leaving him, and later, they chat it up and watch Passions, like it's no big deal to chill with a vampire. Joyce is basically a mother hen to all the Scoobies, and it was sad to see her go.

So...what do you love about Joyce?

 

[Nix]

Now I'm a mum I really don't know how she coped... I mean the fear for her daughter on a daily basis.... it's huge in the real world let alone if you had a Slayer as a daughter facing monsters daily!!

 

[SpotlessMindUK]

Such an underrated character and was the one person (even more so than Angel & Giles) that held Buffys world together even before she found out about her being a slayer.
A great mother that pretty much raised Buffy by herself for most of what we saw.

 

[M]

If you could craft a mom to stand in for all of the typical good moms in the world, it would probably be Joyce. She drives you nuts, sometimes makes really stupid mistakes, is just a bit narrow-minded and old-fashioned at times, but ultimately loves Buffy, tries to be accepting, mothers everyone in need, and generally does her level best.

 

[Glory Worshippe]

I was 10/11 when i first saw The Body episode. I was distraught. Loved Joyce so much.

 

[Priceless]

I'm a big Joyce fan, and get annoyed when people say she's a bad mother. I feel sorry for her because she hasn't been allowed to know her daughter had a secret life. In Anne, when she blames Giles for Buffy running away, I am totally on her side. Giles was co-parenting Buffy and her mother didn't even know. Giles did the wrong thing by keeping it secret and Joyce had every right to be angry.

 

[Cheese Slices]

The thing about early Joyce is that she's such an obvious conflict generator (tm) for the writers that it's hard to really dislike her on a personal level. Everytime she does or says something bad I can't help but think "you've done your job, source of conflict/plot facilitator Joyce, see ya next time". Kristine Sutherland's aura and acting really furthers the dissonance, as she is pretty much warmth incarnate.
So yeah, Joyce is not a very good mother during the early seasons, but that's because she's barely a character. And once Buffy ceases to be a teenager, she's not needed for conflict anymore and she just starts feeling more like a real person and becomes unambiguously likeable.

 

[DeadlyDuo]

I think Joyce was a good mother to Buffy and she clearly regretted almost instantly telling Buffy not to come back if she left the house when she found out Buffy was the slayer. You can see this through her actions in Season 3. In Dead man's party, Pat was shit stirring so what every feeling Joyce expressed to Pat in regards to Buffy, I don't think it was within the context that Pat was making it out to be. Joyce was clearly happy for Buffy to be back because she was overly trying to accommodate everything Buffy wanted to do which even Buffy picked up on.

 

[TamsinValencia]

She kept the tears flowing in tons of episodes. She loved Buffy and Dawn and was an iconic inspirational TV mom.

She was badass with Giles. They were quite the Duo.

She gave Spike a comfortable place to vent catering for the vamps needs

She was the most patient when dealing with Dawn

She accepted Vampires, cared for other people's kids and definitely met Giles' expectations. Just a loving mom type all around.

 

[afanofbuffy]

She's a nice mom.

 

[Plasma]

Can we just take a minute to appreciate that after S3 began, Joyce was supportive of Buffy and her slayerage?

Like she even made sandwiches! 😭

 

[Angelkiss]

I like Joyce she is a good and protective mother. I love when Spike attacks Buffy in the school and Joyce hits on the head with a shovel and says nobody hurts my daughter.