Buffy the Vampire Slayer (TV Series) Gingerbread (1999) User Reviews

Mob mentalities

[ossie85 · 6/10 · 11 August 2022]

For the first time ever Joyce goes with Buffy on patrol. But the two stumble upon to murdered children. This badly effects Joyce and Willow's mother Sheila and they start a group to try and stop the violence around Sunnydale. But Joyce is hearing voices - the voices of the dead children.

Why It's So Good - Heartbreaking and scary early on, and leads into a great story of the dangers of mob rule. Kristine Sutherland is underrated asset in this show, and she gets some time for Joyce to shine.

Watch Out For - Joyce and Sheila consoling each other.

Quote - "Aw, man, it's Nazi Germany, and I've got Playboys in my locker!" - Xander when his locker is searched.

Not the best episode of the season

[katierose295 · 7/10 · 3 August 2006]

"Gingerbread" is about censorship. A militant parents-right's group has taken over Sunnydale. They're searching school lockers for objectionable materials, banning inflammatory books, persecuting people who are different, etc... It's a monster-of-the-week that deals with real life issues under the guise of witchcraft and fairy tales. This isn't the best episode of the season, but it's still pretty good in places. You could skip "Gingerbread", if you're in a hurry and watching the season on DVD. But, really, it's worth seeing just so you can understand the running Amy/rat joke in the seasons to come.

"Gingerbread" has Hansel and Gretel coming to Sunnydale. While out on patrol with Buffy, Joyce stumbles across the bodies of two children and is horrified. Determined to stop the violence and mysterious happenings in Sunnydale, Joyce organizes "Mother's Opposed to the Occult" or "MOO." Suddenly, everyone in town is preoccupied with avenging the deaths of the children and tracking down the witches that apparently killed them. They're confiscating Giles' books, stealing Cordelia's scented candles and questioning Willow about her wicca-ness. It soon becomes apparent that the whole town is under some sort of spell.

The dead children are really Hansel and Gretel and, to make things even more complicated they are also a demon. It hides in the guise of the children, breaking communities apart and inspiring them to persecute witches. Joyce and Willow's Mom capture their daughters and tie them up. Willow, Amy and Buffy are all soon set to be burned at the stake. Amy morphs into a rat to escape. Oz and Xander fight to save Willow and Buffy, while Giles and Cordy work on a cure for the demons spell.

There are some good parts to the episode. I like that "Gingerbread" finally addresses the dangers of living in Sunnydale. The disappearances and skinnings and "sudden neck ruptures"... There's no way that the citizens of Sunnydale could fail to pick up on the problems in their town. They have a willful, blind ignorance of the darkness that surrounds them. And Pricipal Snyder reading off the titles of the confiscated library books is hilarious. "Blood Rites and Sacrifices." I can't believe that Giles just has those books sitting on the shelves. Also, it's good to finally see Willow's mother and understand a bit more around Willow's home life. No wonder Willow wants to spend all her time at school. Lastly, I like Amy turning into the rat. Poor Amy will be stuck like that for quite a while.

Also aside from the Hansel and Gretel reference, the title of the episode has a hidden meaning. The word Gingerbread has the letters D-A-N-G-E-R in it.

On the downside, Angel's not in this episode very much. He should have been involved in the "lets-save-Buffy" plan. And did Giles' books really get burnt? He won't like that.

My favorite part of the episode: Willow's mother's rant against the patriarchal biased of "Mr. Roger's Neighborhood."

The One With Hansel And Gretal...

[taylorkingston · 8/10 · 13 June 2015]

I enjoy this episode. It's really creepy and scary to think that Hansel and Gretal (in the Buffy universe) were just a demon.

In this episode, whilst following Buffy on patrol, Joyce finds the bodies of two young children on a playground. They had been murdered, with symbols painted on them. Joyce immediately talks with other parents and even the Mayor about how to stop the people who did this. The town believe it was the work of witches and they have everyone's lockers at the high school searched. Everyone with occult paraphernalia will be hunted down. But what Buffy discovers is a big hole in the logic. Who are the kids? Who are their parents? Where did they go to school? Everyone knows all about their death, but not their lives. Then, after researching, they find out that the same kids have been killed multiples times over the last four years. They're actually a demon. So when Amy and Willow are about to be burned at the stake, everyone does an uncloaking spell, so the town will see them for the monsters they are.

Best part of the episode: When they discover that Hansel and Gretal are really a demon.

Worst part of the episode: What the demon actually looks like.

Overall, I give this episode an 8 out of 10, which in my ratings book is: Awesome.

The kids are our future

[Realrockerhalloween · 2 October 2016]

Gingerbread follows Buffy as she patrols with her mother following along to understand her daughter's slayering world more when they find two kids dead from apparent occultic rituals. The episode is a play in parent militia groups who try to sensor what their kids do by confiscating books, clothes and music so they won't be lead astray. It reminds me a lot of the parent groups from the 90s who were worried the children were being massed with dark forces like moo or mag who run amok during a time of crises.

Also it's a grim fairy tale as the kids are actually a demon who takes the form of children Hansel and Gretel who go from one town to another starting mischief like the Salem witch trials. Buffy, Willow and Amy are set to burn for being bad girls leaving the townspeople with their guilt and defenseless if they succeed. Its scary to think how paranoia and influences from outside forces can almost destroy a tight secure community if the people listen to them without thinking of the consequences or the motivations of the whisperer in their ear.

Don't have a cow man.

[bombersflyup · 7/10 · 22 September 2019]

Gingerbread is about Joyce spearheading a campaign to rid Sunnydale of witches, after the discovery of two dead children.

It's alright, but Joyce's a horrible character and in the central story-line. Has quite a bit of humour in it, including Giles losing all his books and Willow telling her mother she's a witch. There's also lots of new and out of the norm occurrences all piled up, so it's unique I guess.

I rarely rewatch this episode

[dmntrsn · 9/10 · 3 February 2023]

This episode is truly hard to watch. Witch hunts and Satanic panic have always been a truly sensitive topic, and how a TV show goes about covering it is always indicative of the show's overall quality. Without spoiling, Buffy the Vampire Slayer covers the topic damn well and works it into the lore of the show seamlessly. Is it the best episode of the show? No. It is one of the better ones, though. Makes it hard to like some characters.

This is an episode I usually skip because the characters that are made hard to like are truly intolerable here. Which works REALLY well for the episode, but doesn't make for an enjoyable experience.

Certainly the worst episode of season 3

[nightwishouge · 6/10 · 12 April 2021]

Gingerbread is an episode penned by Jane Espenson. Espenson has a predilection for structuring her episodes like farce, or a Three's Company episode--the first three acts are really just set-up, and the final act is nothing but payoff. Season four's Pangs follows this same structure, but more gracefully.

Gingerbread is kind of a dull episode for a long stretch. It's about Joyce falling under a spell that causes her to get so carried away with "taking back Sunndydale", ostensibly for the sake of the children, that she paradoxically endorses child murder to accomplish this task. The adult world tends to cast a short shadow over the events of the series, and this episode does raise an intriguing question--what happens when the parents of Sunnydale finally become hip to the supernatural events all around them? It's an interesting question to explore, but for the purposes of Gingerbread, it's just another monster-of-the-week MacGuffin, so in a philosophical sense nothing really progresses; the genie gets put back into the bottle. This leaves you with a sense that the teleplay is just spinning its wheels since there will be no lasting consequences after Buffy inevitably defeats the demon at hand.

I'm also ambivalent about the "Mothers Opposed to the Occult" jokes throughout. On the one hand, MOO is a funny acronym. On the other...what is it trying to say about organizations like MADD? That parents who lost children to drunk driving are just on hysterical witch hunts, trying to find scapegoats? It's an uncomfortable equivalency.

Anyhow. As I said, after the work of setting everything up is done, the last act is nonstop delight. Pound for pound it might be one of the best acts of any Buffy episode from the entire series. There's so much wonderful stuff, from Cordelia's buddy-cop dynamic with Giles, to Xander and Oz ineffectually mounting a rescue mission, to Amy's show of power on the witch-burning pyre, to Buffy's adorable vanquishing of the enormous demon at the end. The writing here is so sharp and specific and motivated and clear and purposeful--emblematic of season three as a whole, and a quality that will never be recaptured with such consistency in any of the seasons that follow.

Sadly foreshadowing current problematics.

[m-47826 · 8/10 · 25 June 2021]

People who want to wash everything cleaner than clean. Does this ring a bell? I know, me too. And it's probably why this episode is so hated by most. It's a very distorting, yet accurate mirror of dangerous behaviors people get trapped into. Too often. And it's a pretty darn funny episode too. That isn't ashamed to make fun of itself. One that still makes me hate Joyce with a passion, but she's possessed by an evil entity, dressed in sheep's clothing. So, not really her fault... This and Band Candy are good at addressing the everyday life issues of the Scooby Gang, through the eyes of the clueless adults. Only this one does it in a more blunt and hitting close to home way. A thumb at the nose to concerned parents, complaining about the show's violence, back in the day, maybe?

Gingerbread

[elenalulu · 9/10 · 29 August 2018]

I'm a huge Buffy fan and I've always enjoyed this episode. I think the demon is scary and different. The humor is great in this episode

A witch hunt in Sunnydale

[Tweekums · 8/10 · 21 April 2018]

Buffy's mother has decided that the time has come for her to accompany her daughter on patrol to see what being the Slayer really entails. While Buffy is dispatching a vampire Joyce finds the bodies of two young children and is understandably horrified. Buffy promises to get to the bottom of it and asks Giles about a symbol drawn of the children's hands. He fears that they could be dealing with a human foe, possibly some kind of cult involving witchcraft. When Joyce hears she believes something must be done so starts contacting other parents... soon there is a full scale witch hunt under way and anybody involved with the occult is being targeted; Willow and Amy are in real danger as they are witches and Giles has his books confiscated; the very books that might help solve the question of who the dead children are and who harmed them.

This was a rather impressive episode with some surprisingly tense moments; I liked the fact that the most obvious threat came from the parents. Not surprisingly we ultimately discover that they were being influenced but that doesn't make their actions less disturbing. The story provided plenty of great moments; most notably Willow standing up to her mother and Giles giving his opinion of Principal Snyder... not to mention Amy's spell near the end. The cast is on fine form; Alyson Hannigan stands out as Willow takes the central role, it was good to see Kristine Sutherland doing more as Joyce and recurring guest Elizabeth Anne Allen impresses as Amy. The explanation for what happened is well handled. Overall this was another solid episode.

One of the worst episodes!

[ashkanmohammadi94 · 5/10 · 15 December 2019]

I hate Joyce, one of the worst characters, I hope she dies a painful death!

The more Joyce, the better the episode

[Joxerlives · 8/10 · 16 February 2012]

Gingerbread

The Good; Host of good stuff, the hysteria, the fiery climax, the mislead with Willow, Amy! The Buffy/Joyce scenes are superb, great to meet Will's mum. Love the Mayor's very careful tiptoeing around MOO and Principle Snyder is a joy to behold

The Bad; A TV cliché but surely the police would take longer than 5 minutes to get a statement from Joyce and Buffy and wouldn't leave them hanging around the crime scene. Also the demon at the end with the stake through its' throat is very obviously a perspective gag.

Best line; Joyce; "Oh my god it's mister Sanderson from the bank!" just pipping Willow's; "You do doodle"

Shot; no but Giles is intimidated by a security guard with a gun

Tied up; Willow, Amy and Buffy

Knocked out; Buffy and Giles by Joyce using chloroform. Cordy asks how many times Giles has been knocked out, I figure it must be a dozen or more. Love her line about 'waking up in a coma' although it's rather ironic given the events of 'You're Welcome'.

Women good/men bad; in this case it's the women who lead the crusade/lynch-mob

Kinky dinky; Giles and Joyce are at least talking to one another now but still awkward. Willow implores the dark forces to 'fill her with their black naughtiness' which one day they will. Xander has Playboys in his locker which is surprisingly classy porn considering what we know about him. As I recall it was actually the story of the little Dutch boy with his fist in the dyke but that's probably too kinky even for Joss. Giles logs into the 'Frisky watchers chatroom' which I'm sure someone launched at some time

Calling Captain Subtext; The not so subtle implication is a rant against those who wish to censor Buffy or criticise it for it's occult features. But really it's against bigotry and mob rule anywhere. Ironically I remember this ep being censored on the BBC at the point where Buffy stakes the demon at the end. Buffy seems unaware that 'dyke' is another word for dam which makes her expression when Angel refers to having "a finger in the dyke" all the more hilarious.

Guantanamo Bay; SDH has it's civil liberties suspended, Snyder glorying in his power

Questions and observations; Where do people get chloroform, I mean can you just buy it down the chemist? This ep marks the beginning of Cordy's eventual reintegration into the Scooby gang as she helps Giles save Buff&co and Oz and Xander reconcile. The first appearance of rat Amy. Someone should tell Michael that the New Romantic era is over. When Joyce and Buffy have their talk at SDH they're standing under a poster saying 'Blood required again'. You rather wonder that no one has thought to form a vigilante group to counter the Hellmouth evil before? Joyce refers to 'neck rupture', presumably the authorities term for vampire killings. Snyder misquotes Apocalypse Now which he will appear in a parody of at the end of season 4. Once again Buffy's status as the Slayer seems common knowledge to judge by the boys reaction to her at the school. Willow claims that she's sacrificed the local goats, one day she will sacrifice Bambi.

So lovely that Joyce comes along to Buffy's Slaying patrol. You have to agree with Snyder that it's rather weird for Giles to have such a wide selection of books dedicated to the supernatural in the library. It's a great turnaround that Joyce the parent relies on Buffy the child to console her from the evils she's seen. She has a point that Sunnydale isn't getting any better, they're not running out of vampires. But as 'The Wish' and 'Dopplegangland' prove Buffy&co make a huge difference.

One wonders what Dawn makes of all this? Love Giles struggling with the computer, can't he call the Council for help?

Angel and Buffy's talk is interesting especially in light of his crisis of faith in season 2 of his own show. No Faith which is a shame, love to see where she would stand in all of this. Xander and Oz in the air ducts speaks of every cliché in every action film ever. A hint of Amy's true colours as Buffy observes "She couldn't do us first". Lovely fanfic called 'The Mayoress' based on this one where The Mayor falls in love with Joyce and gives up evil to marry her and become Buffy, Faith and Dawn's loving stepfather.

8/10 again, very good but not truly great

classic

[danielwebber-37121 · 10/10 · 21 September 2021]

Classic buffy witch epiosed. Good claasic monster dark epiosed.

Probably the best episode yet !

[nicofreezer · 9/10 · 13 April 2022]

After watching the first 45 Buffy episodes , I enjoy the show, not Greatest but not Bad at all, funny characters, solid storylines. But this one Gingerbread is the very first episode that I could have give 10/10 , in the end its a 9/10 but with a better ending it could have, a top 5 Buffy episodes from the first 45 !

Very entertaining, and for once in the show, a sence of reality and credibility, since people seems to finally realise the city is unsafe.

The One That Predicted Moms for Liberty

[nysmbs · 10/10 · 16 December 2023]

Quite an underrated episode; this one is strong as an allegory for how and why fascist movements gain traction. Joyce starts a book barbecue and a disturbing invasion of students' privacy through the machinery of police, and she is driven to do so in the name of "protecting the children" of Sunnydale. Since this is Buffy, a supernatural element is added that allows Joyce to be redeemed, but the metaphor works seamlessly. Hansel and Gretal, who haunt Joyce and rob her of her ability to think rationally by dominating her emotions, are a fantastical reflection of far right propaganda operations that do the same. Perhaps that's not everyone's cup of tea. I admit that I, perhaps more so than the average Buffy viewer, am deeply fond of the episodes where supernatural demons work so well as allegories for evil in the real world.