Gingerbread

Season 3, Episode 11, Aired

Episode Summary

EDIT
go
Netflix
Subscription
Amazon
Buy
iTunes
Buy
Hulu Plus
Subscription
Amazon Prime
Free Trial / Subscription
VUDU
Buy
8.4
out of 10
EPISODE RATING: Great
557 votes
  • Your Rating: 10
    "Perfect"
  • Your Rating: 9.5
    "Superb"
  • Your Rating: 9
    "Superb"
  • Your Rating: 8.5
    "Great"
  • Your Rating: 8
    "Great"
  • Your Rating: 7.5
    "Good"
  • Your Rating: 7
    "Good"
  • Your Rating: 6.5
    "Fair"
  • Your Rating: 6
    "Fair"
  • Your Rating: 5.5
    "Mediocre"
  • Your Rating: 5
    "Mediocre"
  • Your Rating: 4.5
    "Poor"
  • Your Rating: 4
    "Poor"
  • Your Rating: 3.5
    "Bad"
  • Your Rating: 3
    "Bad"
  • Your Rating: 2.5
    "Terrible"
  • Your Rating: 2
    "Terrible"
  • Your Rating: 1.5
    "Abysmal"
  • Your Rating: 1
    "Abysmal"
Rate Now!
Picking the wrong night for mother-daughter bonding, Joyce discovers the bodies of two children in the park, apparently sacrificed in an occult ritual. Deeply disturbed by what she has seen, Joyce rallies the adults of Sunnydale, convincing them to rid the town of all magical and occult influences. Soon, however, it becomes apparent that Buffy, Willow, and Amy are themselves considered a part of the occult threat to Sunnydale.moreless
WRITE A REVIEW

Cast & Crew

See All EDIT

Watch Online

Netflix
Subscription
Amazon
Buy
iTunes
Buy
Hulu Plus
Subscription
Amazon Prime
Free Trial / Sub...
VUDU
Buy

Fan Episode Reviews (19)

See All

  • The more Joyce the better

    8.0
    "Great"
    By joxerlives, Jan 19, 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 cliche 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 it's 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 suprisingly 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 criticize 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;
    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 vigiliante 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 cliche 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 stepfather.
    8/10 again, very good but not truly great
    moreless

  • Absolutely terrible, heavy-handed, poorly-written episode.

    2.0
    "Terrible"
    By belgand42, Sep 18, 2011
    Despite being an overall great show Buffy has had some really bad episodes over the years. Sometimes they're uninspired, sometimes they're overly melodramatic, and sometimes they're just all-around bad.

    This is definitely the latter. This episode was so terrible that it actually turned me off Buffy for almost a decade. It was the first episode I watched when it first aired and due to the overall horrible nature of this show alone I dismissed Buffy entirely until 2006 when, in the wake of how great Joss' Firefly was, I finally decided to re-evaluate the show and found that it was actually really great.

    Essentially the biggest problem is that it's built around a message more than it is around a plot. In trying to push that forward it's incredibly heavy-handed and rarely interesting. It also suffers rather strongly from the affliction of introducing new characters without any explanation and pretending that they've been there all along (Amy and the other, male, witch). For Willow's mother it serves the plot and makes sense (she's an inattentive mother... even if that seems a tad out-of-character given Willow's nature), but in the case of Amy she just happens to be sitting there at lunch without any prior mention.

    Things proceed in a linear and predictable manner until a quick, pointless ending is reached more to end the show than to reach any sort of real conclusion.

    Many episodes of Buffy fail because they try too hard to function as an analogy for some sort of mythic ideal of what it's like to be a teenager. When they push to serve their narrow-minded ends in delivering a message the story and characters suffer.

    Since nothing plot-centric happens in this episode it is very, very missable and I strongly advise everyone to skip it. Who knows, maybe if I hadn't seen it all those years ago I'd have been enjoying Buffy for a lot longer.moreless

  • Gingerbread

    10
    "Perfect"
    By TrueTvWatcher, Oct 14, 2010
    Gingerbread was a great episode of Buffy The Vampire Slayer because it blends Folk and Fairy Tales into the stories so well. Buffy was out patroling when her mom shows up with a snack for her, but she just might be the snack for vampires! Joyce finds two dead children in the park, and they start influencing her which eventually leads to a witch hunt. The town goes crazy, and they try to burn Amy, Buffy and Willow at the stakes. Amy turns into a rat and gets away, but Buffy and Willow are rescued by the rest of the Gang and Giles unmasks the true form of the creature responsible.moreless

  • Season 3, Episode 11.

    8.5
    "Great"
    By Wanted23, Apr 24, 2009
    After Joyce decides to bond with Buffy during her patrol, she discovers two dead children with witch symbols on their arms. She then forms a vigil and a group of protesters that plan to burn all the witches at the stake. However, is it their option, or are they being possessed?

    I liked this episode. It was a little twisted with the dead kids, but I liked it nonetheless. It was very entertaining and I remember the scene where Buffy and Willow are about to be burned. I didn't remember that it was in this episode or what happened though. I liked it though. Hehe, poor Amy is a witch. Cool episode.moreless

  • Joyce goes a little crazy.

    9.0
    "Superb"
    By addict666, Jul 31, 2008
    There are some good parts of this episode and some other mediocre parts. I like how the parents are given something to do in this episode and it kind of explains away why they are never really around or concerned with the actions of their children or the mysterious deaths that occur in town. The whole Salem witch trial thing is played out pretty well and I love the whole Amy as a rat storyline that continues throughout the show, even though she has a way of appearing and disappearing at convenience. I also like to see Oz and Xander working together again after the whole Willow and Xander thing that I am so happy has ended. I like how they storm in at the end to save the day even though it's a little too late. Overall a good episode.moreless
WRITE A REVIEW
 

Trivia, Notes, Quotes and Allusions

See All

FILTER BY TYPE

  • TRIVIA (7)

    ADD TRIVIA

    • For industrial applications, the size of the ventilation shaft that Xander and Oz are crawling through seems to be right, but in reality they are far too big for an office building.

    • Ventilation screens are fastened in place, usually with several screws, yet Oz lightly hits the screen with the palm of his hand and the screen simply falls into the shaft.

    • When we first see Buffy tied to the post talking to Joyce look at her arms. When the camera looks at Buffy her arms are free of the ropes from the elbows down, but when the camera is on Joyce Buffy's arms are restrained down to the elbows.

    • Actress Elizabeth Anne Allen who plays Amy Madison on the show (girl turned rat turned girl) is allergic to cheese.

    • When Willow enters her house where her mother wants to talk to her, she has long hair and different clothes for the exterior shot, the shot was taken from Season 1's "I Robot... You Jane".

    • When the lockers are being searched Xander is worried that they'll find the playboys he has in his locker, implying that his locker hasn't been opened yet, when in fact it may very well have been. One of the cops is seen taking a red voodoo doll from one of the lockers, and in "I only have eyes for you" that same doll could be seen hanging in Xander's locker when the "locker-monster" attacked him.

    • During the locker search, a cop is looking through a coin purse in the background. Later, we still see the same cop looking through the same coin purse.

  • QUOTES (20)

    ADD QUOTES

    • Willow: Prince of night, I summon you, come fill me with your black naughty evil!

    • Giles: I just wonder if we're looking for a thing, the use of a symbol on a victim like this suggests a ritual murder and a cult sacrifice by a group. Buffy: A group of.. human beings? Someone with a soul did this? Giles: Yes, I'm afraid so. Buffy: Okay, then while you're looking for the meaning of that symbol thingy, could you also find a loophole in that "Slayers don't kill people" rule?

    • Sheila: Willow, you cut off your hair. Huh, that's a new look! Willow: Yeah, it's just a sudden whim I had - in August!

    • Buffy: Hey is Willow around? Xander: How can I convince you people that it's over? You assume that because I'm here, she's here. That I mysteriously know where she is. Buffy: Those her books? Xander: Yeah. She's in the bathroom.

    • Willow: You've seen what we can do! Another step and you will all feel my power! Buffy: (quietly) What are you going to do, float a pencil at them?

    • Xander: Wait, Hansel and Gretel? Breadcrumbs, ovens, gingerbread house? Giles: Of course. It makes perfect sense. Buffy: Yeah, it's all falling into place. Of course that place is nowhere near this place.

    • Cordelia: I came over here to tell Buffy to stop this craziness, and found you all unconscious -- again. How many times have you been knocked out, anyway? I swear, one of these times, you're going to wake up in a coma. Giles: Wake up in a...? Oh, never mind. We need to save Buffy from Hansel and Gretel. Cordelia: Now, let's be clear. The brain damage happened before I hit you.

    • Giles: There is a fringe theory, held by a few folklorists, that some regional stories have actual, very literal antecedents. Buffy: And in some language that's English? Oz: Fairy tales are real...

    • Buffy: (to Joyce) Maybe next time that the world is getting sucked into hell, I won't be able to stop it because the anti-hell-sucking book isn't on the approved reading list.

    • Willow: Mom, I'm not acting out, I'm a witch. I can make pencils float. And I can summon the four elements. Okay, two, but four soon. And I'm dating a musician! Sheyla: Oh, Willow! Willow: I worship Beelzebub. I do his biddings. Do you see any goats around? No, because I sacrificed them.

    • Snyder: Just how is, um, "Blood Rites and Sacrifices" appropriate material for a public school library? Chess Club branching out?

    • Giles: Ordinarily, I would say let's widen our research. Buffy: Using what? A dictionary and My Friend Flicka?

    • Cordelia: You're going to be one busy little Slayer, baby-sitting them. Buffy: I doubt they'll have any more trouble. Cordelia: I doubt your doubt. Everyone knows that witches killed those kids, and Amy is a witch. And Michael is whatever the boy of witch is, plus being the poster child for yuch. If you're going to hang with them, expect badness. 'Cause that's what you get when you hang with freaks and losers. Believe me, I know.... That was a pointed comment about me hanging with you guys.

    • Joyce: Are you embarrassed to be hanging out with your mother? I didn't hug you. Buffy: No, it's just... this hall is about school, and you're about home. Mix them, my world dissolves.

    • Xander: Oh, man, it's Nazi Germany, and I've got Playboys in my locker.

    • Joyce Summers: Mr. Mayor, you're dead wrong. This is not a good town. How many of us have lost someone who just disappeared? Or, or got skinned? Or suffered a neck rupture?

    • Amy: Alright. You wanna fry a witch? I'll give you a witch! Goddess Hecate, work thy will! Buffy: Uh-oh. Amy: Before thee let the unclean thing crawl! (Amy turns into a rat) Buffy: She couldn't do us first?

    • Willow: It's a doodle, I do doodle. You too, you do doodle too.

    • Oz: So what do we do? Xander: I don't know about you, but I'm gonna go trade my cow in for some beans.

    • Buffy: My mom said some things to me about being the Slayer. That it's fruitless. No fruit for Buffy. Angel: She's wrong. Buffy: Is she? Is Sunnydale any better than when I first came here? Okay, so I battle evil. But I don't really win. The bad keeps coming back and getting stronger. Like that kid in the story, the boy that stuck his finger in the duck. Angel: Dyke. It's another word for dam. Buffy: Oh. Okay, that story makes a lot more sense now.

  • NOTES (5)

    ADD NOTES

    • When Joyce mentions "skinning" in her speech, she is referring to the skins that were left after the fish-men had "hatched" in "Go Fish."

    • As stated below, Giles calls Snyder's people that are taking the books away 'Marauders'. Armin plays Quark on DS9 and played the first Ferengi on the last outpost (tng). The only known Ferengi ship is called a Marauder.

    • Giles speaking German: He says "Ich beschwöre die Macht der Hekate, sie mag den Weg bereiten. Das Böse soll das Gesicht des Bösen tragen!" Which translates to "I call the power of Hecate, it may clear the path. Evil shall wear the face of evil." Before he demaskerades the demon: "Verbergt Euch nicht hinter falschen Gesichtern" [do not hide behind false faces (literally translated)]. In the German dubbed version Giles uses a German (pseudo)dialect called 'Althochdeutsch'['Old German'].

    • After two and a half seasons, we finally get to see Willow's mother Sheila (played by Jordan Baker).

    • Jordan Baker worked with Alyson Hannigan before in an episode of Picket Fences called "To Forgive Is Divine."

  • ALLUSIONS (9)

    ADD ALLUSIONS

    • Xander: What's with the grim? While he might have just meant the serious looks on the men's faces, Xander might also have been making a pun on Grimm. "Hansel and Gretal" is one of the fairy tales recorded by the Brothers Grimm.

    • Buffy: Is Sunnydale any better than when I first came here? This may be an allusion to the episode The Wish, in which we saw exactly how Sunnydale would be if Buffy had never come there.

    • Giles: It happened in Salem, not surprisingly.
      Giles refers to the Salem Witch Trials in Salem, Massachusetts in 1692, where almost every man or woman who did something out of the ordinary was accused of being a witch. Nineteen men and women were eventually convicted of witchcraft and were hanged while hundreds of others awaited trial in prison until the panic subsided.

    • Snyder: I love the smell of desperate librarian in the morning!
      Robert Duval's character in Apocalypse Now (a marine commander) says "I love the smell of napalm in the morning". The film is frequently referenced in other episodes (e.g. Xander's dream sequence in Restless, in which Snyder also appears).

    • Xander: I don't know about you but I'm gonna go trade my cow in for some beans.
      Xander makes a reference to another fairytale Jack and the Beanstalk in which the title character trades a cow for some magic beans which grow into the title beanstalk.

    • Xander: Wait, Hansel and Gretel? Breadcrumbs, ovens, gingerbread house?
      Breadcrumbs, ovens and a gingerbread house all feature prominently in the German folktale Hansel and Gretel.

    • Buffy: I'm like the kid in the story. The boy who stuck his finger in the duck.
      Angel explains that it's a dike (dam) not a duck. In the story a dutch boy uses his finger to stop a leak in the dike and saves the town from a flood.

    • Willow: The last time we had a conversation over 3 minutes it was about the patriarchical bias of the Mr. Roger's show.
      Mr. Roger's Neighborhood was a television show aimed at young children.

    • Buffy: Using what a dictionary and My Friend Flika?
      My Friend Flika is a children's story about a boy and his horse written in 1941 by Mary O'Hara.

Buffy the Vampire Slayer Forums


Add a Topic See All
Last Activity
Replies

Watch Buffy the Vampire Slayer Full Episodes

See All

Related Shows

Season 3 Episodes

See All
Ep 22
Graduation Day (2)
Ep 21
Graduation Day (1)
Ep 20
The Prom
Ep 19
Choices
Ep 18
Earshot
Ep 17
Enemies
Ep 16
Doppelgangland
Ep 15
Consequences
Ep 14
Bad Girls
Ep 13
The Zeppo
Ep 12
Helpless
Ep 11
Gingerbread
Ep 10
Amends
Ep 9
The Wish
Ep 8
Lover's Walk
Ep 7
Revelations
Ep 6
Band Candy
Ep 5
Homecoming
Ep 4
Beauty and the Beasts
Ep 3
Faith, Hope and Trick
Ep 2
Dead Man's Party
Ep 1
Anne

Contributors

Become a contributor
More
Less

TV Listings

Full Listings
TV.com Properties | Shows | Videos | News | Listings | Forums | People | Photos | TV.com Blog

CBS Entertainment | About TV.com | About CBS Interactive | Jobs | Advertise

© 2012 CBS Interactive Inc. All rights reserved. | Privacy Policy | Ad Choice | Terms of Use