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Gingerbread is the eleventh episode of the third season of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and the forty-fifth episode overall. Joyce's attempt to bond with her daughter over her craft leads her to initiate a literal witch hunt after finding two children ritualistically sacrificed in the park.

Starring: Sarah Michelle Gellar (Buffy Summers), Nicholas Brendon (Xander Harris), Alyson Hannigan (Willow Rosenberg), Charisma Carpenter (Cordelia Chase), David Boreanaz (Angel), Seth Green (Oz)

And: Anthony Stewart Head (Giles)

Guest Starring: Kristine Sutherland (Joyce Summers), Elizabeth Anne Allen (Amy Madison), Harry Groener (Mayor Richard Wilkins III), Jordan Baker (Sheila Rosenberg)

And: Armin Shimerman (Principal Snyder)

Co-Starring: Lindsay Taylor (Little Girl), Shawn Pyfrom (Little Boy), Blake Swendson (Michael), Grant Garrison (Roy), Roger Morrissey (Demon), Daniel Tamm (Mooster)

Contents 1 Plot Overview 2 Notes 2.1 Monster of the Week 2.2 Body Count 2.3 Music 3 Arc Advancement 3.1 Happenings 3.2 Characters 3.3 Referbacks 4 Trivia 4.1 The Show 4.2 Behind the Scenes 4.3 Allusions and References 4.4 Memorable Moments 5 Quotes

Plot Overview

Notes

Monster of the Week

The story of this episode is inspired by Hansel & Gretel, in which two children are nearly eaten by a witch in her gingerbread house while lost in the forest. They manage to kill the witch and run back to down, alerting the adults to what fate nearly befell them. The resulting witch hunt leads to man innocents being rounded up and killed.

According to records, this cycle repeats itself every 50 years, with the demon taking on the form of a pair of innocent kids who are "killed" by something mystic. The demon in turn feeds off of the resulting chaos and pushes the mob into persecuting and killing witches.

Body Count

#	Whom	By Whom	How	Where
1	Mr. Sanderson	Buffy	Staked	Park
2	Demon	Buffy	Stabbed in the Neck	School

Music

Arc Advancement

Happenings

Characters

• Willow: Willow's mother makes her first (and only) appearance in the series, she's portrayed as an egocentric professor who has little time for her daughter's activities. By the end of the episode she knows that Willow is a witch and is dating Oz, but chooses to remember only the latter.

• Amy: In a desperate attempt to escape from being burned to death, Amy turns herself into a rat and skitters away. Although they try, Willow and Buffy aren't able to turn Amy back into a human and she remains stuck in rat form. She'll stay this way for several seasons.

Referbacks

Trivia

The Show

• Continuity: In the canon graphic novel, Buffy the Vampire Slayer/Tales of the Slayers, the story of another slayer who is burned at the stake is told. The Righteous Slayer was the protector of a medieval English town whose easy defeat of a vampire menace caused jealous men to react violently.

Behind the Scenes

Allusions and References

• International: Buffy the Vampire Slayer has been dubbed into many different languages and the title translated for each different international version. Some international translations of this episode's title are:
  • French: "Intolérance" ("Intolerance")
  • Italian: "Le streghe di Sunnydale" ("The Witches of Sunnydale")
  • German: "Hänsel und Gretel" ("Hansel and Gretel")
  • Japanese: "ジンジャーブレッド" ("Jinjābureddo" - "Gingerbread")
  • Spanish: "Hansel y Gretel" ("Hansel and Gretel")
  • Turkish: "Zencefilli Kek ("The Cake with Ginger")

Memorable Moments

Quotes