has experienced academic problems in the past. This willful ignorance of Buffy's vocation has been well-analyzed by Buffy studies scholars. A persistent theme in Buffy is the nearly unbreachable generation gap between adolescents and adults. Throughout the series, adults are either unable or unwilling to see the genuine horrors teenagers face. As Buffy's mother, Joyce is repeatedly confronted with evidence of her daughter's role as the Slayer; Sutherland saw this as a form of denial on Joyce's part. The resulting conflict between Joyce and Buffy is both tragic and humorous. When Buffy skips class or stays out late to attend to her Slayer duties, Joyce is left trying to punish her by restricting her to the house. Joyce responds to the dire situations Buffy must face by placing regular and inconvenient restrictions on her, such as grounding her at a time when Buffy must confront and try to kill the Master (the head of a vampire cult who is attempting to fulfill a prophecy that he will kill the Slayer and open the Hellmouth in Sunnydale), saying sarcastically to Buffy, "I know—if you don't go out it'll be the end of the world", when in fact, it just may be, or telling Buffy that she is free to make her own life choices, when Buffy knows exactly what her destiny is, and that it may include dying young. This duality of language reinforces the generation gap between the characters. Joyce is, according to author Lorna Jowett, a typical "teen-horror parent": loving and supporting, but not really facing or knowing the true extent of reality, therefore ineffective at helping her child. She embodies the expectation that mothers should intuitively understand their children. Buffy confronts her mother's denial in "Becoming", the second-season finale, forcing Joyce to see the reality of what Buffy is and does. As a result of their confrontation, Joyce gives Buffy an ultimatum that she either stay at home or never come back. As Buffy is compelled to thwart the apocalypse, she accepts her mother's decision, leaves the house and, ultimately, Sunnydale. Sutherland read the script for the second-season finale in her car, unable to stop reading until the resolution, where she sat sobbing when it is revealed Buffy leaves. In their heated encounter Buffy says to her mother, "Open your eyes, Mom. What do you think has been going on for the past two years? The fights? The