her realization that Buffy is the Slayer, Joyce begins to express concern for Buffy's well-being and long-term plans. The third season showcases two episodes in which Joyce is a major character. Both of them posit Buffy as a parent figure over Joyce. With "Band Candy" the episode begins with Buffy being petulant and Joyce working with Giles to create a schedule for studying and slaying, but these roles quickly dissolve in the ensuing chaos. In an attempt to offer a sacrifice to a demon, Sunnydale's shadowy mayor intoxicates the adults of the town with drugged chocolate bars, making them devolve into adolescents. Joyce descends into the behavior of a 16-year-old, a prospect Kristine Sutherland found not only fun, but painful as it brought back memories she had not faced in years. Giles is also affected, turning into his adolescent miscreant self, which Joyce finds irresistible (the two have sex on a police car in the middle of downtown Sunnydale). Giles has become Buffy's father figure following her parents' divorce, and Buffy finds Joyce's attraction to Giles disquieting. Joyce had dated before ("Ted") but Buffy, and consequently the audience, do not see Joyce as a sexual character; she is foremost a mother. According to Lorna Jowett, Joyce is rare among the characters on the series: "Joyce is always and only Buffy's mother, never just another person or a member of the team." The second instance of role-reversal is in the episode "Gingerbread", where again children demonstrate more wisdom than the adults. The episode is noted as highlighting this motif specifically, as the divide between parents and children is exaggerated and symbolized by Joyce's confusion. In an attempt to learn more about her daughter's Slayer duties, Joyce follows Buffy on patrol at night, bringing snacks and saying she wants to observe Buffy work. Joyce finds two dead children in a playground and is deeply disturbed. After Buffy comforts her mother, the Scoobies discover that the children are the manifestation of a demon whose sole purpose is to tear communities apart by sparking moral panics. Joyce, meanwhile, becomes entirely consumed with finding the culprit of the apparent murders. She starts a parents' activist organization named "Mothers Opposed to the Occult" (or "M.O.O." to Buffy's mortification) with Willow's mother, an academic and parenting expert so self-involved that she virtually ignores her daughter. Both Buffy and Willow—whose skills in witchcraft are growing—are seized by M.O.O.,