| "Nightmares" | |
|---|---|
| Buffy the Vampire Slayer episode | |
| Episode no. | Season 1 Episode 10 |
| Directed by | Bruce Seth Green |
| Story by | Joss Whedon |
| Teleplay by | David Greenwalt |
| Production code | 4V10 |
| Original air date | May 12, 1997 |
| Guest appearances | |
| |
"Nightmares" is the tenth episode of the first season of the television series Buffy the Vampire Slayer . The episode's teleplay was written by David Greenwalt, with a story by Joss Whedon, and directed by Bruce Seth Green.
The world of nightmares and reality become one when everyone in Sunnydale is living out their worst fears. While Xander comes to school in his underwear and Giles is unable to read, Buffy must unravel the mystery before reality folds completely into the world of nightmares. [1]
Buffy (Sarah Michelle Gellar) experiences a nightmare of being choked by the Master (Mark Metcalf) but wakes up excited to spend the weekend with her father, Hank (Dean Butler). She confides to Willow (Alyson Hannigan) that she feels responsible for her parents' divorce. During class, tarantulas crawl out of Wendell's textbook, causing panic in the classroom. Buffy notices a young boy (Jeremy Foley) standing in the doorway, apologizing. Underground, the Master tells the Anointed One that fear is wonderful — the most powerful force in the world, but one that can be controlled.
The next morning, Buffy is nervous about her father picking her up, but Joyce (Kristine Sutherland) reassures her. The gang asks Giles (Anthony Stewart Head) about the spiders, but he suggests they talk to Wendell. Wendell admits that ever since his brother killed his pet spiders while he was away at camp, he's had recurring nightmares about them crawling out of his textbook — though this is the first time it's actually happened.
Cordelia (Charisma Carpenter) reminds Buffy of a history test she hasn't studied for. Buffy struggles to find the classroom and is unable to answer any questions. Time seems to accelerate, and the bell rings before she can finish writing her name. Once again, she sees the little boy outside the classroom. He later watches as Laura sneaks into the basement for a smoke break, where she is attacked by a grotesque man who says, "Lucky nineteen."
At the hospital, Buffy and Giles interview Laura and learn from a doctor that Billy — the boy Buffy saw at school — has been in a coma after a similar attack.
At school, Xander (Nicholas Brendon) discovers he is only wearing his underwear in front of the class and runs out. In the library, Giles tells Buffy he has forgotten how to read. However, he discovers a newspaper article revealing that Billy has been in a coma for a week — despite Buffy having seen him several times. Giles theorizes she may be seeing Billy's astral projection.
Buffy's father arrives and tells her that she is responsible for her parents' divorce, calling her a difficult child he can no longer stand to be around. As Buffy begins to cry, he says he never wants to see her again. After he leaves, Buffy notices Billy watching her from a distance.
Xander and Willow meet in the library and realize their worst nightmares are coming true. Giles suspects Billy has crossed over from the nightmare world he was trapped in, bringing it along with him.
In the gym, Billy tells Buffy that something bad happened to him after a baseball game, though he can't remember exactly what. Suddenly, the deformed man appears and attacks Buffy. As they run away, Billy explains he was responsible for his baseball team losing and that it is "bad" to lose at games. Moments later, they find themselves transported to a cemetery at night.
Meanwhile, the nightmares continue to manifest at school. Cordelia, now with frizzy hair and nerdy clothes, is dragged away and forced to join the chess club. Xander walks down a hallway lined with chocolate bars, eating happily until he is attacked by a knife-wielding clown from his sixth birthday party. Willow finds herself starring in the Madama Butterfly opera and panics because she doesn't know her lines. Overcome by stage fright, she runs away.
In the cemetery, Buffy and Billy examine a freshly dug grave. The Master appears, comments that Buffy is prettier than the previous Slayer, and buries her alive in a coffin. Still being chased by the clown, Xander teams up with Willow and Giles. He decides to confront the clown and punches him. When they discover Buffy's grave, Giles explains that Buffy's death is his nightmare. Buffy then crawls out of the grave as a vampire. They decide to wake Billy up from his coma to stop the nightmares.
At the hospital, the group finds Billy's astral form watching over his body. When the deformed man appears, Buffy defeats him, encouraging Billy to face his fear. Billy wakes from the coma, and everything returns to normal. Shortly after, Billy's Little League coach arrives and refers to him as his "lucky nineteen." Buffy realizes he must be the "ugly man" who put Billy into a coma after they lost the game. The coach tries to escape but is stopped by Giles and Xander and taken into custody.
When Buffy's father arrives to pick her up for the weekend, Willow asks Xander if he was still attracted to Buffy as a vampire. He first denies it but then admits, "I'm sick. I need help." Willow agrees.
Sarah Michelle Gellar has a similar phobia as her character, which made filming this episode specially difficult for her. She described: "I have an irrational fear of cemeteries and being buried alive. I told the producer, 'Look, I can't do it, I'm sorry.' Through miscommunication, the message never got relayed, and it was four in the morning, and they basically made me do it, and I was hysterical. It was one of the hardest things I've ever done for my job, ever. Some people find cemeteries a turn-on. Some people like sex in cemeteries. Not me. I cried the whole way home. It was horrible. It's really hard to be a vampire slayer if you're scared of cemeteries." [2]
When Xander asks, "Our dreams are coming true?" Giles replies, "Dreams? That would be a musical comedy version of this." [3] In "Once More, With Feeling," Willow sings, "I've got a theory; some kid is dreaming and we're all stuck inside his wacky Broadway nightmare." [4]
Willow says Cordelia is "Evita-like," a reference to Eva Peron, whose life the musical and film Evita is based on.
Nerf Herder can be seen written inside Willow's locker. They are the band that composed the theme song for Buffy the Vampire Slayer.
One of the chocolate bars Xander finds is of the brand Hershey's.
Before burying Buffy alive, the Master quotes the song "A Dream Is a Wish Your Heart Makes".
"Nightmares" was first broadcast on The WB on May 12, 1997. It received a Nielsen rating of 2.5 on its initial airing. [5]
Vox ranked it at #112 on their "Every Episode Ranked From Worst to Best" list (to mark the 20th anniversary of the show), writing that it "takes a classic nightmares-come-true premise and lurches around wildly in its execution. Some of it is fine but uninspired... but at its best, 'Nightmares' locks in on the specific yet universal adolescent fears that makes Buffy such a classic. In particular, there's Buffy's nightmare vision of her rarely seen father, who kindly and reasonably tells her she’s the reason for her parents' divorce — because 'You're sullen and rude, and you're not nearly as bright as I thought you were going to be.' Buffy's quiet devastation in response is a stunner." [6]
Billie Doux gave it 3 out of 4 stakes and called it "a terrific story idea... executed beautifully." [7] The Snark Squad wrote, "It was a good balance of camp, humor and even a little creepiness." [8]
Noel Murray of The A.V. Club gave "Nightmares" a grade of B+. He praised the concept but felt that it was a "mild disappointment" due to underwhelming performances by the cast. [9] DVD Talk's Phillip Duncan wrote that "Nightmares" was "easily the most confusing" episode of the season because of the dreams, and concluded that "it seemed like too many things and ideas were crammed into the episode simply because they could be explained away as dreams". [10] A review from the BBC praised Buffy's scenes with her father, as well as some of the more comedic nightmares. [11]
Rolling Stone ranked "Nightmares" at #60 on their "Every Episode Ranked From Worst to Best" list, calling it "whacky and full of the campy horror Buffy was always capable of delivering" and describing Buffy’s nightmares as "feelings of inadequacy, feelings of being the reason for her parents' separation," adding that it was "devastating to watch." [12]
"Nightmares" was ranked at #56 on Paste Magazine's "Every Episode Ranked" list [13] and #41 on BuzzFeed's "Ranking Every Episode" list. [14]