NIGHTMARES
SEASON 1 EPISODE 10
This episode immediately begins with Buffy slinking through the Master's creepy underground church, before getting caught and...if you happened to read the name of the episode, it should come as no surprise that it's just a dream. Later at school, Buffy talks with Willow about her parents' failed relationship and how she feels responsible. In class, Xander is sticking up for episode of the week kid, Wendell, who is getting picked on by Cordelia. He reminds me a lot of Tommy from Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers, but that's probably just the ponytail. During class, Buffy sees a little boy in the hallway just as Wendell opens his book and tarantulas come pouring out.
After the credits, we have The Master and the Anointed One talking about fear. Their whole joke is that they're kind of a father and son...and that's it. The Anointed One has some really horrible effect on his voice, sort of like a stock alien voice, but slightly more subtle. He's the worst. He's like Young Anakin. Well maybe not that bad. The next day at school, the gang is talking about the spider incident from earlier. Xander's button-up shirt is pretty cool, but I can't quite make out what it's supposed to be...maybe cowboys?
Wendell: They're not spiders. They're arachnids.
Xander: They're from the Middle East?
The gang talks to Tommy...er, Wendell, who explains he used to have nightmares about tarantulas crawling all over him. Then Buffy finds herself in a History test that she didn't study for. This scene actually does feel very dreamlike; everything seems to go wrong, and an hour passes in just a couple minutes. Then she sees hallway boy again. A girl gets out of class and heads down to the basement to smoke before getting bashed on the head by the monster of the week. Pan over to a poster that says "Smoking kills". Tee hee!
Xander and Willow go into class and Xander is suddenly wearing nothing but his underwear. And he is WAY too buff to be so unpopular! Meanwhile in the library, Giles can't read anymore. I think it's really funny that one of Giles's biggest fears is that he can't read. Such a British fear! I don't know what that means.
Buffy finds the little boy from the hallway in the paper, named Billy, who is in a coma at the hospital. Then Buffy's dad comes in and asks to see Buffy in private. He sits her down and tells her everything she's been afraid of; he says she's the reason he got a divorce, and he never wants to see her again. The guy who plays the dad gives a really good performance. It's like a super extreme version of the "I'm not angry, just disappointed" parent speech. And it's probably the first time (but not the last) that Sarah Michelle Gellar does a really great job as well.
They all deduce that Billy being in a coma has brought the nightmare world into the real world, and that if they don't wake him up, it could remain like that permanently. Buffy finds Billy in the gym, and he explains about a nightmare 'ugly man' who then attacks. Xander, Willow, and Giles all split up to find Buffy and get caught in their own nightmares. Willow finds herself on stage performing Madame Butterfly and Xander finds himself being chased by a murderous clown. Well maybe murderous is the wrong word, the clown DOES have a knife, but he's mildly annoying at worst.
"You were a lousy clown! Your balloon animals were pathetic! Everyone can make a giraffe!"
They both escape and they all find themselves at the graveyard, where Buffy has been killed by the Master. She then erupts from the ground in full-on vampire make-up. It suits her! This is the only time that Buffy becoming a vampire is explored. It's sort of disappointing, it's handled so early and never touched on again. It could have made for a cool storyline, but alas.
They get to the hospital to wake Billy up as Sunnydale falls into chaos, and the only one who can get through to him is Buffy. Billy wakes himself up and everything goes back to normal. Does no one remember it except the gang? Or what? Because you can't just pretend that didn't happen like the kids at the Bronze did in The Harvest!
Billy's little league baseball shows up (the real world version of the ugly man), and Xander manhandles him like a boss! Not sure how he put the kid in a coma without anyone noticing, but I digress. During the wrap-up, Willow asks Xander if he was still attracted to Buffy when she was a vamp. Kind of gross.
All in all, this is a decent episode. While the actual plot is not my favorite by any means, it really does tap into a few nightmarish fears that are pretty universal (not counting the really cheesy ones like clowns or spiders). Buffy's fear of her parents' disapproval is surprisingly well-handled, considering how early it is in the show. And there's some good character-building stuff for the supporting cast as well.
***
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