Buffy 1.10 Nightmares

The Master: Fear is a wonderful thing. It is *the* most powerful force in the human world. Not love, not hate... Fear! When you were a mortal boy, what did you fear?
The Annointed One: Monsters.
The Master: We are *defined* by the things we fear. This symbol, these two planks of wood, it confounds me. Suffuses me with mortal dread. But fear is in the mind. Like pain. It can be controlled. If I can face my fear, it cannot master me.

Other Buffy reviews here.

Thoughts about Buffy as a whole here and season one as a whole here.


[Considering how small the budget was in season 1, ME managed to be really creative in Nightmares. This is the first of many wacky-spell-gone-wrong episodes, resulting in a whole lot of character development. Nightmares reveals what the Scoobies most afraid of, circa season 1. Note that Xander's and Cordy's fears are rather shallow, while Buffy's and Giles' are rooted in their roles as Slayer and Watcher.

*Buffy: that her parent’s divorce was her fault, academic failure, being killed by the Master, being buried alive, being turned into a vampire
*Giles: not being able to read, getting lost in the library (not being able to do his job?), Buffy dying
*Willow: stage fright
*Xander: being caught naked in front of the class, clown from his sixth birthday party, Nazis
*Cordy: bad hair, bad clothes, having to join the chess club (becoming a geek/loser?)

The Scoobies fears are revisited in Fear Itself, minus Cordy and Giles, plus Oz, and Restless, minus Oz, plus Giles.

A lot of the nightmares involve guilt about something that which the dreamer is not really to blame: Wendell's spiders, Buffy and her parent's divorce, Billy and the baseball game, and Giles and Buffy's death. The UglyMan beats up the girl who was smoking, something she wasn't supposed to be doing. Other nightmares involve shame: the punk's mother hugging him in front of his friends, and Xander being naked in front of class. It's possible to speculate that a lot of the other nightmares seen are rooted in shame and guilt as well.

This is the first episode in which death is really discussed. Here and in Prophecy Girl, Buffy is afraid of death, but her views change greatly over the course of the series.

Buffy: Remember that thing that got out the night I died?
Willow: Every nightmare I have that doesn't revolve around academic failure or public nudity is about that thing. In fact, once I dreamt that it attacked me while I was late for a test and naked.
(ref. The Zeppo.)

Well, there's Xander's public almost nudity, Buffy's academic failure, and the UglyMan going around attacking everybody. More to the point, the chaos hinted at in Buffy and Willow's little exchange is present in abundance in Nightmares. From the blurb about active listening by the teacher and the ponderings about facing fear by The Master, one can surmise that this episode is about facing fears and being heard, rather than hiding. We all have to wake up sometime; we can't stay in a coma forever. Upon waking, we often discover that reality is not quite as bad as the nightmare world. Billy wakes and finds the Little League Coach, an ordinary guy, not a monsters, is the guilty one and is subsequently carted off to jail. Rather than continuing to run, Xander turns and cuts the scary clown down to size by punching him and taunting him. Hee! Everything goes back to normal at the end of the episode, upbeat music plays, and Hank holds true to his promise to show up for Buffy. However, we'll see over the course of the series that the Scoobies have yet to truly conquer their fears. For Buffy and Giles particularly, all their fears come to pass, figuratively, if not literally: Buffy's dad does let her down, her academics do suffer because of her Slaying (though she always has the potential to excel), she does die at The Master's hands in Prophecy Girl, she finds herself buried alive and having to dig herself out of her own grave, and subsequently feeling like a vampire in season 6. Giles does suffer from doubts that he can fulfill his duty as Watcher, and over time, is less and less able to aid Buffy.

Final note: The logistics of the nightmares confuse me. I guess everyone remembered what happened but did the Sunnydale repression thing since Willow and Xander remember Buffy being a vampire. But did The Master actually walk free briefly, did Hank actually talk to Buffy, and did the punk's mom actually come to the school? If so, what did they think about what they were doing? If not, were their doubles walking around? Did everyone else really have to take Buffy's surpise test? Did Buffy actually turn into a vampire or not? If she did why was she good and still the Slayer? And how did she get from the cemetary to the hospital in broad daylight? And why did Buffy turn into a vampire when The Master didn't even bite her? If she didn't actually get turned then what exactly happened? Why did no one but Buffy think it was strange that Billy was wandering around the school? My brain hurts.]


Teaser
Dream sequence. [This dream sequence is better than the one in Welcome To The Hellmouth, but not nearly as good as the ones in the rest of the series.] The Hellmouth. Candles everywhere. Buffy slowly walks in, stake in hand, looking for The Master. Pit of red jello. The Master suddenly appears behind Buffy. She turns around and drops the stake. Paralyzed with fear, she backs up against the wall and The Master grabs her throat, going in for the kill. [The dream sequence adds some poignancy not only Buffy's actual death by The Master's hands in Prophecy Girl, but also to her "I'm 16, I don't want to die" speech. I feel for Buffy, knowing that she keeps having these nightmares, especially since she can't tell her mom. However, it's hard for me to believe that The Master is the threat that Buffy and all the other characters perceive him to be, since he hasn't actually done anything above and beyond terrible on screen. Even a flashback of what he was like in the old days would have helped to make him a more compelling villan.] Buffy moans, "No! No!" as we cut to...

Joyce shakes Buffy awake, telling her it's time to go to school. [Buffy again looks cute in braids; I guess it's supposed to be a thing that she generally wears braids when she goes to sleep, at least in the beginning. Sleeping on a crocheted pillow sounds uncomfortable though.] Buffy surprises Joyce by eagerly looking forward to the school day. ["You can't use school to run away from your problems, you have to face them!] Joyce and Buffy talk about how Hank is coming to take Buffy for the weekend.

School, by the lockers. Buffy and Willow talk about Joyce and Hank's divorce: Hank still lives in LA and visits occasionally, they were separated for a while, the divorce was finalized the year before. Willow mentions that her parents are non-communicative. Buffy hints that she feels that her being called to be the Slayer factored into her parents' divorce.

Classroom. Cordy is looking in her mirror compact and bitches to Xander and Wendell about blocking her light. Xander and Wendell snark about Cordy to Buffy and Willow. Xander asks about the homework and has to be reminded that it's "active listening" and he demonstrated it with the [female] teacher the day before. He does remember the tight sweater the teacher was wearing, though. [Heh. Xander: always thinking about sex.] Class begins and the teacher starts lecturing about active listening:

Teacher: Isaacson's research led him to conclude that one of our most fundamental needs after food and shelter is to be heard. Wendell, would you read the first two paragraphs on page seventy-eight... where Isaacson describes the rapid improvement active listening brought to some special needs clients.

As the teach is talking, Buffy notices a little boy, who we later learn is Billy [who bears a striking resemblence to the Annointed One, but luckily manages to be more interesting], standing in the doorway of the classroom. When Wendell opens up his textbook, tarantulas come crawling out of it. Everyone screams and Billy apologizes.


Act I
The Hellmouth, for real this time. The Master is lecturing the Annointed One:

The Master: Fear is a wonderful thing. It is *the* most powerful force in the human world. Not love, not hate... Fear! When you were a mortal boy, what did you fear?
The Annointed One: Monsters.
The Master: We are *defined* by the things we fear. This symbol, these two planks of wood, (The Master burns his hand on a cross) it confounds me. Suffuses me with mortal dread. But fear is in the mind. Like pain. It can be controlled. If I can face my fear, it cannot master me.

The Master and the Annointed One agree that they feel something amiss is going on, "change... for the worse." Pan up and through the ground and bushes to the entrance of the school. [For first season, this scene really stands out. The Master's dialogue manages to be profound rather than melodramatic. The Annointed One manages not to be that annoying, though having only four words of dialogue might have something to do with that. The cinematography, particularly the pan up to the school is well done. The Master sensing Billy's nightmare world things being out of balance is the first indication we have that demons can sometimes sense is things are amiss and evil is afoot. Note also that The Master burns his hand deliberately on the cross here, while Spike will deliberately hug the cross in Beneath You and wield a cross barehanded in his fight against Angel in Destiny.]

Entrance of school. Joyce drives up to drop Buffy off. Buffy mentions that she's been having nightmares, but doesn't want to discuss it. She's also worried that Hank is not going to show up.

School hallway. Willow and Xander spot Buffy and start talking to her about the spiders that came out of Wendell's book. Willow doesn't like spiders, while Xander doesn't mind them. He does mind Nazis though. [Heh. Who wouldn't?] Xander is fully confident that Buffy will get to the bottom of the latest wackiness, "I'm not worried. If there's something bad out there, we'll find, you'll slay, we'll party." [This reflects upon the growing comfort of the Scoobies with their niche in Sunnydale. After ten episodes, they really are working like a team.]

The Scoobies walk into the library. They call for Giles, who comes wandering up, flustered. He says he was just got lost in the stacks. Xander asks if Giles found anything. Giles says no and suggests that the Scoobies talk to Wendell.

Outside, at the picnic benches. Wendell is sitting, very zoned out. The Scoobies ask him about what happened with the book and the spiders. Wendell corrects Xander, spiders are "not insects, they're arachnids!" Xander: "they're from the Middle East?" [Yes, stupid, but still, heh. Love Buffy's blase "Don't know" when Wendell accuses everyone of always mixing up arachnids and insects. Hee!] Cordy pops in to inform Buffy of the pending history test, which comes as a complete surprise to Buffy. Buffy leaves and Willow and Xander keep talking to Wendell. It turns out that Wendell doesn't hate spiders; he thinks *they* hate *him*, due to him leaving this collection in the care of his brother, who proceeded to kill them all, one summer. [The actor who plays Wendell does a fairly good job. Neat twist for Wendell to be having nightmares about spiders, not for typical horror movie reasons, but because he feels guilty about the way he treated them.]

School hallway. Buffy's looking for her history class and Cordy points it out to her.

Buffy: I haven't been to class, I haven't read any of the assignments, how am I gonna pass this test?
Cordy: Blind luck?

[Heh.]

Buffy takes the test, completely confused and panicked. She feels reassured that she at least knows her name, and starts to write it when her pencil breaks. She looks up at the clock, which suddenly indicates that the whole period has passed. Bell rings and everybody leaves. Buffy sees Billy in the doorway again.

Billy wandering the school hallway. Two girls are talking; one girl, who we later learn is Laura, goes down to the basement to smoke. [This is the first time we see the Sunnydale High basement] Billy warns her not to go down there, but he doesn't speak loud enough for her to hear him.

School basement. Laura starts to smoke. The UglyMan ["Lucky 19!" Bleh.] shows up and beats the crap out of Laura. Shot of a propaganda poster "Smoking Kills." [PSA, bleh.]


Act II
Hospital. Buffy and Giles are going to visit Laura. They question her about the attack. She tells them about the UglyMan and "Lucky 19." As Buffy and Giles are leaving, they talk to the doctor discover that there was another attack a week earlier and that the victim is still in a coma.

School. Hallway. A punk is acting all badass to his crew. Willow and Xander walk down the hallway to her locker [Which has a Nerf Herder's sticker in it. Yay! And a picture of Giles and Willow, an indication of Willow's crush on Giles.], talking about Wendell and his spider dreams and beaten-up Laura. Out of nowhere, the punks mom comes up and starts giving him hugs and baby talk.

Willow and Xander nonchalantly glance at the humiliated punk and go into class. As they enter, everyone gasps and laughs. The camera reveals Xander only wearing his boxers and he panicks and runs. [Seems like Xander's "naked in front of the class" dream would involve him completely naked, not just wearing boxers. Not that is could be shown, but it's just that there's usually no halfway with humiliation dreams. This scene is referenced in Restless, except it's just Willow alone in front of the class, all attention on her, and Buffy rips her clothes off. Revealing other clothes, but that's besides the point.]

Library. Giles is pouring over a table full of newspapers and panicking because he can't read them. Buffy enters and Giles explains his problem. Billy picks up one of the papers and notices an article about Billy. She and Giles put it together that Billy is the coma case at the hospital as well as the kid Buffy saw wandering around school. Giles and Buffy theorize that what Buffy was seeing was Billy's astral body. Hank enters suddenly. Buffy is surprised and thinks something is wrong, maybe with her mom. [Meep!] No, he just wants to talk to Buffy. Buffy introduces him to Giles, and then leaves with Hank to go outside.

Outside. Clearly in a nightmare sequence now, Hank says that he's here to tell Buffy why he and Joyce really broke up. The scene is extremely well written and acted, and completely punches you in the gut:

Hank: I came early because there's something I've needed to tell you. About your mother and me. Why we split up.
Buffy: Well, you always told me it was because...
Hank: I know we always said it was because we'd just grown too far apart.
Buffy: Yeah, isn't that true?
Hank: Well, c'mon, honey, let's sit down. You're old enough now to know the truth.
Buffy: Is there someone else?
Hank: No. No, it was nothing like that.
Buffy: Then what was it?
Hank: It was you.
Buffy: Me?
Hank: Having you. Raising you. Seeing you everyday. I mean, do you have any idea what that's like?
Buffy: What?
Hank: Gosh, you don't even see what's right in front of your face, do you? Well, big surprise there, all you ever think about is yourself. You get in trouble. You embarrass us with all the crazy stunts you pull, and do I have to go on?
Buffy: No. Please don't.
Hank: You're sullen and... rude and... you're not nearly as bright as I thought you were going to be... Hey, Buffy, let's be honest. Could you stand to live in the same house with a daughter like that?
Buffy (starting to cry): Why are you saying all these things?
Hank: Because they're true. I think that's the least we owe one another. You know, I don't think it's very mature, getting blubbery when I'm just trying to be honest. Speaking of which, I don't really get anything out of these weekends with you. So, what do you say we just don't do them anymore? I sure thought you'd turn out differently.

[Interesting that she asks if there was some one else. Later, in Conversations With Dead People she'll propose this theory again. However, at this point, prevelant in her mind is that *she* is some how responsible for the divorce, as evidenced by this present nightmare-becoming-reality. This is most likely not the case, but it's common for children of divorce to blame themselves. The flashback in Becoming 1 suggests why Buffy might think that she and her Slaying are at fault. What the show never definitively does, is explain exactly what caused the dissolution of Joyce and Hank's marriage. I speculate more about this here. Finally, note the similiarities between this scene and the "was I not good?" scene in Innocence, the difference being, that the latter is real.]

As Hank leaves, Buffy sees Billy again.

Library. Willow and Xander walk in looking for Buffy. Xander is just finishing putting on gym clothes to replace his own clothes that mysteriously disappeared. Giles informs them that Buffy is talking with Hank. In response to Giles' inquiry, Willow and Xander explain Xander's mostly naked in front of class nightmare. Willow chuckles fondly at the memory, but then covers and is sympathetic. Willow says she'd hate to have all the attention on her like that. Willow, Xander, and Giles realize that everyone's nightmares are coming true. Giles realizes that it's because of Billy, noting that "things like that are easier when you live on the Hellmouth." [An easy, simple, direct explanation. I like it.] Giles warns that they have to stop things soon "or else everyone in Sunnydale will be facing their own worst nightmares."

Scene Segue: Cordy looking in her locker mirror. She now has major 'fro hair; shocked and upset, she tries to comb it but the comb breaks.

School grounds. Buffy wanders, hurting from what NightmareHank said to her. She sees Billy again and follows him.

Gym. Buffy joins Billy, who is sitting on the bleachers. He tells her about playing baseball and that the UglyMan wants to kill him. Before Buffy can get anymore information, the UglyMan shows up, ready to give a smackdown.


Act III
Buffy and the UglyMan, fight, fight, fight. Buffy and Billy run.

Library. Giles, Willow, and Xander decide they need to find Buffy. Xander suggests they split up and Giles agrees. Willow protests, but no one listens to her.

Buffy bars a door with a field hockey stick to hold off the UglyMan. Buffy says that the UglyMan is too strong for her. Billy says he can't help it. Buffy wants to find Willow, Xander, and Giles. [Buffy separated from the Scoobies is a frequently recurring image.] Billy says they have to hide, "that how it happens. We hide, and then he comes."

School hallway. Willow sees two nerds dragging Cordy off to chess club. She's wearing what's supposed to be a hideous outfit, white blouse and long green skirt, but it actually looks better than a lot of other outfits that appear on this show. Willow hears a voice calling her from the basement. [Who? Why? Huh?] She goes downstairs to investigate.

Basement. Willow calls for Buffy. Willow tries to convince herself that she's not afraid. A hand suddenly grabs her and she screams.

A different school hallway. Swastikas, referencing Xander's earlier comment about hating Nazis, are painted on the walls. [Swastikas being in Xander's nightmare sequence is interesting. Is it meant to be anything other than a throwaway? Is it possibly a sign of his latent tendency to be prejudiced and judgemental, as a result of experience with the like?] This hallway looks like it's being renovated or repaired, with plastic sheeting hanging everywhere, step ladders and the florescent lights in need of repair. [This has been pointed out as foreshadowing of Xander's future carpentry career, but I'm not so sure, considering that that is a career he enjoys, not something he has nightmares about.] Xander wanders around, and spies candy bars lying on the floor and immediately eats them [Eww!!].

Outside. Buffy is lost, thinking that she was headed towards the library. Billy is distracted by a baseball game going on. He admits that he thinks he is responsible for losing his Little League game. Buffy reminds him that it couldn't be completely his fault, as there are other players on the team. [This is a lovely moment, where Buffy connects with some one else, and helps some one in a "non-slaying capacity." This moment is particularly interesting, because Buffy often puts herself in Billy's position, certain that she is to blame for everything wrong in the world, and can't seem to see the reality, that she reminds herself of here: that there are other players on the team. In this very episode, Buffy feels entirely responsible for her parents divorce in much the same way that Billy feels entirely responsible for losing the game, and incidentally, in much that same way that Wendell feels entirely responsible for the death of his spider collection. It's not clear to me whether Buffy puts that together or reflects on that connection.] Buffy asks Billy if his coach is responsible for putting him in a coma, but Billy evades the question. The UglyMan suddenly appears again, and Buffy and Billy escape through a hedge... to a nighttime cemetary. Billy asks if this is where Buffy's friends are and Buffy says no.

School auditorium. A stage hand is dragging Willow, who is now dressed as Cio-cio San from Madame Butterfly [Heh. Also, I'm wondering whether the reference to Madame Butterfly has any significance, but I'm thinking that it's mostly just supposed to be a well known opera.], towards the stage. An Emcee announces Aldo Gianfranco [made up Bass singer] and "world famous tenor Willow Rosenberg." Willow has stage fright, but the stage hand pushes her in front of the curtain. Aldo begins singing the love duet from Act I. He stops when it's Willow's turn. She does nothing, so he continues. Finally, he has to wait for her part. Willow tries to sing but only a squeak comes out. The crowd gasps and Aldo sighs in exasperation. [Willow's stage fright nightmare is repeated again in Restless and this scene is even referenced. The image of trying to sing with nothing coming out is repeated later with Angel and his dream sequence in Soul Purpose.]

Hallway with plastic sheeting. Xander is still following the trail of candy bars [forgetting entirely about the plan to look for Buffy, I guess?] He comes upon a "chocolate hurricane," which he hasn't had since his sixth birthday. Suddenly he hears maniacal laughter of the ScaryClown that was apparently at said birthday. The ScaryClown wields a knife and Xander runs.

Nighttime cemetary. Buffy is wandering around confused: the UglyMan has lost them, but she doesn't "know where the sun and the rest of the world went." [Heh.] She and Billy see an open grave and wonder who died. The Master suddenly appears:

The Master: Nobody died. What's the fun of burying someone if they're already dead?

The Master notes that Buffy is prettier than the last Slayer. [The last Slayer he encountered? Or the one immediately before Buffy, which he never encountered because he was trapped in the Hellmouth? Also, Whistler makes this same comment about Buffy in Becoming 1, prompting me to wonder what the "last Slayer(s)" looked like, because all the Slayers we see through the course of the show are totally hot.] Buffy protests in disbelief. The Master explains:

Master: You still don't understand, do you? I am free because you fear it. Because you fear it, the world is crumbling. Your nightmares are made flesh. You have little Billy to thank for that.
Buffy: This is a dream.
Master: A dream is a wish your heart makes. This is real life. Come on, Slayer! What are you afraid of?

[This scene gets points for the idea, but not so much for the execution. The lack of build-up of The Master makes it hard for me to believe Buffy's subsequent paralyzing fear of him. And why the Disney reference?]

The Master grabs Buffy by the throat, throws her into the grave, and fills it in. Buffy, still alive, is trapped in the coffin, screaming and trying to get out.


Act IV
School hallway. Willow enters. The buzzing of a crowd can be heard until she closes the door behind her. Xander suddenly appears, asking if she found Buffy. Willow is too traumatized to answer. [Hee.] Xander mentions the ScaryClown, and Willow laughs until she realizes that the clown is now real again and really after Xander. The ScaryClown appears, maniacally laughing and slicing and dicing plastic sheeting, and Xander and Willow run. Giles suddenly appears, and they grab him and continue running. Xander suddenly stops, turns around, knocks the clown out, and taunts him. Xander feels satisfied.

Giles, Xander, and Willow run outside. Sounds of chaos and helicopters. Giles suggests that the only thing that can stop the nightmare chaos is to wake Billy. Xander says that they need to find Buffy first. Willow notices the nighttime cemetery across the street. [Season 1 special effects. Feh.] They go to investigate.

Nighttime cemetery. They see Buffy's tombstone, and Giles says that it is his nightmare. He kneels and gives Buffy a very touching eulogy:

Giles: I've failed... in my duty to protect you. I should have been more... cautious. Taken more time to train you. But you were so gifted. And the evil was so great. I'm sorry...

[The one thing that bothers me about this is Giles's insistence that his duty was to protect Buffy, when it is actually to train and prepare her for her duty, which is to protect others. Feh.] Giles lays his hand upon Buffy's grave, and Buffy's hand suddenly bursts through the ground and grabs it. Willow screams and Giles backs away. Buffy crawls out of her grave. She is revealed to be a vampire. [Becoming a vampire as a Slayer's worst fear is very appropriate. A fate worse than death, to become that which you fight against.] Buffy feels the ridges on her face and tells the others not to look at her. Giles tells her that they need to wake Billy in order to set things right again and asks if she can hold it together until then. Buffy says yes, though she's getting hungry. Willow asks Giles what happens if they can't wake Billy or waking Billy doesn't work and Giles tells her to shut up. [Hee.]

Hospital. Chaos. Giles tries to talk to the doctor from before, but he is preoccupied with his now deformed hands. They find find Billy's room. Giles tries to wake Billy up from his coma by yelling at him, but AstralBilly appears and tells them that that won't work. He says that he has to hide as the UglyMan can be heard coming down the hallway.

Shots of bees swarming over Sunnydale.

Hospital. Buffy confronts the UglyMan. Whereas before, she was frightened, now she is confident and quippy [Because she's VampBuffy now? Because she's been reunited with the rest of the Scoobies? Because the first confrontation was right after her encounter with NightmareHank?]:

Buffy: Glad you showed up! You see, I'm having a really bad day.
Ugly Man: Lucky nineteen!
Buffy: Scary! I'll tell you something, though. There are a lot scarier things than you. And I'm one of them.

Buffy and the UglyMan, fight, fight, fight. [Buffy repeats this whole scenario in Showtime, from losing the second fight but winning the second against a stronger opponent, to the idea that *she* is scarier than the monsters.] Buffy knocks the UglyMan out and tells Billy, despite his hesitation, that he has to do the rest. [Willow, like me, is confused, but Xander gets it. It makes sense in a way, because the UglyMan is actually the Little League coach and Billy has to see him for who he really is in order to break the spell, but I don't get how Buffy and Xander suddenly knew that.] White Flash.

Billy's hospital room. Everyone and everything is back to normal. Billy is awake from his coma. Billy does a re-enactment of the end of the Wizard of Oz. [Why?] The Little League coach shows up all non-chalant until he realizes Billy is awake. Buffy and Billy put the Little League coach in his place. He tries to run, but Xander and Giles stop him.

Front of the school. The Scoobies are discussing the Little League coach, who is now in jail:

Buffy: I just can't believe a kiddie league coach would do something like that.
Xander: Well, you obviously haven't played kiddie league. I'm surprised it wasn't one of the parents.

[This is not only very insightful on Xander's part, but comes back to the theme of adult-child interactions gone bad, which was first raised in The Witch. Possibly Xander also spoke from personal experience as well?] Hank shows up, as promised and warmly greets Buffy. Willow asks Xander if he was still attracted to VampBuffy. Xander tries to deny it, but ultimately admits that yes, he was. The peppy music picks up, indicating that all's well in Sunnydale again. At least for a little while.


Ranking: 7/10; 135/144

Current mood: okay