Buffy The Vampire Slayer, “Nightmares" Review (1x10)

Brief Synopsis: “When strange things start happening to the students at Sunnydale High, it seems that everyone is living their worst nightmares. Buffy and the gang must hold together long enough to stop the phenomenon before reality and the nightmare world become one.”


"The Puppet Show" (1x09) quick link here                                                               "Out Of Mind, Out Of Sight" (1x11) quick link here


Before getting started on this review, here are a few notes about how these reviews will be formatted...

1) I will be reviewing the episodes in bullet point form. This is because it makes the reviews simple to read, and helps break up the vast amount of text.
2) I will be uploading a new review every one or two days, so be sure to check back often! Alternatively, you could subscribe to the blog via email to receive the reviews in your inbox (the subscription box is located to the right-hand side of this blog).
3) If you are watching the show for the first time along with these reviews, please be warned that there may be a few spoilers for things that haven’t happened yet.
4) If you are here from my Buffy The Vampire Slayer/Angel fan page from Facebook (located here :- www.facebook.com/BTVSFC), these reviews are similar to the rewatch reviews that I wrote for that page, only they are longer, more detailed, and in a much nicer format than Facebook allows (curse their lack of italics, bold, and underline!)
5) The basic layout for the review will be the review itself, the ‘quote of the episode’, and then the final score for the episode (out of ten). All of the final scores will also be placed on a separate tab so that you can refer to them easily.

With that being said, let’s get started, shall we?



• Okay, so this episode revolves around, you guessed it, nightmares. A boy called Billy gets attacked by his coach, and from his coma he manages to make everyone’s nightmares come true. Intrigued?
• The story of nightmares turning real has been done to death. So many TV shows, books, and films have tried this that it’s sometimes hard to get excited about it on paper. Buffy The Vampire Slayer, however, does a fantastic job of experimenting with this idea. 
• I love emotionally attached episodes. Episodes of any television show work so much better when there is a lot of emotion behind it. This episode gives us three outlets for that emotion... 1) Billy being beaten into a coma by his coach. This gives us the emotional complexity of children being bullied by parents. 2) Buffy’s insecurities about her father. I honestly don’t think this episode would have been anywhere near as successful without Buffy and Billy’s emotional journeys that take place in this episode. 3) Everyone’s fears and nightmares being “made flesh” (which also takes us back to point #2). I’m happy if there’s one emotionally complex story point for a character in an episode, so three had me frothing at the mouth...with excitement, not rabies.
• Daddy issues, eh Buffy? Boy can I relate to that (I may or may not get ranty later, just to warn you).

This episode is the first episode to ever feature Buffy’s father. At this point in time it seems that Buffy and her father have a pretty great relationship. By the beginning of season two, Hank doesn’t know how to relate to Buffy, and by season three he’s frequently cancelling on her, before he disappears entirely. He wasn’t even there for his daughters when Joyce died! Sometimes I feel like Hank is the real villain of Buffy The Vampire Slayer. It’s a realistic card to play, though. So many people grow up without a father. So many people grow up surrounded by terrible, uncaring parents. I did. If you’ve read these reviews from the beginning, you should be aware that I have an almost non-existent relationship with my own father. He walked out on my mum, my sister, and me when I was eight. He left us for a girl 15 years his junior (who was 17 at the time). They’d been having an affair for a year previous as well. As you can imagine, a lot of drama and turbulence unfolded after that for a long time. My family was torn apart for many years. After that, I used to see my father once a week (Saturday) for roughly 4 hours. During those four hours my dad would just spend all his time with his new girlfriend whilst my sister and I watched “Shrek” or “The Matrix”. After a few months of that I gave up entirely and just used to migrate to my room to watch “Buffy The Vampire Slayer” on repeat. Now, it’s 15 years later and I see my dad roughly once a year for around 20 minutes. He’s never acted like a father to me, he’s never acted like he wants a relationship with me...yet he has a great relationship with all his other children (including my sister that he walked out on as well). For the longest time I felt like there was something wrong with me and that I was somehow to blame. Perhaps you can see why Buffy’s nightmare where Hank tells her that the divorce was all Buffy’s fault resonated with me so much when I was a child...where was I?...oh, yes! Nightmares! Back to living vicariously through Buffy...

• The Master: “Fear is a wonderful thing. It is the most powerful force in the human world. Not love, not hate, fear.”

I think Dumbledore may have something to say about that, Mr. Master. Great speech though. The developing Master-Anointed One dynamic was a joy in season one. The Master is not only teaching Colin how to be a vampire, but because Colin is a child, he’s also teaching him about the world. It must suck to be turned into a vampire as a child. You could be a thousand years old and know everything about the world, yet look like a 10-year-old forever, never able to buy alcohol or cigarettes.

• I love Xander’s confidence in Buffy’s slaying abilities. Self esteem-five!
• Wendell: “They’re not insects, they’re arachnids.”
Xander: “They’re from the middle east?”

A world of LOL. There will be much more on this at the beginning of season four, but I’m glad that the Scoobies has a member that isn’t really intelligent. Willow is really clever, Buffy tests well and does great in college, Giles is a genius, even Cordelia tests well, surprisingly! Having Xander be less intelligent makes him relatable. Not everyone is gifted when it comes to academic work and education, so it’s nice that there is some variety here.

• I really like diving into what the Scoobies’ nightmares say about them and their internal self-confidence struggles. I always find it interesting that Buffy - who is at this point the only real non-mundane in the Scoobies – has really normal nightmares. Failing school tests, being buried alive, having her parents' divorce be her fault...I think it shows Buffy’s desire to fit in and be a normal teenager. Since moving to Sunnydale High, Buffy has had an overwhelming desire to fit in and lead a regular life. Buffy trying out for the cheerleading team in “Witch” is a perfect example of this. The only less normal nightmares she has are The Master escaping his “house of worship” and her being turned into a vampire. Both of these seem entirely normal for the Slayer to fear. I think that both Xander and Willow’s nightmares are tied up in identity and the fear of not being good enough (much like Buffy’s fears). Perhaps that’s one reason why the Scoobies are so close; because they don’t seem to fit in anywhere else in school. Like the Scoobies, I was an outcast at school too. I was bullied on  daily basis and my friendship group consisted of Goths and ‘weirdos’. Interestingly, here I am 8 years after leaving school and my friendship group is still completely intact whilst all the others have crumbled apart.
• I must praise the quality of guest actors in Buffy season one. So many of them take these one-episode roles and make them stand out. In this episode for instance, both Justin Urich (Wendell) and Jeremy Foley (Billy) do a fantastic job. If you take these roles and put less credible actors in their place, the episode carries significantly less weight.
• Willow: “Xander kinda found himself in front of our class not wearing much of anything...”
Xander: “Except my underwear.”
Willow: “Yeah, it was really...*Xander glares at her*...bad. It was a bad thing.”

• Ugghhhh!! Buffy’s nightmare where her father tells her that the divorce was her fault is absolutely heartbreaking. I know that it’s just a nightmare, but it’s still so hard to watch. I think every child or teenager that goes through their parents has a period where they think that they are to blame for the divorce, or at least partially to blame (side note: for anyone going through it, it’s not your fault, trust me. You’ll save yourself a lot of heartache by believing that early). I really want to throttle Hank during this scene. Whilst this episode has some funny moments, like Willow having to sing opera, most of this episode is surprisingly dark and thought-provoking. I think that’s why this episode is my 3rd favourite of the season (behind “Prophecy Girl” and “Angel”); it completely unravels the Scoobies’ deepest insecurities and displays them out in the open.
• Cordy’s nightmares are hilarious. They probably shouldn’t be, but they are. Cordelia’s biggest fear is becoming uglier and being made to hang out with nerds? Her life must be going pretty well if that’s what she’s afraid of most. I deal with ugliness and hanging out with nerds on a daily basis, and I think I turned out pretty well....right? right?!...on a more serious note, after you’ve seen “Out Of Mind, Out Of Sight”, you really start to understand why it’s so important to Cordelia to be popular. I’ll discuss this point in depth during the next review.
• Giles’ nightmare of Buffy’s death is beautiful and it’s a testament to how close they have become in such a short space of time. I adore Buffy and Giles’ relationship. Everything about it is wonderful...
Giles: “I 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.” 

I really enjoy the fact that Giles thinks that it is his nightmare (when in actuality, it is Buffy’s nightmare about being buried alive and being turned into a vampire just as much as it’s Giles’ nightmare). Watch Giles’ face during that scene. He’s already developed a father’s love for Buffy. It’s clear even here that she means so much more to him than just being his Slayer.

• Xander and Willow being there to help pull Buffy out of her grave is a scary parallel to what is to come in “Bargaining” five years later.
• Giles: “Willow...do shut up.”
What an amusing change of pace it is to see Giles all nervous and flustered.
• Lucky 19!
• Billy facing his fears by pulling off The Ugly Man’s face is a nice touch. It’s a great metaphor for facing your fears yourself. Nobody can do it for you. Also, eww! A child just pulled a man’s face off. He’s going to be in therapy for years...I wonder if the Watcher’s Council covers things like that?...now I’m going to be stuck with serious thoughts all day...
• Whilst we’re on the subject of Billy...how messed up is that?! His coach was so angry about losing a stupid game that he beats Billy up and put him in a coma?! That’s easily the most shocking part of this episode. It’s so easy to gloss over it as it’s not really a part of the story until the very end, but it’s so haunting. The scary thing is that stuff like this happens all the time in real life.
• Even though it felt a little rushed at the end, I’m glad that the coach was held accountable for what he did to Billy. Plus, Xander had a semi-heroic moment by grabbing the coach.
• “The Ugly Man” is highly creative naming, no? Almost as creative as calling that beast-looking demon “The Beast” in Angel season four.
• Xander, my friend, you’re not the only one who was attracted to vampire Buffy. I have problems too.
• Another thing that worked really well for this episode is that Joss Whedon referenced the fact that people have multiple fears. Each of the Scoobies have more than one fear in this episode! Not only does it make for much more interesting viewing, but it’s also an accurate portrayal of people’s insecurities.
• This episode held up really well. Watching some of these season one episodes 16 years later makes me cringe a little at times. Some of the corny storylines (“I Robot...You Jane”) and not so great acting (David Boreanaz in the first few episodes) does make me chuckle. However, everything about “Nightmares” worked superbly well. This episode was just a fantastically told 42-minute story, with a high quality of acting throughout.
• One closing question for you all; what is your nightmare?


Quote Of The Episode

Xander: “Ah, the Hellmouth, the centre of mystical convergence, supernatural monsters. Been there.” 

Buffy: “Little blasé there, aren't you?” 

Xander: “I'm not worried. If there's something bad out there, we'll find, you'll slay, we'll party.”


Adorable. It’s funny that this episode was all about how the Scoobies are insecure about certain aspects of their life, and how they fear that they aren’t good enough, yet they seem to all have complete faith and trust in one another. If only they could find that trust in themselves.


FINAL SCORE: 8/10


So what are your thoughts on "Nightmares"? Did you enjoy this episode? Dislike it? Let me know all your thoughts in the comments section below!