Nightmares (Buffy the Vampire Slayer)

"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) has a nightmare about being choked by the Master (Mark Metcalf) in his underground lair. When her mother (Kristine Sutherland) shakes her awake, Buffy expresses excitement about spending the upcoming weekend with her father (Dean Butler).

At school, Buffy confides to Willow (Alyson Hannigan) that she suspects she might have something to do with her parents' divorce. During class, a teacher asks Wendell to read from the textbook. Tarantulas crawl out when he opens it, causing panic around the classroom. Buffy notices Billy (Jeremy Foley) standing in the doorway, saying that he is sorry. Underground, the Master tells Collin (Andrew J. Ferchland) that fear is wonderful. Although it is the most powerful force in the world, it can be controlled.

The next morning, Buffy is nervous about her father picking her up after school, but Joyce reassures her. The Scoobies head to the library to ask Giles (Anthony Head) about the spiders. Giles appears confused as he rushes out of the back room and tells them he got lost in the stacks of books. He has no information and suggests they talk to Wendell.

Wendell admits that he loves spiders, but they hate him. After Wendell's brother killed his pet spiders while he was away at camp, he's been having recurring nightmares about them crawling out of his textbook during class. However, this was the first time it actually happened.

Meanwhile, Cordelia (Charisma Carpenter) mentions a history test that Buffy has not studied for. Buffy has trouble finding the classroom and doesn't know any of the answers to the test. It appears that time moves rapidly, and she hasn't even finished writing her name when the bell rings. Once again, she sees Billy outside the classroom. Billy watches Laura sneak down to the basement for a smoke break, where she is assaulted by an ugly man saying, "Lucky nineteen."

Buffy and Giles interview Laura in the Bowers hospital and are surprised when the doctor informs them about Billy, who has been in a coma as a result of a similar attack.

Back at school, Xander (Nicholas Brendon) discovers he is only wearing his underwear in front of the class and runs out. As Buffy goes into the library to consult with Giles, he says that he has forgotten how to read. However, he was able to find a newspaper with a photo of Billy. The article says that Billy has been in a coma for a week, which contradicts Buffy having seen him. Giles theorizes she might have been seeing Billy's astral projection.

Buffy's father arrives and asks to talk to her. Outside school, he tells Buffy that she is at fault for her parents' divorce because she is such a difficult child and he can't stand being around her. He scolds Buffy when she begins to cry and tells her that he never wants to see her again. When he gets up to leave, Buffy notices Billy watching her.

Xander and Willow meet in the library and quickly realize their actual nightmares are becoming a reality. Giles suspects that 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 his baseball game, but he doesn't remember. Suddenly, the ugly man appears and attacks Buffy. As they run away, Billy explains that he was responsible for his baseball team losing and that it is "bad" to lose at games. Suddenly, Buffy and Billy find themselves at the cemetery at night.

Meanwhile, the living nightmares continue around 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.

Back in the cemetery, Buffy and Billy examine a freshly dug grave. Suddenly, the Master appears and comments that Buffy is prettier than the previous Slayer. Buffy tries to convince herself that she is dreaming, but the Master throws her into a coffin and buries her alive.

Still chased by the clown, Xander teams up with Willow and Giles. He decides to confront the clown and punches him. When they find Buffy's grave, Giles explains that Buffy's death is his worst nightmare. Buffy then crawls out of the grave as a vampire. The Scoobies decides they must wake Billy up from his coma to stop the nightmares.

At the hospital, they find Billy's astral body watching over his comatose body. When the ugly man arrives, Buffy confronts him. After knocking him unconscious, she encourages Billy to face him. Billy wakes up, and everything returns to normal. Billy's little league coach shows up and refers to Billy as his "lucky nineteen." Buffy realizes he must be the "ugly man" who put Billy into a coma after they lost the game. Buffy confronts the coach, and he tries to run but is stopped by Giles and Xander and eventually arrested.

When Buffy's father comes to pick her up for their weekend together, Willow asks Xander if he was still attracted to Buffy as a vampire. He initially denies it before admitting, "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]

"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 parent’s 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]

• "Nightmares" at IMDb