Buffy the Vampire Slayer/Recap/S1/E10 Nightmares: Difference between revisions

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(scoffs) ''"Dreams? That would be a musical comedy version of'' this."|'''Xander''' and '''Giles'''}}

 

Buffy patrols Sunnydale's underground. As she rounds a bend in the sewer, she comes across the Master's lair. The Slayer whirls around, and stares into the eyes of the vampire king. Captivated by him, Buffy's stake clatters uselessly to the floor. The Master leans in to taste his prey, as Buffy screams. "[[Big No|NO!]]"

 

 

At school that morning, Willow asks Buffy about her dad. Buffy says she doesn't see him that often, as he's in L.A., and gives a few details of the divorce Buffy tells her that her parents divorced the previous year. She admits to worrying that the stress she caused by getting into so much trouble compounded their marital problems. In class, Buffy is startled to see a sad looking young boy, watching her from the doorway. The teacher asks a boy, Wendell, to read a passage from the text. He opens his copy, and several large spiders scuttle out of it. The class erupts in screams as the tarantulas crawl all over the terrified student. Back in the doorway, the young boy calmly observes the panicked class. "Sorry about that."

 

 

The Scoobies find Wendell sitting alone.Wendell explains that he actually ''loves'' the furry beasts, but his own pet spiders died when his brother left a heat lamp was left on too long. Since then, Wendell's had a recurring nightmare about spiders. He thought he was dreaming again inc lass, but then everyone else started screaming too. During this speech, Cordy pops by to tell Buffy that they have a history test. Buffy had no idea, and freaks and runs off to class. Buffy glances through the essay questions, and then looks at the clock: 11:20. She starts to write her name but the pencil tip breaks. She sharpens her pencil and looks back at the clock. It's now 12:10. Wha!? The bell rings, and the students hand in their tests and leave. Meanwhile, a girl ducks into the basement for a quick smoke break. From the shadows, a grotesque demon watches as she lights up, then starts attacking her with his deformed, club like arm.

In the hospital, Buffy and Giles bring flowers to Laura, who looks like ten miles of bad road. Laura remembers that the monster said "Lucky nineteen," right before the attack. Laura's doctor tells them that there was another victim -- a small boy -- whose attacker has the same M.O. But that one is in a coma.

 

 

 

Buffy's dad Hank pops in. She wonders why he's there early, and Hank says he needs to talk to her in private. As they take a seat on a nearby bench, Hank tells her she is old enough to hear the truth: Buffy is total embarrassment as a daughter and an utter failure scholastically. Speaking of which, Hank don't really "get anything" out of these weekends visits, so he pats her knee and rises without even a goodbye. Buffy, grief-stricken, looks up and notices the coma victim, Billy, staring at her mournfully from a doorway. She hounds him into the gym, but the Ugly Man reappears. Buffy fights back, but he's too tough for the Slayer. Billy rushes out of the gym and Buffy follows, limping.

 

 

Outside, Buffy and Billy stop outside a chain link fence. On the other side, a baseball game is in progress. Billy tells Buffy that he lost his game last week, and that it was his fault, because he missed the ball. Just then, they see the Ugly Man advancing on them. They cut through some shrubs and find themselves in a cemetery at night. The Master appears, ready to bury Buffy alive. He throws her into a freshly-dug grave, slamming the coffin lid shut.

 

 

Outside the school, pandemonium is breaking out as police sirens wail. Willow sees a dimensional shift to a graveyard across the street. They walk over to it and face Giles' nightmare: Buffy's tombstone. Giles sinks to his knees, beside himself. A hand reaches out and grabs his wrist. Buffy climbs out of the dirt, brushing herself off. Oh, and another thing: She's vamped. Giles tells her that he believes if they can awaken Billy, reality will shift back to normal. Buffy is shaken, but unstirred.

 

 

Buffy reaches up to feel her face; no more vampirism. Xander notices Billie's eyes fluttering, and he smiles as the child awakens. Giles is about to get a doctor, when Billie's baseball coach enters, calling Billy his "Lucky nineteen". Buffy and the gang realize that the coach is the culprit. Book 'em, Danno.

* [[Actor Shared Background]]: [[Alyson Hannigan]] maintains that she cannot sing or dance (which hasn't stopped multiple writers from shoehorning her into [[How I Met Your Mother|splashy musical numbers]], but oh well), and requested her part in [[Musical Episode|Once More With Feeling]] be limited.

* [[Adventures in Coma Land]]: Inverted in that everybody in Sunnydale gets to enjoy Billy's nightmares, too. Giles asserts that such things are easy when you're on a Hellmouth.

* [[All Just a Dream]]: Buffy's having more unpleasant Slayer dreams, this time involving her death at the hands of the Master.

* [[Always Camp]]: "Aldo," the rotund Italian tenor. His patience is already wearing pretty thin before Willow even starts to sing.

* [[Apologetic Attacker]]: Billy Palmer.

* [[Astral Projection]]: Billy is able to manifest as an astral projection during his coma, but his 'return' causes nightmares to physically manifest wherever he goes, and soon throughout Sunnydale.

* [[Attending Your Own Funeral]]: Buffy clawing her way out of the grave, causing the Scoobies to scream their heads off.

* [[Baddie Flattery]]: The Master says Buffy is prettier than the last Slayer.

* [[Baseball Episode]]: A mild case, since none of the heroes actually play the game. Too dangerous.

* [[Big No]]: Dream Buffy, as she is being bitten by the Master. Cut to Buffy lying in bed, [[Talking in Your Sleep|moaning "No, no!"]] as Joyce tries to wake her.

* [[Big "Shut Up!"]]: As they rush to the hospital, Willow nervously asks Giles if he's sure the world will go back to normal, and what they'll do if they can't wake Billy up. "Willow," he says politely, "do shut up."

* [[Bland-Name Product]]: When Xander reaches down to pick up the candy bar (just before the clown attacks), it appears to be a Hershey Bar. But if you look closely, you can see that the name has been altered. Both H's are gone, and the R has been changed to a P. The name of the candy bar is now "EPS EY."

* [[Brick Joke]]: Cordelia is checking her make-up in a hand mirror when a shadow passes over her. She barks at Wendell to get out of her light. The Scoobies look on with bewilderment, and Willow is disconcertingly reminded of [[Evita|Eva Perón]]. She and Buffy have this prophetic exchange:

'''Willow''': It weighs heavy on the cerebral cortex. }}

* [[Brought Down to Normal]] / [[Curse of Babel]]: Giles nightmare; the man who knows five languages can no longer understand the printed word.

* [[Brutal Honesty]]: "Hank's" admission that the divorce is indeed Buffy's fault. Furthermore, he claims to be bored by their weekends together; that Buffy is selfish and withdrawn and an overall bore. The expression on Buffy's face makes it clear that she's afraid he might have a point.

* [[But You Were There and You and You]]

* [[Catapult Nightmare]]

* [[Chekhov's Gag]]: "I'm sorry, I'm unruffled by spiders! Now, if a bunch of Nazis crawled all over my face..."

* [[Coincidental Broadcast]]: Buffy strolls into the library, and asks how the research is going. Giles says he got some back issues of the newspaper, but that he doesn't know if there's anything useful in them, because he suddenly can't read. It's lucky he got the correct editions, then, because a front page headline on Billy Palmer is staring Buffy in the face.

* [[Convenient Coma]]: Conquering Billy's inner fears automatically snaps him out of it.

* [[Creepy Basement]]: The boiler room. No smoking allowed.

* [[Creepy Child]]: Billy.

* [[Creepy Sexy]] ([[In-Universe]]):

'''Willow:''' [[Vampires Are Sex Gods|Still dug her]], huh?<br />

'''Xander:''' I'm sick, I need help.<br />

* [[Face Your Fears]]: The theme of this episode, and the key to defeating the [[Monster of the Week]].

* [[Failed Attempt At Drama]]: At school, some [[Delinquents|greaser]] in a [[Hell-Bent for Leather|leather jacket]] and [[Cool Shades|sunglasses]] is telling his friends about challenging some guy to a fight, and he's not backing down because it's about honor. Willow and Xander pass by, talking about nightmares coming true. Suddenly, we hear a woman's voice belt out, "Oh, there's my little baby!" The greaser's mom comes out of nowhere, wearing a tacky floral shirt, which elicits much chortling from his buddies.

** [[Rewatch Bonus]]: Buffy's fear of being buried alive comes to pass in the episode Bargaining, Part 2, {{spoiler|when she is resurrected and awakens in her coffin}}

*** Willow has a picture of herself and Giles in her locker. In her collage years, she admits she once had a crush on him.

* [[Gag Haircut]]: Cordelia's nightmare. That and being turned into a chess nerd with bad fashion sense.

* [[Idiot Ball]]: Willow shears someone call her name out of the boiler room. She thinks it might be Buffy, and goes down the stairs. Good move -- the attacker couldn't possibly be in the same scary place again.

* [[Institutional Apparel]] / [[Man in White]]: Billy's hospital duds.

* [[It's All About Me]]: Hank gets irritated with Buffy's sniffles and scolds her for whining. "Y'know, I don't think it's very mature -- getting blubbery when I'm just trying to be honest."

* [[It's Up to You]]: Giles deduces that Billy is the root of the problem, but can't revive him. It's up to Billy to unmask the Ugly Man.

* [[Last-Second Word Swap]]: Xander is still tugging on a sweatshirt as he and Willow stumble into the library. They tell Giles about Xander's impromptu streaking. Willow smiles and says, "Yeah, it was really" -- she catches a look from Xander -- "bad. It was a bad thing."

* [[Let's Split Up, Gang!|Let's Split Up, Scooby Gang]]

'''Willow:''' Oh, uh, faster, but... [[Genre Savvy|not really safer]]. }}

* [[Linked-List Clue Methodology]]: "''Lucky Thirteeeeeen....''"

** In the scene with Billy and Buffy on the fantasy ball-field, the Ugly Man makes his presence known by clubbing one of the players.

* [[Lonely Piano Piece]]: Buffy walking alone after she gets a [[Hannibal Lecture]] from her dad.

* [[Macho Masochism]]: To illustrate his point about [[Dune|fear being the mind-killer]], The Master regards a leftover wooden cross from the ruined church. He puts a hand on the cross until it smokes.

* [[Monster Clown]]: Xander's worst nightmare: [[Ninja Pirate Zombie Robot|Nazi clowns]].

* [[Nice Job Fixing It, Villain]]: Buffy's vampire strength gives her the edge she needs to KO the Ugly Man.

* [[No Smoking]]: [[Parodied Trope|Spoofed]] with the girl who sneaks off for a smoke being pounced on by the Ugly Man. There's a [[Gory Discretion Shot]] where the camera focuses on a poster reading '<small>[[Environmental Symbolism|SMOKING KILLS]]</small>.'

* [[Not Herself]]: Buffy, still addled from her nightmare, agrees to go to school with no fuss. Joyce raises her eyebrows. "Good day to buy that lottery ticket."

* [["Not Wearing Pants" Dream]]: Xander is forced to experience his recurring nightmare of appearing only in his underwear in front of the whole class.

** Once reality is restored, Some middle-aged guy in sweats and a baseball cap walks into Billy's room. He says he's Billy's Kiddie League coach, and that he checks on him every day. "He's my Lucky 19." He asks how Billy is, and Buffy snits, "He's awake." The coach isn't thrilled.

* [[Performance Anxiety]]: Willow's nightmare is based on her terror of appearing on stage; she finds herself costumed to appear in Giacomo Puccini's opera ''Madama Butterfly'', unable to sing a note.

* [[Pre-Ass-Kicking One-Liner]]: "Scary. I'll tell you something though, there are a lot scarier things than you. And '''I'm''' one of them."

** [[Waxing Lyrical]]: Buffy sees the Master, and repeats to herself that it's a dream. The Master ruminates, "[[Cinderella (Disney film)|A dream is a wish your heart makes]]," then grabs her by the neck.

* [[Produce Pelting]]: Willow's performance earns her an ovation of boos and tomatoes.

* [[Punch, Spin, Gape]]: It takes a real man to punch a clown.

* [[Put the Laughter In Slaughter]]: The clown.

* [[Race Against the Clock]]: The Scoobies finally escape the school. Giles tells them, "In a few hours reality will fold completely into the realm of nightmares."

* [[Reality Warper]]

* [[Red Shirt]]: Wendell and Laura.

* [[The Reveal]]: The coach popping in to check on his lil' Derek Jeter-in-training.

* [[Right Hand of Doom]]: The Ugly Man's clubbed hand.

* [[Run or Die]]: Billy's baseline strategy when dealing with the Ugly Man. Xander, Willow, and a very unlucky Giles resort to this with the clown.

* [[Scare Chord]]: Willow being yanked off screen and into a theater.

* [[Scully Syndrome]]: Xander thinks the theme of Wendell and the spiders could [[There Are No Coincidences|just be a coincidence]]...and pays the price.

* [[Serious Business]]: In keeping with Giles's theory about fears coming to life, Xander guesses that Wendell has a bad relationship with insects. Surpringly, Wendell snaps at them that they're ''arachnids'' -- He worships spiders, and dorks mistaking them for bugs is [[Berserk Button|a major sticking point]] for him.

** Buffy can't believe a coach would beat up a kid, and Xander observes that Buffy's obviously never played kiddie league. "I'm surprised it wasn't one of the ''parents''."

* [[Shout-Out]]: "[[The Wizard of Oz|I had the strangest dream]]...[[And You Were There]]...and you...who are you people?"

* [[Speak of the Devil]]: In a frightened voice, Billy confides that the Ugly Man wants to kill him, and that he "hurt that girl." Buffy wants to know why, and Billy gasps in horror. "HE'S HERE!" Buffy looks over her shoulder, and the Ugly Man wallops her with his club. [[Smash to Black|Cut to commercial]].

* [[Spiders Are Scary]]: Inverted with Wendell, whose love affair with spiders came to an untimely end thanks to a heating lamp.

** Xander's humiliation in front of his classmates strikes a chord with Willow. "Everyone staring? I would ''hate'' to have everyone paying attention to me like that."

* [[Visit by Divorced Dad]]: Well, that didn't go as well as expected.

* [["What Do They Fear?" Episode]]

* [[You!]]: Buffy shouts this at the Master when he inexplicably appears in the graveyard.

 

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[[Category:Recap]]