S01.E10: Nightmares

[Lisin]

From Wikipedia:

Sunnydale residents find their worst nightmares coming true and Buffy learns that a little boy in a coma is the cause. To solve the problem, the gang must wake him up and help him confront his fears.

 

I remember really enjoying this one but on rewatch I didn't love it... perhaps it's because I already know what happens? I don't know. 

[Erratic]

I loved all the Scoobie stuff, but hated the story of Billy.

[Loandbehold]

I have always liked this one, although Billy's story wasn't that strong and I don't really understand the spider guy, but I guess you can have a nightmare that something/someone you love turns on you. What I really enjoyed, besides the turn of Giles' dream, was that Xander was the first person to not just face, but conquer his fears. It's an interesting insight into a character that laughs at danger, then runs and hides until it goes away. He's often more of a hero than he gives  himself credit for.

[Dianthus]

Loandbehold: The Zeppo being a case in point. It's a strong ep in general (IMO), and a great Xander ep.

[buffyjunkie]

 

He's often more of a hero than he gives  himself credit for.

It also amuses me that Willow knows he was attracted to Vampire Buffy and how Xander is willing to admit it. 

[Joe Hellandback]

On ‎31‎/‎05‎/‎2014 at 5:30 PM, Lisin said:

From Wikipedia:

 

I remember really enjoying this one but on rewatch I didn't love it... perhaps it's because I already know what happens? I don't know. 

I actually think this one gets better on rewatch?

On ‎01‎/‎06‎/‎2014 at 5:37 PM, Erratic said:

I loved all the Scoobie stuff, but hated the story of Billy.

You didn't like the storyline or you thought it was badly done?

On ‎01‎/‎06‎/‎2014 at 8:09 PM, Loandbehold said:

I have always liked this one, although Billy's story wasn't that strong and I don't really understand the spider guy, but I guess you can have a nightmare that something/someone you love turns on you. What I really enjoyed, besides the turn of Giles' dream, was that Xander was the first person to not just face, but conquer his fears. It's an interesting insight into a character that laughs at danger, then runs and hides until it goes away. He's often more of a hero than he gives  himself credit for.

Yeah, Xander shines here although Willow's dream is my favourite. Our first sight of semi-nude Xander and he's awfully hunky for the school geek?

 

On ‎02‎/‎06‎/‎2014 at 4:58 AM, Dianthus said:

Loandbehold: The Zeppo being a case in point. It's a strong ep in general (IMO), and a great Xander ep.

For me BBB is the ultimate X-man ep

On ‎10‎/‎06‎/‎2014 at 11:46 PM, buffyjunkie said:

It also amuses me that Willow knows he was attracted to Vampire Buffy and how Xander is willing to admit it. 

Makes a change from the demons being attracted to him?

 

Nightmares
The Good;  Giles' fear of not being able to read and Buffy dying are also excellent. Willow's stagefright and Cordy joining the chess club/bad hair brigade are utterly hilarious. It rather reminded me of the ep of Sabrina;TTW where Sabrina places a spell on her arch enemy Libby the haughty cheerleader turning her into a nerd only for Libby to become Queen of the nerds and start mocking the less clever. Semi-naked Nic Brendon who in the great comedy tradition wears embarrassing boxer shorts. Some great CGI giant wasps. The Joyce/Buffy scenes. The tough guy whose mum turns up at school (don't know who he is but he resembles a character from Grease?)

The Bad; The scene with Buffy and her dad is just too cruel. Apart from that, not much.

Best line; Almost Xander's; "Your balloon animals were pathetic!" But the winner is Joyce; "Your father loves you dear but no more than I do"

Observations and questions; Xander suffers clourophobia (fear of clowns). He also fancies a teacher called Miss Tishler demonstrating his fondness for older women again. Willow says that there is marital tension in her house (and as we later learn in Xander's also). The Master says he met the last Slayer, did he kill her? Here we have confirmation that Buffy was born in 1981 and is 15 turning 16 in this ep (so shame on you if you fancied her up to this point ) This begins the long tradition of disastrous birthdays for Buffy. First appearance of Hank Summers in the show. The only time we'll ever see Buffy as a vamp but she's still Buffy. You wonder if this is because it's just a nightmare and she's not truly been sired or even if a Slayer becomes a vamp that they're not evil, they're still the Slayer?

Spoiler

Willow suffers arachnophobia (although she faces down a giant spider in season 7). Buffy's dreams of the Master are truly terrifying as is his burying her alive which of course she'll experience for real in Bargaining.

Great ep, 8 and half out of 10 again

[Halting Hex]

On 6/6/2018 at 9:09 AM, Joe Hellandback said:

Here we have confirmation that Buffy was born in 1981 and is 15 turning 16 in this ep (so shame on you if you fancied her up to this point ) This begins the long tradition of disastrous birthdays for Buffy.

This isn't Buffy's birthday, it's an ordinary weekend.  (You'll note that she's not expecting Hank to take her to their special tradition 

Spoiler

the ice show, as mentioned in Helpless

, she's just looking for him to spend time with her.  At this point, as she tells Willow, Hank visits "most weekends".)

Buffy's birthday is in January, as we'll find out in years to come.  This is May.  Additionally, Joyce already told us that Buffy is already 16 in The Harvest ("everything is life and death when you're a 16-year-old girl")

[Joe Hellandback]

16 hours ago, Halting Hex said:

This isn't Buffy's birthday, it's an ordinary weekend.  (You'll note that she's not expecting Hank to take her to their special tradition 

  Hide contents

the ice show, as mentioned in Helpless

, she's just looking for him to spend time with her.  At this point, as she tells Willow, Hank visits "most weekends".)

Buffy's birthday is in January, as we'll find out in years to come.  This is May.  Additionally, Joyce already told us that Buffy is already 16 in The Harvest ("everything is life and death when you're a 16-year-old girl")

So she is 16 but this isn't her birthday, ah I see. 

[Halting Hex]

4 hours ago, Joe Hellandback said:

So she is 16 but this isn't her birthday, ah I see.

Yeah.  She even specifically confirms the January birthday date in 

Spoiler

Doomed.  "Capricorn on the cusp of Aquarius".  

[lembergwatcher]

Some kind of crossover between Xander's nightmare and 16-year-old Willow's erotic dream...

[Joe Hellandback]

On ‎30‎/‎08‎/‎2018 at 4:52 PM, lembergwatcher said:

Some kind of crossover between Xander's nightmare and 16-year-old Willow's erotic dream...

Just wait until Go Fish!

[Halting Hex]

Any sentence that starts with "Just wait until" is by definition a spoiler, no?  I mean, not the biggest thing, but still.

[Halting Hex]

Watched another reaction video for this one (Steven G. at Geeked-Out Nation) and, once again, Jeremy Foley (Billy Palmer) is thought to possibly be a young Joseph Gordon-Levitt.  At which point I started to wonder what Jeremy must think, hearing this time and again.  

I mean JG-L's had a pretty good career.  Wonder if being compared to him, endlessly, is Jeremy's nightmare.

[Loandbehold]

5 hours ago, Halting Hex said:

Watched another reaction video for this one (Steven G. at Geeked-Out Nation) and, once again, Jeremy Foley (Billy Palmer) is thought to possibly be a young Joseph Gordon-Levitt.  At which point I started to wonder what Jeremy must think, hearing this time and again.  

I mean JG-L's had a pretty good career.  Wonder if being compared to him, endlessly, is Jeremy's nightmare.

 

I see what you did there. I don't think he feel's too bad. He's had a varied career as actor/director/producer/writer: Jeremy Foley

[Joe Hellandback]

On ‎10‎/‎01‎/‎2019 at 12:19 PM, Halting Hex said:

Watched another reaction video for this one (Steven G. at Geeked-Out Nation) and, once again, Jeremy Foley (Billy Palmer) is thought to possibly be a young Joseph Gordon-Levitt.  At which point I started to wonder what Jeremy must think, hearing this time and again.  

I mean JG-L's had a pretty good career.  Wonder if being compared to him, endlessly, is Jeremy's nightmare.

JGL is in Mysterious Skin with MT so in 1. 

[lembergwatcher]

So that guy is probably Mr. Chomsky Willow mentioned on her "date" with Thomas in Welcome to the Hellmouth?

[Halting Hex]

Could well be.  He teaches history, and he's proctoring Buffy and Cordelia's American History test.  

Of course, this does beg the question of where Ms. Jackson, who was teaching B/C in American History just last episode, has gotten off to, but perhaps she's just out sick. Or at some conference or something.  And Chomsky has such a smile on his face because he resents having to cover for her.

Also, this isn't the classroom we saw in The Puppet Show; it looks more like the one we saw the two girls taking World History in, back in the pilot.  But it might just be another classroom on the same side of that building, with the same general layout;  hard to tell, really.  So it's quite possible this is Chomsky's regular classroom. 

Which might explain why Buffy doesn't know where the test is being held; if she cut class the day when Ms. Jackson was explaining that the test was being held in Chomsky's classroom, rather than hers, no wonder Buffy can't find her way there, unassisted.

[Halting Hex]

Nice of Buffy to introduce Hank to Giles in the Library.  I mean, now we know his name.

Meanwhile, we're still waiting to find out what Buffy's mom is named (besides "Mom", I mean).  Okay, so I already know, and it's been in the scripts since the pilot, but it's yet to make air, and I'm getting tired of having to always call her "Buffy's mom" in threads like this or on video reactions comments.  I mean, you couldn't have told Giles her name when you were introducing Giles to her in Angel?  Sheesh.

Granted, "Buffy's mom" missed chances to introduce herself to Angel or Darla, earlier in that episode.  So perhaps a certain rudeness runs in the family.  

Or maybe Mrs. Summers is named "Voldemort"?

[Halting Hex]

Joseph Harding may have missed the "possible child abuse" subtext in Xander's bad memories of his 5th birthday party (and Willow's memory of Mr. Harris's reaction to Xander's panic), but he did notice that the "Nazi" nightmare was mentioned (and cued by the swastikas on the walls) but never shown, and he also thought that Billy's assailant would turn out to be his father, before accepting the "Kiddie League coach" twist.

Add all this up, and I'm wondering if we might not be seeing the network's hand at work here.  After all, the WB was aiming for a youth audience; perhaps they felt that Nazis and parents beating their kids into comas was a step too far into the darkness?  Especially as they had no idea if the show would be a success.  (Remember, all of S1 was filmed before any of it aired.)  So perhaps someone "upstairs" told Joss to take it back a bit, and so we get clowns instead of Nazis, and a coach instead of a parent.  (Even though Xander does say in the tag that he was surprised it wasn't a parent.)

But editorial interference is outside the episodes.  Within the show, I'm wondering what Xander's possible history as a victim of abuse (and his willingness to believe that Billy was also one) says about his actions in the episode before (The Puppet Show).  His referring to corporal punishment as "a time-honored tradition" worries me, if Mr. Harris went where I think he may have gone.  And his declaration that the demon's need for a "healthy, intelligent brain" ruled him out might be a step over the "self-deprecating" line; in Amber's reaction vid, she flinched a bit at that, and had a quizzical glance on her face.  Are we seeing an ongoing self-esteem issue (since "I'm inadequate…I'm less than a man" in The Harvest, plus other examples) that traces its way back to his possibly-problematic home life? 

I'm wondering, now. And here I thought it was just a joke…

[lembergwatcher]

On 3/30/2019 at 1:25 AM, Halting Hex said:

And here I thought it was just a joke…

What can I say? The writers seem to treat almost every Xander-related issue like a joke. Be it home abuse, love life

Spoiler

or, say, employment (presented in a comic sort of way in Xander's case throughout season 4, then with plenty of drama/angst when it was Buffy's turn to work for a living in season 6).

So, no wonder many of us want to laugh at Xander in those cases we shouldn't have to.

[Halting Hex]

From the pilot:

Quote

JESSE (to Buffy):  We want to help you feel at home.  (Beat)  Unless you have a scary home.

(Emphasis mine)

So…is it safe to say that, whatever was going on at Xander's house, Jesse knew about it?  Perhaps even to an extent that Xander hasn't told Willow about?  No wonder he was so bummed to lose his bud, then.  (Besides the obvious reasons.)  Darn. 😞

[lembergwatcher]

I find it strange that among the Scooby Gang's Core Four only some of Buffy's and Giles' nightmares are rooted in serious issues (being the main reason for parents' divorce in Buffy's case, losing his Slayer in Giles'). Willow and Xander, in turn, seem to be afraid of some petty things compared to their fellow Scoobs. Given that both of them have lost a friend not so long ago, shouldn't the death of someone W/X hold dear give them greatest nighmare? Shouldn't losing a loved one, seeing each other killed/sired be the main issue, not spiders or opera singing, public nudity together with the evil clowns?

[Halting Hex]

Well, there seems to be a "dramatic escalation" factor involved.  Buffy's first nightmare is nothing more than being unprepared for a test; that's barely above Cordelia's bad hair day/chess club issues.  So Willow, who only gets the one nightmare, doesn't dive head on into the deepest trauma, and Xander starts with relatively inoffensive stuff (public nudity) before we get to the clown, who is obviously a trigger for a pretty deep trauma, even if we don't get all the details here.

And for all we know, the Nazis were right around the corner…

[lembergwatcher]

I just love the way Willow enjoys Cordelia's torment. Way to go, Will! Like they say: every dog has his (or her) day. After enduring bullying and humiliation for years you deserve to finally see some ridiculous stuff wearing Cordelia getting dragged into the class by two geeks.

[Halting Hex]

On 4/3/2019 at 4:47 AM, lembergwatcher said:

public nudity together with the evil clowns?

But what if Xander been chased by the clown while he was naked?  That'd be major trauma points, I'm sure.

Or if it was the clown who was naked? 😮

[lembergwatcher]

What if both of them were naked?..

[Joe Hellandback]

On ‎4‎/‎27‎/‎2019 at 4:32 PM, lembergwatcher said:

I just love the way Willow enjoys Cordelia's torment. Way to go, Will! Like they say: every dog has his (or her) day. After enduring bullying and humiliation for years you deserve to finally see some ridiculous stuff wearing Cordelia getting dragged into the class by two geeks.

I loved that scene, it reminded me of the ep of Sabrina where she makes her arch enemy bitchy cheerleader Libby (a VERY Cordeliaesque character) into a geek only for Libby to become Queen of the Geeks and start mocking the less intelligent. I would love to have seen CC lording over the Chess Club. 

[Halting Hex]

One thing I've written about is that sometimes, when I'm bored, I'll put on my "Ugly Man" voice and  roam my apartment, grunting "Lucky 19!" and doubtless convincing my cat that I'm just as nuts as Ziggy has always thought.

What I wonder is, given current events, it's time for a rewrite?

"COVID-19!!!"

Now that's scary. 😮

Spoiler

Okay, occasionally the "Kakistos" voice is fun, too.   But that requires memorizing actual dialogue:  "I guess you need a bigger stake, Slayer!  HAW-HAW-HAW!"  Where as the Ugly Man has the benefit of simplicity.

 

[lembergwatcher]

19 hours ago, Halting Hex said:

"COVID-19!!!"

Interesting analogy. Although whenever the topic of COVID-19 arises

Spoiler

the first Buffy ep that comes to mind is Killed by Death.

 

[Halting Hex]

A reactor (I forget whom or when; Darcie, perhaps?) thought that Giles would be overjoyed when the spell ends, and thus would be reading everything he could see on the way out of Sunnydale General.

(e.g. "Radiology", "Men's Room", "The Heimlich Maneuver: a Beginner's Guide" and so on.)

But it does beg the question…if normalcy isn't restored before Billy awakens, how does Giles know that's Buffy's grave in the cemetery?  I mean, he can't read, right?

Quote

WILLOW:  Whose nightmare is this?

GILES (anguished): It's mine.

He kneels by the headstone.

XANDER (reading): Irving Krelzmeyer, The Hot Dog King.  "Have I Got A Weiner for You!"  (beat) Friend of yours?

Also, not to nitpick, but I think this is actually Buffy's nightmare, with the vampirization and having been buried alive, Tweed Boy.   Not everything is about you.

(A bit presumptive for Giles to assume that Buffy's death would be more nightmarish for him than the other two, honestly.  Yes, yes, failed his duty, we get it…but Slayers die, rather regularly.  "One Slayer dies, the next one is called" and so on.  Arguably worse for the kids, firstly because they're probably not as used to death as Giles may be, and because Willow is possibly losing 60+ years of friendship where Giles may only be losing a few of mentoring.

The situation with Xander is less-clear, since how close he stays with Buffy from now on may depend on whether she ends up returning his affections or not.  Just because Angel has apparently beat feet out of town [relatively wisely, given how most Slayer/vampire interactions end], that hardly means that Xander is next on Buffy's dance card, obviously.)

Edited March 4 by Halting Hex