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BuffyGuide.com The Complete Buffy Episode Guide |
Nightmares |
May 12, 1997 4V10 |
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Synopsis |
Everyone's nightmares seem to be coming true at Sunnydale high Xander goes to class in his underwear, Giles loses the ability to read, and time flies during Buffy's surprise test. Buffy keeps seeing a young boy around campus and begins to make a link when one of the students is attacked by a strange monster who keeps saying lucky nineteen. Buffy discovers that the boy she sees is actually lying in a coma in hospital after being attacked. Buffy, Willow and Xander try to find the boy to help him wake, and discover that the monster is a nightmare projection of the boy's baseball coach, who put the boy in the coma. Buffy makes the boy face up to his fears and all returns to normal, with Xander stopping the coach from avoiding the law. Short synopsis by angel_star.
For the full, detailed synopsis, click here.
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Monstervision |
Children (and adults, for that matter) who resort to fantasy as an escape from harsh reality have been the subject of many stories, from J.M. Barrie's Peter Pan to the 1995 movie Don Juan DeMarco. And the idea of nightmares coming true is so old and has been used so many times we couldn't even begin to list all the occurrences of it here. (Just think of the Stay-Puft Marshmallow Man from the 1984 movie Ghostbusters.)
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Dialogue to Die For |
The Master, looking at a cross: "We are defined by the things we fear. This symbol, these two planks of wood... it confounds me, suffuses me with mortal dread."
Xander: "I'm not worried. If there's something bad out there, we'll find, you'll slay, we'll party."
Vampire Buffy: "Scary. I'll tell you something, though. There are a lot scarier things than you. And I'm one of them."
More quotes from this episode...
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Goofs and Gaffes |
- After singing the line "Ora sei tutta mia," Aldo Gianfranco gestures to Willow as though it's her turn to sing, but in the piece they're singing he actually has three more lines to sing (which he eventually does) before it's the soprano's turn.
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Notes |
- The divorce of Buffy's parents was finalized in 1996, although they were separated before that. They got the divorce because, as they told Buffy, they just stopped getting along.
- Buffy's father lives in Los Angeles, and comes to see Buffy on infrequent weekends.
- Buffy's headstone gives the year of her birth as 1981. (See "I Robot You Jane")
- Guest star Dean Butler is best known for playing Almanzo Wilder in the later years of the TV series Little House On The Prairie.
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Comments |
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Brian:
- Well handled and with good performances, this episode shows off how well Buffy the Vampire Slayer uses its characters. Surprises add depth (Wendel doesn't hate spiders, he loves them; the way Buffy's and Giles' nightmares twine so neatly) and the overall plot shows how ordinary injustices can turn into world-threatening situations on the Hellmouth; that bodes well for the series' future potential. And I have to side with Xander: I don't know if it was her ferocity, the brilliant sensitivity with which SMG portrayed Buffy living out her worst nightmare, or what, but Buffy as a vampire was still definitely attractive. (9/10)
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Will:
- This was a wonderfully fun, intriguing, and funny episode. It reminded me a bit of an episode of Sliders. It almost seemed that the world as they know it has no laws governing reality. The characters all seemed to spend more time being scared by their nightmares than being as witty as usual; the show's normal humor and wit are still there but it seems to be toned down a little for this episode. "Nightmares" lent itself to more physical comedy and I loved it. (9/10)
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Nielsens |
Air Date |
Rating |
Ranking |
May 12, 1997 |
2.5 |
88 of 94 (tie) |
July 20, 1997 |
1.7 |
111 of 113 |
July 20, 1998 |
2.3 |
96 of 110 (tie) |
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