Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Nightmares (1x10)

[fajrdrako]

I loved this episode. Loved it very much.

1. First, we have Buffy's nightmare. My first thought was "Oh, no, not the Master again." But then it clearly was... different. Buffy wasn't herself. Buffy was scared. "I bet it's a dream," I thought. And so it was. It was fun to see Buffy in braids. Good candles.

2. So Buffy has a father. I am surprised. Loved Willow's comment on the divorce: "harsh".

3. Love Willow's line: "My parents don't even bicker. Sometimes they glare."

4. Xander makes fun of Cordelia: "Wendell, what is wrong with you? Don't you know that she is the
center of the universe, and the rest of us merely revolve around her?" I sometimes have trouble figuring out Xander's actual attitude to Cordelia. Lust? Contempt? Admiration? Irritation?

5. Wendell has a spider problem. I thought he's be the redshirt of the episode, but of course he wasn't - I must learn to stop thinking about Buffy in terms of the cliches we see in all other shows. It's misleading. Confusing because we sometimes do get regular cliches, but we also get twists in the cliches, and innovation.

6. So it's the Master who makes a speech about fear. I like 'fear' as a theme; I always think fear is the root of most evil.

7. I like Xander's "famous last words': "I'm not worried. If there's something bad out there we'll find, you'll slay, we'll party!" Bravado probably, but it looks good on him.

8. Another passage:

Wendell: They're not insects. They're arachnids.
Xander: They're from the Middle East?

Is that a joke? I don't get it. Is it just that Xander thinks 'arachnid' is a nationality?

9. Buffy: "There's a history test? Nobody told me there was a history test! I haven't... I... Okay, I will catch up with you guys later." I can relate - that's one of my recurring nightmares - writing an exam for a course I haven't studied for. In some dreams, it's a course I've never even taken, but I have to pass the exam anyway. (Shudder.)

10. I like the way the nightmares escalate, getting more threatening and more widespread as the episode continues.

11. I liked the nightmare kid. It's obvious for us that he's the epicentre of the nightmares, but I can see it wouldn't be obvious to the characters - especially as their thinking becomes more and more irraitonal.

12. Love the nightmare of the tough guy whose mother comes and makes a fuss over him in front of his friends.

13. So Xander dreams he's standing in front of the other students in his underwear. When I had that dream, I usually wasn't wearing underwear, and I was usually trying to find something to hide behind.

14. Giles' nightmare: that he can't read. Oooh. Scary.

15. Love the way each person's nightmare is tailored to their character. Does Xander's fear of clowns have anything to do with his tendency to make jokes most of the time? Loved Cordelia's nightmare of bad hair and unfashionable clothes! And Willow's fear of being on stage, being looked at by a crowd of people, being asked to sing.

16. I wonder what Giles' five languages are.

17. I like Buffy's phrase: "asteroid body".

18. Buffy's nightmare (besides being helpless with vampires): that her father doesn't love or like her, that he is disappointed in her and embarrassed by her, and that she was responsbible for her parent's divorce. Makes sense. Of course it plays on all her fears - of being different, of being immature, of being outcast.

19. Our characters split up - shouldn't they know that in any TV show or horror show, that's a really bad idea?

20. Xander following the bait of chocolate bars... That seemed oddly nonsensical. Like a dream, of course. But also rather too comic. Likewise a fear of being buried seemed sort of anticlimactic for Buffy - but her fear of being a vampire? Perfect. Loved her line: "Well, we better hurry... 'cause I'm getting hungry."

21. Xander stands up to the clown. Wonderful.

22. Giles' nightmare: failing to protect Buffy. I loved that, too.

23. So they go to the hospital, fight the Ugly Man, persuade Billy out of his coma, and restore reality. I wasn't sure what gave Billy his powers... Not that it matters. Though Billy was fine as the basis of the plot, I thought his story was weak compared to that of the others - particularly Buffy. All the emotional power was with her and her situation. Billy's problem never did acquire much oomph or sense of threat. The threat, in fact, was never the Ugly Man's power over Billy, but Billy's power over everyone else in Sunnydale.

21. I'd be curious to know what Joyce Summer's nightmare was or would be.

22. I liked the moral of the story - face your fears. That's an important thing to learn, and most of us don't learn it, ever.

23. Happy ending, when Buffy's father came to get her and things were all right. So... was it not him, before? Was he just Buffy's delusion? Or was he somehow controlled by Billy's dreaming, and overcame and forgot it afterwards? ...Doesn't matter: irrelevant plot details.

24. Final conversation:

Willow: When Buffy was a vampire, you weren't still, like, attracted to her, were you?
Xander: Willow, how can you... I mean, that's really bent! She was... grotesque!
Willow: Still dug her, huh?
Xander: I'm sick, I need help.

Shouldn't somebody be pointing out that Buffy is Buffy, whatever she looks like?

Comments

[abrakadabrah.livejournal.com]

Is that a joke? I don't get it. Is it just that Xander thinks 'arachnid' is a nationality?

LOL! Maybe If I write it out for you as Iraqnids...

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

Oh. Right. That works! And it is funny, after all.

[sparklebutch.livejournal.com]

I have to say, at the time, I thought vamp!Buffy looked better than real!Buffy.

But then my tastes run darker and I am not big on the girl in the first place.

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

at the time, I thought vamp!Buffy looked better than real!Buffy

Hee.

then my tastes run darker and I am not big on the girl in the first place

In terms of looks (and voice), no, Buffy doesn't do a lot for me. I am suprised, actually, that I find her as palatable as I do, becuase (before I watched the show) her looks and style didn't make me want to watch - rather the contrary.

[abrakadabrah.livejournal.com]

Plus, now you're only 5 til School Hard.

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

This is a good thing?

[babydraco.livejournal.com]

Xander thought he said "Iraqis". Or he was making a bad joke pretending that he'd misheard it.

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

Yeah. Got it now. I'm often really, really slow in getting puns.

[teenygozer.livejournal.com]

I sometimes have trouble figuring out Xander's actual attitude to Cordelia. Lust? Contempt? Admiration? Irritation?

Yes.

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

Ah. Right. Understood.

[monsieureden.livejournal.com]

"Lust? Contempt? Admiration? Irritation?"

All of the above?

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

So it seems! All of it understandable.

[teaphile.livejournal.com]

I wasn't sure what gave Billy his powers

The Hellmouth. It's a handy explanation for everything.

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

That works. As well as it needs to, anyway.

As a long-time X-Men fan I was enjoying thinking of him as a mutant.

[gillo]

Getting closer to

School Hard

. (You do realise that if you hate the episode we'll have to kill you?)

I sometimes have trouble figuring out Xander's actual attitude to Cordelia. Lust? Contempt? Admiration? Irritation?

Definitely.

I must learn to stop thinking about Buffy in terms of the cliches we see in all other shows. It's misleading. Confusing because we sometimes do get regular cliches, but we also get twists in the cliches, and innovation.

This is Joss. He aims to misbehave - expect the unexpected...

So Xander dreams he's standing in front of the other students in his underwear. When I had that dream, I usually wasn't wearing underwear, and I was usually trying to find something to hide behind.

Four or five seasons later we might have seen that too - not this early, though. The WB was still thinking young teen audience.

Giles' nightmare: that he can't read. Oooh. Scary.

15. Love the way each person's nightmare is tailored to their character. Does Xander's fear of clowns have anything to do with his tendency to make jokes most of the time? Loved Cordelia's nightmare of bad hair and unfashionable clothes! And Willow's fear of being on stage, being looked at by a crowd of people, being asked to sing.

Some of these nightmares will become recurring leitmotifs. (Especially Willow and singing.)

I wonder what Giles' five languages are.

I think he's being modest and understating the total. Sumerian is one of them.

I'd be curious to know what Joyce Summer's nightmare was or would be.

Loss of her daughter?

Happy ending, when Buffy's father came to get her and things were all right. So... was it not him, before? Was he just Buffy's delusion? Or was he somehow controlled by Billy's dreaming, and overcame and forgot it afterwards? ...Doesn't matter: irrelevant plot details.

I think we can assume all of the nightmare elements reset themselves for most of the characters.

I get the feeling you're becoming somewhat invested in these characters? I hope you have S2 ready to go...

(That's when it really starts to become good. No, excellent.You ain't seen nuffink yet)

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

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<i.Getting closer to School Hard. (You do realise that if you hate the episode we'll have to kill you?)</i>

I knew watching <i>Buffy</i> would be dangerous.

<i>This is Joss. He aims to misbehave - expect the unexpected...</i>

Yes. But not, I hope, at the expense of characterization.

<i> The WB was still thinking young teen audience.</i>

Young people also have naked-in-public nightmares. The WB were idiots.

<i>Loss of her daughter?</i>

Almost certainly, I'd say.

<i>you're becoming somewhat invested in these characters?</i>

Somewhat. Well, some of them. Especially Giles.

<i>I hope you have S2 ready to go...</i>

yes.

<i>You ain't seen nuffink yet</i>

Oooh - anticpation.

[ceruleancat.livejournal.com]

Glad you liked this ep.
I must learn to stop thinking about Buffy in terms of the cliches we see in all other shows. It's misleading.

That line made me laugh. Adam said: Oh my, they're being original. Terrible thing. Must put a stop to it. [That last bit? A quote].


Xander: They're from the Middle East?

My immediate association: [only a quote, no context for you!]

WILLOW: I mean, why else would she be acting like such a b-i-t-c-h?
GILES: Willow, I think we're all a little too old to be spelling things out.
XANDER: A bitca?

Of course, people now use bitca freely.


When I had that dream, I usually wasn't wearing underwear

Your dream would probably not have stayed under the PG-13 rating of the American TV system.


I like Buffy's phrase: "asteroid body".

I'm curious. Why do you like this bit of pun but not the arachnid one? It's the same type of humour.


Love the way each person's nightmare is tailored to their character.

Yes. I love what the nightmares reaveal of the characters, expanding on and bringing a deeper glimpse into what we know. Xander's fear of ridicule or the horror at the end of the chocolate lure; Cordy terrified of not being the confident glamorous princess; Willow's fear of public attention, which reverberates her running off stage at the ending of the Puppet Show (also re her comments on Xander's nudity nightmare); Buffy's parental issues and of course her slaying issues with burial and vamping.

Most interesting to me are Rupert's nightmares, all relating in varying degrees to failing his destined sacred duty; he doesn't fear for himself, doesn't dream of being attacked by monsters and demons, it's always self-driven failure with dire consequneces for his charges, starting with his getting lost among the sources of knowledge, literally and figuratively and of course beside Buffy's grave.

This being a well-written show, I like how the nightmares tie back and foreshadow other eps.

[janne-d.livejournal.com]

Most interesting to me are Rupert's nightmares, all relating in varying degrees to failing his destined sacred duty; he doesn't fear for himself, doesn't dream of being attacked by monsters and demons, it's always self-driven failure with dire consequneces for his charges,

Oh, you're very smart! I didn't pick up on that at all, and it is very interesting.

Thinking along that line though, I'm wondering if some of it could also apply to Buffy's dreams - I think the ones with the Master are mainly about fearing death, but could also be about failing to stop him, and the fact that she finds herself unable to fight off the Ugly Man initially I think is probably a fear of failing as a Slayer thing.

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

Adam said: Oh my, they're being original. Terrible thing. Must put a stop to it. [That last bit? A quote].

Can't allow that on our televisions...!

Your dream would probably not have stayed under the PG-13 rating of the American TV system.

I should think not. Silliness.

Why do you like this bit of pun but not the arachnid one? It's the same type of humour.

Mostly because I didn't understand the arachnid one till it was explained to me. "Asteroid" was obvious.

Most interesting to me are Rupert's nightmares, all relating in varying degrees to failing his destined sacred duty

And not just failing, but being inadequate to the task.

[janne-d.livejournal.com]

So Buffy has a father

Yup, and I liked how insecure she was at the start about him coming to see her. And this bit:

Willow: He still comes down on weekends
Buffy: Sometimes

makes me want to hug her.

I sometimes have trouble figuring out Xander's actual attitude to Cordelia. Lust? Contempt? Admiration? Irritation?

He has to pick just one?

Wendell has a spider problem. I thought he's be the redshirt of the episode, but of course he wasn't

What I liked about Wendell is he is someone else in the school that the trio interact as friends with - they mock Cordelia together and everything. It makes them seem a little less isolated. Also, ugh tarantulas. I'd've screamed the place down too, I am totally with Willow on the wigging out. Though I love Xander crawling his hand up her back and going "It's funny if you're me" when she glares at him.

Buffy: "There's a history test? Nobody told me there was a history test! I haven't... I...

I really like the bit in that nightmare where the clock suddenly jumps forward 50 minutes. Very dreamlike.

Love the way each person's nightmare is tailored to their character. Does Xander's fear of clowns have anything to do with his tendency to make jokes most of the time?

I thought everyone was scared of clowns! Plus that fits with Xander's Everyman thing - and he does have childhood trauma too.

I wonder what Giles' five languages are.

From internal evidence of the series, I think he's underestimating here! Or possibly he only counts the ones he can read absolutely fluently.

Buffy's nightmare (besides being helpless with vampires): that her father doesn't love or like her, that he is disappointed in her and embarrassed by her

Urg, I find that bit so hard to watch. He says such horrible things to her.

Our characters split up - shouldn't they know that in any TV show or horror show, that's a really bad idea?

Well, Willow does say it's a bad idea - I guess it's part of the acting irrationally thing. I like that the impetus is to find Buffy and warn her, especially when Giles says "given the sort of thing she tends to dream about" because obviously being the Slayer gives Buffy many more opportunities for really bad subconscious shenanigans, never mind the actual prophetic ones.

I wasn't sure what gave Billy his powers...

Standard explanation: the Hellmouth. He's trapped in a nightmare, he leaves his body and brings the nightmares too.

Giles' nightmare: failing to protect Buffy. I loved that, too

It's a fantastic Giles moment.

Likewise a fear of being buried seemed sort of anticlimactic for Buffy - but her fear of being a vampire? Perfect. Loved her line: "Well, we better hurry... 'cause I'm getting hungry."

Definitely perfect. I seem to remember I read somewhere that the buried alive bit was because that is actually one of Sarah Michelle Gellar's fears - Joss likes to torture his cast as well as the audience.

Happy ending, when Buffy's father came to get her and things were all right. So... was it not him, before? Was he just Buffy's delusion?

I would say so - I think the real him wasn't physically in Sunnydale at the time when Buffy had that nightmare because he was due to pick her up after school had finished.

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

Willow: He still comes down on weekends
Buffy: Sometimes

makes me want to hug her.

It made me wonder how often she does see him.

Tarantulas - or spiders in general - don't frighten me, but I don't like them. I find them ugly and uninteresting. Shelob and Ungoliant make great villains.

I seem to remember I read somewhere that the buried alive bit was because that is actually one of Sarah Michelle Gellar's fears

Well - no wonder she was convincing!

[kiltfriction.livejournal.com]

Giles' nightmare: that he can't read. Oooh. Scary.

I liked Giles' nightmare about being unable to read. It's very revealing of his character, more so than the more typical fear of just having failed.

I'm not sure but I think this is the first episode that actually has a lot of 'relate back' moments, not quite perhaps foreshadowing yet but as far as I recall there's some definite themes here that are revisited.

So Xander dreams he's standing in front of the other students in his underwear. When I had that dream, I usually wasn't wearing underwear, and I was usually trying to find something to hide behind.

Hehehe yeah, I think they'd've had more trouble getting that version aired somehow. Though if you listen to Joss Whedon in the commentary for one episode Giles is doing exactly that: "Tony in this scene, needless to say, pantsless, hiding behind the desk."; "Tony in this scene, very angry about having to wear pants..."

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

I liked Giles' nightmare about being unable to read. It's very revealing of his character, more so than the more typical fear of just having failed.

Even more poignant - it wasn't just being unable to read, it was being unable to understand what he was trying to read. Chilling!

Though if you listen to Joss Whedon in the commentary for one episode Giles is doing exactly that: "Tony in this scene, needless to say, pantsless, hiding behind the desk."

Hee.

[ceruleancat.livejournal.com]

I liked Giles' nightmare about being unable to read. It's very revealing of his character, more so than the more typical fear of just having failed.

Naturally. I was thinking of the failure at his duty as a common additional aspect to all his nightmares, but of course the particulars are revealing of his character, of his perception of self even.


one episode Giles is doing exactly that: "Tony in this scene, needless to say, pantsless, hiding behind the desk."; "Tony in this scene, very angry about having to wear pants..."

In order of associations: a. Now were does that come from? b. does he mean 'pants' in the US or the UK sense? c. flashes of ASH on Two Guys, a Girl and a Pizza Place, behind a vase. Now where did I see a picture of that recently?

[walkingowl.livejournal.com]

This is one of my favorites from the early run -- I was hoping you'd get to it soon.

4. I sometimes have trouble figuring out Xander's actual attitude to Cordelia. Lust? Contempt? Admiration? Irritation?

All of these. Yes. You will see.

5. Yes, good point: Buffy sometimes does fall into using the cliches we know from other shows, but very often does not, which is wonderful in all ways.

7. "We'll find, you'll slay, we'll party" -- oh, yeah. Things are starting to get into the groove that the show was to follow for the next six and a half years. Yay.

9. Having dreams about having to take a test you haven't heard of before -- gad, me too. And I used to have it come true, in a way: as an undergraduate, I'd have periodic panics because our final exams were often in another room than the class had been, and I'd always seem to miss the memo about where the test was to be! Ugh, it was horrible.

13. Well, you see, Xander was actually standing there naked, but it was aired on common everyday tv, remember! Which I didn't pick up on until I'd seen it a couple of times. Think of how Xander reacts at the moment he and Buffy step into the classroom: that fits "O God, I'm totally naked!!!" perfectly, don't you think?

14 & 15. Interesting... this episode presages another one from much later on, one that is to my mind delightfully surreal while remaining totally internally consistent. Neat.

18. Also this, with Buffy's fears being what they are. That too gets addressed in that future episode.

23. Buffy's dad comes by and picks her up from school? Forgot that we ever saw him even once. Hm!

And your final comment: Shouldn't somebody be pointing out that Buffy is Buffy, whatever she looks like? Um, yes: many, many fanfic writers [hee].

Glad you enjoyed one of my favorite early episodes!

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

This is one of my favorites from the early run

It's good, isn't it? The plot had its weaknesses, but it had real substance as well.

Having dreams about having to take a test you haven't heard of before -- gad, me too

I bet this is typical of anyone who ever took their studies seriously. And yes, I had it happen in real life a number of times in high school, which was never as scary as the dream version always is.

Buffy's dad comes by and picks her up from school? Forgot that we ever saw him even once. Hm!

Does this mean we won't see him again? - no, don't answer that, rhetorical question.