Buffy the Vampire Slayer (TV Series) Nightmares (1997) User Reviews

An episode that was before its time

[katierose295 · 7/10 · 14 July 2006]

The veil between reality and dreams is falling in this episode. People's nightmares are coming to life and walking around Sunnydale. It turns out that a little boy in a coma has somehow plugged into people's deepest fears and made them real. Buffy's father abandons her, Giles can't read, Willow has to sing in public, Xander's being chased down a hallway and Cordelia's having a major bad hair day. Yes, it's safe to say that the Scoobies are not happy. (If you really want to take this another level, consider how many of those nightmares actually come true in later episodes. For instance, Buffy and her dad in "Forever," when he doesn't even come to Joyce's funeral. Giles going blind in "Something Blue." Willow reluctantly warbling out a few lyrics in "Once More with Feeling." Xander being chased through the school in "The Zeppo." Cordelia's hair throughout season four of "Angel." It's kind of interesting.)

Anyway,the episode has a cool dream-like quality to it. Where time has no meaning and its somehow day and night all at once. Places move and change, people's clothing switches around, giant bees swarm over roof tops and -oh yeah!- turns out you forgot to study for that history test, Buffy. Honestly, it's lots of fun to watch.

This is a great idea for an episode, but it happened too early in the series run for it to really resonate. In season one, all the quirks and problems of the characters are still being established. "Restless" in season four does a better job of showing their deeper fears and insecurities. As does "Fear Itself" also in season four. By that point in the series, we know more about what drives and terrifies the characters. My biggest complaint about "Nightmares" is Angel, though. Why doesn't he get a nightmare vision? (I know, he gets his own dream episode in the fifth season of "Angel," but "Nightmares" could have shown another whole set of fears for him.) Angel has so many insecurities that the episode could have played off of. And he definitely should have seen Buffy as a vampire, since its the only time she'll get to be one. That was a wasted opportunity.

My favorite part of the episode: Xander standing up to that creepy birthday clown. "And your balloon animals sucked! Anyone can make a giraffe!"

Great ep!

[Joxerlives · 8/10 · 6 January 2012]

Nightmares

The Good; 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. 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) whilst Willow suffers arachnophobia (although she faces down a giant spider in season 7). 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?

Great ep, 8 and half out of 10 again

Very memorable

[madman_salv · 9/10 · 27 April 2007]

Be aware of spoilers

The nightmares of the entire Sunnydale population start to become reality, and Buffy discovers that a comatose boy named Billy may be the cause of it. The only way to get things back to normal is if Buffy can get Billy to overcome his fear and wake up from his coma.

Very funny and weird episode. But i love it.This is where all of the gangs nightmares come true.Some were funny and some were very creepy. It had very memorable quotes and i think its fantastic.

And also i know that kid from somewhere but i just don't know where from.lol

9/10

Nightmares become real.

[callanvass · 10/10 · 8 June 2014]

A boy, Billy Palmer, is in a coma after a controversial incident with his baseball team. Soon after, things start to spiral out of control. The weird, yet harmless, Wendell, has a bunch of tarantula's invade his classroom. Xander finds himself dealing with creepy clowns and being nude in class. Willow bombs on stage, while Buffy has to deal with being a vampire and her absent father. Dreams are turning into reality and the key to stopping all of it may be waking up Billy Palmer.

I honestly thought "Angel" was my favorite episode from season one. It turns out that's not the case. This one is just as good. Not only is it innovative and brilliant, but scary as well. Dreams are supposed to be dreams, that's it. You wake up from a bad dream and usually everything is fine. Dreams are turned into reality in this episode and it made for riveting storytelling. Right off the bat we are treated to a very suspenseful scene, a vampire closing in on Buffy. Everything just clicked in this episode for many reasons. It was great to see Buffy so vulnerable and petrified. It added another dimension to Buffy's character and I was impressed by the range of SMG. She absolutely nailed her performance in this episode, I was wowed by her. Wait until you see the scene with Buffy and her Dad. I won't spoil it, but it's potent beyond belief and had me teary eyed. SMG was getting better and better with each episode. There are other memorable moments. The creepy clown gave me the willies and I felt the buried alive scene was pretty suspenseful as well. This episode isn't afraid to push the envelope. Xander, Giles and Willow's plights are tame compared to Buffy. That doesn't mean they weren't great stories because they were. Even Cordelia is a tad sympathetic in this one.... Just a tad. It's an amazing episode

10/10

A beautiful example of why Buffy rocks

[quentinrules · 10/10 · 8 March 2007]

when i first watched this episode i watched it about midnight and it scared the crap out of me and yet touched me with Buffy's transformation to a vamp.

this episode was just so good because it had the colleague of different beasties of "halloween" the dream like essence of "restless" and it just touched me like oz's leaving.

I Recently watched all of season 1 with a bunch of friends and this and prophecy girl (another great episode) were there favorites. this episode made me cringe with its terrifying clown made me laugh at the same clown. made me laugh at willow because it was so smartly written, so simple, so brilliant it shows how Buffy survived 7 years in prime time

this episode is beautiful with some great dialog 10 out of 10 WATCH IT

Your worst fears

[Realrockerhalloween · 26 September 2016]

Nightmare follows the gang as their worst fears come to life and reveal a side to the characters we've never seen before. Buffy is afraid of the master not only killing her, but making her into a vampire. Another aspect is Buffy used to be a popular girl could her old vain personality rear its head to have an ugly demonic face. Willow has stage fright, losing her singing voice in front of a crown showing her shy, homely personality reemerging among her growing confidence. Maybe feeling like deep down no one still accepts her and everyone is laughing at her feeble attempts to fit in. Xander on the other hand is a but more complicated as he is makes in class since he is happy with who he is and will always be the lovable goof.

The other side story which I felt needed work is Billy being in a coma because If throwing a game by his coach. It felt to much like a Scooby doo cartoon catching the bad guy so easy that I expected them to rip off a mask to day I would've gotten away with it if not for you meddling kids. Also to create this monstrous would would take great power yet it never reveals if Billy is a sorcerer or warlock and not much thought is given to it.

buffy 1x10 review

[jackDee-56565 · 9/10 · 9 November 2020]

Wow I really love this episode, the dark tone was refreshing, the nightmares concept was smart, this episode felt more horror which I freaking loved

When ones nightmares come true

[Tweekums · 8/10 · 21 February 2017]

As this episode opens it appears that Buffy is fighting the Master and is about to die… then her mother wakes her from her nightmare. She goes to school then something strange happens in one class; a boy opens his text book and suddenly tarantulas emerge; they are soon all over him. As this happens Buffy notices a small boy, far too young to be in high school, in the doorway. As the episode progresses more strange things happen; Buffy discovers that she is due to have a test in a subject she hasn't attended any classes for, Giles can no longer read and a girl is attacked in the school basement. It would appear that everybody's nightmares are coming true. If they are to prevent something tragic happening the gang will have to discover how the nightmares are connected to the little boy then get to the bottom of what happened to him.

This is an impressive episode as rather than featuring the usual monsters it taps into people's innermost fears. This gives us some laughs, such as when Xander turns up to a lesson wearing only his underwear, some scares and one emotionally disturbing scene where Buffy's father explains how he left the family because he found her to be a disappointment as a daughter. The ultimate explanation is effective and the resolution is satisfying. As one would expect the cast does a fine job; I particularly enjoyed the scenes between Alyson Hannigan and Nicholas Brendon as they gentle mock each other's fears. Overall I'd say this was a really enjoyable episode which fans of the series should enjoy.

The One Where Everyone's Nightmares Are Coming True...

[taylorkingston · 7/10 · 28 February 2015]

I really like this episode, even though I find it creepy.

In this episode, a little boy was injured and put into a coma by his coach. And because of that, everyone's nightmares are coming true. And it's scaring the crap out of everybody. Buffy's nightmare is that the Master got free and she turned into a vampire. Xander's nightmare is that he goes into class wearing only boxer shorts. And Willow's is something about clowns. They are all creepy and funny, especially Xander's. Some other nightmares that came true include losing their favoritie ability and spiders coming out of a textbook. In the end, the little boy who is accidentally causing these nightmares to come true, wakes up and his coach is found out to be the one who hurt him.

Overall, I give this episode a 7 out of 10.

Teen angst

[kellyq12 · 8/10 · 27 November 2021]

In this episode, everyone's worst nightmares (actual dreams) are coming true. It's more about inner demons than outer demons, and Buffy's stuff with her dad is solid drama.

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

[bombersflyup · 6/10 · 2 July 2019]

Nightmares is about people's greatest fears manifesting into reality.

It's a great premise, but it's handled in a way that's cutesy and catered to children. The dialogue's some of the show's weakest. Though Xander: "Well that explanation was shorter than usual, it's Billy!" funny. Not sure if I'm the only one, but I also find it funny when Buffy's begging the Master to let her go, hehe. With the right people at the helm, this could have been something special though, it's merely okay.

Note - To remember that Buffy has had the experience of being a vampire.

A look into the fears of our heroes

[ossie85 · 8/10 · 8 August 2022]

A young boy has caused Sunnydale to go into a world of nightmares. Willow has fears of public performance, Xander has nightmares of killer clowns, Nazis and public nudity. Buffy has fears of becoming a vampire, The Master rising and her dad leaving her. Giles has fears about losing Buffy and not being able to read. They are all coming true.

Why It's So Good - A great way to get to know our main characters well. A lot of fun bits, and it demonstrates the deep fears of Buffy in particular. Anthony Stewart Head is also great.

Watch Out For - Xander's killer clowns.

Quote - "You are a lousy clown! Your balloon animals are pathetic! Everyone can make a giraffe!" - Xander.

Episode 10 Review

[leecdewsnap · 8/10 · 7 November 2015]

SPOILER WARNING This is a good episode that clearly sets us up for the rounding the season off. It also introduces us to Hank Summers, who has just the right amount of appearances over the shows running to make his character as the absent father work. I love the small characters nightmares, especially the cool guys and Cordys nightmare. Wasn't hugely impressed with Billy's acting, but it worked for the eeriness of the episode. Bringing in the use of the Master at the end was brilliant. Also, I loved Buffy as a vampire, that was a brilliant idea. The way it went from Giles' nightmare to Buffy's, seamless writing. Overall, another great episode.

uncredited person possibly

[BabyAngelXVII · 9/10 · 6 August 2021]

I swear the id you see during the spider scene is Joseph Gordon Levitt.

We've all had one of THOSE nightmares

[drnikic · 9/10 · 12 April 2021]

Which is why it resonates with so many viewers. Mine was/is failing to turn in an epidemiology assignment and being made to repeat the fifth year of my degree!

The one jarring note for me was reading about how traumatised SMG was by the live burial scene and the fact Whedon refused to cut it. Given the allegations that have since come to light, I'm not that surprised.

Otherwise a great ep.

That One Was Pretty Good

[Hitchcoc · 9/10 · 15 May 2024]

I enjoyed this episode more than any thus far. We've all had that dream about showing up for a test in a class and never having attended a single session. Or having to perform and not knowing the song or how to do what you are to do. These were front and center here along with a multitude of fears that we only have in dreams. The characters each exhibit their own mind demons, but it would seem that everyone in the school does as well. Buffy has a horrible encounter with her father who expresses his great disappointment in her. Xander confronts a clown from his sixth birthday party. All of it plays out very well and embraces a logic that fits the episode.

Not Just A Dream

[Aegelis · 10/10 · 10 March 2024]

Although conceptually we may have seen a similar theme across genres from sci-fi to thrillers, the Buffy-style version of this story adds a bit of mystery to the cause and cure of everyone experiencing their worst nightmare along with the effects thereafter.

Xander and Cordelia become prime targets for embarrassment and humiliation much to the chuckles of the audience, but in a relatable way. Common frights are brought to light, definitely the top five phobias surely, while the crew battles against the vampire of the mind: fear.

Action and surprises abound as the story unfolds, resolution leads to a thought-provoking conclusion as well as personal growth for both characters and viewers.