1.10 Nightmares

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Buffy is troubled at the start of this episode. At night, she dreams of facing the Master only to be paralysed with fear, and unable to fight. Awake, she is nervous about the coming weekend, which she is due to spend with her father. She doesn't see him often, and is worried he may not show up, especially as she is afraid her secret Slayer duties may have contributed to her parents divorce.

In class, Buffy notices a young boy standing by the door, looking in at her. Moments later the class erupts into chaos as enormous spiders crawl out of the book Wendell has been asked to read from. Amid the panic, Buffy glances back to the door, and hears the boy say "Sorry 'bout that". Later the gang talk to Wendell and discover he has had recurring nightmares about spiders.

In passing, Cordelia reminds Buffy about a history test and she rushes off to class. She knew nothing about the test, and hadn't studied. The clock seems to be jumping forwards each time she glances at it, and she has barely written her name when the bell rings, and everyone else files out, handing in their completed papers. As she sits there alone, she looks up and notices the same young boy by the door.

The boy leaves, and passes the door to the basement just as a girl goes in for a smoke. As she lights up, she hears a roar, and is attacked by an ugly brute with a club in place of one of his arms. Giles and Buffy visit the girl in hospital, and she tells them that her attacker had muttered "lucky nineteen" just before he rushed at her. One of the doctors mentions that a previous victim, a 12-year old boy called Billy, is also in the hospital, but hasn't regained consciousness. Back at school there are more ususual incidents, including Xander walking into class only to discover he is suddenly wearing nothingbut his underwear!

Giles begins researhing recent newspapers, but seems distracted, and finally admits to Buffy that he can't remember how to read. He flings one of the papers down in disgust, but Buffy picks it up, recognising a picture of Billy Palmer as the young boy she has been seeing round school. The paper says he has been in a coma for over a week, and in the photo he is wearing a baseball shirt with the number nineteen.

While Buffy and Giles discuss the possibility of astral projection, Buffy's dad arrives much earlier than expected. He says there are some things he needs to say and, to her bewildered anguish, he tells her that the divorce was all because of her. The combination of raising her and seeing her every day, along with all the trouble she got into and her sullen attitude, had been too much for her parents to cope with. He tells her he doesn't get anything out of the weekends they spend together, and suggests they don't do them any more. As he walks away, Buffy looks up, and through her tears sees Billy Palmer watching her.

After finding some clothes to wear, Xander goes to the library with Willow and tells Giles what has been happening. He says the nudity incident had been a 'total nightmare', and Willow suddenly sees the connection - all of their nightmares are becoming reality. Giles realises that Billy must have somehow crossed over from the nightmare world he is trapped in, and brought the nightmares with him.

Buffy follows Billy to the gym, and tries to talk to him, but he doesn't really remember what happened to him. The Ugly Man attacks, and Buffy fends him off, but he is too strong for her and she hobbles out after Billy, barring the door behind her. They pass some people playing baseball, and Billy begins to remember. He'd missed a catch in a little-league game, and the coach blamed him when they lost the match. As the Ugly Man starts to catch up with them, they push through a hedge and suddenly find themselves in a cemetery at night. As they stand by an open grave, The Master walks towards them, apparently free from his underground prison. Just like her dream, Buffy freezes, and the Master throws her into the grave and begins to shovel earth on top of her.

Strange events continue. Cordelia, with frumpy clothes and frizzy hair, finds herself a member of the school chess club, while Willow is dragged on to stage in japanese costume to perform an aria from Madam Butterfly. Xander follows a trail of discarded chocolate bars, stuffing them into his mouth one by one. He finds one he hasn't seen for years, and stops in horror as he remembers his sixth birthday party. Hearing manic laughter, he turns to run, and is chased by a clown wielding a knife. Meeting up with Giles and Willow (still in costume) they flee together. As they burst out into the street, they find the whole town has collapsed into chaos. Noticing the night-bound cemetery across the street, they head over there, assuming it would be a logical place to find Buffy, but all they find is her grave.

This is Giles's nightmare - that he will not be strong enough to protect her from the evil she has to face. He lays his hand on the fresh earth of the grave in apology, but as he starts to get up, Buffy's hand breaks through from below and grabs his. She pulls herself out of the ground and turns to face the others - to their horror, and her own, they find she has turned into a vampire.

Buffy is distraught, but Giles realises they may be able to return everything to normal if they can only wake Billy from his coma. The hospital is in the same chaos as the town, but they manage to find their way to Billy's room. He is still unconscious, and the astral projection of him that Buffy spoke to earlier is also there. They hear the Ugly Man approaching, but this time Vampire Buffy is strong enough to face him, and defeat him. As he slumps to the floor, Buffy calls Billy over, and says he has to do the rest. He reaches forward and pulls a mask away from the face of the Ugly Man, and as he does so a flash of light returns everything to normal. Xander and Willow are back in their normal clothes, Buffy is human again, and the real Billy blinks and opens his eyes. While Giles goes to find the doctor, Billy's little league coach arrives. Seeing Billy awake, he tries to run, but is caught by Xander and later arrested.

After school, Buffy's dad arrives to pick her up for the weekend. He gives her a big hug, and is obviously as delighted to see her as she is to see him.

Pop Culture References

Willow: "Why is she so Evita-like"
Reference to the complex Eva Peron, the loved/hated wife of the then Argentine president

Xander: "You saw two-hundred insects - you Gonzoed"
Gonzo is a manic Muppet Show puppet, who spends a lot of time freaking out!

Xander: "Red Alert"
Although I suppose this is really a military phrase, Xander is probably using it in it's Star Trek context.

When Billy wakes from his coma, he looks in slight confusion at Buffy & co standing round his hospital bed. He says "I had the strangest dream! And you were in it, and you..."
This is a direct quote, in similar context, from the 1939 film The Wizard of Oz - the Christmas classic starring Judy Garland.

Nitpicks

• How come Buffy can walk around safely in daylight after she's been turned in to a vampire? And why is she still trying to save the day, instead of just biting everybody? I suppose this is possibly allowable, as this is only a nightmare and normal rules don't necessarily apply.
• Buffy's gravestone reads 1981-1997. In I Robot, You Jane Buffy's birth date is show alternately as October 1980 and May 1979. All told, this puts her anywhere between 15 and 18 at this point, although we later learn (Prophecy Girl)that she is 16.