History Recap / BuffyTheVampireSlayerS1E10Nightmares

* PinchMe: Xander realizing he's wearing only underwear. He thinks he's dreaming and tries to pinch himself, but when that doesn't work, he runs off screaming.
** Buffy shouts at the Master that he's not due to be released yet -- that this is a dream. The Master says he ''is'' free, because she fears it.

* SpeakOfTheDevil: In a frightened voice, Billy confides that the Ugly Man wants to kill him, and that he "hurt that girl." Buffy wants to know why, and Billy gasps in horror. "HE'S HERE!" Buffy looks over her shoulder, and the Ugly Man wallops her with his club. [[SmashToBlack Cut to commercial.]]

-->'''Xander''': It's funny if you're ''me''.

* TheReasonYouSuckSpeech: Buffy's dad gives her a pretty nasty one. Thanfully, it's just a dream.

'''Xander:''' Willow, how can you... I mean, that's really bent! She was... [[GameFace grotesque!]]\\

* VisitByDivorcedDad: Hank Summers is supposed to meet Buffy, but cancels. Everyone's worst fears come true, so Hank tells Buffy that [[TheReasonYouSuckSpeech it was all her fault her parents divorced]]. It wasn't really her father as it turned out, but Buffy never gets over her DisappearedDad, a fact that lampshaded in Season 7 "[[{{Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS7E7ConversationsWithDeadPeople}} Conversations With Dead People]]".

In the library, Buffy glances down at a newspaper and recognizes the kid from earlier. He's Billy, a twelve year old who was beaten unconscious after a little league baseball game. Giles thinks that Billy might be using some form of astral projection to move around town. Buffy notices that Billy's baseball uniform displays the number 19. A clue! Buffy's dad Hank pops in. She wonders why he's there early, and Hank says he needs to talk to her in private. As they take a seat on a outdoor bench, Hank tells her she is old enough to hear the truth: Buffy is total embarrassment as a daughter and the root cause of his divorce from Joyce. Speaking of which, Hank doesn't really "get anything" out of these shared custody visits, so he pats her knee and rises without even a goodbye. Buffy, grief-stricken, looks up and notices the coma victim, Billy, staring at her from a doorway. She hounds him into the gym, but the Ugly Man reappears. Buffy fights back, but he's too tough for the Slayer. Billy rushes out of the gym and Buffy follows, limping.

** WaxingLyrical: Buffy sees the Master, and repeats to herself that it's a dream. The Master ruminates, "[[Disney/{{Cinderella}} A dream is a wish your heart makes]]," then grabs her by the neck.

'''Hank''': You're sullen and... rude and... you're not nearly as bright as I thought you were going to be... Hey, Buffy, let's be honest. Could you stand to live in the same house with a daughter like that?

** Giles's fear isn't much different: [[TheObiWan It is his responsibility to watch over and train Buffy]], the inexperienced teenage Slayer. Naturally, his fear is that he will fail to prepare and protect her, and she will die an untimely death as a result.

* ApologeticAttacker: Billy Palmer.

* CreepyChild: Billy.

* DreamWeaver: Billy, though he's unaware of this ability. In fact, [[PowerIncontinence he can't control it]].

* InstitutionalApparel / ManInWhite: Billy's hospital duds.

* RealityWarper: Billy, accidentally.

** In keeping with Giles's theory about fears coming to life, Xander guesses that Wendell has a bad relationship with insects. Surprisingly, Wendell snaps at them that they're ''arachnids'' -- he worships spiders, and dorks mistaking them for bugs is [[BerserkButton a major sticking point]] for him.

* VisitByDivorcedDad: Well, that didn't go as well as expected.

* YourMindMakesItReal

* AnxietyDreams: Everyone gets a turn in the barrel on this one.

** Willow has a Nerf Herder bumper sticker in the inside of the locker door. Nerf Herder is the band that made the opening theme for the show.

* AttackItsWeakPoint: The Ugly Man swings his club at Vamp!Buffy, but she catches it and breaks it off. This subdues him, and he collapses against the wall.

* BuriedAlive: Buffy seems unable to lift a hand against Dream!Master, which is consistent with her nightmare at the beginning of the episode. The Master asks what she's afraid of as he holds her over the open grave, then tosses her in. The coffin lid closes on her as she screams for help.

* RaceAgainstTheClock: The Scoobies finally escape the school. Giles tells them, "In a few hours reality will fold completely into the realm of nightmares."
** Giles asks Vamp!Buffy to hold it together so she can help them, and after a long pause, she says she's up to it. "Well, we better hurry," she [[CreepyMonotone monotones]]. "Because I'm getting hungry."

** The soundmixer strikes again when Vamp!Buffy's hands bursts from the ground

* AtTheOperaTonight: On her way out of the library, a hand grabs Willow and yanks her through a door. Suddenly, Willow is onstage and dressed in a green kimono for the lead part in ''MadameButterfly''.

* ShoutOut: "[[Film/TheWizardOfOz I had the strangest dream]]...AndYouWereThere...and you...who are you people?"

* AdultFear: Your son joins the little league; the coach beats him into a coma when they lose a game.

* AndThenJohnWasAZombie: Buffy climbing up out of the dirt and greeting her friends, only for them to leap back in horror. Buffy puts her hands to her face and mutters, "Oh God," obviously dreading that this will be a permanent condition.

* SeriousBusiness: In keeping with Giles's theory about fears coming to life, Xander guesses that Wendell has a bad relationship with insects. Surprisingly, Wendell snaps at them that they're ''arachnids'' -- He worships spiders, and dorks mistaking them for bugs is [[BerserkButton a major sticking point]] for him.

* WhatDoTheyFearEpisode

* ContinuitySnarl: A blink-and-you'll miss it moment in [[Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS1E8IRobotYouJane "I Robot, You Jane"]] showed that Buffy's birthday was in 1980, but her gravestone here shows a birth date of 1981. [[FridgeBrilliance This may be because it's not actually her real gravestone, but just Giles' nightmare, so he may have gotten her birthday wrong]].

* AtTheOperaTonight: On her way out of the library, a hand grabs Willow and yanks her through a door. Suddenly, Willow is onstage and dressed in a green kimono for the lead part ''MadameButterfly''.

* BigShutUp: As they rush to the hospital, Willow nervously asks Giles if he's sure the world will go back to normal, and what they'll do if they can't wake Billy up. "Willow," he says politely, "do shut up."

* BroughtDownToNormal: Giles' nightmare; the man who knows five languages can no longer understand the printed word.

* CoincidentalBroadcast: Buffy strolls into the library, and asks how the research is going. Giles says he got some back issues of the newspaper, but that he doesn't know if there's anything useful in them, because he suddenly can't read. It's lucky he got the correct editions, then, because a front page headline on Billy Palmer is staring Buffy in the face.

* EverybodyLives: Laura surprisingly survives. The Ugly doesn't count neither because he's just a manifestation of Billy's fears.

* FMinusMinus: Buffy's first nightmare involves a pop history quiz. (Pop as in surprise, not the history of pop music.) Buffy starts to write her name but the pencil tip breaks. She sharpens her pencil, and the bell rings. What!? And the students hand in their tests and leave. Buffy can't even get partial credit for writing her name.

* IdiotBall: Willow hears someone call her name out of the boiler room. She thinks it might be Buffy, and goes down the stairs. Good move -- the attacker couldn't possibly be in the same scary place again.

* LastSecondWordSwap: Xander is still tugging on a sweatshirt as he and Willow stumble into the library. They tell Giles about Xander's impromptu streaking. Willow smiles and says, "Yeah, it was really" -- she catches a look from Xander -- "bad. It was a bad thing."

* RealityWarper

* SeriousBusiness: In keeping with Giles's theory about fears coming to life, Xander guesses that Wendell has a bad relationship with insects. Surpringly, Wendell snaps at them that they're ''arachnids'' -- He worships spiders, and dorks mistaking them for bugs is [[BerserkButton a major sticking point]] for him.

* FaceYourFears: The theme of this episode, and the key to defeating the MonsterOfTheWeek.

* {{Foreshadowing}}: Buffy's prophetic dreams about the Master is the most obvious. Buffy's [[spoiler: fear of being buried alive comes true in Season 6]], as does [[spoiler: her fear of her father abandoning her]]. Giles' [[spoiler: fear of Buffy dying and his subsequent guilt also come true]]. How much of this was planned is up for debate, however, as Season 1 has a lot of EarlyInstallmentWeirdness and some foreshadowing to much later seasons may be accidental.

* {{Foreshadowing}}: Buffy's prophetic dreams about the Master is the most obvious. Buffy's [[spoiler: fear of being buried alive comes true in Season 6]], as does [[spoiler: her fear of her father abandoning her]]. How much of this was planned is up for debate, however, as Season 1 has a lot of EarlyInstallmentWeirdness and some foreshadowing to much later seasons may be accidental.

* ActorSharedBackground: AlysonHannigan maintains that she cannot sing or dance (which hasn't stopped multiple writers from shoehorning her into [[Series/HowIMetYourMother splashy musical numbers]], but oh well), and requested her part in [[MusicalEpisode Once More With Feeling]] be limited.
** Sarah Michelle Gellar has a fear of being buried alive, proving once more that Joss Whedon hates humanity.

* ContinuityNod: When Wendell says that he doesn't hate spiders and that in fact he loves them, Xander clarifies that he means in a platonic way. After the praying-mantis-woman who tried to mate with him in "Teacher's Pet", Xander may not consider this a rhetorical question.

* DeathGlare: Contrary to Buffy's family, Willow says her parents never argue -- They just do this.
* DeliciousDistraction: Xander gullibly follows a trail.of candy bars and is ambushed by a rental clown from his childhood, this time wielding a knife.

* MonsterClown: Xander's worst nightmare: [[NinjaPirateZombieRobot Nazi clowns]].
** Xander is menaced by one of these, having had a fear of clowns ever since an incident at his sixth birthday party.

* NiceJobFixingItVillain: Buffy's vampire strength gives her the edge she needs to KO the Ugly Man.
** But the villain was only Buffy’s projection so does this trope still apply?

* BeeAfraid: Willow looks out a hospital window to see a swarm of hornets over Sunnydale.* BigNo: Dream Buffy, as she is being bitten by the Master. Cut to Buffy lying in bed, [[TalkingInYourSleep moaning "No, no!"]] as Joyce tries to wake her.

* EurekaMoment: Xander whines to Giles about his underwear experience being a nightmare. Willow is hit with an idea. ""Well yeah, Xander. It's ''your'' nightmare!"

** Once reality is restored, Some middle-aged guy in sweats and a baseball cap walks into Billy's room. He asks how Billy is, and Buffy snits, "He's awake." The coach isn't thrilled.