This week on Buffy and the Art of Story: Nightmares. (Season 1, Episode 10 of Buffy the Vampire Slayer.)
Along with story structure and plot turns, this episode covers the way the writers escalate conflict to maximize the characters' pain and how Nightmares foreshadows many significant emotional arcs in the series.
As always, the discussion is spoiler-free, except at the end (with plenty of warning).
Story Elements in Nightmares
In this podcast episode we’ll look at:
Plot Turns
The interplay of Buffy's character and plot conflicts
How the writers escalate conflict for maximum emotional impact
Foreshadowing of significant emotional arcs in the series
Also Season 1 DVD information about how Joss Whedon chose the Mutant Enemy company name and created the logo.
Next Up: Out of Mind Out of Sight S1 E11
Last Week: The Puppet Show S1 E9
Plotting Your Story
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Episodes will include Buffy-adjacent stories (such as key Angel episodes). Also films or TV episodes that are intriguing from a story, theme, or character perspective.
Episode Transcript Nightmares
Hello and welcome to Buffy and the Art of Story. If you love Buffy the Vampire Slayer and you love creating stories or just taking them apart to see how they work, you’re in the right place.
I am Lisa M. Lilly, author of The Awakening Supernatural Thriller Series and the QC Davis mysteries and the founder of WritingAsASecondCareer.com.
This Week
Today we’ll be talking about Season One, Episode Ten: Nightmares.
Along with story structure and plot turns, I’ll talk about the way the writers escalate the conflict for maximum emotional impact. Also about the ways this episode foreshadows certain emotional arcs in the series.
As always, though, there will be no spoilers until the very end with plenty of warning. So if you want to hear about foreshadowing, stay tuned for that spoiler section.
Okay, let's dive into the Hellmouth.
Writers and Directors
Nightmares was written by Joss Whedon and David Greenwalt and directed by Bruce Seth Green.
Opening Conflict
We start with Buffy in a shadowy cave, her hair in braids, candles on all the walls. The Master confronts her. This powerful vampire that was the antagonist in the pilot and has been lurking through many of these episodes.
He confronts her. She drops her stake and backs away. He grabs her. She says, “No, No, No.”
And she is still saying that when Joyce shakes her awake. So this is part of our opening conflict. It sets the stage for the episode. Though we don't quite know why yet. When Joyce shakes her awake, we get the initial emotional conflict here.
Emotional Hook
Remember our initial conflict may or may not relate to our main plot. But it is a conflict that draws the reader into our story. That's what keeps the reader or audience member engaged while we set the stage.
Joyce says to Buffy, “I spoke with your father.” Buffy says, “He's coming right?”
And there is our emotional hook. We know nothing about her past with her father, but immediately we know that she is worried about this, whether her dad will show up or not.
So along with Buffy's fears about the Master, which is our outer conflict, we have her inner conflict. Her fears about her dad.
At school, Willow asks her about the divorce. Buffy says she's sure she wasn't a big help with her parents’ marriage because she was always in trouble.
New Characters
We then see Buffy, Xander, and Willow, along with Cordelia, in class. And the topic -- it looks like it's a psychology class -- the topic is active listening.
The teacher says that one of the most fundamental needs is to be heard.
At that moment Buffy sees a boy who is too young to be in high school lurking in the doorway. He's maybe 10 years old, and he looks very sad. At the beginning of the scene we were also introduced to a new character named Wendell who we haven't seen before.
Right after Buffy sees the little boy, Wendell opens his textbook. There's a large tarantula in it.
Story Spark
Seconds later, spiders are crawling all over Wendell. We get a close-up on this boy and he says, “Sorry about that.”
And there is a cut to credits.
This is our Inciting Incident or Story Spark, what sets off our main plot. Usually that comes about 10% into the episode, which is the case here.
Theme of Nightmares
When we come back from the credits, the Master -- we’re in his lair -- and he basically gives us the theme or the premise of this episode. He says, “Fear is a wonderful thing. And it's the most powerful force in the world. We are defined by what we fear.”
The Master also says he can feel something happening above, conflict and change. Because his lair is underground, so he is sensing something on the surface.
Buffy’s Fears About Her Dad
Next scene we have Joyce dropping Buffy off at school. Wonderful dialogue here filled with conflict. And we can tell exactly how worried Buffy is. Although she never says that and she denies it when Joyce asks, “Are you worried about your dad not coming?” she keeps asking what time her dad is picking her up. Is he coming at 3:30?
Joyce responds to what Buffy isn't saying and says, “Your dad loves you. He adores you.”
Investigating
Buffy stops to see Giles in the library. He comes out of the stacks looking dazed and disoriented as if he got lost back there. Buffy says, “Hey, Giles wake-y wake-y!” foreshadowing what is to come in our episode. Though at the moment it looks like she's just having a little fun with Giles.
Xander, Willow, and Buffy together go to talk to Wendell about what happened. But Cordelia walks by and tells Buffy about a history exam that Buffy had no idea was happening. And Cordelia says, “No wonder,” because Buffy has barely attended class this semester.
Nightmares Start Taking Hold
Buffy doesn't even know where the room is. Cordelia has to show her.
This is a nightmare that I used to have when I was practicing law full time, and I had a big hearing coming up, I couldn't find the courtroom in my dreams.
However, when I first watched this episode I think I was still in law school at the time so I don't think I was having that dream. I didn't recognize at that point that what was happening were nightmares.
That starts becoming clear when we go back to Wendell and Xander and Willow.
Wendell tells a story about how he had a pet spider tarantula when he was a kid. And he went away on vacation and left his brother to take care of the spiders. His brother left the heat lamp on and the spider died. And since then he has felt that spiders hold this against him.
Nearing the One-Quarter Point
At 11 minutes, 42 seconds in, Wendell says, “That's when the nightmares started.”
This is about one-fourth the way through the episode. Usually at the One-Quarter Point in a story we see something from outside that comes in and spins the story in a new direction. In this episode, I think that turn comes a little bit later so I'll talk about it in a moment.
But I find it interesting that the first specific reference to nightmares, the title of the episode, and the ultimate explanation for what why the strange things are happening, comes right at the one-quarter mark.
Buffy’s First Full Nightmare Experience
And immediately after that, we see Buffy having her first full nightmare experience.
Up to that point, even not quite knowing where the classroom is, is almost in the believable range, given that we know Buffy often has to cut class because of being the Slayer.
But now she is in taking the test. Her pencil breaks. She goes to sharpen it and all this time has elapsed. She writes her name and looks up. Again, almost the end of the class.
So time is moving strangely. Buffy sees this little boy again and he once more looks sad.
The One-Quarter Twist
Now we cut to the hallway where a girl we haven't met before sneaks down into the basement to have a cigarette. The boy looks after her and says she shouldn't go there.
14 minutes, 53 seconds in this giant man or maybe a monster says, “Lucky 19,” and beats up this girl.
I see that as the first major plot turn in the story.
Before that we did have these nightmares -- we find out later these nightmares are coming true. But while Wendell was scared and Buffy was anxious and frustrated, no one was physically hurt.
This is our villain of the piece becoming active for the first time, this giant man.
Hospital Visit
Our next scene is in the hospital. So this has definitely taken the plot in a new direction,
Buffy and Giles go to see Laura, the student who was attacked.
She doesn't seem surprised that Buffy and Giles are asking questions. Which makes me wonder if people in school already are getting a sense that somehow Buffy and Giles both deal with these weird things that happen in Sunnydale.
We don't know that for sure, but with a little prodding, Laura confides in them. She tells them about Lucky 19.
Information From A Doctor
They then go talk to her doctor. Apparently, there's no real doctor-patient confidentiality in Sunnydale because all they have to say is they’re friends of Laura's, and the doctor tells them she has shattered bones but she’ll recover. And she has it pretty easy compared to the other kid.
They are shocked by the “pretty easy” comments until he tells them this boy was brought in and he's in a coma.
We don't see his face, but now they know that perhaps there were two attacks by this scary guy.
Back At School
Back at the high school we see this student we don't know. He's got dark sunglasses and a black leather jacket and is talking very tough to his friends when his mother comes in....
