Episode Trivia
A Nightmare on Elm Street
details | 2 comments | suggested by Jess
The idea of people’s nightmares coming true in the episode 1.10 Nightmares most likely comes from the A Nightmare on Elm Street movie series, in which villain Freddie Krueger has the ability to hurt people while they sleep.
The demon Der Kindestod in 2.18 Killed By Death was clearly influenced by the look of Freddie Krueger.
Aldo Gianfranco
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Aldo Gianfranco from Firenze, Italy appeared in Willow’s nightmare in the episode 1.10 Nightmares. He sang Madame Butterfly with Willow (who was extremely stage struck) in front of a huge crowd.
Billy Palmer
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Billy Palmer was a solemn young boy with a strange hair cut who unwittingly unleashed a nightmare on Earth. He was beaten and put into a coma by his Little League coach for missing a ball. Whilst in his coma, Billy made everyone’s nightmares become a reality, seen in the episode 1.10 Nightmares. Buffy helped Billy to reveal who really put him in the coma, restoring the world to normal.
Buffy’s prophecy
details | 6 comments | suggested by Jess
Buffy’s nightmare that the Master attacks and kills her in 1.10 Nightmares is a foreshadowing of their meeting in 1.12 Prophecy Girl when he, er, attacks and kills her.
Buried alive
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In 1.10 Nightmares, Buffy has a nightmare of being buried and crawling out of her grave, which actually happens to her in season six’s Bargaining.
Carrie
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In the episode 3.20 The Prom, Tucker Wells tried to ruin the School Prom by training hellhounds to attack people wearing tuxedoes. Buffy says she’s “Gotta stop a crazy from pulling a Carrie at the prom”. She’s referring to the book Carrie by Stephen King, in which a telekinetic girl destroys her home town after her classmates play a cruel joke on her at the Prom.
In 1.10 Nightmares, Giles, Xander and Willow find Buffy’s grave. Suddenly, Buffy’s hand comes out of the ground and grabs Giles, scaring everyone. This is a visual reference to the movie version of Carrie, in which the final sequence shows a nightmare a character has about being attacked by Carrie’s hand from a grave.
In 1.13 She, the following conversation occurs, with Cordy using ‘Carrie’ as a verb:
Cordelia: “A chick that burns? Are you okay? Did she Carrie you?”
Angel: “Did she care about me?”
Cordelia: “Did she Carrie you. Carrie? the movie? You know?”
Clown fear
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Xander had a fear of clowns because he was chased by one on his sixth birthday. He finally overcame the fear in 1.10 Nightmares.
Comatose and lovin’ It
details | 6 comments | suggested by MagicBone
Comas might very well be a running (if depressing) theme in the Buffyverse. First, we had Billy in 1.10 Nightmares who was in a coma. Then in 2.22 Becoming (Part Two), Willow was in a coma for a short time after being attacked by vampires. In 3.22 Graduation Day (Part Two) and 4.15 This Year’s Girl we see Faith in her long-running coma. In Angel, Cordelia was in a mystical coma until she died, and Faith and Angel lay in mystical comas in the episode 4.15 Orpheus.
Dean Butler
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Dean Butler played Buffy’s father, Hank Summers. Dean is famous for his role as Almanzo Wilder in the seventies American drama Little House on the Prairie. Dean appeared in the episodes 1.10 Nightmares, 2.01 When She Was Bad, 5.21 The Weight Of The World and 6.17 Normal Again.
Disney’s Cinderella
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In 1.10 Nightmares, the Master says, “A dream is a wish your heart makes.” This is a line from Disney’s 1950 movie Cinderella.
Ever had that dream?
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In 3.10 Amends, when Willow tries to seduce Oz, he asks her:
“You ever have that dream where you’re in a play, and it’s the middle of the play and you really don’t know your lines, and you kinda don’t know the plot?”
This is precisely the dream she will make in 4.22 Restless, and similar to her nightmare in 1.10 Nightmares.
Evita
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In 1.10 Nightmares, Willow says, “Why is she so Evita-like?” Evita was the nickname of María Eva Duarte de Peron (1919-1952), an Argentinean actress who married political leader Juan Peron. She gained a massive political following as an outspoken champion of women and the poor. Andrew Lloyd Webber wrote a musical based on Eva Peron’s life, called Evita. It was turned into a 1996 movie starring Madonna and Antonio Banderas.
In 1.12 Expecting, Cordy says to her ghost, “Alright Dennis, knock it off! This is the first guy I’ve actually liked in a long time, and if you keep killing the mood I’ll kill you - all right, empty threat, you being a ghost, but I’ll do something worse… I’ll play Evita around the clock… the one with Madonna!”
Five languages
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Giles, we discover in 1.10 Nightmares, can speak five languages - on a “normal day”.
Hansel and Gretel
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The story of Hansel and Gretel as we know it first appeared in Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm’s collection of fairy tales, published sometime between 1812 and 1815. Grimm’s stories were based on folk tales that had previously been told in oral storytelling traditions. The episode 3.11 Gingerbread takes a lot of elements from Hansel and Gretel. Additionally, Xander following a trail of chocolate in 1.10 Nightmares is inspired by the trail of breadcrumbs in the fairytale Hansel and Gretel.
In Angel’s 3.14 Couplet, Angel says, “It’s better than breadcrumbs” and in 5.01 Conviction, Fred says, “Why, did somebody eat my breadcrumbs?”
Helllppp
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The episode 1.10 Nightmares featured the following line by Xander:
“Okay, despite the rat-like chill that just crawled up my spine, I’m going to say this very calmly: Helllppp…”
This line was deleted from the final cut of the episode.
Hospital girls
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The scene in 7.18 Dirty Girls, when Buffy and Willow visit Shannon in hospital, is very similar to the scene in 1.10 Nightmares when Buffy and Giles visit Laura, the girl who was beaten by the Ugly Man. Both girls are lying in bed in the hospital, badly bruised, deliver vital clues - (”I have something of yours” and “Lucky Nineteen”), and have been attacked by the episode’s villain. Though Caleb saying he has something of Buffy’s is a red herring to lead her to the vineyard, it is true - he has her scythe.
Hospital lighting
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The following exchange between Buffy and Giles was deleted from 1.10 Nightmares:
Giles: “Are you all right? You look a bit peaked.”
Buffy: “Hospital lighting. It does nothing for my fabulous complexion.”
Giles: “Are you…sleeping all right?”
Buffy: “I’ll sleep better when we find this guy. Nothing like kicking the crap out of a bad guy to perk up my day.”
It
details | 9 comments | suggested by Skuhm
In 1.10 Nightmares we see that Xander has a fear of clowns (who doesn’t?!). This is probably based on Steven King’s 1986 book It. It was made into a movie in 1991 which featured Seth Green (Oz) who played the character of 12 year old Richie Tozier. Richie’s worst fear just happened to be… werewolves.
Jeremy Foley
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Jeremy Foley played Billy Palmer, the boy in the coma in 1.10 Nightmares. He has also been in Dante’s Peak, The New Adventures of Spin and Marty, Caitlin’s Way, Diaries of Darkness and Soccer Dog: The Movie.
Johnny Green
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Johnny played the cool guy whose mother shows up at school in 1.10 Nightmares. He played one of the kid’s whose scooter was stolen by Michael J. Fox’s character in Back to the Future and has been in Beverly Hills, 90210, 7th Heaven, White Boy and Motel Blue. Johhny played Kyle in My So-Called Life.
Justin Urich
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Justin played the spider-obsessed Wendell in 1.10 Nightmares. He has also been in Monster Man, How High, Nutty Professor 2, MTV’s Undressed, 3rd Rock from the Sun and CSI.
Laura
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Laura was a student at Sunnydale High who was beaten by the Ugly Man when she went to the basement for a cigarette in 1.10 Nightmares.
Little League Coach
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The Little League Coach, seen in 1.10 Nightmares, had beat Billy Palmer into a coma, then pretended he was innocent. Billy revealed who he was when he awoke from his coma. He called Billy his “Lucky Nineteen”.
Madame Butterfly
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The unrehearsed opera in Willow’s dream in 1.10 Nightmares is a duet from Puccini’s Madame Butterfly. Willow plays Cio-Cio-San.
Mark Metcalf
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Mark Metcalf, who played the Master, was born in Findlay, Ohio, in 1946. He has had numerous roles in TV and film, most notably in National Lampoon’s Animal House as Niedermayer and as The Maestro in Seinfeld. Mark has also been in Teen Angel, Ally McBeal, Star Trek: Voyager, Melrose Place, Party of Five and Hill Street Blues. He played the father in Twisted Sister’s “We’re Not Gonna Take It” video.
Master
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The Master was an ancient vampire, who celebrated the Old Ones, a race of demons who walked the earth before humanity. These Old Ones were under the Hellmouth and it was the Master’s wish to free them and let them roam the Earth again. The Master sired Darla in the Virginia colony in 1609 and she joined his Order of Aurelius before leaving with Angel. The Master tried to open the Hellmouth in 1937, but a huge earthquake rocked the area, trapping most of the town, and the Master himself. He tried to get free several times and it wasn’t until Giles found a prophecy saying that Buffy would face the Master and die that he managed to free himself. Buffy confronted the Master, who drank her blood and threw her in a pool of water, killing her. The power the Master got from Buffy’s blood freed him and some tentacled monsters, and he headed into fresh air to cause some trouble. Luckily Buffy was given CPR by Xander and she managed to kill the Master by throwing him on some broken wood, staking him.
Ms. Tishler
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Ms. Tishler was a teacher in the episode 1.10 Nightmares. Xander remembered her as wearing a midnight blue, tight angora sweater. The others reminded him that she had also taught ‘Active listening’ to them from Chapter 5 in yesterday’s lesson.
Musical comedy version
details | 3 comments | suggested by Fenchurch
In 1.10 Nightmares, Giles says when he finds out what’s happening:
“there should be a musical comedy version of this”.
In 6.07 Once More, With Feeling Willow sings,
“I’ve got a theory; some kid is dreaming and we’re all stuck inside his whacky Broadway nightmare”.
That indeed would be a musical comedy version of 1.10 Nightmares.
Nazis
details | 4 comments | suggested by Nuke67
Nazis have been referenced a few times in Buffy:
- In 1.03 The Witch, Buffy says Amy’s mother is, “Nazi-like”.
- In 1.08 I Robot, You Jane, a student’s essay has been changed by Moloch the Corrupter, “This isn’t my report! Nazi Germany was a model of a well ordered society’? I didn’t write that! Who’s been in my files?”
- In 1.10 Nightmares, Xander says, “I’m sorry, I’m unruffled by spiders. Now, if a bunch of Nazis crawled all over my face…” He laster walks past swastika graffitis, just before he sees the evil clown.
- In 2.21 Becoming (Part One), Cordelia says of Principal Snyder, “How about because you’re a tiny impotent Nazi with a bug up his butt the size of an emu?”
- In 3.11 Gingerbread, Xander says, “Aw, man it’s Nazi Germany and I’ve got Playboys in my locker!”
- In 4.01 The Freshman, Buffy mentions the Nuremberg rallies, where the Nazi’s held their anti-Semitic rallies from the early 1920s to 1938.
- In the episode 4.07 The Initiative, Spike is in his containment cell talking to another vampire about who could have captured him, Spike says, “And they are? The government? Nazis? A major cosmetics company?”
- In the Angel episode 5.13 Why We Fight, we see in a flashback that Spike was captured by Nazis in 1943, who were experimenting on vampires as a means of controlling them for their war effort.
Nerf Herder reference
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We see in 1.10 Nightmares that Willow has a Nerf Herder bumper sticker on her locker door. Nerf Herder wrote and performed the Buffy theme tune. Alyson Hannigan is a big fan of the band and was the person who persuaded Joss Whedon to get them to write the theme.
No singing for me
details | 11 comments | suggested by Jess
Alyson Hannigan hated her singing voice and asked not to have a song, or any major singing lines, of her own in the musical episode 6.07 Once More, With Feeling. In 1.10 Nightmares, we saw that Willow herself is terrified of singing in public.
Sarah’s fear of graveyards
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When Sarah Michelle Gellar started filming Buffy, she had a fear of graveyards and being buried alive, which is ironic seeing as her character was buried alive twice in the show (1.10 Nightmares and Bargaining, Part One), and spends most of her evenings in graveyards. The crew built their own mock graveyard in the car park of the Buffy lot for season two. In an interview on British TV (shown on SKY One) with Richard Blackwood, Sarah Michelle Gellar called herself a “puss” because of her fear.
Sean Moran
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Sean Moran played the Stage Manager in Willow’s nightmare in 1.10 Nightmares. He has also appeared in Dirt, Flags of Our Fathers, Grey’s Anatomy, Charmed, On Edge, The West Wing, Finding Kelly, Beverly Hills, 90210, Seinfeld, 3rd Rock from the Sun, Drive, True Crime, Sgt. Pepper’s 1.02 Lonely Hearts Club Band and Grease.
Shot again
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If you look closely at the shot from outside the school early on in the episode (and use your zoom button on your DVD player!) you can see that the shot was actually taken from 1.04 Teacher’s Pet. Willow can be seen sitting on a bench wearing a red t. shirt and checked trousers, the same clothes she wore in the scene when the gang first see Natalie French in that episode. The same shot can also be seen in 1.10 Nightmares.
Smoking bad
details | 12 comments | suggested by Jess
Mr. Platt’s smoking in 3.04 Beauty And The Beasts reinforces the shows clear bias against smoking, as every character in the show who has smoked has been either evil (Spike and the evil Angel) or doomed (Laura in 1.10 Nightmares; the prostitute who was Angel’s first kill after re-losing his soul in 2.14 Innocence; and Sheila in 2.03 School Hard). The same theory applies to alcohol too.
Terry Cain
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Terry Cain (also known as Terry Urdang) played Ms. Tishler (the teacher Xander fancied) in 1.10 Nightmares. She has also been in People I Know, Drive Me Crazy, Desperate Housewives, Alias, Curb Your Enthusiasm, Ally McBeal, Party of Five, ER, Babylon 5.
The Wizard of Oz
details | 8 comments | suggested by Jess
The movie The Wizard of Oz, made in 1939, in mentioned several times in Buffy the Vampire Slayer:
- Buffy refers to the hyena-possessed bullies in 1.06 The Pack as the “winged monkeys”. The phrase comes from the scene in The Wizard of Oz in which the Wicked Witch of the West sends her loyal winged monkeys to collect Dorothy and the ruby slippers.
- In 6.04 Flooded, Andrew says he trained flying demon monkeys to disrupt the school play.
- In 1.10 Nightmares, Billy Palmer awakens from his coma and, seeing the Scoobies around his bed, says, “I had the strangest dream. And you were in it, and you”. This is a reference to when Dorothy wakes in her bed and sees her friends around her.
- In 2.10 What’s My Line? (Part Two), Xander says, “Welcome my little pretties”. In The Wizard of Oz, the Wicked Witch of the West called Dorothy her “pretty”.
- Dorothy kills the Wicked Witch of the West by throwing water on her. The following dialog is from 1.17 Eternity:
- In 4.20 The Yoko Factor, Willow says, “If ever a whiz there was.” This is a line from the song in the film ‘Follow the Yellow Brick Road’ / ‘We’re Off To See the Wizard’.
- The episode 5.05 No Place Like Home takes it’s name from Dorothy clicking her heels together and repeating the phrase, “There’s no place like home” in order to get back to her Kansas home.
- A similar reference to this phrase is in the Angel episode 2.22 There’s No Place Like Plrtz Glrb. In that episode, Lorne also sings the song ‘Over the Rainbow’.
- In 6.22 Grave, Willow says, “Fly my pretty…fly!” when she sends her ball of fire to find Andrew and Jonathan. This is what the wicked witch says to her flying monkeys when she sends them off.
- In 7.19 Empty Places, Rona says, “Ding, dong, the witch is dead.” This is from a song in The Wizard of Oz.
- A similar reference to this phrase is in the Angel episode 4.13 Salvage. Lorne says, “Well, ding-dong, the Beast is dead!”
- The title of the Angel episode 2.20 Over The Rainbow is another reference to The Wizard of Oz, in which the land of Oz is said to be ‘over the rainbow’. In that episode, Cordelia clicks her heels three times (as Dorothy does in the film) and says, “Worth a shot.”
- In 4.15 Orpheus, Cordelia says, “You want to go, Glinda?” This is a reference to Glinda, the Good Witch of the South.
- In 5.02 Just Rewards, Angel says, “To see the wizard”, is a reference to The Wizard of Oz song called “We’re Off to See the Wizard”.
- In 5.21 Power Play, Lorne says, “And what if he’s skipped too far down that evil brick road?” This is a reference to the yellow brick road which Dorothy and the others follow to Oz.
(Cordy pulls off the top of a water container.)
Cordy: “Back off!”
Angel: “What are you going to do? Melt me?”
Cordy: “One more step and you’ll find out. You think this is just water?”
Ugly Man
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The Ugly Man was a deformed and violent man-monster-demon hybrid with a club for an arm. He was a product of Billy Palmer’s coma in 1.10 Nightmares, representing the person who had put him in his coma (his Little League Coach). Billy tore the Ugly Man’s face off to allow himself to come out of his coma.
Wendell
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Wendell was a student in the Scoobies’ class who was covered with spiders when everyone’s nightmares came true in 1.10 Nightmares. He revealed to the Scoobies that he had kept spiders but his brother had accidentally killed them by forgetting to maintain their habitats. He had been haunted by nightmares of the dead spiders ever since.
William variants
details | 10 comments | suggested by onlimain
The writers of Buffy seem to love the name William and all its derivatives. Here’s a list of all the William variants used on the show:
- William the Bloody (Spike’s human name and original title)
- Liam (Angel’s human name)
- Billy Fordham: (Buffy’s friend from LA who sold her out to Spike)
- Billy Palmer: (the little boy in the coma who caused nightmares to come to life)
- Billy Crandal: (chained himself to a snack machine in 2.19 I Only Have Eyes For You)
- Billy (an unclassified demon in Angel, who brought out the worst in men with a touch)
- Willy the Snitch (demon bar tender)
- Wil or Will: the name sometimes given to Willow (yeah, this was a bit of a stretch)
Willow’s crush
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In 1.08 I Robot, You Jane, we see that Willow has a picture of herself and Giles pinned to the inside of her locker. It can also be seen in the episode 1.10 Nightmares. Willow confirms that she used to have a crush on Giles in 4.18 Where The Wild Things Are, after she sees him singing.
Willow’s stage fright
details | 1 comment | suggested by Jess
Willow gets stage fright, which was first hinted at in 1.09 The Puppet Show when she ran terrified from the stage during a talent contest. In 1.10 Nightmares, Willow was forced to sing a piece from Puccini’s Madame Butterfly on stage but when she opened her mouth, no sound came out. Her stage fright was also explored in the episodes 4.22 Restless (when she was in front of her class and everyone was laughing at her) and - to a lesser extent - in 6.07 Once More, With Feeling when she was the only main character not to sing a great deal.
In 4.20 The Yoko Factor, Tara suggested to Willow that she take sophomore Psych but Willow suggested drama instead. In 5.02 Real Me we saw Willow berate Buffy as the Slayer didn’t have the time to take drama class with her. In 4.22 Restless, Willow has a dream about having stage fright about the drama class, who are performing a play without actually having any classes.
[Goof] Willow’s bag
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Willow takes off her rucksack twice in 1.10 Nightmares but never puts it back on in between the two times.
[Goof] Willow’s locker
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When Buffy is talking to Willow about her parents in 1.10 Nightmares, she shuts her locker. A few seconds later she shuts her locker again.