10 Buffy The Vampire Slayer Episodes That Are Almost Perfect
8. Nightmares (Season 1, Episode 10)
‘Nightmares’ is one of the best episodes from the first season. In this episode, the characters’ worst nightmares start coming true, and the Scooby Gang have to put a stop to this frightening supernatural event.
Buffy and Giles soon realise that a boy named Billy is behind it all. After being beaten up by his baseball coach, Billy fell into a coma, and – with a little help from the Hellmouth – his astral body came out of the coma, and the nightmares came with him.
Billy’s baseball coach also has a nightmarish makeover, taking on the appearance of a large, demonic figure known as the Ugly Man. The thing is, this villain doesn’t really have a purpose beyond giving Buffy something to fight. Most of the other nightmares are grounded in common fears – there's no supernatural element – so the Ugly Man feels completely out of place.
Whilst it’s cool to see the vampire version of Buffy take down the Ugly Man at the end, this isn’t enough to justify the inclusion of a redundant character.