Overall Rating: 6.65 Matt: 6.8 Eric: 6.5 Written by: Joss Whedon & David Greenwalt Directed by: Bruce Seth Green Cast : Sarah Michelle Gellar as Buffy Summers, Nicholas Brendon as Xander Harris, Alyson Hannigan as Willow Rosenberg, Charisma Carpenter as Cordelia Chase, Anthony Stewart Head as Rupert Giles. Guest stars : Mark Metcalf as The Master, Kristine Sutherland as Joyce Summers, Andrew J. Ferchland as The Anointed One, Dean Butler as Hank Summers, Jeremy Foley as Billy Palmer, Justin Urich as Wendell, J. Robin Miller as Laura, Terry Cain as Ms. Tischler, Scott Harlan as Aldo Gianfranco, Brian Pietro as The Coach. Original broadcast date : May 12, 1997 Buffy is dreaming of her long-dreaded meeting with the Master. It¹s a horrendous dream - she¹s about to be bitten when her mom wakes her up. At the breakfast table, they talk about Buffy going to spend the weekend with her father, something she looks forward to. In class, the teacher asks Wendell, a student, to read from his book, but when he opens it, tarantulas come out and crawl all over him, to everyone¹s horror. As pandemonium ensues, a boy stands at the doorway and looks on. Undergroud, another boy ­ the Anointed One ­ is being taught by the Master about fear and how to overcome it. The Master says that he senses changes in the world above, and rejoices. At school, Xander, Buffy and a very spider-spooked Willow arrive at the library. Looking for Giles, they spot him running out of the bookstacks looking quite lost ­ which he claims to have been. Informed of what happened in class, Giles suggests talking to Wendell. As Buffy, Xander and Willow follow up on this and have a chat with Wendell, he reveals that he actually loves spiders, but is haunted by nightmares of them since he let some of those he owned die when he was younger. Things get weirder as Buffy learns of a History test for which she didn¹t study. As she ponders the piece of paper, the clock flies forward and the bell rings. Buffy is about to hand in her blank test sheet when she sees the young boy at the entrance of the classroom. The boy leaves and follows a girl, Laura, silently warning her that she "shouldn¹t go down there" as she sneaks into the basement to have a cigarette. There, she¹s attacked by an "ugly man" whose only knowledge of English seems to be two words : "Lucky nineteen". Giles and Buffy visit Laura in the hospital, and she tells them about "Lucky 19". Then, as they talk to a doctor, he shows them another similar aggression victim ­ a young comatose boy. By now, people¹s worst nightmares are coming true: Xander steps into a full classroom only to find out he¹s stripped down to his boxers; Cordelia looks in her locker door mirror to find that she has horrible Œ80s hair; at the library, Giles discovers he no longer knows how to read. Looking at the newspapers Giles spread on the table, Buffy finds an article with a picture of the boy she saw at school, and he turns out to be the same boy they saw in the hospital in a coma. His name is Billy, and he¹s wearing a baseball uniform, with the number 19Š As understanding dawns on Buffy, her dad arrives. He¹s early, but says he wants to talk to her. As they sit on a bench outside the school, he tells her how unworthy she is and how he doesn¹t want to spend time with her anymore. He walks off as she cries; then, looking up, she sees the young boy across the school yard, and this time follows him. Buffy follows Billy into the school gym and talks to him, but they have to flee from the gym when the Ugly man attacks. They leave the school, cross the street and enter the cemetery, where it¹s night. In the library, Willow has come to the conclusion that Billy is for some reason at the centre of the phenomenon, that his being in a coma is making everyone¹s worst nightmares come true. As Giles warns Xander and Willow that Buffy¹s nightmares could be fatal, they split up to find her. At the cemetery, Buffy and Billy meet the Master, who is standing beside an open grave ­ in which he throws a terrified Buffy; as she cries out hysterically, he buries herŠ Meanwhile, Willow lives her own nightmare, which is to be forced to sing (badly) opera ­ Madama Butterfly, no less ­ in front of a huge crowd. As for Xander, he stumbles on a trail of chocolate bars, which leads him to a clown who terrorized him at his sixth birthday party. Xander runs in fear, chased by the clown armed with a large knife. He runs into Willow and Giles, and they all flee until Xander confronts his fear and knocks out the murderous clown. As they exit the school, it is a sunny day ­ except for a portal which leads to the cemetery, where it is night. As they wonder whose nightmare this is, Giles sees Buffy¹s grave and answers: "mine." As Giles laments Buffy¹s death, there is some movement in the earth, and suddenly Buffy emerges from the grave, now a vampire. Giles asks her to control herself until they get to the hospital and wake Billy. When they get there, pandemonium reigns; Giles try to shake Billy awake, but the boy¹s astral projection claims it won¹t work. The Ugly Man arrives, and Buffy, vampire strength and Slayer strength combined, fights him and kills him. She then takes Billy¹s hand and forces him to take the final step ­ unmask the demon, face his own fear. When he does so, everything ­ including Buffy ­ goes back to normal. Billy wakes up, just when his baseball coach show up to see how his "lucky 19" is doing. Everything clicks into place: the coach beat up Billy, blaming him for losing the game. Xander and Giles stop the coach before he can escape, and he is taken to jail. At school, the rest of the day unfolds normally. Buffy¹s dad shows up and lovingly embraces his daughter; as they see Buffy off, Willow asks Xander if he was still attracted to Buffy even though she was a vampire. He protests, before admitting that he¹s sick and needs help. "Don¹t I know it!", Willow quirks. Summary by OttsFiveByFive.