Recap / Fraggle Rock S 2 E 6 Boobers Dream

♫What makes dreamers feel dreams are more than real?♫

Having trouble sleeping because of recurring nightmares about his alter ego, Sidebottom, Boober takes the Trash Heap's advice and brings Wembley into his dream to meet Sidebottom. Promising Sidebottom he'll come back, Wembley brings along Red, Mokey, and Gobo—once they promise Boober that this will be the last trip to see Sidebottom.

Sidebottom loves playing with Boober's friends but is aghast to learn there will be no more visits. During a game of Fraggle Freeze, in which he causes Boober's friends to freeze in place, Sidebottom reveals that he intends to keep them there forever. Boober, realizing he's the one in charge, forces Sidebottom to release them. Sidebottom agrees to stay out of his dreams if Boober lets him break loose once in a while.

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This episode contains examples of:

• All Just a Dream: Defied. Since the Fraggles are deliberately having a shared dream, they're aware from the start that it's a dream. Boober keeps asking when they can wake up and go home.
• All Work vs. All Play: Boober is all work, and Sidebottom is all play.
• Big "NO!": Boober gives one when Wembley tells Sidebottom he'll come back to visit.
• But You Were There, and You, and You: Fun-loving Doozers inhabit Boober's dreams, and at one point, a winged Doozer is seen. A drumming Junior also makes an appearance.
  Sidebottom: Wembley, what's that over there?
  Wembley: It's a Gorg with a drum!
  Sidebottom: Oh, yeah? Well, tell him to beat it!
• Can Only Move the Eyes: After being frozen, Boober's friends can only move their mouths—just a bit, enough that they can still talk.
• Character Name and the Noun Phrase: The episode's title.
• Company Cross References: Traveling Matt visits a Drive-In Theater and thinks the movie is a dream the cars are sharing. The film playing is The Dark Crystal.
• Continuity Nod:
  • Junior wears his colander helmet from "The Thirty-Minute Work Week."
  • The Solemn Fraggle Oath, introduced in the episode "The Preachification of Convincing John," makes a return.
• Dream Land: Where Sidebottom lives.
• Dream Sequence: The trips to see Sidebottom are this.
• Dreams of Flying: In the dream sequences, the Fraggles can fly. Boober doesn't, though, until the end of the second dream.
• Foreshadowing: At one point, Gobo, Red, Mokey, and a bunch of other Fraggles are playing Fraggle Freeze, their form of Freeze Tag. Later, Sidebottom causes Boober's friends to literally freeze in place.
• Forgot to Mind Their Head: Wembley bumps his head on the pipe again.
• Fun Personified: Sidebottom.
• Help, I'm Stuck!: Boober's friends, when Sidebottom causes them to freeze in place.
• Hidden Depths: Discussed. Wembley wonders if Boober's more fun than he looks. Gobo dismisses this.
  Gobo: I love Boober, too... but, you know, I think he looks like about as much fun as a... potato. [Walks off.]
  Wembley: Gee. I always thought potatoes were a riot!
• I Am Not Him: Boober keeps denying that Sidebottom is a part of him.
  Wembley: Well then, maybe you're him.
  Boober: Wembley, no! If Sidebottom is really me, then I'll never be able to get rid of him. [Groans.] I'll never be able to sleep again.
• "I Know What We Can Do" Cut:
  Boober: [talking about Sidebottom] Oh, Wembley, the minute I start dreaming, he's there!
  Wembley: Oh!
  Boober: I haven't slept for days. What am I gonna do?
  Wembley: I don't know.
  Boober: I know you don't know.
  Wembley: Wait! I know!
  [Cut to Wembley and Boober standing before the Trash Heap.]
• Impossibly Tacky Clothes: Sidebottom has a patchwork hat trimmed with feathers of different colors. He also wears clown pants to match. His outfit is trimmed with fluffy green pompons and jingling bells.
  Sidebottom: [singing] But you don't like to dance!
  Boober: You're Mister Fancy-Pants!
• Insomnia Episode: Boober hasn't been able to sleep for days on account of his recurring dream about Sidebottom.
  Boober: Oh, Wembley, the minute I start dreaming, he's there!
  Wembley: Oh!
  Boober: I haven't slept for days.
• Irritation Nightmare: Boober's recurring dream about Sidebottom.
  Boober: He's gruesome! He's so much fun. Oh, he laughs and dances and sings. And he tells jokes to the Doozers!
  Wembley: No!
  [Boober sighs.]
  Wembley: Well, are they funny jokes?
  Boober: Yes! They're hysterical!
• Journey to the Center of the Mind: Boober, on the Trash Heap's advice, takes Wembley on one to see Sidebottom. Later he takes the rest of his friends to meet Sidebottom as well.
  The Trash Heap: Look, relax. You can learn something about yourself from your dream. Remember, all dreams are a little bit true.
  Philo: True.
  Gunge: True.
  The Trash Heap: But dreams are not easy to understand. So get a second opinion. Next time you're going to dream, take your little furry friend here along. He'll help.
  Boober: You mean Wembley should meet Sidebottom, too?
  The Trash Heap: Two heads are better than one. Right?
  Philo and Gunge: Right!
  The Trash Heap: Oh, you Fraggles are so lucky. You can share your dreams.
  Gunge: So share the dream and find out what's going on.
  Philo: Good advice, Marjory.
  The Trash Heap: Dream a dream and see.
• Keet: Downplayed. Sidebottom is fun-loving, overactive, and irresponsible, though he is capable of keeping his energy in check.
• Lonely Among People: Sidebottom has friends where he lives. He likes them but yearns to have other company as well.
  Sidebottom: [to Boober] You never bring anybody in here to see me. I get tired of telling all my best jokes to dream Doozers. No offense, boys!
• Maniac Tongue: Downplayed. At one point, Sidebottom sticks out his tongue.
• Mass "Oh, Crap!": Boober's friends, when Sidebottom freezes them.
• Maybe Magic, Maybe Mundane: It's unclear why Doc is having dreams about the Fraggles. It could be that he has seen them out of the corner of his eye in the past and is subconsciously remembering them, or maybe he's being influenced to dream about them through some magical means.
• Meaningful Name: Sidebottom is the fun side of Boober that he keeps on the bottom.
• Mirror Match: Boober and Sidebottom get into one of these, with Boober tackling Sidebottom, refusing to let him go until he unfreezes the others.
  Boober: Wait a minute... we had a fight... and I won! I'm the one who's in charge around here!
  Sidebottom: Did I ever say you weren't?
• Mysterious Mist: The dreamscape is full of this.
• Nightmare Sequence: The Fraggles' shared dream becomes this when Sidebottom causes everyone else but Boober to freeze in place.
  Red: Gobo, I can't move!
  Sidebottom: Oh, that's all right. I like you all so much, I want you to stay here forever! [Laughs.]
  Boober: I told you fun was dangerous!
• An Odd Place to Sleep: At one point, Wembley finds Boober asleep in a window.
• Oh, Crap!:
  • Boober, when Wembley promises to visit again and bring his other friends.
  • And again, when Sidebottom freezes the others.
• The Only One: Boober is the only one Sidebottom doesn't freeze. This enables him to force Sidebottom to unfreeze the others.
• Only One Finds It Fun: Inverted. Boober's friends think playing with Sidebottom is a riot. Boober just wants to wake up and go home.
• Opposites Attract: The song "Party Hard (Who Knows What You See)" hints at this, with Boober and Sidebottom singing the song to each other and admitting that they like each other (and can live with being part of the same Fraggle) despite being polar opposites.
• Pinky Swear:
  • After meeting Sidebottom, Wembley takes the Solemn Fraggle Oath that he'll bring the rest of Boober's friends to meet him.
  • Before taking the rest of his friends to meet Sidebottom, Boober makes them take the Solemn Fraggle Oath that there will be no more trips to see him.
  • Sidebottom says he'll stay out of Boober's dreams if Boober lets him break loose once in a while. At Boober's request, Sidebottom takes the Solemn Fraggle Oath that he won't be too much fun in front of Boober's friends.
• Pinned to the Ground: When Sidebottom refuses to let his friends go, Boober says, "What's over there?" Sidebottom turns to look, and Boober tackles him, refusing to get up until he unfreezes the others.
  Boober: Listen, if I let you up, will you let my friends go?
  Sidebottom: Knock, knock.
  Boober: Who's there?
  Sidebottom: Lettuce.
  Boober: Lettuce who?
  Sidebottom: Let us up and you'll find out.
  [Boober pushes Sidebottom's head to the ground.]
  Boober: Notice I am not laughing. Notice I am still sitting on top of you!
  Sidebottom: Notice you're no fun at all.
  Boober: Will you let my friends go, or do I sit here forever? I could do it, you know. It's my sort of activity.
  Sidebottom: Okay, okay, you win! You always win in the end.
• Plagued by Nightmares: Boober keeps having nightmares about Sidebottom.
• Plot Parallel: Doc tells Sprocket a vivid dream he had the night before, about being chased around the room by a furry little creature who handed him a pair of red-and-white-striped socks. Shimmelfinney then knocks at the door and hands him a pair of red-and-white-striped socks that had fallen out of Doc's laundry basket. Red-and-white-striped socks can be seen hanging in Boober's cave, and in Sidebottom's home as well. Sidebottom wears footless red-and-white-striped socks with the rest of his outfit.
• The Promise:
  • Sidebottom makes Wembley promise to visit again and bring his friends. Boober then makes his friends promise that this second visit to Sidebottom will be the last.
  • Sidebottom promises he'll stay out of Boober's dreams if Boober lets him break loose once in a while. This will figure into other episodes in the future.
• Pungeon Master: Sidebottom loves telling jokes, especially puns and knock-knock jokes.
• Recurring Dreams: Boober keeps having these about Sidebottom.
• Running Gag: Gobo thinks Boober looks about as much fun as a potato. Later on, Boober, trying to describe Sidebottom, says he looks sort of like a big green potato. "You mean he looks like you?" says Wembley. Still later, Boober tells Sidebottom he looks like a potato, and Sidebottom says, "Well, so do you."
• Shadow Archetype: Boober comes into conflict with the fun-loving, irresponsible part of his personality.
• Shared Dream: Fraggles can share one another's dreams. All they need to do is have their heads touching and say, "Dream a dream and see / What a dream can be." Then, when they fall asleep, they can enter one dream. There's even a whole song dedicated to the ritual: "Dream a Dream (and See)."
• Sleep Cute: Invoked. Since their heads need to be touching for them to share a dream, Boober and Wembley deliberately go to sleep in this position.
• Split Personality: Sidebottom, Boober's alternate personality.
• Take Me Instead: Boober says this when his friends are frozen.
  Boober: Oh, please let them go! Take me instead.
  Sidebottom: But, Boober, I always have you. And now I have them too. Oh, we're gonna have so much FUN!
• Talking in Your Sleep: Wembley goes to Boober's cave and finds him doing this.
  Boober: [laughing in his sleep] Oh, that joke is funnier than a fake nose!
  Wembley: What'd you say?
  Boober: [still laughing] Oh, I love to laugh! [Laughs some more, then abruptly sits up, shivering.] W-w-w-where am I?
• Think Nothing of It: Parodied, when Boober and Wembley are about to dream together.
  Boober: Wembley?
  Wembley: Mmm-hmm?
  Boober: I really appreciate you sharing this dream with me.
  Wembley: Ah, don't mention it.
  Boober: But I already did.
  Wembley: Okay, mention it.
• Title Drop: Sidebottom does this is in the song "Everybody's Doin' It."
  Sidebottom: [fiddling a hoedown] Can't step up.
  You can't step down.
  Can't step anywhere in this town.
  Everyplace you go, you know it's startin' to seem,
  Everybody's doin' it in Boober's dream!
  Dream Doozers: Everybody's doin' it in Boober's dream!
• Title Theme Drop: Sidebottom sings a variant of the Fraggle Rock Theme.
  Sidebottom: Laugh your cares away!
  Worry's for another day!
• Whoopee Cushion: One of the inhabitants of the world of Boober's dream. Instead of making farting sounds, though, it flies around and periodically yells, "Whoopee!"
• You Said You Would Let Them Go: Invoked. Boober asks Sidebottom if he's doing this when the latter says he'll let the others go.

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