"This isn't a costume party, Red."
Secretly following Uncle Matt to the T. Matthew Fraggle Room—a tunnel full of magical archways to Outer Space—Red runs across a blue dragon guarding a tree that grows golden apples. She tells the others about this, but they don't believe her. Red returns to the cave to bring back proof of its existence.Worried, Gobo and Uncle Matt follow her but get lost and end up in different parts of Outer Space. Matt eventually finds the tree with the golden apples but doesn't see the dragon, which had accidentally left its cave and gotten lost. Red encounters it and tries to retain it as proof, but it runs off to its home. The three Fraggles meet up at the end, with Red unable to prove to Gobo that she's seen the dragon or the tree. Uncle Matt still doesn't believe in the dragon—but he does tell Red that he's been to the cave with the tree, showing her the apple he had picked while the dragon was away. Red expresses her newfound admiration for Matt's exploits.
This episode contains examples of:
- Alien Sky: The pink-and-blue sky of the dragon's cave.
- Arbitrary Skepticism:
- Subverted. Red doesn't believe in the T. Matthew Fraggle Room until she sees it for herself, despite the fact that she lives in a world full of magical caves and creatures. At the end, she apologizes to Uncle Matt.
- Again subverted when Red tells her friends about the cave with the dragon, but they think she's just play-acting, despite the fact that they've all met magical creatures. When she's unable to prove that's she been there, she sings a song about it: "People Don't Know." They finally believe her when Matt shows the apple he had picked while the dragon was away.
- Be Careful What You Wish For: Red follows Uncle Matt because she wants to see the other entrance to Outer Space for herself. After her adventure, she tells Matt and Gobo they can have the place.
- Bookcase Passage: The T. Matthew Fraggle Room is basically this: it has a figure of a Fraggle, which, when rotated, opens a hidden trapdoor that leads to the cavern below.
- Bringing Back Proof: Red wants to bring back one of the golden apples so she can prove that she's been to the cave with the tree. Matt manages to do this while the dragon is away.
- Character Name and the Noun Phrase: The episode's title.
- Continuity Nod: The T. Matthew Fraggle Room, which Uncle Matt had discovered, becomes the main setting of this episode. A fence has been built around the trapdoor that leads to the cavern below, and stairs have been added.
- Cosplay: Red is dressed as Princess Gwenalot, the main character from the Elder Clan Adventures, a series of books she reads.Red: I've read all thirty-seven of the Elder Clan Adventures, including Gwenalot and the Blue Dragon.
- Driven by Envy: Red, wanting to prove that she can be an explorer like Uncle Matt, follows him to the T. Matthew Fraggle Room.
- Invisibility Cloak: Princess Gwenalot apparently has one. As the episode begins, Red is pretending the cloak she's wearing with her costume renders her invisible as well.
- It's Probably Nothing: When Red follows Uncle Matt, he thinks he hears her voice, but then dismisses it as nothing.
- Jerkass Ball: Uncle Matt takes this toward Red, insisting that she's just making up stories about her adventures in Outer Space. Of course, since Red always thinks Uncle Matt's making up stories about his adventures in Outer Space, this could be Uncle Matt dishing out some payback.
- Let's See YOU Do Better!: When Red claims that any Fraggle can go into Outer Space, Uncle Matt double dares her to. Red plucks up her courage and starts to go through with the dare, but Sprocket's howl scares before she can get through the hole. Seeing this, Matt condescendingly tells her that "little Fraggles such as you are not meant for these brave deeds." He boasts about having discovered the T. Matthew Fraggle Room, then says he's going there, and Red is inspired to secretly follow him and see if the room is real.
- Mistaken Identity: Doc and Sprocket are getting ready for a costume party. When the dragon runs through Doc's yard, Doc thinks it's Shimmelfinney's cat, Fluffinella, in a costume.
- My God, What Have I Done?: Red, when she and the dragon accidentally touch the rock that takes them out of the dragon's cave.Red: [as the dragon runs off down the tunnel] Oh, no! That means there's a dragon loose in Fraggle Rock!
- Our Dragons Are Different: The titular Blue Dragon is more timid than other dragons are portrayed as.
- Tempting Apple: Red can't resist picking one of the golden apples to bring back as proof of the cave she found. She throws it down when the dragon confronts her, though.
- There's No Place Like Home: The dragon's goal when it gets lost: to try and find its cave.
- Took a Level in Kindness: Red becomes nicer to Uncle Matt.
- Tunnel Network: The T. Matthew Fraggle Room is this, a series of portals to different parts of Outer Space.
- Vitriolic Best Buds: At the end, Uncle Matt tells Red he's seen the tree, and Red apologizes to him for the times she's accused him of making up stories about Outer Space. She and Matt then establish this relationship, arguing over whether Red has seen the dragon or not—but at least Matt and Gobo now believe she's seen the tree with the golden apples.
