Recap / Kipo and the Age of Wonderbeasts: S1 E07: "Mulholland"

The friends stumble upon tardigrade dream-maker Tad Mulholland, who allows the gang to realize their bliss. But let's get real: It comes at a price.

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Tropes:

• A Glitch in the Matrix: Wolf is the first one the illusion breaks for because her guilt over keeping the letter from Kipo manifests as a mega ram in her dream.
• Gratuitous Japanese: The song playing during Wolf's dream sequence.
• Hazardous Water: Wolf advises Kipo not to try any standing water on the surface, which is illustrated by it being full of bones. She tries a drinking fountain nearby, but that turns out to still be dangerous for the same reasons as the nearby reservoir.
• Heel Realization: Tad genuinely thought he was doing a service by providing people with visions of their greatest fantasies come true even if it was without their consent and eventually ended in him eating them mind and body. When the group all rejects him he realizes that people might not actually want what he gives and it may not be the best way for him to gain nutrients.
• Heroic Build: In Wolf’s fantasy, she imagines herself and Kipo as super muscular body builders who hunt Mega Mutes for dinner.
• Lotus-Eater Machine: Tad Mulholland sends water bears into the gang's brains which intercepts their neurons to knock them out and provide visions of their deepest fantasies. Once one finds out it's not real, escaping it is as simple as dismissing it as such.
• Murder Water: Tad Mulholland is a hive mind colony of water bears capable of freely shaping the water they inhabit. His M.O. is for others to inadvertently drink him so that he can enter their brains and send them into deep sleep while he feeds on their minds and eventually their bodies.
• Obliviously Evil: Tad genuinely doesn't see anything wrong with his actions and in fact thinks he's providing a service.
• Spotting the Thread: Kipo realizes the vision of her mother is fake when Song mentions Kipo's friends by their names.
• What the Hell, Hero?: Kipo is none too pleased when Wolf reveals that she not only hid Lio's map from Kipo, but the map shows that the group has been journeying in the wrong direction. After Wolf tearfully reveals that she doesn't want their journey to end and them to separate, Kipo silently forgives her.
• The Worm That Walks: Tad Mulholland is a hive mind colony of water bears that saturate an entire reservoir.

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