When each of the Turtles fall asleep and cannot wake up, April & Casey race desperately to revive them before they fall victim to the Dream Beavers.
This episode is also known as "In Dreams."
Spoilers beware.
- Actor Allusion:
- Robert Englund as a malevolent entity who stalks the protagonists in their dreams.
- Bill Moseley plays a character who is a walking homage to The Texas Chainsaw Massacre series he has appeared in, as Shout-Out details below.
- Affably Evil: Dave Beaver gets along well with Mikey at first and seems more like a playful Care Bear than anything, but he's soon shown to be just as evil as his brethren.
- All for Nothing: Turns out the Dream Beavers are all-but-powerless plushies when they are released into the real world, making the storekeeper's efforts to keep them off of Earth for 40 years completely pointless and counterproductive.
- Artistic License – Biology: Bernie managed to stay awake for 40 years. In real life, he would be dead within a month.
- Butt-Monkey: Dave Beaver, who is the recipient of several "SHUT UP, DAVE!"s over the course of the episode.
- Chainsaw Good: Bernie chases Casey around his store with one when the latter attempts to take the Obturaculum Somniorum.
- Chekhov's Gun: The above chainsaw is seen hanging on the wall behind the counter the first time Casey visits Bernie's store.
- Continuity Nod: The Turtles, when being knocked through their dreams, go through almost every single environment they'd been to over the course of the show (Including Dimension X and the meat storage room they fought Tiger Claw in).
- Curb-Stomp Battle: Even after the turtles figure out they're in a collective dream, the Dream Beavers pretty much wipe the floor with them until Casey breaks the key locking the beavers in the dream dimension and the beavers decide to take their leave, even when they had the turtles completely at their mercy.
- Disney Death: Donnie actually stops breathing at one point. Lucky for him, Casey breaks the key a few seconds later, which saves all four of them.
- Doing In the Wizard: The Obturaculum Somniorum initially seems to be a Tome of Eldritch Lore, but turns out to be merely a hiding place for a mechanical device which keeps the Dream Beavers sealed in the dream realm.
- Level Ate: Mikey's dream.
- Minion with an F in Evil: Dave Beaver is the only Dream Beaver who isn't remotely scary. The dreamscape he meets Mikey in is a Sugar Bowl and while he is supposed to scare him, he instead plays volleyball with him.
- Monster of the Week: The fifth consecutive one.
- Mythology Gag: The Turtles, while dreaming together, end up in comic book panels, once again referencing the fact the franchise started in comic books.
- Noodle Incident: When a lollipop gives Michelangelo April's message on waking up, he remarks that he knows better than to trust a giant talking lollipop, having "learned that one the hard way."
- The Psycho Rangers: The Dream Beavers share a color scheme with the turtles (though they don't correspond with their personalities or victims) and Dread, Dark and Dire's relationship with Dave is not unlike that of Raph, Leo and Donnie's is with Mikey.Dark: Seriously, human life force for thousands of years, and then one day: turtles.
Dave: I like chocolate chip cookies.
Dark, Dire and Dread: Shut up, Dave! - Rotten Rock & Roll: The nightmare Dread Beaver puts Raphael in is framed like a Death Metal music video, involving blue fire, giant snakes and his brothers playing hardcore music.
- Running Gag: Dave Beaver saying something, only for his brothers to tell him to shut up.
- Sealed Evil in a Can: The Dream Beavers entered the dimension of dreams forty years ago, but are only trapped there by Bernie's book. Turns out, they're harmless in our world.
- "Shaggy Dog" Story: The Dream Beavers successfully escape into the waking world... and they are tiny and harmless there. The Dream beavers decide to return to their realm and Bernie laments wasted 40 years without sleep worrying about them.
- Shout-Out:
- The Dream Beavers are of course big walking shout outs to Freddy Krueger from A Nightmare on Elm Street, with the invading dreams, sharp claws, etc. Robert Englund even voices two of the four. The title is a shout out to the song that inspired that movie, "Dream Weaver", noted for an eerie intro and outro. The song, film, and this episode are all stories revolving around Dream Weaver's that are all very creepy indeed.
- Bernie is a walking nod to The Texas Chainsaw Massacre series, having a chainsaw with "The Saw is Family" engraved on its blade, being voiced by Chop Top's actor and his appearance and role as a creepy store owner calls to mind Drayton Sawyer.
- Raph's dream involves giant albino snakes trying to eat him while dream-versions of his brothers play hard rock. You have exactly one guess as to what this is a giant reference to.
- Smooch of Victory: A relieved April gives a big kiss on the cheek to Donnie just as he and his brothers start coming out of their Dream Beaver-induced comas, thanks to Casey breaking the key keeping the beavers locked in the dream dimension.
- Token Good Teammate: Dave Beaver is the only Dream Beaver who is neither malicious nor frightening, playing ball with Michelangelo in a Sugar Bowl instead of terrorizing him in a nightmare like the others.
