The Corinthian takes Jed with him to the hotel where the Cereal Convention is being held, and phones Rose to invite her to meet them there. Lyta decides to retreat full time into the dream world with Hector, so Rose is going to go it alone, but Gilbert the eccentric upstairs lodger offers to accompany her.
A few hours into the three-hour trip to the hotel, Rose has a nap and checks in on Lyta's dream. It's been several months for Lyta, who's getting close to giving birth, and idyllic except for a series of mysterious earthquakes. Morpheus shows up and explains that the earthquakes, which have been felt as far away as his palace, are a sign that Lyta and Hector's dream is unnatural and unsustainable: neither ghosts nor living women can stay in the Dreaming indefinitely. Morpheus dismisses Hector to the afterlife, causing him to crumble horrifyingly in front of Lyta, and tells Lyta that she will be able to keep the baby they conceived — for now, as a child conceived and gestated in the Dreaming belongs to Morpheus and he will come to claim it one day. Then he summarily ends the dream; Lyta wakes up, devastated, but Rose draws on her Vortex powers and refuses to go before she's chewed Morpheus out about his handling of the situation.
At the Cereal Convention, the Corinthian settles Jed in a hotel room before going to join the event. Jed doesn't take his warning to stay in the room seriously, and, lured by the prospect of an entire convention about his second-favorite food, sets out to explore.
Rose and Gilbert arrive at the hotel and, getting no reply when calling the Corinthian's mobile, split up to look for Jed. Gilbert, checking a series of discussion rooms, gradually becomes aware of the nature of the convention, and then he sees the Corinthian, causing a moment of shocked recognition on both sides. The Corinthian is distracted by convention business — one of the serial killers is an impostor, a blogger trying to do a story on the convention — and Gilbert makes a hasty retreat. It is revealed that he is Fiddler's Green, the last of the renegade dreams, when he returns to the Dreaming and informs Morpheus of the Corinthian's location. He tells Lucienne that he doesn't care what happens to him as long as Morpheus will be in time to save Rose, and is distressed when Lucienne reveals to him that Rose is the Vortex and that Morpheus will have no choice but to kill her to prevent further damage to the Dreaming and the waking world.
Jed's explorations bring him to a quiet basement just in time to see the Corinthian and two of the convention committee demonstrating their displeasure on the interloper. He flees, and is found by Fun Land, an amiable-seeming serial killer who preys on children. Rose checks at the hotel's reception for news of Jed, and is given a key which the Corinthian left for her to the room where he left Jed; she finds the room empty, but hears Jed's voice and sees him about to enter Fun Land's hotel room. When Jed tries to leave with Rose, Fun Land pursues them, but they are rescued by the Corinthian. Out of the frying pan and into the fire...
This episode contains examples of:
- Adaptational Attractiveness:
- Phillip Sitz in the comics was a greasy-haired geek with big glasses and bad skin, whereas here he is a conventionally attractive young man.
- The Grass Widow in the comics was an older looking white hippie dressing like it's still the 60s. Here, she's a younger, stylish Black woman.
- Adapted Out:
- The comic book version of "Collectors" includes several scenes in which various serial killers describe their motivations and methods in detail. Apart from Fun Land's description of his favorite hunting ground, the TV version either omits these entirely or reduces them to brief allusions. (For instance, Gilbert overhears one of the convention attendees in passing telling another that, "I'm a connoisseur," but the rest of the description of the Connoisseur's obsession is left out.)
- The sleazy manager of the hotel who, while probably not a serial killer himself, was clearly aware of what he was taking money to host is not present at all in the show. His one role, that of informing Nimrod of Rose and Gilbert's presence, is no longer required due to the changed circumstances that leads them there.
- Adaptational Karma: In the comics, Fun Land not only avoided Dream's removal of the lies the serial killers tell themselves to justify their actions, he continued to be a murderer and child molester until he was thrown into Arkham Asylum by Batman. Here, Fun Land is killed by the Corinthian when he tries to harm Jed and Rose.
- Affably Evil: The Corinthian is often quite pleasant with Jed, buying him ice cream and commiserating over the fact that they're both runaways. Part of it is a ruse to keep Jed's trust, but parts of it is quite honest and otherwise unnecessary.
- Afterlife of Service: One of the serial killers, who goes by the sobriquet "Adonai", explains his belief that he is a just God who gives his victims new life in a Heaven of his creation. This promptly sets off a theological argument with other religiously-motivated murderers.
- Asshole Victim: No one will miss Philip or Fun Land. The latter because he was a freaking serial killer who had some uncomfortably predatory interactions with kids, and the former for being a delusional serial killer fanboy pretending to be another serial killer.
- Bad Samaritan: The Corinthian treats first Jed (although he may sympathize with the boy as a fellow runaway) and then Rose nicely. But the Corinthian is a serial killer, and is both trying to keep Jed cooperative to use him as bait for Rose, and to get Rose to destroy Morpheus and save his own existence.
- Black Comedy: Rose and Gilbert's search for Jed while unwittingly surrounded by serial killers leads to some of this. Special mention to Gilbert nodding along in agreement when a woman complains about the unfairness of being in a male-dominated field and only valued for her sexuality, only for his dawning horror when he realizes she's talking about killing people.
- Busman's Vocabulary: The crowd chatter at the Cereal Convention is full of death- and murder-related figures of speech, like one attendee remarking that he wouldn't normally be seen dead at a place like this.
- Criminal Convention: The "Cereal Convention" is secretly a convention for America's Serial Killer population.
- Dead Person Impersonation: Philip impersonates a dead serial killer. Unfortunately the Corinthian knows, apparently first-hand, that the Boogeyman is dead.
- Death by Adaptation: In the comic, Rose is rescued from Fun Land by Morpheus, who puts him to sleep. In the series, this is replaced with a Villainous Rescue by the Corinthian, who uses more direct and lethal methods.
- Declaration of Protection: A rare villainous example. When the Corinthian spots Fun Land taking an interest in Jed, he rushes over and tells the child killer in no uncertain terms that Jed (and his sister) are under his protection. He's not joking either, stabbing Fun Land in the back when he tries to harm them.
- Description Cut:
- Matthew says that the situation's too serious for petty arguments while the Corinthian is still on the loose doing "god knows what". Cut to the Corinthian innocently enjoying an ice cream cone.
- Rose, worrying that Jed may have changed beyond recognition in the years since they last met, says that one of her best memories of him is that he used to love chicken fingers and eat nothing but, and what if that's no longer true? Cut to Jed enjoying a heaping plate of nothing but chicken fingers.
- Dramatic Irony:
- Jed spends quite a few scenes following the Corinthian around and falling for his Affably Evil charm.
- Jed is charmed by Fun Land, not realizing that he's a child-killer.
- Drink-Based Characterization: The child-murdering serial killer Fun Land is seen drinking Kool-Aid, emphasizing the Psychopathic Manchild aspect of his character.
- Earthquakes Cause Fissures: As do Dream Vortexes. Justified, as dreams don't have to follow real world logic.
- A God Am I: Adonai of the "Religion" panel at the Cereal Convention proclaims that he is a just God who sends people to his Heaven.
- Five-Second Foreshadowing: Gilbert clearly recognizes the Corinthian and is terrified of him. Moments later, he is revealed to be Fiddler's Green, one of Dream's missing creations.
- Gender Flip: The Good Doctor is a man in the original comic.
- Honey Trap: The Corinthian lures Philip to the basement for sex so he can be murdered. You'd think he'd know that trick, being a serial killer fan.
- Foreshadowing: Dream telling Lyta he will eventually have to take her child will prove to be important later.
- Hurricane of Puns: As Jed makes his way through the hotel lobby of the Cereal Convention, all of the serial killers around him speak about mundane topics using violent metaphors.
- Internal Reveal: Gilbert isn't aware that Rose is a Dream Vortex until Lucienne tells him such. Naturally it freaks him out as he realizes Morpheus will kill her because of it.
- In the Back: When Fun Land has Rose and Jed cornered, he's suddenly killed when the Corinthian stabs him from behind.
- Is This Thing On?: Nimrod taps on his microphone to check that it's on before beginning his convention opening speech.
- Kick the Dog: Morpheus uncaringly dismisses Hector to the afterlife, and bluntly tells a distraught Lyta that he will eventually return to claim her baby.
- Knight Templar: At one point, Gilbert stumbles into an entire panel of religiously-motivated serial killers, where The Hammer of God (a born-again Christian) proclaims that his murders are God's will.
- Lousy Lovers Are Losers: One of the convention attendees complains how the sex he had with a woman for the first time was terrible. So he killed her and ripped her apart.
- Missed Him by That Much: Jed, exploring the motel, leaves the lobby just as Rose and Gilbert arrive to look for him.
- Nap-Inducing Speak: Rose denies Gilbert is boring her, but ends up falling asleep anyway.
- Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: Dream has been telling Rose for the last two episodes that her powers are strong enough to destroy worlds. While he was on good terms with Rose for helping her find Jed, his dramatic banishment of Hector's ghost back to the afterlife in front of Rose and a traumatized Lyta, followed by announcing he will eventually come for Lyta's baby, put him on a vortex's bad side. And Lyta's.
- Oh, Crap!:
- Gilbert gradually realises that he and Rose have unwittingly stumbled into a mass gathering of killers — and then he locks eyes with the Corinthian.
- He has this again when Lucienne reveals Rose is a vortex, as he knows Dream will have to kill her.
- Philip gets extremely scared once the Corinthian, Nimrod, and the Good Doctor corner him and reveal they know that he's impersonating the Boogieman.
- O.O.C. Is Serious Business: Gilbert suspects Morpheus has been changed by his time in the waking world as well, given that he almost brings himself to apologize to Lucienne.
- Pragmatic Adaptation: In the comic, the Corinthian, Nimrod and the Good Doctor knock Philip out and take him to a remote field before teaching him a lesson. In the TV version, the lesson takes place in the hotel's basement, which is less wise for the characters, but for the makers of the show has practical advantages in keeping everything in one location and avoiding a remote outdoor night shoot for a single scene.
- Pragmatic Villainy: One of the rules of the "Cereal Convention" is "We don't shit where we eat", so none of the attendees are allowed to do any 'collecting' until the convention is over and they're at least 200 miles away. It's implied that not everyone follows the rules, though, as the convention organizers advise the Corinthian that it would be a good idea to keep Jed away from Fun Land. Later when the Good Doctor and Nimrod work out that Philip Sitz is impersonating the Boogeyman they offer the Corinthian the chance to 'collect' him first, implying that they would have done it themselves if he hadn't been the guest of honour; when he points out they're breaking their own rules, their response is "Needs must, when the Devil drives" (and in fairness, letting Philip go free now in order to track him down later would be a rather stupid move on their part).
- Race Lift: "Dog Soup," the Asian woman speaking at the panel about female killers being stereotyped, was replaced by the Grass Widow, a black woman. In contrast to the poor taste of the Connoisseur's M.O., the Straw Feminist angle of
her dialogue is probably helped and made funnier by the fact that the actress delivering it is comedienne Desiree Burch, whose routines and opinions tend to be both openly feminist and also critical about the stereotype. The Grass Widow herself has been updated from an unattractive older white hippie woman to a stylish, younger Black woman. - Refuge in Audacity: A serial killer convention masquerades in plain sight as a "cereal convention". This gets lampshaded a little by Gilbert, who notes that it's strange that children aren't allowed there.
- Shout-Out:
- Gilbert/Fiddler's Green, who in human form takes on the appearance of G. K. Chesterton, remarks that the point of traveling is less to visit a foreign country than to experience one's own country as foreign. Chesterton often employs the theme of an Englishman who rediscovers England, most notably in a chapter of "Manalive".
- Also, one of the "collectors" whose panel Gilbert attends is "The Hammer of God" - which is also the title of one of Chesterton's Father Brown stories.
- As in the comics the Corinthian states that the real Boogieman drowned in Louisiana. In the comics at least this was no accident but rather the result of an encounter with Swamp Thing.
- The nametag Rose steals to get into the convention is for "The Babysitter." In the comics it was as a babysitter for Lyta that Rose was reintroduced into the plot long after this story ended.
- Jed is watching a DC Animated Universe show in the hotel room.
- Straw Feminist: One of the panels Gilbert stumbles into is for women who express their frustrations of their line of work being male-dominated. That would be commendable... if they weren't serial killers.
- Take That!: Philip Sitz is a true crime enthusiast who idolises serial killers. When he confesses to the Corinthian, Nimrod and the Good Doctor, hoping to be accepted as one of them, they clearly find him laughable and brutally kill him.
- Tempting Fate: When Gilbert says he'll bring his swordstick and revolver along in case they run into any trouble, Rose confidently (and entirely inaccurately) says that they're not going to need to protect themselves.
- Too Dumb to Live: Philip Sitz, the fanboy posing as the Boogieman, thinks it's a great idea to bluff his way into the "Cereal Convention" and actually act like a fanboy towards his idols, rather than keeping his head down and not bringing any attention to himself. Not only that, he has his photo on the blog he tries promoting to the real serial killers, which inevitably blows his cover.
- Villainous Rescue: At the end, Rose and Jed are cornered by Fun Land — but before he can kill them, he gets a knife in the back. From the Corinthian.
- Would Hurt a Child: Fun Land is a serial killer who specifically targets children.
- Year Inside, Hour Outside: Lyta decides to live permanently in the dream world with the ghost of her husband. When Rose has a nap two hours later and goes to see how she's getting on, several months have passed for Lyta.
- Your Costume Needs Work: Done in a playful fashion. One woman the Corinthian speaks to says he's "too young and hot" to be him, and as it's clearly a mild tease, he takes it in stride.
- Your Mind Makes It Real: Because of Rose's ability as a dream vortex, Lyta Hall wakes up pregnant in the waking world after becoming pregnant in a dream.
