Recap / Eureka Noche De Ssuenos

The Man in Black

Allison: Carter, dreams can't be contagious!
Carter: Normally, I'd agree with you. But then it happened to me, and Jo, and Fargo, and a boatload of other people...

Groups of people begin sharing dreams in some embarrassing and conflicting ways as a result of some accident of convolutedly blended pairing of technologies and havoc ensues.

Tropes

• The Alcoholic: Downplayed. SARAH is concerned when Carter comes home in a bad mood after having to get naked in public and asks for a beer.
  SARAH: I know you're upset, but alcohol isn't the answer.
  Carter: I'm not upset and yes it is.
• Blunt "No": Stark, when Allison asks him to turn off the dream interpreter in Kevin's room, just to make sure it's not responsible for the mass dream-sharing. Good thing too, because that would have created a false positive for Carter's sleepover experiment and delayed the diagnosis, probably costing lives.
• Chekhov's Gun:
  • Carter sees a "music player" Stark is installing in Kevin's room, and later realises it's the missing dream interpreter. Combined with the Hive Mind computer, it's causing the mass dream-sharing.
  • Jack and the truck driver have plenty in common, including their GD paygrade. Turns out the pair of them were also used as test subjects in a double-blind study for a Hive Mind computer that lets people work on computing problems in their sleep.
  • Allison tells Carter that GD has the most advanced decontamination procedures in the world. Later, those procedures are used to cleanse Carter and the other "dreamers" of the acetocholine buildup.
• Damsel in Distress: Dream!Jo, in the Man in Black dream. She is outraged, until she realises it was her dream.
• Explain, Explain... Oh, Crap!: Jo, when she realises the dream in which she's rescued from Villain!Stark by Zorros!Fargo was her dream, not Fargos'.
  Carter: Okay, so what do we know about these 50 people?
  Fargo: Oh, but my name isn't on there.
  Stark: That's a good thing, Fargo.
  Fargo: I know, because it means I wasn't the one who had the man in black dream.
  Stark: Well, it sure as hell wasn't me.
  Jo: Oh, god!
• Foreshadowing: The Man in Black dream is in Spanish, indicating that it's not Fargo's dream, but Jo's.
• Funny Background Event: While Carter and Jo are explaining the dream situation to Allison, a middle-aged couple in the Rotunda are having a lively argument about a nearby young woman the man obviously dreamed about and who has no idea what's going on. Allison asks for an example just as the irate wife lunges at the woman and a fight ensues. Jo points over her shoulder and says, "like that."
• The Hero: Dream!Fargo appears as The Man in Black, a Zorro expy. He rescues dream!Jo from the villainous Don Diego, A.K.A. dream!Stark.
• Hidden Depths: Jo once wanted to be a ballerina.
  Carter: Josefina Ballerina.
  Jo: I will taser you.
• Internal Reveal: Carter witnesses Henry erasing his memory in Phoenix Rising in Henry's dream, but doesn't know what it means.
• Irony: In the episode where Jo is revealed to have had aspirations as a dancer, she temporarily loses the use of her legs due to the acetocholine. At the end, Carter leaves a pair of ballet shoes for her, with a note that says, "I'm glad you're back on your feet."
• Meaningful Name: Dr. Suenos' name means "dreams" in Spanish, and he works in the dream lab.
• "Not Wearing Pants" Dream: After having to strip in public, Jack has a "naked in public" dream that gets seen by Jo and Zoe. Zoe is disturbed, but Jo thinks it's hilarious.
  Jack: [Waking up suddenly] Haven't had that one since college!
• Read the Fine Print: All GD employment contracts apparently state that the employee may be used as a subject of double-blind studies without their knowledge. When Jack expresses outrage over this, Allison reminds him that she told him to read the whole contract.
  Dr. Suenos: It's in everyone's contract that they may be randomly selected for double-blind case studies from time to time.
  Carter: Is it!?
  Allison: I told you to read your contract carefully before you signed it!
• Red Herring: The chemical waste Jack is soaked in after the crash has nothing to do with the shared dreams.
• Right Hand Versus Left Hand: The Hive Mind experiment that uses people's brains to solve problems in their sleep is apparently harmless, as is Stark using the dream device to help Allison communicate with Kevin. The two together cause the dream sharing, with the "dreamers" in danger of dying from acetocholine buildup.
• Rule of Three: Fargo, a nurse and an orderly all share the dream in which the truck driver dies.
• Shameful Strip: After being doused with chemical waste, Carter has to be decontaminated. Step one involves undressing inside a fully transparent quarantine tube.
• Shared Dream: People of Eureka begin to share dreams. It gets very embarrassing, and fights break out across town.
• Shout-Out:
  • After the truck driver dies apparently from dying in a dream, Carter asks Dr Suenos if that superstition is real. He says no, "apart from bad horror movies."
  • The Man in Black dream is a homage to The Mask of Zorro.
  • The acetocoline buildup in Carter's body is cleared up by submerging him in highly-oxygenated fluid that he has to breathe into his lungs, similar to The Abyss.
• Spoiled Brat: Fargo's behaviour after nearly being hit by a chemical waste truck grates on everyone.
  [Nurse has just finished explaining that the driver will be fine]
  Fargo: [Whining, off-screen] Nurse, more pillows!
  Nurse: But that boy? May die!
• Ungrateful Bastard: Jack knocks Fargo out of the way of a runaway truck, saving his life. Later, Fargo has checked himself into the infirmary for alleged whiplash injuries and advises Jack to get a lawyer. No one is impressed.