The eighteenth episode of the third season of Rugrats.
In the Dreamtime
Chuckie has a hard time distinguishing his dreams from reality.
The Unfair Pair
Angelica convinces Phil and Lil that every family has a "favorite" child and a "reject" child, leading both to fear that they may be the reject.
"In the Dreamtime" provides examples of:
- All Just a Dream: Zig-zagged; Chuckie has a bad dream, and then another, and then the rest of the episode plays out as if Chuckie isn't dreaming. At the very end of the episode, the events are all revealed to be a dream of Chas'.
- An Aesop: Understand the difference between fiction and reality and avoid daydreaming in dangerous situations.
- Bully Bulldog: Chuckie comes across a mean bulldog that lives next door and decides to take him on, convinced that he's in a dream and can't get hurt. When Chuckie does get hurt tripping over the dog's bone, he realizes that he's not dreaming after all.
- Catapult Nightmare: This episode has two. The first one happens to Chuckie early in the episode, and the second one happens to Chas at the end of the episode.
- Dream Episode: This episode begins with two dream sequences from Chuckie, who later believes that he's still dreaming.
- Dream Within a Dream: Chuckie has a dream that takes place in a dream of his, and in the end, it all turns out to be Chas' dream.
- Face-Revealing Turn: Used twice in this epsiode;
- In Chuckie's first dream, when Chuckie asks Tommy why Spike is suddenly talking, Tommy is seen from behind. He turns around to face Chuckie and says, "I'm not Tommy!", revealing him to have a clown-like face.
- At the end of the episode, Chas comes across Stu, who is seen from behind, and turns to face him, saying, "I'm not Stu!", revealing him also to have a clown-like face.
- Gainax Ending: The episode's ending suggests that everything that had happened in the episode from the beginning to the end was all a dream Chas was having instead of Chuckie. Granted, it's also possible that only the final scene of the episode was Chas's dream, but either way, it's a very odd and ambiguous ending all the same.
- Nightmare Sequence: This episode is book-ended with two of them. At the beginning, Chuckie's first dream is an increasingly trippy dream world that culminates in Spike talking and Tommy having a Monster Clown face. And at the end, Chas has a dream where Stu is the one with the clown face.
- Real Dreams are Weirder: Chuckie's dreams are filled with all sorts of strange things, such as the backyard turning into a surreal wonderland filled with giant dandelions and flying frying pans and Spike's doghouse turning into a huge mansion, or the stairs in the Pickles' house leading to a hallway lined with abstract pictures of Tommy and doors to outer space. In the first dream, Chuckie simply rolls with the weird things he is seeing until Spike talking ends up being the last straw for him.
- Suddenly Voiced: In Chuckie's first dream, Spike speaks with a posh accent and asks the babies if they'd like to have tea with him.Chuckie: Hey, Spike's not s'posed to talk! What's going on, Tommy?
- That Was Not a Dream: Chuckie has several bizarre nightmares, causing him to believe that he's dreaming when he and the other babies are hanging out. It doesn't help that their conversation mirrors the one they had in one of his dreams. He decides to do something that he would normally be too scared to do in real life by going into the yard next door with the Angry Guard Dog. It's not until he trips on the dog's bone and hurts himself that he realizes he's not dreaming (his dad told him that dreams can't hurt you), and that he has to get out of the neighbor's yard and fast.
"The Unfair Pair" provides examples of:
- A Day in the Limelight: For Phil, Lil, and Angelica.
- An Aesop:
- Your parents don't have favoritism, unless you are an only child. You'll be their favorite son if you're their only son, and you'll be their favorite daughter if you're their only daughter. They will treat you the same as your brother or sister with the same respect and kindness.
- Alternatively, as Phil and Lil's parents demonstrate, good parenting between multiple children means never playing favorites. Good parents treat all their children (whatever the circumstances) with unconditional love.
- Balloon Belly: When Lil believes Phil to be the favorite, she has an imagine spot where Betty and Howard give him an overflowing bottle of milk. When he drinks the milk, the size of his belly increases.
- Bilingual Bonus: When Phil and Lil are playing with the telephone, they end up dialing a Frenchman, who is baffled at the Baby Talk on the other end of the phone. When Betty picks up the phone and hears the man speaking French, she can't understand a word he's saying, so she simply says, "Same to you, fella!" and hangs up.
- 555: The number that Phil and Lil dial on the telephone starts with 555.
- Gaslighting: When Angelica's plan to get Phil and Lil in legitimate trouble (by tattling that they're playing with the phone) fails (Betty's too understanding), she switches tactics. When each twin is alone, she imparts an important "secret" that the other twin is the Favorite. They're convinced, despite moments ago having come to the epiphany that their mother had treated them with equal forgiveness just now.
- Imagine Spot: Phil and Lil each have one when they imagine the other twin to be the favorite.
- Lil pictures herself getting an empty milk bottle at bedtime. Phil gets her share and bloats up when he drinks it all.
- Phil imagines sleeping in a cold, dark crib while Lil gets all the blankets and amenities. Phil shivers as the wind blows and snow falls on him.
- Pink Girl, Blue Boy: It is revealed in this episode that Lil sleeps in a pink crib and has a pink bottle, while Phil sleeps in a blue crib and has a blue bottle.
- Symbolism: The opening of the episode shows Phil and Lil's dad carefully measuring each bottle for the twins so they have equal amounts. This is meant to establish that despite what Angelica later tells them, the Devilles don't play favorites and love their twins equally. Later, in Lil's Imagine Spot, she envisions a scenario where they unceremonioualy give her (the "reject") an empty bottle while they give Phil (the "Favorite") a full bottle of milk. This reflects her personal fear that their parents will favor him over her.
- The Unfavorite: Angelica convinces the twins that every family has a Favorite and a Reject; Phil and Lil spend the rest of the episode convinced that they were the Reject, and mistaking normal parental behavior as signs of this, until, in the end, they make up and decide to be Rejects together (and Angelica even decides to become a Reject).
