What happens when you combine magic tricks with actual spells? A Stage Magician at a travelling carnival plans to win a lady's affections by giving her a break from reality that will never end. But when it's time for the Librarians to intervene, will they be able to stop him, or will they become part of the show?
Tropes:
- Bratty Half-Pint: Jenkins picks up a kid that snuck in as a tagalong after using him in a ruse to throw off enemy suspicion. He takes a bit of convincing of the danger to be made to leave.
- Broken Record: "Welcome, to the greatest carnival on Earth".
- Circus of Fear: The setting of the episode, conjured overnight and assimilating of any threats or dissenters.
- Forced Transformation: The general practice of the main villain, transforming any threats into carnies. The team suffered this sometime before the beginning of the episode, turned into a sideshow act.
- Free-Range Children: The kid that tags along with Jenkins is without supervision.
- From Nobody to Nightmare: The villain of the week was just an obscure, failed Stage Magician until his squirting flower lapel became an artifact of immense power.
- Grammar Correction Gag: Being immobilized and at the mercy of an unhinged magician who's about to turn them all into wax statues doesn't keep Jacob from correcting Kirby when he misquotes Hamlet.
- How We Got Here: After rescuing the team they all take the time to piece together what happened to them.
- In Medias Res: The episode begins with Jenkins infiltrating the carnival to rescue the team, after receiving a video message from Eve warning him to stay away.
- Magicians Are Wizards: Thanks to a newly created artifact.
- Monster Clown: The mooks of the episode.
- Multiple Head Case: As a part of the sideshow, Eve is given a second head who's more irreverent and a bit lecherous.
- No Ontological Inertia: Fortunately, the transformation of the team wears off as soon as they regroup at the Library.
- Poor Communication Kills: If Kirby hadn't interpreted Charlotte walking off when he wasn't looking to buy magic show tickets as a rejection and then walked away when she wasn't looking, he probably could have avoided all the heartache and subsequent obsession.
- Red Herring: The magic wand, everyone lampshades how obvious it would be but go for it anyway out of desperation.
- Super-Strength: Stone is turned into a circus strongman and throws a few bumper cars to block enemy pursuit.
- The Unintelligible: Ezekiel and Cassandra were turned into a snake charmer and mermaid. He can't stop playing his flute and she can only make dolphin clicks.
- Used to Be a Sweet Kid: Charlotte notes this about Kirby.
- Yandere: Kirby is obsessed with Charlotte. He became a stage magician and created a carnival to impress her after the one time in high school he saw she enjoyed them. Now he brainwashes and transforms anyone that threatens his plans to be with her and punishes any women he invited that shared her name simply for not being her. When she rejected his obviously psychotic behavior, he threatens her as well.
