In an apartment, a married couple are arguing — the wife wants to go play tennis with him, while the husband wants to stay at home and read comics. Eventually, she decides to go play tennis by herself, but then they are attacked by monsters.
Meanwhile, the Ghostbusters are having breakfast, but Peter is groggy because he didn't get enough sleep the night before, having had a hard time falling back asleep after a nightmare. Ray tries to give him some of his aunt's advice, telling him that you can control a dream as long as you know you're dreaming. The Ghostbusters are then called to the apartment of the couple that was attacked, and Peter is also attacked by the same creature. They defeat the creature, to discover that it matches an illustration on the guy's comic book, there are many unconscious floating people around (including the couple) and there are strange creatures (including a Stay-Puft Marshmallow Man) and vehicles on the streets.
Egon determines that this is the work of a "Sandman", and sure enough, one appears, revealing that he plans to put all of humanity to sleep for 500 years in order to eliminate war. The Ghostbusters chase the Sandman around, and he turns the dream creatures evil and sics them on the Ghostbusters. During the scuffle, the Ecto-1 breaks, so Ray goes to check the engine, only for the Sandman to put him to sleep.
The rest of the Ghostbusters search for the Sandman, but then Peter is put to sleep too. Winston and Egon then attempt to zap the Sandman, only to miss. Just as Egon is about to figure out how Ray's advice from earlier is salient, the Sandman puts him to sleep. Winston worries that he'd never be able to catch the Sandman since he's the only non-scientist, but Einstein appears and tells them that one needn't be a scientist to be smart enough to solve a problem.
Winston goes to the firehouse, deciding to take Ray's advice of lucid dreaming. Then, the Sandman shows up and puts Janine to sleep, but she wills herself into becoming a Ghostbuster and, with the help of Winston and Slimer, traps the Sandman. Thus, the dream creatures vanish and everybody wakes up. Then, everyone at the firehouse celebrates... except Winston and Slimer, who have both fallen asleep on the couch.
This episode provides examples of
- Accessory-Wearing Cartoon Animal: One dream monster wears just a hat.
- A Day in the Limelight: Winston and Janine save the day when they are the last main characters standing.
- All Up to You: The task of getting rid of the Sandman falls to Winston when the others are put to sleep.
- Animate Inanimate Object: The mailman dreams up an anthropomorphic mailbox and envelope, who argue.
- Anthropomorphic Food: One dream character is an anthropomorphic jello.
- Arbitrary Skepticism: Despite having encountered ghosts and demons, the Ghostbusters (except Egon) think the idea of Sandmen existing is ridiculous.
- Baby Talk: The Sandman says things like "It's time for your beddy-byes".
- Batman Gambit: Winston fully intends for Janine to be put to sleep, having told her to just keep telling herself again and again she's a Ghostbuster. As he hoped for, a dream version of Janine pops in and uses the spare proton pack to ambush the Sandman. Winston also anticipated two streams were needed to properly restrain the Sandman, so he had Slimer hide in a drawer with a trap and only come out when it was time.
- Big Eater: Ray's dream involves a giant pizza falling out of the sky.
- Big "NO!": The Sandman just before being trapped.
- Bond One-Liner: After the Sandman is trapped, Winston quips, "Don't worry. It's all just a bad dream."
- Breath Weapon: One dream dragon breathes fire.
- Chekhov's Classroom: Early on, Ray says his Aunt Lois once told him that a person need only tell themselves that it's a dream in order to take control of it. Egon and later Winston ultimately realize how important this is.
- Dark Is Evil: The Sandman wants to put all of humanity to sleep and wears a black cloak.
- Darkest Hour: The Sandman is slowly putting every single New Yorker to sleep. After Peter is taken out, Egon does the math to determine that everyone in the city will be asleep by the end of the day, and he doesn't much like the prospects for the rest of the world after that. Winston feels this trope is compounded when he's the last Ghostbuster still awake.
- Death Glare: Peter scowls at Slimer for eating his donut.
- Dream People: Due to the Sandman, lots of dream entities, including Einstein and a Stay-Puft Marshmallow Man, start running around NYC.
- Dwindling Party: Rather than take his chances against a united front, the Sandman opts to pick off the guys one by one with sneak attacks. Within minutes, Winston is on his own.
- Easter Bunny: One of the dream creatures is a giant Easter Bunny, which Ray feels bad about shooting.
- "Eureka!" Moment:
- Egon when he figures out that Ray provided them with the answer back at the firehouse.
- When Winston realizes what Egon figured out and how the Sandman can be beaten.
- Evil Cannot Comprehend Good: The Sandman is genuinely perplexed over why the Ghostbusters keep trying to stop him and takes a moment to ask Winston. He immediately brushes off any talk of how the purpose of dreams is to try to make them come true.
- Evil Laugh: The Sandman chuckles evilly before putting Janine to sleep.
- Extra Eyes: One of the dream aliens has many eyes.
- Flashback-Montage Realization: Running back to the firehouse, Winston thinks back on the strange sights of the day and recalls Ray's advice about dreams.
- Forced Sleep: The Sandman uses magic powder to put most of the city, including every Ghostbuster except Winston, to sleep and aims to do it to the entire world population.
- Funny Animal: Some of the dream creatures are anthropomorphic animals, including mice.
- Giant Food: Ray dreams of a giant pizza. He still smells it when he wakes up.
- Go-to-Sleep Ending: Winston and Slimer both fall asleep at the end.
- Godzilla Threshold: For the first time ever, Janine has to try firing a proton pack.
- Half-Dressed Cartoon Animal: The Easter Bunny creature wears only overalls.
- Hope Spot:
- The guys try to sneak past a big dragon, but just as they think they've made it, they see its reflection in the glass and how it's looming over them.
- Egon and Winston almost successfully ambush the Sandman, but he teleports to safety at the last second.
- Just as Egon says he finally figured out how they can win, the Sandman puts him to sleep, leaving Winston to have to figure it out for himself.
- Irony: Janine lampshades how Winston gets to enjoy his victory over the Sandman by getting some well-deserved sleep.
- It's All About Me: Peter's dream is him being lavished with a variety of awards amid a cheering crowd. When he wakes up, he freely admits he could get used to that.
- It's Quiet… Too Quiet: The Ghostbusters note that it's odd that unlike most of their calls, no one is screaming. It turns out to be because they were put into a forced sleep.
- I Want My Mommy!: A character in the first guy's comic book is illustrated shouting, "Mommee [sic]! Please help me!".
- Knight Templar: The Sandman wants to bring about world peace by putting every human to sleep for 500 years.
- Lap Pillow: In the last scene, Winston is snoozing on the couch. Slimer floats down onto his lap and starts sleeping, as well.
- Let's Split Up, Gang!: In the office building, Peter, Egon, and Winston go in separate directions. This ends badly, as Peter gets ambushed and put to sleep.
- Little "No": Ray just before the Sandman gets him.
- Mythology Gag: The Stay-Puft Marshmallow man from the movie makes an appearance.
- Near-Villain Victory: The Sandman has gotten three Ghostbusters and most of the city put to sleep by the time he has Winston cornered. If not for Winston's plan, it would have been over.
- No Animals Allowed: Discussed when Peter, after being attacked by the comic book monster, jokingly says that the apartment shouldn't allow pets.
- No, You:Sandman: Goodnight, Winstone Zeddemore.
Dream Janine: Goodnight yourself, buster! - Outside-Context Problem: Downplayed. The Sandman and the assorted dreams aren't ghosts, as they give off a different kind of reading on the PKE Meter. On the other hand, he's also not as removed from ghosts as the Boogieman is, and he can be trapped. It only takes a little fine-tuning for the proton packs to be effective against the Sandman and the assorted dreams.
- Post-Victory Collapse: Rather than join the party celebrating his victory, Winston takes a nap.
- Psychic Dreams for Everyone: The monster from Peter Venkman's nightmare resembles the Sandman.
- Red Eyes, Take Warning: Two of the nightmare creatures have red eyes.
- Rip Van Winkle: Defied. The Sandman wants to put all of humanity to sleep for 500 years, but Winston, Janine, and Slimer trap him before he can get out of the city.
- The Sandman: This episode reveals that there are many Sandmen, and most of them are good, but this one is bad and wants to put all humans to sleep for 500 years to prevent war.
- Screaming Woman: Just before being attacked by the monster from her husband's dream, the woman from the beginning stands with a deer-in-the-headlights expression and screams.
- Shout-Out:
- The title refers to the song "Mr. Sandman", which opens with the line, "Mr. Sandman, bring me a dream."
- When Egon is put to sleep, Winston says, "And then there was one," which is a reference to either And Then There Were None, or the children's rhyme.
- Shut Up, Kirk!: When it's down to just the two of them, the Sandman questions all the resistance.Sandman: Wouldn't the world be a better place, if it were filled with dreams instead of people?
Winston: But the whole reason people dream is so they can make their dreams come true! How can they do that, if they're all asleep for 500 years?!
Sandman: That's irrelevant. A Sandman helps people sleep. A Sandman makes dreams! And I am now the ultimate Sandman! - Sleep Deprivation: Peter is tired in the beginning because his nightmare kept him awake. He drags himself out of bed and is barely conscious enough to mutter gibberish sounds. However, Egon is apparently familiar enough that he can translate.Peter: Unghcufl.
Winston: What'd he say?
Egon: Sounded like "coffee", possibly "cookie".
Peter: Tpfff.
Ray: Translation, Egon?
Egon: Sounded like "get out of my face or eat flaming terror". - Stock Animal Diet: The dream Easter Bunny holds a giant carrot.
- Suddenly Fluent in Gibberish: When Peter is sleep-deprived, he mumbles nonsense, but Egon can inexplicably understand him.
- Taught by Experience: Since facing the Ghostbusters as a group proved too difficult, the Sandman resorts to sneak attacks to create a Dwindling Party.
- Tempting Fate: As Egon discusses how the Sandman is able to bring dreams to life, Peter asks why. The guys then hear the Sandman doing a Motive Rant across the street.
- This Cannot Be!: The Sandman when the tables are turned, and he's about to be trapped.
- This Is Gonna Suck:
- Egon just before the Sandman transforms the pleasant dreams into vicious nightmares.
- The three Ghostbusters, upon seeing the dragon is very much awake and looming over them.
- Token Evil Teammate: During his Motive Rant, the Sandman says there are many more just like him, all of whom denounced him as a renegade for what he was proposing.
- Utopia Justifies the Means: The Sandman thinks that putting humanity to sleep for centuries is okay so long as it leads to a lack of war.
- Villainous Breakdown: The Sandman completely cracks when restrained by the particle beams, ranting about how this is all unfair.
- Visual Pun: When Winston notes that it's "quiet as a mouse", mice are seen in the street.
- Well-Intentioned Extremist: The Sandman wants to end war. However, he thinks he will do so by putting everyone to sleep for 500 years.
- Wham Line: "I'm a... A GHOSTBUSTER!"
- You Are Better Than You Think You Are: With the others all asleep, Winston feels like he's in over his head and can't possibly win. Egon's dream reassures him.Winston: I wish the others were here. Peter would know what to do. Egon, Ray, they'd build what they needed. I'm not a scientist.
Albert Einstein: Young man, you needn't be a scientist to solve a problem. Just try your best. Use your mind. You'll find a solution. Good day. - Your Mind Makes It Real: Whenever the Sandman puts someone to sleep, their dreams come to life.
