Dreamscape

"Dreamscape" is the thirtieth episode of American Dragon: Jake Long.
==Plot ==
Jake Long and Rose are on a literal “dream date” in a dream version of Paris. Jake asks Rose if she remembers anything about her parents. She replies, "No. The earliest memory I have is crying in my Hunts-crib for my Hunts-nanny to change my Hunts-diaper." Jake says that he, too, had the same memories: "Well, except without all of the 'hunts'." After a brief conversation, Jake decides to take Rose to his dream with the dream charm Rose had given him."Breakout"
As the scene changes, both he and Rose are in a dream version of Hawaii. Rose comments on how beautiful the scenery is. She then says, "Listen, Jake. I wouldn't have the courage to tell you this in the real world. But I…” She is then cut off by Jake's alarm clock.
Tardy to school as usual, Jake gets detention from the principal, which is now"Something Fishy This Way Comes" Professor Hans Rotwood. While Jake is in detention, Rotwood asks why he was late for school again. Jake starts to explain, but gets cut off. "Although flunking you out of 7th grade would please me more than auf lassen kochen [to let (you) simmer] on a hot plate, the school board mandates I give repeat offenders one last chance to do make-up credit." Rotwood tells Jake that he will have to do a written examination of one of the greatest scientific minds of modern time. When Jake asks who that is, Rotwood says, "Ahh, zat little detail will be plodded in my noggin." Jake then gets upset and says, "What?! I have to know what to study, otherwise how am I supposed to pass?" Rotwood then tells him he does not expect him to, and laughs evilly.
Jake later finds Spud and Trixie at the library during study hall. Spud is asleep and Trixie scolds him for slobbering all over her shoes. When Spud wakes up, he says that he is unable to believe he fell asleep without his 'equipment'. While Spud puts his equipment on, Trixie asks Jake how his studying is coming along. Jake tells her that he has exactly 43 hours to study every great scientific mind for his assignment and pass, or Rotwood will hold him back a grade. Trixie then says that Rotwood is being harsher than usual lately, to which Jake agrees. Trixie asks Jake for the real reason he was late to school. Jake admits that he had been hanging out with Rose in his dreams and it had been awesome. Spud then complains that no matter how hard he tries, he is unable to remember his dreams. The scene then changes as Spud is doing a test on sleeping, and his brain activity is pretty much nothing. Trixie says that she will probably fail in biology, as she can't remember anything she read. She then goes on to say that "the only thing that needs 'fixing' is the broken snack machine downstairs. Who's with me?" Shortly afterwards, Spud falls asleep again. Jake reminds Trixie that he needs to study. He then reads aloud, "Did you know the flush toilet was invented by a dude named John?"
That night, Jake is on another dream date with Rose. After a while, Rose notices that he is not fully focused on having fun with just the two of them. He then explains his assignment: “Unless I can climb into [Rotwood's] head and see what he's thinking, I'm toast." That gives Rose an idea: she leads Jake into a corridor of dream doors, which is called the Dream Corridor. They soon stop at Rotwood's, where they first encounter his actual dream. They go further down into his subconscious and discover memories of his childhood. Toward the very end of their journey, they retrieve the test answers for Jake. A few seconds later, they run into a Chimera, a mythical creature who the Greeks believed Hercules slew. Together, Jake and Rose are easily able to defeat it.
When Jake wakes up the next morning, both of his parents are in a bad mood. Realizing this, he decides to skip breakfast and go to school, where people are a little less "hostile". However, the mood is not much better at school. When Rose tells Jake that people have been saying they were seeing a creature which looked exactly like the Chimera, Jake knows he was in trouble. Now he, Rose, Trixie, and Spud have to figure out how to set things right.
Naturally, Jake turns to his grandfather Lao Shi for help. After Jake gets fussed out by Gramps, Fu Dog tells them he can make an enchanted snare to trap the Chimera and put it in its rightful place. All Jake and his friends have to do is fall asleep and meet Gramps in his dream and get the snare. Since they cannot stay at the shop due to loud noises, Spud suggests they go to the library. Once there, they easily drift off.
Once again in the dream realm, they spot the Chimera right away. After pursuing it in Trixie's dream, Jake stos them to make a “two-second” detour in Brad Morton's dream, where he is seen dancing like a ballerina. Naturally, Jake can't resist taking a picture. After that, he and his crew stop at Grandpa’s dream to retrieve the snare.
With snare in hand, they hear the Chimera in Spud's dream, which seems to be inspired by Batman. Spud is struck with awe at the scene. "Whoa! I can't believe I don't remember any of this stuff!” Then he finds out he has his own butler, who says, "There have been reports saying that the Chimera is in the warehouse district." Spud then puts on his costume, and rushes out in the Spudmobile to save Spudopolis--with the help of Jake and his friends, of course.
When they arrive, Spud starts blasting it with potatoes from his Spud-launcher. As he distracts the Chimera, Jake, in his dragon form, opens up the snare. Just as the Chimera is about to be fully sucked in, Jake and his friends are woken up by Rotwood. Jake wakes up, releasing the Chimera back into Spudopolis. With Jake, Rose, and Trixie out of the Dream-world, it is up to Spud to face the Chimera alone--at least for a little while. After Trixie throws a potato bomb out of the window and onto Rotwood's car, the perturbed conversation is cut short, so now they can get to the Dream-world and help Spud with the Chimera.
When they reenter his dream, they see Spud falling off a tall building. After he lands on a blow up mat, he sees that he has been cut. At first he laughs it off, but then he faints. Rose tella Trixie to check on him while she and Jake go after the Chimera. Jake then changes into his dragon form and starts to open the snare, only to find that it is jammed. With the advantage of distraction, the Chimera jumps on him and sends the snare flying into the river.
Jake then realizes they need the monster out before they can capture him. Rose again gives Jake his directions. She tells Jake to go after the trap while she distracts the Chimera. She decides to tire the beast by outrunning it. She runs into her own dream door, where she sees herself and the rest of the Huntsclan doing drills. Rose does not have time to watch because the Chimera is almost upon her.
Meanwhile, Jake dives into the river and manages to retrieve the snare. As he is about to swim back up, a long octopus tentacle wraps itself around him. As it pulls him, Spud comes to the rescue in a submarine and chases the octopus away, allowing Jake to swim back up for air.
As Rose runs deeper into her subconscious, she hides behind a wall. The Chimera passes without knowing she is there. After she realizes she is deep in her memories, she sees her parents and older twin from the day she was born, and learns how she was stolen by the Huntsclan. As Rose is barely getting over the shock, the Chimera once again spots her and starts to chase her again. She runs quickly out of her dream and back into Spudopolis, where she encounters a dead end. Just as she is about to fight, Jake swoops in and opens the snare, trapping the Chimera inside.
After returning the Chimera to Rotwood's dream, Jake and his friends wake up just as the professor returns from cleaning his car. He then dismisses them, saying, "Seeing Mr. Long failing my examination tomorrow will surely put me in a better mood."
At school, Trixie says that after she went into the Dream-world, it gave her the information she needed to ace biology. Jake realizes that he did not need the answers to the test; he already knew all the answers. Thanks to his trip to the Dream-world, he figured out that the the greatest scientific mind Rotwood was talking about was none other than himself. With that said and done, Jake aces his test, leaving a very baffled professor and a happy Jake.
==Allusion==
*The title is reference to the 1984 film Dreamscape.
*When Spud obtains a sample but is attacked by the monster, it is a reference to the scene when Raymond obtains a sample but is attacked by the slime in Ghostbusters II.
==Trivia ==
*On a "ten-second detour", Jake can't resist taking a peek in Brad's dream, in which that football player is a pretty ballerina (see gallery below). Having a good laugh of it, Jake takes a picture of it on his cellphone camera.
*Spud has a hard time remembering his dreams, so he's amazed to learn that he dreams of being a potato-themed superhero. According to Jake, the catchphrase "Tally-Ho" is part of the problem ("I don't think that'll catch on.")
*Trixie's visit in the Dreamscapes gives her an advantage, as her dream of being a successful surgeon gets her closer to making that dream come true. She even likes the sound of being called "Dr. Trixie Carter".
*Mr. Rotwood was dumped by the love of his life for his "girly-man shoulders and pigskin smell".
*Rotwood's mother was a seamstress.
*Rotwood has a car that he takes pride in, as he was very upset when somebody (unknown to him, Trixie) pelted it with a baked potato, though the thought of Jake failing helps get him into a better mood.
*Rose learns that her parents didn't die when she was born, but the Huntsclan took her when she was a baby. This shows that the Huntsclan has been kidnapping children to keep the Huntsclan population growing.
==References==
Category:American Dragon: Jake Long episodes