410: Just Watch the Fireworks

Synopsis

The episode picks up where 409: Pass the Baby left off. After the aquatic escape from Anna Fairbanks's house, the Keeper says Captain Carl Runch gave the group a ride across town and "seems to have decided to tag along." They reach Dr. Simeon's house in the dark, with light only in the study. The Major carries the wounded Dom in "like a baby," lays him on the study couch and tucks an afghan around him. Inside they find Dr. Simeon at his desk with a glass of water and Billy on the edge of a chair, both staring blankly, until the others bring them to their senses.

Dom is badly wounded but is no longer bleeding out, and the Keeper explains how major wounds and the dying rules work. Simeon and Billy shake off their daze and recall that the last thing they remember is Raymond Goddard being stabbed by an invisible attacker at the hospital before the missing time that followed. Tallahassee admits that he rolled only half the dice on his Flesh Ward ("Diamond Skin"); finishing the roll, he says, left him with 38 points, or 28 after the 10 damage he took. The groups compare notes. Billy says the radio asked "Remember me, Billy?", and Simeon shows that the invisible stab wounds look just like his own. Dom lays out his theory: the victims so far are Elizabeth Bakersfield, John Johnson, Dr. Doyle and Raymond Goddard, Anna Fairbanks is the key to the case, and the only person with a motive is Randolph Tomaszewski, who may somehow be pulling people into Soyland. He also wonders whether the Gazette reporter Ricky Dubois is the leak, since Anna told only him. Billy mentions that Devin Black's eyes went wide when they said the name Goodman Gray.

Shown Harman Vance's ID photo, Simeon realizes he saw the man in his dream that morning, before Billy's phone call. The Keeper recounts the dream, and Simeon realizes his wife was there too. He runs out of the study, calling for her. The radio flares up and the Keeper says the group hears something from it, but the words are missing from the recording. Upstairs Simeon finds Mary Beth asleep in bed where he left her that morning, though it is only about seven in the evening. Her breathing is shallow and her face looks sunken. The Keeper tells him the dream was real and she is trapped in Soyland. Simeon loses 1 sanity. Smelling salts do not work, and neither does his Command of the Wizard, although her eyelids and hair flutter. Meanwhile Dom asks Runch to carry him up the stairs like a baby, and Runch rocks him and tells him to go to sleep.

With Tallahassee holding one recharged magic point for his Sign of Power, the group debates what to do, and the Keeper reminds them that Mary Beth has been in Soyland all day. Simeon decides to reach Soyland through his own dream, as he did that morning. Billy puts him in a sleeper hold, then casts Command of the Wizard on him with the word "sleep," and Simeon drops into a very deep sleep. While the others are busy, Runch drags Dom out of the room by the feet, and Dom's condition is left unclear as the episode ends.

Funny Moments

Tallahassee says "We just got chased by a bunch of bum-hole monsters," and Dom adds "I created more bum-holes than Tallahassee did."
When Dom says he would like to be carried "like a baby," the Major carries him into the study and sets him on the couch.
Dom tells Simeon and Billy that "The metric system is much more user-friendly than the crazy system you Yanks use."
Tallahassee says "I only rolled half the dice" on his Flesh Ward, and Dom asks "You mean to tell me that I took a bullet for you because you only rolled half your dice."
The Keeper offers a tip for other Keepers: "Don't give your players the diamond skin spell. You only give them Smiting Blast of the Foul One because it's worthless."
Simeon blasts the Major with Smiting Blast of the Foul One, and the Keeper says "I won't even make you roll it. Major Bakersfield, you slam through the window." The Major answers "We'll meet again, Simeon."
Simeon says he "ripped off my shirt and I said, they look just like this!" to show the others his old stab wounds.
Billy tells Dom "that's some pretty impressive detective work," and Dom answers "I learned for the best, Billy."
The Keeper says that in Simeon's dream "the creatures turned into smoothies and you were fighting a bunch of smoothies."
After Simeon rolls his sanity check, the Keeper says "So now you're going to lose five more points of sanity," then "Just kidding."
Dom tells Runch "This is a matter of life and death. I need you to carry me up the stairs like a baby," and when Runch keeps calling him a bum, Dom answers "stop calling me a bum I'm a drifter it's much more dramatic."
As Runch rocks him, Dom says "I object to this treatment," then "it actually is pretty relaxing."
Billy suggests that Simeon try Command of the Wizard on his wife. Simeon snaps, then says "That's actually a really good idea. I'm sorry I said that," and later calls Billy's undeveloped frontal lobe "your prefrontal cortex that is not fully developed yet. You mook."
After the group rambles through a tangent, the Keeper says "Freakin Philistines, okay."
When Simeon suggests going to Corbett's house to look for soy sauce, the Keeper says "They search Corbett's house extremely thoroughly."
As Billy puts Simeon in the sleeper hold, he says "I put my finger up to his mouth and go, shh," and Simeon tells him "I wasn't gonna resist you anyways."

Notable Quotes

"Remember me, Billy?" —Billy, repeating what the radio said
"the person that has the thing in common with the other guys is you." —Dom, to the Major
"I should have killed him when I had the chance." —The Major
"Anna Fairbanks is the key that unlocks this entire case." —Dom
"we have to consider the possibility that he's the leaky faucet so to speak in this case" —Dom, on Ricky Dubois
"I mean they might let me in so I could talk to him." —Dr. Simeon, on visiting Arkham
"He was in my dream this morning" —Dr. Simeon, on Harman Vance
"I'm a dang sea captain." —Runch
"Someone's got to send me in there right now. I can get there through my dream." —Dr. Simeon
"the dream that you had this morning was real and that your wife has been taken like the others to Soyland and has been trapped there all day." —the Keeper