Review: Dream Corp LLC “What Happens in Randy, Stays in Randy”

This week: Randy goes deep in the manhole.

Overview (Spoilers Below)

Randy is due for his biannual treatment with Dr. Roberts, and he’s not at all happy about this. The doc sets out to treat Randy for his agoraphobia, and after Randy finishes up his last will and testament, Randy goes under and meets Dr. Roberts in the dreamscape.

In his dream, Randy works in Las Vegas advertising for a casino, but soon the doc shows up, and asks Randy to go deeper, into the “manhole”, as they put it. Once he’s down, Randy is in the Dream Corp office once again, watching himself as he undergoes treatment. Randy faces his insecurities in the form of a bear catching salmon that represent his insecurities, but just as they’re about to have a breakthrough, Randy starts chasing Dr. Roberts down in his bear form to disastrous effect.

T.E.R.R.Y. consults with 88 on being human, while dream Randy chases down Dr. Roberts. Eventually, Randy finds himself again and is about to enter the outside world in his dream, but T.E.R.R.Y. flips the power off to disrupt his therapy. The team gets the power back on, and Randy, facing his dream self, manages to convince himself to leave and go outside, but wakes up right before he leaves, much to T.E.R.R.Y’s delight.

Later, T.E.R.R.Y. and Randy meet after the session, where Randy reaffirms how much he cares about his friend T.E.R.R.Y. and how he doesn’t want to leave the lab because of that. The two bond over their mutual friendship and continue to exist in the lab together as friends.

Our Take:

The penultimate episode of Dream Corp LLC season two has quite a bit to offer for the dedicated viewer. It takes us deep into the mind of Randy, who has served as the bastion of eccentric, almost-sociopathic behavior keeping the comedy engine of Dream Corp running. Unhappy to just let things be as they are, we learn more about what drives Randy, his fears and hopes, and who he is as a member of the lab, all while enjoying the perpetually dark comedy that has served as the groundwork which this show has stood on for so long.

What’s impressive about this episode’s dream sequence is how nonchalant Randy is about the whole thing. Usually, when we take a look into the greasy, bizarre dream world of the patients at Dream Corp, they’re bewildered and hard to manage, amazed at the wonder of the world they’re now in. But Randy presents an interesting new dynamic by being the guy who already knows way too much about the whole therapy process. The hippie eccentricities of Dr. Roberts have no effect on the man, and that adds another element of comedy to his whole dream sequence. By not caring that he’s seeing himself as a bear and by being so direct about how horny he is for himself, Randy remains the funniest guy in the room. This is all brought together when he accidentally wakes up towards the end of his therapy, where all that work he did is seemingly for naught, an appropriate end to the saga of Randy this season.

Also of note is Randy and T.E.R.R.Y.’s relationship, which generally doesn’t go explored, but gets some attention here. As it turns out, T.E.R.R.Y. is quite jealous of Randy for his progress in his therapy, because Randy really is the robot’s best friend, the only one here he really relates to. T.E.R.R.Y. tries to consult with 88, but dismisses him as sad and depressing, (Which he is) and reaffirms that he wouldn’t really have any friends if Randy left. This, of course, motivates his decision to trip the breaker on Randy’s therapy in the first place. This extra bit of character is told through the lens of comedy, of course, and it’s quite funny to watch, but especially enjoyable because it appeals to the characterization built up in the show.

If you’ve been watching Dream Corp up to this point, you’ll enjoy this episode, without a doubt. It delivers on the fun, but also the character that separates Dream Corp from other bizarro comedies of its genre. Just don’t go expecting too much change from our old friend Randy.