Commentary 15

71. Only to wake on a desert island out of Beetlejuice. No way out, plus the witch-doctor is haunting this dream as well. So we leave him screaming...

72. Sue and Roger are now in the same hospital they created for Joe. Oops. But it's only logical to assume that the prediction Joe had made earlier that 'what they did to others would happen to them' would come true.

Here Roger finally wises up to Sue as another real human being. Of course it helps that they have only thin hospital gowns on. And their regular world is gone. This shakes them a bit, but they are still working to figure it out, like programmers are wired. Still, the stark reality of their situation brings out the human side of them, and so they prepare to make the best of it.

Helen and Joe enter, and re-introduce the Golden Rule premise again, plus the idea that we are all just Self. All as an explanation that they were going to help Roger and Sue get out, as well as use their assistance. The dream they created becomes a Multi-User Game. First a costume change, and then they're off.

73. But we have to check into the adventure dream again. Yes, this is more than a little confusing, perhaps. However, I wasn't going to just leave everything hanging - and we needed a break from that hospital.

Doreen returns while Joe waits, surprising her. As Joe defuses her, he brings her back into the Church proper, where the Father is ready with a native java, laced with goat's cream. Al is up and as charming as ever - and while everyone "knows" Doreen took off, they are all completely forgiving.

But what she was up to is exposed when the father tells them they have visitors in the canyon - apparently knowing this the entire time.

74. Joe, having a question, returns to the library to ask Campbell about the trickster archetype in his 'Hero's Journey'. Of course, Campbell gives him data about the shapeshifter as well, since that is probably what he is actually looking for. We have reference to the character of the person affecting the outcome of the dream. (And if you consider that all the archetypes have their own journey ongoing, this can get really involved...)

75. The Prefect escapes. Signs of a struggle, but the witch-doctor isn't the one who was hurt. And the sharks just continue to swim.

76. This is a classic walkthrough. Between Roger and Sue, they tell you how to play and win this game. All cut and dried.

A note: Roger's phone number is a prime.

I love this part. It is all timed exactly to win the game without having to figure it all out. That's what walkthroughs are for. When Sue explains the motivations for the characters, it gets real interesting - and tells a lot about people who think this world operates by massive conspiracies, machinated by various people in control. (Maybe it does...)

77. The Precept returns to his ruined castle. He's hurt badly, but sucks down a morphine to chill out.

Because he's talking to himself, we can follow his logic. And he sees that the worlds he's created are collapsing. The Anomaly has now told the others exactly how to get out of their dreams - or at least out from under the influence of the Prefect's coding.

However, we now are about to find out what this 'old-style Final Solution' is about. Doesn't look pretty.

78. In the Cartoon farm, Dog and Cat are keeping up with his progress by reading the Funny Papers. (Who needs a computer when you're a cartoon?) And the inside joke is that they know exactly what is going on - perhaps even influencing it, but we never know.

79. Joe returns to the library to get some more information on the Law of Attraction as it affects the universe through the Golden Rule. Again, he hits the deal that you have to give and let go of wanting in order to recieve. And that is completely counter-intuitive to how we've been taught all our lives, isn't it?

80. That counter-intuitive-ness leads him back to the kahuna. Interestingly, it's the kahuna who asks the first questions. In fact, he has to ask several before he can get a question out of Joe. The subject of Ho'oponopono is an interesting one, and well worth the research. As is the concept of Aloha.