“You mustn’t be afraid to dream a little bigger, darling.” - It’s a solo mission this week as Ian takes the lead in our 291st episode, descending through dreamscapes, spinning tops, and subconscious heists in Christopher Nolan’s mind-bending Inception (2010). Liam, Megs, Kev, and Georgia? They’re all trapped in deeper dream layers, and Ian’s holding Level 1 until someone figures out how to kick them back to reality.

We’re trading banana peels and baseball anthems for snow fortresses and Paris folding in on itself as we discuss:

• Why Inception still stands as one of Nolan’s most ambitious films—and whether the world has caught up to its complexity.
• Nolan is a genius of narrative construction, but are there times where genius needs governance to ensure the story remains accessible for the masses?
• Why do the subsequent dream layers respect the science required to access the first dream—and why do they stack so neatly when logic suggests they shouldn’t?
• How Inception violates the golden rule of introducing a “superpower” (in this case, a key ability) and then never using it again for the rest of the movie.
• The art of lucid dreaming, and how being alone this week means Ian can finally reveal what his recurring dream looks like (spoiler: it involves movie theatres).
• Which dream layer steals the show—and which feels like the bathroom break level.
• The ongoing debate: does the ending mean something definitive, or is that missing the point?
• Why Inception works as both a blockbuster and an intimate story about loss, guilt, and letting go.
• How Hans Zimmer’s score became a cultural event—and why the “BRAAAM” sound is still echoing through cinema today.
• And finally, whether Inception is the Best Film Ever—or just a beautiful puzzle box we’ll keep spinning forever.

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