Former Carlton skipper Marc Murphy sealed a thrilling upset win over Fremantle, kicking a clutch banana goal with 31 seconds remaining at Optus Stadium on Sunday evening.
The Blues won by just four points, 11.13 (79) to 11.9 (75).
The Dockers held a 12-point lead at three-quarter time and the Blues threatened to cause a boilover when they took the lead through Dale Thomas with less than three minutes remaining.
But the home side immediately hit back when Sam Switkowski snapped truly before the Blues responded with Murphy's winner.
The Blues suffered an early blow when emerging superstar Charlie Curnow went down clutching his right knee following a collision with Fremantle's Ethan Hughes midway through the first quarter.
Carlton head of football Brad Lloyd revealed the forward had suffered a low-grade medial ligament strain, but he took no further part in the game.
The Blues' victory was their second in three games under interim coach David Teague and has lifted them off the bottom of the ladder for the first time since round eight.
Murphy was outstanding, racking up 35 touches, while tagger Ed Curnow won an incredible 16 clearances and 32 disposals to lift the midfield brigade after the Dockers' engine room ran all over the visitors early.
It was a win to savour for the Blues while Fremantle was left lamenting an opportunity to shore up a top-eight spot.
The Dockers could have finished the round a game clear inside the top eight but they are now only clinging to eighth spot by percentage ahead of Port Adelaide and Essendon and are heading into a bumper RAC Derby against West Coast next week.
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Superstar skipper Nat Fyfe (29 disposals) was in imperious touch, with all nine of his possessions contested, and with white-hot Michael Walters (17, two goals) riding shotgun it was all Fremantle at the first change.
But in a remarkable twist of events, the Blues defied all expectations and flipped the script.
Whatever Teague said at the break clearly worked, with Carlton pumping the ball inside 50 on 17 occasions before Freo entered the attacking arc.
Murphy and tagger Ed Curnow got to work at the coalface, while defenders Jacob Weitering and Caleb March set up a wall to lock the ball in.
The Blues drilled four goals before Brennan Cox steadied the ship for the Dockers, who went into half-time 10 points up.
It was an arm-wrestle in the third term, with neither side giving an inch.
The Blues hit the front for the first time after a dubious free kick paid to Matthew Kennedy, who then snapped brilliantly from the pocket, at the 11-minute mark.
But a brace of majors from recalled Cam McCarthy (four goals) re-established some breathing space for the home side, and they went to the final break with a 12-point buffer.
Playing his first game since round seven after Jesse Hogan (foot) went down, McCarthy had a key part to play late, setting up Michael Walters for a goal and playing a hand in Switkowski's major.
But Murphy kicked the sealer and the Blues will cross their fingers scans confirm their hopes that Curnow, who was coming off a seven-goal bag against the Dogs, only has a low-grade medial strain.
MEDICAL ROOM
Fremantle: Young ruckman Sean Darcy came off in the last term with a sore right arm after a collision. Superstar Nat Fyfe copped a blow to the head from Matthew Kreuzer in the third term which knocked him around but he stayed on the park.
Carlton: Charlie Curnow immediately clutched his right knee after a first-quarter collision with Ethan Hughes and hobbled from the field and down to the rooms while Mitch McGovern was also down in the rooms after a collision with Griffin Logue.
NEXT UP
The Dockers remain at home next Saturday night and host West Coast in a showpiece RAC Derby 50 – arguably the most important crosstown clash since late 2015 – while the Blues will host Melbourne at the MCG on Sunday in a bottom-three contest.
FREMANTLE 5.2 6.3 8.8 11.9 (75)
CARLTON 0.3 4.5 6.8 11.13 (79)
GOALS
Fremantle: McCarthy 4, Walters 2, Matera, Fyfe, Cox, Tucker, Switkowski
Carlton: Kennedy 2, Gibbons, Petrevski-Seton, Dow, McGovern, Casboult, Silvagni, Simpson, Thomas, Murphy
BEST
Fremantle: Fyfe, Ryan, Blakely, McCarthy, Langdon, Hughes
Carlton: Murphy, Curnow, Walsh, Plowman, Kreuzer, Thomas
INJURIES
Fremantle: Nil
Carlton: C.Curnow (knee)
Reports: Nil
Umpires: Margetts, O'Gorman, Brown
Official crowd: 37,293 at Optus Stadium
