Dylan and Sal, mega-fans of the series Star Quest, are thrilled and determined to participate when the director plans to film an episode in Odyssey. However, the opportunity drives a wedge between them when Sal gets chosen for a part over Dylan, and then a miscommunication causes a gigantic robot prop to rampage through town.
This episode includes examples of the following tropes:
- A.I. Is a Crapshoot: The giant robot that was created by Whittaker for Star Quest gets Eugene's game disc installed by mistake and goes on a rampage with Dylan and Sal inside it, even after the disc is removed.
- Ascended Fanboy: Invoked; Dylan and Sal want to get a part in the episode Star Quest is filming in Odyssey. Dylan auditions as the driver and voice of the prop robot but gets outshined by Sal.
- Humongous Mecha: The giant robot Whittaker built for Star Quest, which soon goes on a rampage.
- Imagine Spot: The episode ends with Dylan and Sal, still friends and big fans of the program, role-playing another adventure. Their clothing and surroundings change to match their imaginations.
- "King Kong" Climb: Because Dylan accidentally puts Eugene's King Kong knockoff video game into the robot's programming slot, it goes wild, grabs Sal, and decides to climb up Odyssey's tallest building.
- Rubber-Forehead Aliens: The alien race threatening the Synergize has duck bills to help differentiate them from humans. Whit lampshades the prostheses while talking to Eugene, who was cast as an extra. The young scientist says he isn't worried; his race has Nerves of Steel. Whit, laughing, quips that they also have beaks of rubber.
- Show Within a Show: Star Quest is an in-universe science fiction program.
- Skewed Priorities: The director is more impressed by the drama and intensity of the robot's performance than concerned when it goes off the rails, dragging Dylan and Sal along with it.
- Where No Parody Has Gone Before: Star Quest is clearly a riff on Star Trek: The Original Series. It concerns a captain surnamed Quirk, who travels through space in the starship Synergize with a stoic scientist and a Scottish engineer. The show even copies Classic Trek's low-budget special effects.
