Air Date: October 12th, 2003
After a Labor Day celebration involving flash-frying an entire cow, Master Shake refuses to properly dispose of the frying oil. Instead, he blackmails Carl into helping him dump the entire vat into the woods. Unfortunately, this angers the trees of the forest, who take Shake to court over this insult.
"Revenge of The Trees" contains examples of:
- Bittersweet Ending: On one hand, Shake manages to escape any punishment for polluting the forest and allowing Carl to be skinned alive. On the other hand, the trees kind of deserved being burned down when they were clearly unwilling to give Shake a fair trial.
- Both Sides Have a Point: How Shake and Frylock celebrate Labor Day differently doesn't seem to play favorites at first. On one hand, it's clear nobody else is a fan of Frylock's "T-Bone"note steak. On the other hand, Frylock is right that the massive vat of oil used to fry the entire cow can't be disposed of just by tipping it over on the street, and points out that the waste disposal center is only across the street from the Aqua Teens' house. Frylock ends up being vindicated by the end when Shake's insistent refusal to dispose of the oil properly leads to the hijinks of the episode.
- Call-Forward: Steve makes fun of Dr. Weird by claiming that he'd want someone to fill him completely with barbeque sauce, which Dr. Weird ends up actually ordering Steve to do in "Broodwich". What makes this a Call-Forward and not foreshadowing is that "Broodwich"note was produced earlier than "Revenge of the Trees"note , despite airing later.
- Disgusting Vegetarian Food: Frylock is celebrating Labor Day by grilling "T-Bone"note steaks. None of the other Aqua Teens, nor Carl want anything to do with them.
- Freeze-Frame Bonus: If you look at the initial summons well enough, you can see that "guilty" is written on it, meaning that Master Shake was already deemed guilty of dumping the oil in the forest before the trial even began.
- Gaia's Vengeance: Master Shake polluting a forest by dumping a massive vat of frying oil into it results in the trees there coming to life and taking him to court over it. In an unusual example of this trope, the trees are just as idiotic and cruel as Shake is acting.
- Genuine Human Hide: The trees write their summons and record the transcript of the trial by ripping off Carl's skin, clearly as a role-reversal for humans using trees for paper. And they will rip off more skin if there's too much hair on the piece they have.
- Kangaroo Court: It's very clear that Wood Court is not conducting a fair trial: the Court-Appointed Shrub they give to Shake as a lawyer just demands that he admit his guilt immediately. Despite Carl being no more complicit in polluting the forest than Shake is, they don't even give him a trial at all; they just tie him up and use his skin as paper. And that's just what they're doing on purpose: they forget which of them was supposed to be the stenographer, they don't know what a plea bargain is, and they appear to be genuinely surprised that a law book was written on paper.
- Karma Houdini: Shake ends up getting out of the consequences of both polluting the forest and abandoning Carl to be tortured by the trees, and he is never found guilty on account of the entire court being burnt down.
- Nutritional Nightmare: To celebrate Labor Day, Master Shake decides to flash-fry an entire cow, coated in batter, force-fed pork rolled in ranch dressing, and injected with a mixture of cheddar and pepper-jack cheese.
- Screw This, I'm Outta Here: Eventually, Frylock grows tired of the trees' antics, and just uses his laser eyes to burn them all down, and just grabs Carl and runs away with Shake and Meatwad.
- Tempting Fate: In response to receiving a second summons, Shake boasts that they have no evidence on him, and even then; they're trees:Shake: What are they gonna do; march down over here and get me, or somethin'?
- Vague Age: The unclear age of the Aqua Teens is lampshaded when the trees ask if Shake is a juvenile: Shake attempts to pretend to be an abused child, while Frylock says he's "about 20", only for Shake to try to gamble for a lower age. The judge tree proposes confirming how old Shake is by cutting him in half and counting his rings, at which point Shake admits to at least being an adult.
- When Trees Attack: The plot revolves around a group of trees violently kidnapping Shake and taking him to court over dumping a vat of oil in their forest. Additionally, they capture Carl and use his skin as paper due to his part in helping Shake.
