An experiment of Zim's gone wrong sends all three teams into the world of TV.
Tropes:
- Call-Back:
- Mention is made of the Children of the Bright and Shining Saucer, with Skoodge wondering if they're still worshipping Phil, as was revealed back in the Season 1 finale.
- The main plot is kicked off by Team Save Earth destroying Zim's latest machine, which sucks everyone in and takes them to Another Dimension. The fact that this is the same as "Through the Looking Glass" is lampshaded.
- Eldritch Abomination: The Scary Monkey is revealed to be an other-dimensional being called Dqxagnmklormoc the Devourer ("Dave" to his friends) which feeds on the undeveloped intelligence of his viewers.
- Enemy Mine: A downplayed example, in that the three teams only work together to escape the TV reality due to lack of other options.
- Failed a Spot Check: Zim's team somehow missed that they were within eyesight of Tak's base while trying to enact their newest plan.
- Foreshadowing: GIR is watching the Scary Monkey Show at the beginning of the chapter. The climax sees the group meeting the actual Scary Monkey.
- Humans Are Morons: Dave explains that while he feeds on underdeveloped human intelligence, he's only able to do so because most humans don't do anything to nourish theirs, saying they're plenty stupid without him.
- Ignored Expert: Everyone ignores Steve when he tries to explain that nothing they do will kill Kane, only slow him down temporarily, despite him being an expert in horror movies.
- I Meant to Do That: After returning to the real world, Zim claims "victory" stating his true plan was to finally destroy Dave, the Scary Monkey, the whole time. Despite this being a blatant lie, Zim apparently doesn't remember his original plan to brainwash every dog in the city, leaving everyone else to ponder if Zim is tripping over his own lies or if he somehow managed to edit his own memories on the spot and is beliving his own lies.
- Mythology Gag: Floopsy Bloops Shmoopsy is from Issue 20 of the comics.
- Noodle Incident: Tak offhandedly mentions having once tried to spread madness-inducing drugs through cocktail weenies, only to find out that it doesn't work.
- Offscreen Teleportation: The slasher villain Kane does this at one point while chasing the group, which Steve writes up to poor editing.
- One-Winged Angel: When Dave decides to kill the group, he grows into a 20 foot tall Cthulhu-style monstrosity.
- Screw This, I'm Outta Here: At the end of the chapter, after returning to the real world, an exhausted Tak just gives up and goes home.
- Shout-Out:
- Tak and Tenn flatly revealing that Zim's team was carrying out their new plan within eyesight of the former's base is based on a similar exchange from an episode of Teen Titans (2003) involving a plot by Doctor Light.
- When listing the things that he'd prefer the Children of the Bright and Shining Saucer worship instead of him, Zim mentions a rock shaped like a face.
- Of all the parodies, the only specific ones are Flag Day, which is based on Friday the 13th, with mention of Oklahoma Power Saw Slaughter, which is based on The Texas Chainsaw Massacre.
- After returning to the real world with GIR apparently trapped in the interdimensional void forever, the portal opens one more time with GIR shooting out, claiming the other entities in the void didn't want him. This is similar to an episode of The Grim Adventures of Billy & Mandy, when Billy said the same thing after being kicked out by Yog-Sothoth.
- Take That!:
- Steve at one point dismisses slasher movies as having one-dimensional characters that only exist to be moved around until they die in entertaining ways. The author explains that this is his opinion of most movies in this particular Sub-Genre (while stating he likes the sub-genre in general).
- When the group ends up in Floopsy Bloops Shmoopsy from Issue 20 of the comic series, which is the author's second least favorite issue, it's dismissed as a terrible show, and then Zim blows them up.
- Tom the Dark Lord: The Eldritch Abomination Dqxagnmklormoc the Devourer is known to his friends as "Dave".
- Too Spicy for Yog-Sothoth: GIR is so stupid that he's actually poisonous to Dave's intelligence feeding. When GIR's tossed into his mouth, he explodes hard enough to expel everyone back into reality. While Dave initially manages to reform, GIR tuning into the show when he tries again is enough to seemingly destroy him for good. Also, apparently the reason GIR managed to return to reality after the first incident is that whatever entities were in the interdimensional void didn't want him.
- Trapped in TV Land: The entire plot of the episode is that the three teams get sucked into the TV dimension and have to move between shows and movies to try and find a way out.
- Who Writes This Crap?!: Ying gives a politer version of this ("who writes this nonsense?") in reaction to the soap opera the group ends up in.
- You Have GOT to Be Kidding Me!: Zim's reaction to ending up in front of the Scary Monkey.
