The team heads through a laser that changes their pajamas into their everyday outfits when they step through. Larry gets a clown outfit instead, much to his irritation. He throws it off and catches up to the team.
The control room screen flashes, showing that the mission is in 1899 Vienna with Sigmund Freud. Otto explains that Freud was a pioneer in the field of psychotherapy and dream analysis, then notes that he could help Larry. Tuddrussel waves off the notion, stating that the doctors at his academy always told him about his potential mental issues but that they "didn't know what they were talking about".
The team zaps away but appears in a prehistoric time with dinosaurs surrounding them. Larry apologizes and makes a quick adjustment, and the team appears in Dr. Freud's office. Freud himself enters the room, believing the three to be there for an appointment. Otto suggests that Larry tell him about his dream, but Tuddrussel shoves in front of them to inform Freud of his violation of historical continuity. Freud immediately begins to analyze Tuddrussel and concludes that he suffers from paranoid delusions. Otto tries to intervene, but Freud assures him that he will straighten out Tuddrussel.
Freud takes out a watch and hypnotizes Tuddrussel. As he falls into a trance, Freud tells him to become as happy as a chicken. With a snap of a finger, Tuddrussel starts clucking and walking like a chicken, bewildered. The officer begs for help while Larry laughs, amused. Otto asks Freud why he would do this to people. Freud explains that out of all of the methods he used on his troubled patients, hypnotism was the most effective. When people believe they are animals, they don't have any stresses that humans have, so they are always happy.
Freud then offers to show Otto some examples of his cured, carefree patients. He brings the team around town to see his handiwork, and most of the townspeople are behaving like various animals. Suddenly, a man approaches the group and hands Freud a flyer for a town meeting to stop the chaos.
Inside the town hall, citizens are calling out their complaints about how people around them have started behaving like animals. Otto suggests that Freud sneak out of the hall, but Freud stands up to reveal his responsibility of the issue. He introduces Time Squad as his friends and expects a Nobel Prize as a reward for his actions.
Naturally, the townspeople are outraged and chase Freud and Time Squad out of the hall. They hide in Freud's house and Otto tells Freud to call on his patients to help them. Tuddrussel clucks to communicate that he will stay and fight against the townspeople, and he and Freud's patients proceed to chase them away. Freud asks Tuddrussel what he can do to repay him, and Tuddrussel manages to say that he wants to be a human again because as an animal, he is a freak. Freud's patients share the sentiment, so Freud changes them all back to normal. One of the patients says that though he is a human, he is still depressed.
Otto suggests that Larry tell Dr. Freud about his nightmare. Larry says that in his dream, he is alone in a dark room when he sees a table with an ambrosia salad on it. He wants to eat it with a fork, but instead, finds a shoe. Freud says the dream shows Larry is crazy, but Otto says it resembles how Larry doesn't quite fit in in the world, and that he wants to be loved. Larry exclaims that it is true, realizing he is cured. One of Freud's patients calls out, sharing one of his odd dreams. Freud, now interested in dream analysis, shares his interpretation. The townspeople start calling out their odd dreams, and Freud analyzes them immediately, even when there is no evidence to his conclusions.
Freud then says that Tuddrussel suffers from an overactive superego, forcing his will on people around him. He says this makes Larry hate him, and that Larry suffers from self-doubt, so he is passive-aggressive. This forces Otto to relieve the tension between the two, so Otto is losing his childhood, and will feel the loss as an adult. Otto starts to tear up at this realization. Freud then bids the Time Squad farewell, and the disgruntled team complains about psychiatrists while leaving.
Tropes
- All Psychology Is Freudian: Well, obviously.
- Freudian Excuse: Dr. Freud believes that his patient's dreams are deeply rooted in their past transgressions and trauma in childhood.
- Hates Their Parent: According to Freud, the police officer's dream of him being a watermelon is meant to represent that he hates his mother. He then admits he's right.
- Hypno Fool: Freud uses hypnosis to make the people of Vienna act like animals.
- Hypno Pendulum: Freud uses his pocket watch to hypnotize his patients.
- Mood Whiplash: At the end of the episode, Freud cheerfully tells Larry and Tuddrussel their flaws in detail, and that their bickering will cause Otto to lose his childhood because he'll spend all of it trying to play the role of meditator to them. All three are left unnerved.
- More Hypnotizable Than He Thinks: Tuddrussel swears it's all a bunch of crap and it doesn't have an effect on him... until it works.
- Nightmare Sequence: We watch Larry's dream when he explains it to Freud.
- Pop-Culture Pun Episode Title: The episode's title is a reference to The Island of Doctor Moreau.
- Recurring Dreams: Larry had been plagued by this particular nightmare for an unspecified amount of time.
- Torches and Pitchforks: Vienna's citizens form an angry mob at the discovery that it was Dr. Freud who had turned their loved ones into animals.
- "The Reason You Suck" Speech: At the end of the episode, Dr. Freud cheerfully outlines Larry and Tuddrussel's flaws and how their bickering will negatively affect Otto's life."Oh, and incidentally, Officer Tudrussel? You suffer from an overactive superego, which causes you to force your will on those around you. This in turn makes Larry resent you. But, Larry suffers from acute self-doubt, which makes him passive-aggressive and manipulative in nature. Forcing Otto to overcompensate for this tension by trying to pacify each of your insecure egos. Forced into the parental role between two bickering siblings, Otto is slowly being robbed of his childhood, a situation which will ultimately cause him to feel a great sense of loss in his adult life. Okay, bye!"
