Invasion of the Idiot Dog Brain

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“Invasion of the Idiot Dog Brain”
Invader Zim episode
Zim eyes GIR with suspicion.
Episode no.	Season 1 Episode 8A
Written by	Rob Hummel
Directed by	Steve Ressel
Production no.	08B
Original airdate	August 24, 2001
Episode chronology
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List of Invader Zim episodes

"Invasion of the Idiot Dog Brain" is an episode of Invader Zim originally produced as episode 8B, but aired as episode 8A on August 24, 2001.

[edit] Plot

The episode opens with Zim reporting to the Almighty Tallest on his recent security issues as a small child walks up behind him. Zim turns, confused, as the child's mother then walks in, scolds him for having wandered off, and escorts the young boy out. Zim, embarrassed, disconnects the transmission with the Tallest. He turns to GIR, explaining to him that the security problems must be stemming from a defective artificial intelligence brain and that they need to go down and replace it. GIR replies with, "tacos!" having just watched a taco commercial.

Zim and GIR proceed down to the main system core to perform the repairs. Zim explains that he needs GIR to monitor the download conduit, and GIR replies with, "taco, taco, taco." Zim continues with the instructions, this time calling the data beam a 'taco beam' to try to hold GIR's attention. GIR turns red (duty mode coloring) and starts to watch the beam intently. Moments after Zim goes to perform the operation, GIR turns back to his usual cyan coloring and loses focus, pulling a squeaky toy moose out of his head and playing with it to amuse himself. As Zim prepares to replace the house's brain, GIR drops his moose, which falls just on the other side of the beam. As GIR reaches under the beam to try to get his toy, Zim plugs the new brain in. The energy surge of the new brain travels down to the conduit just as GIR slips into the path of the beam, interrupting the power flow. This causes a powerful feedback surge that destroys the new brain and sends Zim flying. Zim recovers and calls out to GIR, who is now motionless and completely without color. Zim goes over to him to investigate and when he taps the little robot, GIR falls to the floor with a clank. Frustrated, Zim decides to get a new brain for the house first then work on fixing GIR later.

Zim then calls for the elevator but gets only distorted beeps in response. He calls out again and this time hears GIR's voice telling him to "say, please." Zim quickly realizes that GIR's consciousness has been downloaded into the house and the little robot is now in control of his base. As Zim thinks aloud, GIR finds his moose and, using a robotic arm, begins squeezing it to make it squeak, and then giggles. GIR then notices that he's now big enough to squeeze Zim like a toy, and then proceeds to do so. Zim, being crushed by the powerful robotic arm, pleads for GIR to let him go, crying out, "my organs!" Zim escapes the robotic arm as several more come down from the ceiling to come after him. Zim rushes to the elevator, forcing the doors open and hurrying inside before the robot arms get him.

In the elevator, Zim tries to get GIR to take him to the equipment room. As GIR sings with the elevator music, he insists Zim do a little dance to it, increasing the volume to emphasize his earnestness. Zim, reluctantly, bops around for a moment to appease the little robot. GIR, satisfied, then sends the elevator car racing up to the top floor and into the kitchen, flinging Zim up into the ceiling as it comes to a sudden stop. As Zim berates him for sending him to the wrong floor, GIR then notices that he can control all the kitchen appliances and proceeds to start them all at once. "I gonna make toast!" he exclaims as he pops toast out of the toaster into Zim's face. As Zim continues to yell at him, GIR thinks his master is just sad and decides to share with him something that makes him feel happy—TV. Several TV monitors come out of the walls and surround Zim, playing cartoons and commercials at full volume. Zim then decides to try to wait GIR out, hoping he'll get bored or tired and give up playing around.

One year later, Zim is still waiting for GIR to give up, finally caving in a fit of hysteria and crying out, "the madness, the madness!" Just then, a commercial comes on for the Krazy Taco, a fast food taco restaurant. GIR, still obsessed with tacos, decides he must get some. To Zim's horror, the house begins to rumble and shake and winds up disconnecting from the underground half of the base. As GIR cries out, "taaaacooooos!" the house rises from the ground on four legs and shakes itself off (much like a dog would) and heads for the nearest Crazy Taco. Zim pleads with GIR to turn around but to no avail. As GIR heads off into the city, he wreaks havoc along the way and attracts the attention of the police. Zim continues to plead with GIR to return to the base as the police give chase. As Zim asks if a taco is worth endangering the "mission", GIR pauses for a moment, and decides he needs a giant burrito too. The house rears up on its hind legs, GIR's voice cries out, "buuuuriiiitoooo!" and it roars off once again.

They finally arrive at Krazy Taco and GIR orders his food as Zim continues to plead with and berate him. When his order arrives ("So that's two large tacos, a burrito and a medium 'GIR take us back to the base right now.' You want a drink with that?"), GIR realizes he needs Zim to give him the tacos. Seeing this as the opportunity he's been waiting for, Zim taunts GIR with the tacos and tells him if they return to the base, "oh, such tacos will I give!" GIR quickly turns tail and jumps over the fleet of police cars that have been chasing them, heading back home at full speed. The police continue the chase but are left behind when GIR jumps over a mall and escapes. They return to the base and the house reconnects itself. Inside, a robot arm is holding a taco and banging it against one wall after another as GIR cries out, "where's my mouth?". Zim is then finally able to talk GIR into obeying him long enough to return him to his robot body.

Back on the Massive, the Almighty Tallest receive another transmission from Zim, who explains that things are back to normal, "if possible, things are even more normal now than they ever were." In the background, we see GIR back in his body, wearing a Crazy Taco hat, happily eating his tacos (and doing a Snoopy dance).

[edit] Trivia

• On the DVD animatics, it revealed that originally when GIR makes the house get up and shake off the mud, Jhonen Vasquez and Steve Ressel were originally going to be hit with mud.
• Poop Cola comes in all of the flavors Coca Cola has. It even has "Classic Poop" and "New Poop", alluding to New Coke.
• This is the first episode that you can see a Minimoose-like character. Minimoose comes up later in the episode "The Most Horrrible Christmas Ever" even though it was supposed to have its very own episode (unaired). In this episode Minimoose appears as a brown sqeeze toy (seen above in picture) though in the later episodes it is purple.
• This is also the only episode where Zim stays inside the base the whole time.
• Zim yells "My organs!" yet he has only one super organ(a squeedley-spootch)