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Ha! The FBI... Nothing but amateurs! I'm afraid you've tangled with someone much worse than the FBI. You've just crossed... mall security. — Sergeant Slab Rankle |
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| Invader Zim Episode | |
| FBI Warning of Doom | |
| |
| Chronology | |
| Previous: | Door to Door |
|---|---|
| Next: | Bolognius Maximus |
| Information | |
| Episode No: | Episode 11b |
| Production No: | 11b |
| Airdate: | Planned airdate: September 14th, 2001[1] Delayed airdate: March 29th, 2002 |
| Credits | |
| Writer(s): | Frank Conniff Jhonen Vasquez |
"FBI Warning of Doom" is the 2nd segment in the 11th episode of the first season of Invader Zim. It was originally going to premiere on September 14th, 2001, however it was delayed. It eventually premiered on March 29th, 2002, on Nickelodeon.
Plot Summary[]
SPOILER WARNING OF DOOM: This section or article may contain spoilers!
Zim sees the warning.
GIR is watching a movie he rented from the local mall for the hundredth time. Upon entering the room, Zim expresses his irritation regarding GIR's movie-rewatching habits, but irritation instantly turns to cold fear as the Irken notices the FBI Warning onscreen.
Zim panics and thinks that the FBI is after him. His fears are only exacerbated when his computer makes false assumptions about the FBI being created to fight against aliens, and he gets an untimely call from the mall demanding the video back. Zim takes the DVD away from GIR and breaks into the mall, desperate to return it before the next day, ignoring GIR's protests.
Rankle spots Zim.
However, this proves easier said than done, since the mall is guarded by an obsessively gung-ho security guard named Sergeant Slab Rankle. Zim makes a run for the DVD return slot, but is captured by the Sergeant's security booby traps, has the DVD confiscated, and subsequently dumped into a holding cell for rule-breakers. With a rousing speech, Zim rallies his fellow inmates to make a bid for escape by climbing on top of each other, forming a human staircase leading up to the chute in the cell's ceiling. Not missing a beat, Zim hops up them and escapes through the hole, leaving the other inmates trapped as they were before.
The mall inmates.
Once free, the Irken dodges the cameras and runs into Rankle's security office. Zim steals back the DVD, and makes a break for the video store, Video Outhouse. Rankle realizes the DVD is missing, and releases his army of zombie soldiers. Zim fears them at first, but when he realizes the zombies are completely brainless, he merely pushes his way through them and deposits the DVD in the return slot.
Rankle is impressed that Zim was able to defeat his zombies, and offers him joint ruling over the mall, but Zim declines and goes home, leaving Rankle alone with his hordes of zombies.
End of Spoilers: There are no further spoilers for this section or article. You can breathe now.
Facts of Doom[]
Cultural References[]
- The scenes with the zombies rampaging through the mall is a reference to Dawn of the Dead, a George A. Romero film.
- Sergeant Slab Rankle's attempts to win Zim over and let him rule alongside him are a reference to Darth Vader's attempt to lure Luke Skywalker over to the Dark Side in Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back.
Trivia[]
- This is one of the only episodes where neither Dib nor Gaz don't make an appearance.
- The bottom of the FBI Warning on the movie GIR is watching contains the words 'Show 11B', which happens to be this episode's production code.
- According to Zim, GIR's watched the movie one hundred times, more or less.
- The Deelishus Weenie restaurant is seen again in the episode "Tak: The Hideous New Girl" where Tak claims that her father owns Deelishus Weenie and uses a giant Deelishus Weenie building for her plans.
- It says Zimpact on the FBI Warning. "Prepare for Zimpact" was an old ad campaign for Invader Zim when it first came out, but was later dropped.
- Some of the zombies are old mall guards.
Things You Might Have Missed[]
- During the credits of the film that GIR watches, an "actor" that shows up is Steve Ressel. The one before that is "Ress Stevel".
- The warning on the screen says: "WARNING OF DOOM! Federal law provides severe civil and criminal penalties for the unauthorized reproduction, distribution, or exhibition of copyrighted motion pictures in any medium. (Title 17, United States Code, Section 501 and 506). The Federal Bureau of Investigation investigates allegations of criminal copyright infringement. They will hunt you down like the dirty monkey you are and force you to wear a moose skin and ride a greased piggy while singing folk tunes. They're forcing me to ride the piggy as I write this. The piggy is smelly!! Show 11B PRINTED IN USA Zimpact Inc. All Rights Reserved"
- When Sgt. Rankle realizes the disk is gone and both of his eyes open, in the eye that's normally closed you can see a little unhappy face.
- When Zim leaves the mall, the exit door closes on a zombie woman's arm.
Changes and Cuts[]
- This episode and its paired episode "Door to Door" were both supposed to first air on September 14, 2001. The airdate was delayed to March 29, 2002 for the following reason: "Door to Door" had a scene which depicted New York in flames during a Virtual Reality scene in the Grouch family's house.
- This episode, along with its paired episode "Door to Door", aired in Australia and the United Kingdom before the United States. It first aired in Australia in 2001.[2]
- iTunes and Amazon Video list the episode as "FBI Warning".
Inconsistencies and Animation Errors[]
- The Deelishus Weenie restaurant inside the mall is spelled Delicious Weenie in the episode, the correct spelling in terms of proper English grammar.
- When Zim yells as he runs out of the living room after seeing the FBI Warning, his mouth doesn't move.