You are no commander; you are a threat to the mission! Your methods are stupid! Your progress has been stupid! Your intelligence is stupid! For the sake of the mission, you must be terminated! — GIR |
Invader Zim Episode | |
GIR Goes Crazy and Stuff | |
Chronology | |
Previous: | The Sad, Sad Tale of Chickenfoot |
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Next: | Dib's Wonderful Life of Doom |
Information | |
Episode No: | Episode 19a |
Production No: | 17b |
Airdate: | May 24, 2002 |
Credits | |
Writer(s): | Eric Trueheart |
"GIR Goes Crazy and Stuff" is the 1st segment in the 19th episode of the first season of Invader Zim. It first premiered on May 24, 2002, on Nickelodeon.
Plot Summary[]
SPOILER WARNING OF DOOM: This section or article may contain spoilers!
When Zim attempts to taint the Earth's beef supply with sewer water, the plan is ruined by GIR's typical wacky antics. Tired and furious of his robot's malfunctions, Zim decides to increase the power on GIR’s behavioral modifier, which will permanently keep him in Duty Mode. This idea works only because Zim cranks GIR up to a "dangerously high level" - this proves to be a mistake later.
To test GIR's new-found functionality, Zim commands him to investigate a police siren. But instead of gathering information, GIR attacks the police car and throws it through the wall of Zim's Base with the cop (Mary's father, apparently) tied up in his own seat belt. Because the cop sees Zim and GIR out of their disguises, Zim replaces his brain with that of a squid's in an attempt to erase his memory and maintain their secret identities.
During the memory transplant, however, GIR starts to question Zim's intelligence and therefore his authority. When Zim orders GIR to "monitor Earth broadcasts", he does so only reluctantly, and even has to force himself to address Zim as "Sir". Finally tired of Zim's methods, GIR comes to the conclusion that he is not being utilized properly and makes for the nearest library to gather further information.
Meanwhile, the cop wakes up with his new brain as Squidman, who is unhappy about being human and badly wishes to return to the sea. As Zim is explaining to Squidman that he's in a hospital and not an alien base, his walkie-talkie goes off, reporting that a "flying metal child is draining the brains of citizens". Zim immediately realizes the police are talking about GIR, and takes Squidman with him to the library. When they get there, GIR is completely out of control, draining the knowledge from humans' brains and blowing his cover.
Zim commands GIR to stop, but his former robot slave attacks him. Zim runs through the library, trying to escape GIR, with almost no help from Squidman. Just when it seems GIR is about to finish Zim off, however, Squidman somehow squirts ink into GIR's eyes, and Zim is able to get GIR back to normal while he's distracted. After everything is back to the way it was, Zim and GIR take Squidman back to the sea as requested, only to "get eaten by a shark", as stated by GIR.
End of Spoilers: There are no further spoilers for this section or article. You can breathe now.
Facts of Doom[]
Cultural References[]
- Zim stealing cows is a reference to the "rash of cattle mutilations that had been reported in the news" at the time.[1]
- When GIR is locked into Duty Mode, his behavior and the music that plays during the scenes are references to the film The Terminator.
- GIR's line upon being blinded is nearly identical to a phrase that the Daleks from Doctor Who were notorious for making whenever their vision was obstructed.
- The plot of this episode is similar to the Dexter’s Laboratory episode “Ultrajerk 2000” in which a robot named Ultrabot 2000 saw Dexter as “obsolete”, questioned his intelligence and tried to kill him, similar to how GIR in duty mode did to Zim.
Trivia[]
- This is the third episode where GIR has a prominent role, the first being "Walk of Doom" and the second "Invasion of the Idiot Dog Brain".
- Ironically, despite the title, this episode is the only time GIR is really fully functional; in every other episode he has been "crazy".
- Another irony is that the Tallest saved Zim's life by not providing him with an actual SIR Unit.
- Yet another irony is that despite GIR being rational for most of the episode, he did cause two situations where the mission was put in danger, first with Officer Squidman and then the library mayhem, things that GIR wouldn’t have done outside of duty mode.
- "Dance with us, GIR! Dance with us into oblivion!" was an ad-libbed line in the recording booth.[1]
- While GIR was in duty mode, he never wore his green dog disguise while Zim (who he viewed as "stupid") actually wore his skool boy disguise when around the humans.
- Based on what Squidman said, there is presumably a galactic battle where Zim, GIR, and Squidman took part in while going to the beach. This is one of three times that presumed adventures took place but were never shown; the other two were in "Tak: The Hideous New Girl" and "Gaz, Taster of Pork".
- This episode reveals that the Voot Runner has two tractor beams.
- This episode is sometimes mistakenly called "GIR's Gone Crazy" on closed captioning.
- The episode is incorrectly listed as "GIR's Gone Crazy and Stuff" on Amazon Video and iTunes.
- A game on Nicktoons.com was based on this episode, called Good GIR Gone Bad. The game is no longer playable as the host site, Nicktoons.com, has since been shut down and the game was not relocated to Nick.com like most of the site's content.
- This is one of the few episodes that Dib doesn't take part in, although he is mentioned and seen as a hologram. However, Dib doesn't physically appear in this episode.
- This isn't the last time GIR would try to kill Zim. Issue 22 and Issue 23 of the comic series had GIR once more attempting to eliminate Zim. Coincidentally, this episode and the issues were both written by Eric Trueheart.
- Zim mentioned being afraid of seeing what's inside GIR'S insane mind in this episode. He later got to see what was actually inside of it in Issue 23.
Changes and Cuts[]
- During the library battle scene, GIR was supposed to be covered in blood while floating with the data canister draining humans, which is where Bloody GIR originated from. Nickelodeon would not allow the image, so the crew put hidden images of it throughout the series which can be found if one is vigilant.
Things You Might Have Missed[]
- A Bloody GIR can be found when the pink tractor beam picking up the cow is aimed towards the barn. It can be seen as a very small hidden image on the top right cloud in the top left corner of the cloud.
- When GIR absorbs all the knowledge in the library, you can briefly see Dib as a monkey if you pause at the right time.
- When GIR is observing the TV, it first shows footage from "Battle of the Planets" on the monitors, then various TV shows, and then is heard playing the theme from the Krazy Taco restaurant as he says: "I will show my master how information retrieval is DONE!"
- The largest monitor shows a scene at a restaurant. The waiter asks "Do you suffer from intestinal itching?" to which the man sitting at the table replies "I do."
- Mr. Elliot was seen in the same commercial, although with gray hair, hinting he moonlights as an actor.
- At the end of the episode, when GIR says "He's gettin' eaten by a shark!" he seems to be happy about it for some reason.
- One of the candy bars in the snack machine is called 'Milk', while there's another up at the top that is simply labelled 'Candy'.
- When Zim is getting the Behavioral Modulator, GIR's head rotates 360 degrees.
- GIR's head does this again in Enter the Florpus.
- The song from the end of "Walk of Doom" plays when GIR puts a sombrero on the first cow Zim lifts up. However, it's played in B-flat major, whereas in "Walk of Doom" it was played in C major.
Inconsistencies and Animation Errors[]
- When Zim is slammed into the snack machine, Zim's pants are pink instead the usual black.
- When GIR starts saying "Bye" to the squid-man, he only has one leg.