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Hi! Sorry I'm late; my head's itchy! — Melvin |
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| Invader Zim Episode | |
| Lice | |
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| Chronology | |
| Previous: | Megadoomer |
|---|---|
| Next: | Abducted |
| Information | |
| Episode No: | Episode 17b |
| Production No: | 18b |
| Airdate: | April 26, 2002 |
| Credits | |
| Writer(s): | Rob Hummel |
Plot Summary
SPOILER WARNING OF DOOM: This section or article may contain spoilers!
When at Skool one day, Melvin comes into class late because his head is itchy, Ms. Bitters recognizes it is because of a massive amount of lice infesting his head. Before she can do anything, however, the lice infect the rest of the class, so Ms. Bitters summons the Delouser, Countess von Verminstrasser, who proclaims martial law and confines the children to separate rooms for research. Dib thinks that the Delouser is overreacting and tells her so, but only gets yelled at for being a skeptic. Zim, meanwhile, is completely separated from the other Skoolchildren along with Ms. Bitters for immunity research, because neither of them have any lice. After being handcuffed to Melvin, Dib escapes from the room they were confined to.
While sneaking through the hallways, Dib and Melvin overhear the Countess talking to herself about a lice queen, the supposed source of all lice on Earth. Dib thinks this rant proves she's crazy, and becomes determined to stop her. Unfortunately, upon hearing about the lice queen, Melvin starts panicking and both he and Dib are discovered. Dib drags Melvin along with him as they flee from the Delouser, only to be cornered by her in a classroom.
The Countess is just about to recapture Dib and Melvin when the floor caves in, landing them inside the Lice Queen's nest. Dib realizes the Delouser was right all along, and begs her to save them. She is able to do this once one of her minions figures out that lice die on contact with Zim's skin. The Delouser puts Zim in a device that turns his skin into ammunition, and fires it at the lice queen, killing it and all other lice. The Countess then praises Zim for his "sacrifice" in the fight against lice, saying "Thanks to the bravery of this child, the world will never have to deal with the threat of lice ever again.", completely oblivious to the fact that the kid she's holding is clearly an alien. It seems like things are all over, but Ms. Bitters is still sitting in a room alone when she scratches her head for a second, and is then still again.
End of Spoilers: There are no further spoilers for this section or article. You can breathe now.
Facts of Doom
Cultural References
- When the Countess is about to grind Zim's skin, she says "Close your eyes, baby." This is a reference to the movie Aliens. When Ripley and Newt were up against the Xenomorph Queen, Ripley said the same thing to Newt. Of course in this episode they're fighting the Lice queen.
Trivia
- In this episode, it is revealed that lice die upon coming in contact with Irken skin.
- One female student has dark skin and black hair for this episode and in Season 2, but not in any others.
- This episode is one of the few episodes that doesn't feature GIR.
- This is the first and only episode in which Gretchen talks to Dib and he notices/listens to her.
Cuts & Changes
- This episode was going to be called Lice Nazi (a possible reference to Adolf Hitler's army), then Lice of Doom, but they changed it to just Lice because it was after Megadoomer.
Inconsistencies and Animation Errors
- At one point in the episode, the students in Ms. Bitters' class ran out of the classroom, though they suddenly appear back inside the classroom when the Delouser arrives.
- As Dib and Melvin are walking through the hall, we see the guy with the horn-shaped hair in one of the rooms, shaving a kid's head; but in the next scene, he is walking behind them.
- Melvin arrived late for class in this episode, though he was seen in class earlier when Dib was talking about Galileo.
- When Countess von Verminstrasser is holding Zim up his boots temporarily reappear but are gone in other shots.
Countess von Verminstrasser
- Gaz was playing the Game Slave, although she broke it and threw it away in Game Slave 2, which was earlier in the series.
See also
References