History Recap / MysteryScienceTheater3000S10E01Soultaker

** Mike's brief run down the theater corridor is call-back alllll the way back to the KTMA days when Joel would do the same.

* FridgeLogic: [[spoiler:That Joel is on Soultaker Frank's "list," his evasiveness about how he got to the satellite, the below-referenced tidbit that the restaurant he claims to manage had already closed, and even the fact that he spent movie segments tooling around outside the theater (where there isn't usually air) could suggest that, InUniverse, Joel is dead. What keeps it from being FridgeHorror is that, with [[MinionWithAnFInEvil Frank]] as his Soultaker, you gotta figure he's pretty safe, it's just that he can push elevator buttons but can't be shot... (Still no word on Retsyn.)]]
** [[spoiler: At the end Frank and Bobo are shown playing ring-toss with Bobo's soul, and Bobo is pretty much fine, so we can assume that Joel's OK]]
** [[spoiler: On another note, Dr. Forrester rigged the [=SoL=] to slowly self-destruct after ten years, which happens now, despite the [=SoL=] being over 500 years old by the events of season 8.]]

* MythologyGag
* NoSell: Apparently, Soultaker's are more powerful than Observers.

* SpecialGuest[=/=]TheBusCameBack: Joel Robinson and TV's Frank make guest appearances; TV's Frank is stuck with being a Soultaker, while Joel returns to fix various problems aboard the Satellite of Love.

* Music/JohnnyCash: Referenced quite a bit, due to [[EvilWearsBlack the Soultaker's outfit]].
-->'''Mike''' ''(as the Soultaker is walking down a hospital corridor)'': Because you're mine, I walk the intensive care unit.

* UsefulNotes/MartinVanBuren: A picture of him appears during Joel's attempt of contacting the [=SoL=], as a sign of Cambot malfunctioning.
-->'''Mike:''' Hey, what's goin' on?\\
'''Servo:''' Why, it's Martin Van Buren, our nation's eighth president.

* ShoutOut: Joel mentions that he'd spent a couple years doing pyrotechnics for the band Music/ManOrAstroman (which had done its own ShoutOut to ''[=MST3K=]'' by performing a rendition of the closing "Love Theme" for their 1994 album).

* ContinuityNod: TV's Frank brings up [[http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Recap/MysteryScienceTheater3000S06E24SamsonVsTheVampireWomen Second Banana Heaven]], stating that the politics there caused him to leave to become a Soultaker.

* MarySue: Given that the lead actress wrote the film, there's a couple jokes about her describing her own character as beautifully as possible.

* ActorAllusion: The riffers recognize Joe Estevez from ''Film/{{Werewolf}}'', but it only gets referenced in a few jokes. "Yetiglanchi!"

* CreatorBacklash: By proxy. Some of the original writer's friends wrote reviews on IMDb taking the guys to task for mocking the film, and when the rights expired in 2016 the price was raised too high to justify renewing them, so it's unavailable.

* FandomNod: After hearing about how well Joel's life has gone since he escaped, Mike gets upset and starts asking questions like "What's he have that I don't?" The Bots advise Mike not to compare the two, saying it isn't healthy, in a nod to the massive Joel vs. Mike FanDumb that dominated online discussions of the series in the Internet's infancy.

* TheOtherDarrin: [[LampshadeHanging Lampshaded]] when Joel reacts to Crow's new voice, then approves, stating that proper maintenance means "changing your bowling pin" every so often.

* WhatCouldHaveBeen: As great as it is to see Joel back on the SOL, not having him join Mike and the Bots in the theater for some riffing is a major blown opportunity. Joel explained that he wasn't able to help write any of the riffing, and didn't want to do any scenes that were completely scripted for him.

-->'''Servo:''' Yeah, [[SarahMcLachlan Lilith Fair-ism]].

** Mike's brief run down the theater corridor is call-back alllll the way back to the KTMA days when Joel would do the same.

* HerCodenameWasMarySue: Given that the lead actress wrote the film, there's a couple jokes about her describing her own character as beautifully as possible.

* MarySue: Given that the lead actress wrote the film, there's a couple jokes about her describing her own character as beautifully as possible.

-->'''Servo''': (''as Natalie''): "INTERIOR: BEDROOM. Me, draped across the bed, tousled but tawny. I lay there, hand on my taut tummy-- still pretty, in a worried kind of way."

** [[spoiler: On another note, Dr. Forrester rigged the SoL to slowly self-destruct after ten years, which happens now, despite the SoL being over 500 years old by the events of season 8.]]

* UsefulNotes/MartinVanBuren: A picture of him appears during Joel's attempt of contacting the SoL, as a sign of Cambot malfunctioning.

* FridgeLogic: [[spoiler:That Joel is on Soultaker Frank's "list," his evasiveness about how he got to the satellite, the below-referenced tidbit that the restaurant he claims to manage had already closed, and even the fact that he spent movie segments tooling around outside the theater (where there isn't usually air) could suggest that, InUniverse, Joel is dead. What keeps it from being FridgeHorror is that, with Frank as his Soultaker, you gotta figure he's pretty safe, it's just that he can push elevator buttons but can't be shot... (Still no word on Retsyn.)]]

* UsefulNotes/MartinVanBuren: A picture of him appears twice after the first commercial break, as a sign of Cambot malfunctioning.

* {{Overcrank}}: Since Natalie's undressing scene is in slow motion, Mike and the bots joke that now she has to put her clothes ''on'' in slow motion once the villain appears.

* ContinuityNod: TV's Frank brings up "[[http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Recap/MysteryScienceTheater3000S06E24SamsonVsTheVampireWomen Second Banana Heaven]]", stating that the politics there caused him to leave to become a Soultaker.

* CelebrityResemblance: A woman in the film who's about to die looks like Art Garfunkel, according to Mike and the bots.

* TheAce: Joel fixes the SOL in a few hours, among other great things... to poor Mike's evident chagrin.

** Mike and the 'bots get a lot of mileage out of Vivian Schilling's resemblance to Tonya Harding.

* WhatCouldHaveBeen: As great as it is to see Joel back on the SOL, not having him join Mike and the 'Bots in the theater for some riffing is a major blown opportunity. Joel explained that he wasn't able to help write any of the riffing, and didn't want to do any scenes that were completely scripted for him.