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1Headscratchers for ''WesternAnimation/DextersLaboratory''.
2
3The movie ''WesternAnimation/EgoTrip'' has [[Headscratchers/EgoTrip its own page]].
4----
5!!The Mudpie
6* The old Apple, Cherry, Blueberry R2 clue Dee Dee left for Dexter to end up eating a mud pie, now how in the heck does that make sense. I'm no maths genius - far from it - but I looked up R2 on Website/TheOtherWiki and found it to mean the "coefficient of determination" and there didn't seem anything to do with pi in it, although that play on words was invoked for the joke. Can someone more versed in high-end calculus or such tell me how pi relates to the coefficient of determination? I mean, it might have something to do with it, but seeing as Dexter put the clue into his computer to solve it, maybe Dexter's not as smart as we all thought (although how he makes his lab dimensionally transcendental is beyond me too - [[DidYOuJustPunchOutCthulhu did he mug a]] JustForFun/TimeLord [[DidYouJustPunchOutCthulhu for the technology]]?)
7** R2 should be read as "R squared". So a list of flavors followed by "R squared" would immediately make you think of pi(e) to complete the formula (pi*r^2, the area of a circle.)
8** Not to nitpick, but you seem to have gotten episodes mixed up. The mud pie came from the epoisode when their mother was sick; Dee Dee tried to do cooking and made a ''literal'' mud pie. The clue you mentioned led Dexter to eat the apple, cherry, and blueberry pies that the mother had just finished baking.
9
10!!The Toll Guy's grudge
11* In the episode where Dexter infiltrates a photo processing place James Bond-style, what did the guy at the toll gate have against Dexter?
12** Perhaps nothing. Maybe he like that to some customers.
13** NoodleIncident maybe.
14*** Perhaps like the ice cream man, Dexter paid him with a giant jar of pennies and through no fault of Dexter's, it caused him some bad experience that caused a deep seated hatred?
15** There was no personal hatred involved. The entire photo developing operation was shown to be a supervillain-like organization. In trying to prevent the film from being processed, Dexter became a threat to that operation.
16
17!!Why doesn't she stay out?
18* I don't know if they ever revealed this on the show but is there a reason why Dee Dee keeps going into Dexter's Lab? I mean what is in there that she keeps coming back for?
19** She wants to play with him, but always get distracted by whatever she sees in the lab.
20** I always figured she just liked to troll him.
21** I agree with the first comment. For some reason, she loves the little jerk. (Blood is thicker than water...)
22** My thought: combination of the two. Other episodes show they do care for each other, but... well, they're siblings.
23** She likes playing with the high-tech gear (even if this just means hitting buttons and smashing things apart). She sometimes goes there for fun even when Dexter isn't around, and it's always for this reason.
24*** One episode said she comes in to try to convince him to be a kid, so that might be part of it. However, as per another episode, secretly, he actually likes it when she come in his lab.
25
26!!Why hasn't he memory-wipe Deedee
27* Ok, this one would question Dexter's common sense and thinking but, it's established that Dexter does have a device that if his parents ever find out about the secret laboratory, he would use it to erase their memory of it, now... WHY HASN'T HE USED THE DEVICE ON DEE DEE? If he did then not only would she not be in there but she would even forget it's existence. Either Dexter never thought of it nor he probably has a reason to allow her to keep the knowledge of Dexter's Lab.
28** One episode showed that without Dee Dee, Dexter would just end up getting bored of the same routine every day. In one episode, Dee Dee is abducted by aliens, which Dexter is happy with, until he spends a while without her, gets bored, and goes to rescue her.
29** Because he flat-out misses her if she DOES stay out of his lab too long. He didn't rescue her from the aliens because he was bored, he rescued her because he was lonely without her (his words). Also, her "loud annoying behavior" actually helps him to focus on his work (again, Dexter's words). Those two didn't fight each other ALL of the time. Several episodes demonstrated that they actually share a deep sibling bond.
30*** More specifically, a good portion of his waking hours are spent repairing/recapturing/undoing her numerous screw-ups. No Dee Dee = no playing Mr.Fix-it = too much free time. This actually mirrors real life: most young children will soon get bored and/or into trouble without some kind of external direction. Even , or specially, if they're little Einsteins.
31*** It's also possible that Dexter didn't invent the memory eraser until fairly recently. Using that eraser would work to erase his parents memories of the lab when they've known about it only a few minutes to a few hours, however that wouldn't really work with Dee Dee. Dee Dee has been shown to have been going to Dexter's Lab and messing around with it seemingly every day for YEARS, that means the memory eraser would have to be used to remove years worth of memories in order for that to work, and there's no way Dee Dee, as ditzy as she is, wouldn't notice that several hours of each day of several years straight are gone. That's assuming the best case scenario, where the [[LaserGuidedAmnesia memory eraser is precise and effective enough to ONLY remove particular topics]] and not just EVERYTHING, in which case Dexter would have to remove several years worth of friendships, schooling and so on from Dee Dee's memory.
32*** Oh yeah, let's not forget one other thing, Dexter frequently uses Dee Dee as a test subject for his inventions, something he wouldn't be able to (ethically) do if she no longer knew about the lab. That, and the fact that many times when Dee Dee destroys Dexter's inventions it's because she unintentionally exposes some major flaw in them, which a good inventor would find a very useful thing to know.
33*** This troper just thought of this but besides Dee Dee being allowed to remember the Lab for test subjecting, what if she's allowed to remember the lab because Dexter might will it to her if anything ever happened to him just like in the episode "Critical Gas".
34*** Dexter just did that because he wanted to make Dee Dee happy before he died, not because he would give it to her otherwise. You'll notice during the scene in which he gives it to Dee Dee Dexter doesn't look happy about it. Dexter would probably Will the lab and it's inventions to either his decendant or to the scientific community at large, depending on his situation at the time.
35** Another explanation could be that the device can only erase very recent memories, and by the time he created it, it was too late to use it on Dee Dee.
36*** Or it just don't work on Dee-Dee?
37
38!!How old are the two?
39* Do Dexter and Dee-Dee have canon ages?
40** I think that I read something that said 8 and 13 respectivly, but I could be wrong.
41** An info-book I read somewhere said they were fourth and sixth graders, which makes sense considering they apparently go to the same school.
42----
43* Speaking of ages, how old is Mandark supposed to be? I refuse to believe a kid Dexter's age can be that tall.
44** Well, Dexter seems unusually short. It's possible that they are the same age, just at opposite ends of the height spectrum.
45** Concept art for TheMovie listed Dexter as 22 when Mandark was 24, so he is older. It's highly possible that Dexter skipped a grade and Mandark couldn't.
46*** Mandark seems like he's betwixt Dexter and Dee-Dee's ages, younger than Dee-Dee but older than Dexter, regardless, not by much.
47
48!!That's not how that should work?
49* In the episode ''Oh Brother'', if Dee-Dee is stated to be sixth-grade, why does her male form look like a 19 or 20-year-old man? Not to mention the attempts at dealing with transgender issues in a [[WhatDoYouMeanItsForKids supposedly kids' cartoon]]. As for the physique? Is that realistic? Not in terms of animation, rather more that this is PlayedForLaughs, not PlayedForDrama. A weird, weird episode, that certainly is full of Headscratchers.
50** Taking it a step further, how did they ever get away with ''A Second Dad Cartoon'' with its RiskyBusinessDance ? ''WesternAnimation/SouthPark'' I could understand, and maybe even ''WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy'', but this...
51
52!!Mandark's Crush
53* Just ''why'' is Mandark so attracted to Dee-Dee?
54** Because she's hot. Think about it. Tall, blond, graceful, huge blue eyes...in cartoon terms, she's a knockout.
55** The same reason any boy Mandark's age (he's 16) is attracted to women that they wouldn't ever get along with. Though I suppose if they ever did get married Mandark and his lab would just become a replacement for Dexter and HIS laboratory.
56*** [[FridgeLogic A 16-year-old is in elementary school?]]
57*** It might be a K-12 school, and he and Dexter are in some sort of class for advanced students.
58*** [[GodNeverSaidThat None of the characters' ages have ever explicitly been specified.]]
59*** He's likely 11-14, the ages during which puberty is a bitch.
60
61!!Dexter vs NASA
62* In "Dexter's Debt" how on Earth did Dexter become indebted to NASA for $200 million? Since when does NASA grant loans, let alone ones so large?
63** RuleOfFunny, my good friend.
64** [=WMGing=] here, but maybe that's where he gets all the electronics and other equipment that he uses to build his lab and his experiments.
65----
66* Another thing, why couldn't Dexter have provided some of his inventions to NASA to pay off his debt? In fact, he's invented things that would any one of them ALONE would be worth way more than $200 million.
67
68!!The Secret Lab
69* This was never ever made clear in the series but what is the reason why Dexter keeps his laboratory a secret from his parents despite the fact that alot of people know about it, especially Dee Dee and Mandark. Also what exactly would the parents do if they find out about the Lab? Come to think of it if Mandark wanted to end Dexter's Laboratory why hasn't he simply just tell Dexter's parents about it's existence.
70** Well, judging by the fact that we see Dexter's parents paying enormous bills and such during some episodes, maybe Dexter keeps his lab a secret in order to avoid paying for those things himself? Or maybe Dexter just has his lab as a secret because he thinks his parents won't approve of it, or maybe just the simpler explaination is he just wants a private place where he can get away from them.
71*** On that same topic, if Dexter's Laboratory is SUPPOSED to be a secret then why does Dee Dee, Mee Mee, Lee Lee and Mandark know about it? For a “boy genius” who’s supposed to keep his huge Laboratory a secret, he’s not doing a good job of it!
72** While not outright stated, it was implied that if Dexter's parents find out about the lab, they would shut it down. In "Last But Not Least", his dad tells him that "we need to straighten a few things up with this secret laboratory business" (before his memories are erased), while in "Stuffed Animal House", Dexter has an ImagineSpot of his father declaring this.
73
74!!Where did his mind-reading go?
75* What happened to Mandark's mind-reading ability?
76** Probably removed because of how jarring it would be.
77*** It could've been REALLY useful in "2geniuses 2gether 4ever" that way Mandark would've used it to know that Dexter was telling the truth about a alliance that would make the world a better place instead of suspecting Dexter would betray him.
78*** Mandark probably was just really good at predicting people's actions and words rather than a real mind reader. The only time he displayed the mind reading ability was in his introduction, Mandark only displayed the ability to read minds a couple times, afterwards it was dropped even in that very episode because otherwise Mandark would have known what Dexter was plotting when he hooked Mandark up with Dee Dee.
79** He couldn't actually read people's thoughts. He was just being a smug prick.
80* In "A Failed Lab Experiment" why didn't Dexter just take the X-ray goggles off after he saw Dad naked?
81** He could have been too shocked to think straight. Plus the episode would have been shorter.
82!!Wrenching bolts
83* Why is Dexter constantly wrenching bolts into his tables? What possible practical purpose could that serve?
84** He probably finds bolt tightening to be therapeutic.
85
86!!How does he keep it secret
87* How does Dexter keep the Lab a secret from his parents? Surely they must have known about all the unoccupied space in their own house before Dexter built the Lab. Plus, how much does it cost to run electricity in there? They see the electric bill, right?
88** Presumably he dug the space, and he has his own means of power generation.
89** The musical episode seems to imply that the lab space was already there when his parents bought the house. (God only knows how it got there.) Dexter found it when he was barely out of diapers and decided to set up shop. As for power, his lab is deep enough underground that he could be using geothermal vents for energy.
90
91!!Someone call CPS
92* At the end of "The Ol' Switcharooms", why were Dee-Dee and Dexter's Mom (assuming she knew about it) fine with Dad punishing Dexter by making him sleep in the kennel?
93** I don't remember seeing Mom in that entire episode; maybe she was off doing her own thing and never knew about it.
94
95!!Going to Chubby Cheese
96* Dexter seemed to be completely annoyed when he was dragged to [[SuckECheeses Chubby Cheese's]] and that was probablly increased when found out who was the real management... but in another episode, when [[ItMakesSenseInContext Dad is pretending to be mom]] he tricks Dexter and Dee-Dee into leaving the kitchen by telling them they are having dinner at Chubby Cheese's... and it works. Why is Dexter suddenly so happy to go there?
97** Maybe he just likes going out to eat?
98** "I can't wait to taste that Chubby Cheese pizza!" - Apparently the pizza's just that good.
99
100!!Watching movies by himself
101* In "Old Man Dexter", why doesn't Dexter just watch movies in his lab if he's not allowed to stay up with his family to watch them?
102** Even the biggest introverts need some form of social interaction (in this case, familial), and Dexter is no exception. Simply put, it isn't just about the movies: He wants to do fun stuff with the rest of the family. Watching movies alone isn't as enjoyable as watching them with family and/or friends.
103----
104* Also, why don't Dexter's family watch the movies at a time when Dexter can watch with them, as opposed to constantly leaving him out of family activities?
105** Because that's when the Late Early Movie airs. It's a television event, rather than something they rent. Though that doesn't explain why they don't record the movies, or try to find a program earlier in the day so he can join them.
106
107!!Dee-Dee's rant
108* In 'Way of the Dee-Dee', Dexter rightly blows up and yells at his sister for once again destroying his things. Dee-Dee retorts that knowing how to have fun doesn't make her stupid, and proceeds to guilt trip the hell out of Dexter, to the point where he wishes to learn from her. Plot reasons aside, where does Dee-Dee get this moral highground from? She routinely breaks Dexter's inventions, and now we see that it's apparently 'fun' for her to do so. What the hell?
109** She probably didn't mean it quite like that; most likely she meant that she knows how to do fun things, it's just that her "fun things" have a tendency to cause collateral damage. At worst she could be called inconsiderate. Alternatively, she may have been contrasting her idea of fun (playing around) with '''his''' idea of fun (working in the lab), and people sometimes get a little self-righteous when defending their proclivities in that manner.
110
111!!Using the wind turbine
112* Why couldn't Dexter have just used a Wind Turbine to fix his lab in "No Power Trip?"
113** For that matter, why didn't Dexter thought about using solar power to restore his lab?
114
115!!The "Topped Off" reference
116* What was the reference in "Topped Off" that would be considered dated or UnintentionalPeriodPiece? I'm British so forgive my ignorance.
117
118!!The Battle of the Laboratories
119* When we see just how advanced Mandark's lab is in his debut episode and the ease with which Dee Dee completely trashed it, just think about how often she wrecked Dexter's lab and their corresponding attitudes. Mandark's lab starts out even more advanced than Dexter's but it's smashed almost beyond repair by Dee Dee whereas Dexter's lab gets regularly damaged but [[ResetButton recovers quickly]].
120** Dexter's lab's been exposed to wanton destruction so often he's had to make it relatively modest but rugged whereas Mandark's had no real adversity until he showed Dee Dee his lab, which left it totally vulnerable to her active ignorance.
121** Dexter's never been stupid enough to ask [=DeeDee=] to dance.
122
123!!That's the real Santa
124* In "Dexter vs Santa's Claws" before the ending when he suddenly says something, why did Santa only say "Ho Ho Ho" to Dexter instead of using normal words to explain he is not Dexter's father dressed as him.
125** Maybe he thought Dexter wouldn't believe him which isn't surprising considering Dexter still believed he was his father even with all the obvious evidence against it.
126
127!!Unnamed parents
128* In the episode "Bad Cable Manners" everyone in the episode kept calling Dexter's father "Mr. Dexter's Dad" instead of his real name... how exactly does this work?
129
130!!Maybe don't use Self-Destruct buttons
131* Okay so Deedee is constantly ruining Dexter's stuff by pressing buttons/pulling leavers she shouldn't. This begs the question of ''why does Dexter keep putting self-destruct/overload buttons and switches on his devices''? You'd think much of his grief would be solved if he bothered to put in some form of a safety shutdown should Deedee still figure out a way to overload them.
132
133!!Using the Robot Moms
134* In ''Sister Mom'', Dexter has [=DeeDee=] pose as their mom for a parent-teacher's conference concerning something Dexter did at school. How come Dexter didn't use one of the Mom-Droids from ''Maternal Combat'' to pose as his Mom (Assuming that he rebuilt them)?
135** Didn't those go haywire?
136
137!!The Meteors
138* The whole situation with the meteors in ''Lets Save The World You Jerk!'' could have easily been avoided. Considering that Dexter and Mandark couldn't cooperate in destroying the meteors, where on Earth were the Justice Friends and Monkey? Surely they could have stopped the wave of meteors from destroying Earth.
139
140!!Failsafe Failure?
141* At the end of "The Big Cheese", Dexter was having a problem with the voice identification password, which resulted in his lab getting destroyed. Why didn't Dexter just reset the password so it would respond to "Omelette du Fromage"?
142** He probaby set it up so that it either needed the password to change it or couldn't be done from outside his lab to prevent someone like [=DeeDee=] or Mandark from locking him out and never considered that he might end up being unable to say the password for some reason.
143
144!!Hiring Dee-dee
145* In "The Dream Machine", Dexter hired [=DeeDee=] to monitor the titular machine, despite the fact that she was visibly tired. How come Dexter didn't just use a robot to make sure the Dream Machine was doing its job?
146
147!!Trying to prove Santa Claus isn't real
148* Aside from the Fridge Horror example in "Dexter vs Santa's Claws" where Dexter's determination to prove his theory that Santa Claus isn't real, he also completely ignores the following inconsistencies with it:
149** If his dad *were* Santa, he'd have a pillow stuffed in his coat due to being too skinny, and his glasses would be a dead giveaway. The hairy stranger has no glasses, and does not appear to have anything crammed in his coat.
150** The family car must weigh a least 5 tons at the most, so not only could any person be unable to move such a heavy object without starting it up first, but it'd also most likely crash through the roof in a split second. Not that anyone could make it look enough like a sleigh that no one would think it was really a car anyway.
151** There were eight reindeer, so if Dexter's mom really *was* one, who would be the other seven? Besides, no reindeer costume could possibly look realistic enough to fool anyone, as in Dexter's rap, she's just wearing a light-up red nose and fake antlers.
152** Even if anyone could get a car safely on a roof without it falling through, as mentioned before, driving off of it could potentially injure and/or kill a person, no matter the circumstance.
153** But quite possibly the biggest inconsistency of them of all is Dexter doesn't think to look in his parents' bedroom to see whether they're there or not, as people can't be in two places at once.
154*** The thing about Dexter is that he has a brilliant mind for invention, but he's still an immature and egotistical child. He didn't bother to check on his parents because he refused to even consider that he might be wrong. He willfully ignores the holes in his theory because that would interfere with him congratulating himself for figuring it out.
155** The ending to ''Beard To Be Feared'' actually contradicts this episode, NegativeContinuity aside. In said episode, after Dexter got covered in flour, he was spotted by two elves mistaking him for Santa. That said, Dexter should have at least some knowledge of Santa's existence.
156*** There are also two other episodes that contradict this one as well. Namely "The Koos is Loose" and "Shoo, Shoe Gnomes". In both episodes, Dexter dealt with characters of more mystical origins (The Koosalagoopagoop in the former, and the Shoe Gnomes in the latter). Those two instances should have made Dexter more accepting of the existence of Santa.
157*** Maybe he thought the elves were just short, crazy humans.
158** Although this is not an inconsistency per se, Dexter also fails to consider that even if his theory ''was'' right, [=DeeDee=] would've been crushed to know her favorite holiday is a big, fat lie. Therefore, Dexter was pretty much in a no-win scenario either way.
159*** He probably didn't care that he would make Dee Dee sad because SiblingRivalry and all that.
160
161!!The Detention Episode
162* The ending of "Dexter Detention" is rather questionable. Why would a warden and several cops mistake Dexter and presumably the other kids that escaped detention with him for escaped convicts?
163** They were probably arrested for trespassing. Either that or they made them spend a day in the prison to ScareEmStraight.
164
165!!Dexter's Assistant
166* In "Dexter's Assistant", Dexter had only three candidates to use the super brain to help him finish his invention. Namely a lab mouse, a robot, and [=DeeDee=]. How come Dexter never thought about having Monkey use the super brain to help him out?
167** The intro to the "Dial M For Monkey" segments imply that Dexter has performed extensive testing on Monkey to see if he has any special qualities, only to come to the conclusion that he "will never be anything more than a mere monkey". It's possible that Dexter considered Monkey for the super brain, but after remembering the test results, he thought that Monkey wouldn't be a suitable candidate.
168** On the other hand, if Dexter did use the super brain on Monkey, the events of the episode [[InSpiteOfANail would have still happened regardless]].
169
170!!Turing Dee-dee into a horse
171* In "[=DeeDee=]'s Tail", Dexter used some kind of molding device to turn [=DeeDee=] into a horse. It kind of makes you wonder why Dexter didn't just use the Animal Swapping Remote from the pilot for that purpose?
172** The molding device probably was a later iteration of the Animal Swapping Remote, something that wasn't so random and had more controls than a single button.
173
174!!Where'd Rex go?
175* Whatever happened to that "Dog-brained" Tyrannosaurus Dexter created from "Jurassic Pooch"? Considering that the episode ends with Dexter's family keeping the Dinosaur as a pet.
176** NegativeContinuity.
177** Or maybe Dexter got rid of him eventually.
178** They're shown to have a dog in some episodes. Presumably, he put the brain back where it belongs at some point.
179
180!!Sdrawkcab
181* In "Sdrawkcab", why didn't Dexter thought about taking off the Backwards Belt before he went downstairs to have lunch? It would have saved him a lot of trouble depicted in the episode.
182** The belt affects more than just motor function. It seems to reverse the mind on some level too, hence being unable to speak forwards. He might've been too disoriented to even try to figure out how to move his arms to remove the belt until he'd been dealing with it for a while.

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