Dexters Laboratory S 1 EP 1 / Recap

DeeDeemensional / Magmanamus / Maternal Combat

Production code: 102

Original air date: 4/27/1996 (TNT); 4/28/1996 (TBS/Cartoon Network)

DeeDeemensional: Dee Dee travels back in time to warn Dexter about an experiment going wrong.

Magmanamus: Monkey fights a Magma Man.

Marternal Combat: Dexter builds a robot to act as his Mom for the day.

DeeDeemensional contains examples of:

Eaten Alive: The monster eats Dexter alive though Dexter is still able to tell Dee-Dee to send a message to his past self.
Eldritch Abomination: The monster definitely counts, being a huge pink blob with multiple eyes and tentacles and a red-lipped mouth full of fangs.
Explain, Explain... Oh, Crap!: At the end of the episode when Dexter gives the two Dee-Dee's a message for his past self, future Dee-Dee finally gives him the message she was supposed to give him, and after reading it Dexter realizes it is the same message he just wrote.
Stable Time Loop: The episode ends with the implication that Dee-Dee may not be able to warn Dexter against opening the portal even if she did go back in time to do it.
Unexplained Recovery: How Dexter manages to get out of this predicatment in time for the next episode is anyone's guess, given the above implications.

Anti-Villain: Magmanamus doesn't want to hurt anyone. All he wants is to get some sleep.
Here We Go Again!: After Monkey realizes all Magmanamus wants is to get some sleep, he manages to rock him to bed and put him back where he came from. But when all the citizens cheer happily for Monkey's "victory", Magmanamus sticks his head out of the ground telling everyone to be quiet again, leading Monkey to faint at having to do everything all over again.
Magma Man: Magmanamus is a giant lava monster.
Tempting Fate: After Magmanamus appears and loudly declares how he is unable to sleep and tells everyone to shut up, all the citizens have Stunned Silence for a few moments, leading Magmanamus commenting that was pretty easy. As soon as he says this the citizens start freaking out and making even more noise, ignoring his pleas for them to be quiet.

Irony: The fact that Dexter has trouble with cleaning the house despite being able to maintain a laboratory.
Men Can't Keep House: It's proven in this episode that Dexter is incapable of taking care of the house.
Mundane Object Amazement: "Could this strange phenomenon be the substance Mom calls dust?"
Pun-Based Title: The title is a pun on Mortal Kombat
Rotten Robotic Replacement: Dexter makes a robotic version of his mother to replace his mother when she gets sick. It works well until he and Dee Dee fight over the robot's controls, making her go berserk.
Shout-Out: There is one to Rock Sock Em Robots during the fight between the two robots when one of the robots uppercuts the other and makes it's neck extend. Dee Dee does the same to Dexter at the end of the episode.
Sick Episode: What starts off the story is Dexter's Mom falling sick.
Unusually Uninteresting Sight: Dexter's Dad doesn't even blink at the house being a mess nor at the two robotic clones of his wife.