Happy-go-lucky Sam-I-Am meets long-suffering inventor Guy-Am-I, while the town of Glurfsburg is in panic after a break-in at the local zoo.
"Here" contains examples of:
- All of the Other Reindeer: Guy is the only inventor who's invention isn't approved by the SnerzCo committee members and, as a result, the only one who doesn't get to present it for Snerz in Meepville. The winners show up several times throughout the rest of the episode to celebrate, much to his annoyance.
- Awesome, but Impractical: Several of the inventions Guy sees at SnerzCo, including the anti-umbrella (an umbrella that soaks its holder) and the auto-finger-crosser (a gizmo that crosses your fingers for you), clearly don't have any practical purposes and only exist to be funny.
- Because You Were Nice to Me: Inverted. Guy is touched when Sam politely tells the waitress at the diner to not leave him waiting too long on his oatmush and gives him a sincere "Thank You," but doesn't return Sam's desire to immediately be best friends.
- Bland-Name Product: E.B.'s babysitter is seen reading a car magazine advertising a Moozarooni, a play on the Italian luxury car Maserati.
- Breaking the Fourth Wall
- As he marvels at Sam's ninja stunts, the Narrator stutters that he didn't expect to see that in a Dr. Seuss story.
- One of the inventors presenting at SnerzCo has a "Narrator Muter." When the narrator wonders out loud what it does, she turns the dial, quieting his voice.
Narrator: A narrator muter? These people have no idea what I do. This is my craft... - Chekhov's Gun: Sam repeatedly giving his address to Donna becomes a big help to Guy in the next episode, when he calls her up to find out where he lives and return his briefcase with the chickeraffe.
- Coincidental Broadcast: E.B. tries to talk her mother into letting her stay home in Glurfsberg instead of taking her on her business trip to Meepville because "nothing ever happens." At that exact moment, a report about the chickeraffe escape comes on the TV.News Anchor: "Something happens in Glurfsberg! If there are young children or overprotective single mothers in the room, you may want to ask them to leave."
- Establishing Character Moment
- Sam and Guy's first on-screen moments have them encountering the same three obstacles: a puddle, a petitioner gathering signatures and a family taking a photo, and both deal with them in their respective ways: Guy falls in the puddle (which turns out to be neck-deep) because he isn't looking where he's going, brushes off the petitioner by writing "No" on every signature line on her petition, and tells the family that they're ruining his life by making him take a photo of them. Sam, inversely, tips his hat to a passing stranger before cautiously avoiding the puddle (then jumps in and swims around anyway), signs the worker's petition as many times as possible and happily takes multiple photos of and with the family.
- Michellee is introduced counting beans diligently in the board room as Guy gives his presentation, only looking up to snark at the "death trap" he plans to strap to children's backs. Appropriate for someone who turns out to be an overprotective mother.
- After Michellee mentions that E.B. is "fragile," we cut to E.B. dangling herself out the window and using a fishing line with a cheese-filled bamboo stem to capture a neighbor's pandog to keep as a pet. Yeah, fragile. And so obedient, too.
- The first shot of Snerz is shown from a Hitler Cam angle as he smugly grins out the window of a skyscraper bearing his name, accompanied by Dramatic Thunder. If that weren't enough to prove right away that he's the bad guy, when the flurz on his head tries to get up and walk away, he snaps his fingers and points at it to lie back down.
- The BADGUYS dress in dark clothes and the first thing they do is interrogate the zookeeper to get information out of him. Even knowing that they're Good All Along, they're clearly a force to be reckoned with.
- Even Evil Has Standards: McWinkle facepalms when Gluntz lets the zoo guard fall into the slapping turtle pit, saying that she was supposed to "let him go free," not "let go of the net they were holding him in over the pit." Subverted, as it later turns out they're actually the good guys.
- Fire-Breathing Diner: Guy gulps down a hot bowl of oatmush at the diner. After a few seconds of agony, he swallows and coughs up a couple of clouds of smoke.
- Foreshadowing
- The BADGUYS introduction.
- They have business cards with the word "The Bad Guys" on them in all capital letters (Gluntz even mentions the "cool font" it's in). Sounds like a cheesy Genre Savvy gag until you find out that it's an acronym for Bureau of Animal Defense - Glurfsburg Upper Yipville Section.
- See "Even Evil Has Standards."
- When Gluntz shows the security guard at the zoo her BADGUYS card, he asks, confused, "You have cards?" They're not actual card carrying villains, they just don't realize how their name is misleading.
- While fleeing from the cops, Sam pats his suitcase and says "You're coming with me, Chickeraffe!" then gives an Evil Laugh. Sounds like a cheesy joke until you find out that he's the true Dragon to Mr. Snerz.
- The BADGUYS introduction.
- Freeze-Frame Bonus: The "Missed Connections" personal ads on the back of Guy's newspaper include one from a pencil pusher to a bean counter and one for the petitioner.
- Gosh Darn It to Heck!: "SHUT THE FRONT DOOR!"
- Hartman Hips: Donna the waitress.
- Hope Spot: The last scene of the episode as Guy sits in his motel room with what he thinks is the briefcase containing his broken invention.Narrator: (ecstatic) "Guy took the briefcase! He'll fix his self-flyer!"
(Guy lights the fireplace and tosses the briefcase into it)
Narrator: (disheartened) "Nope, he's just tossing it into that fire..." - Humiliation Conga: Guy's invention malfunctions and explodes during his presentation, after which two of it's disembodied hands sarcastically clap at his failure... then also blow up, followed by his now-burned ticket to Meepville (which he was about to be given before the malfunction) disintegrating in the mechanical hand that was holding it, then gives him a thumbs-down before retracting.
- Jack Bauer Interrogation Technique: McWinkle and Gluntz try to get information out of the zoo's security guard by capturing him in a net and dangling him over a pool of slapping turtles until he talks.
- Left the Background Music On: Sam hums along to his own theme music when he breaks into the zoo.
- Literal Metaphor
- The secretary at SnerzCo tells Guy that the people working there are just "a bunch of bean counters and pencil pushers." As in their jobs literally involve counting beans in a jar and rolling pencils back and forth on their desks.
- Upon seeing Guy's invention, the female board member at SnerzCo leans in to get a closer look and says "I'm leaning in!" note
- Mix-and-Match Critters: Glurfsburg's zoo is full of these, including a moose-ostrich ("moostrich"), a pair of walrus-aardvarks ("walvark"), a llama-gnu and of course the plot-relevant Chickeraffe. Later in the episode a panda-dog ("pandog") also appears.
- Pet the Dog: Sam politely tells Donna not to make Guy wait too long for his oatmush when he realizes that Guy's bad mood is the result of an especially bad day.
- Sarcastic Clapping: After Guy's Self-Flyer explodes, two of the surviving arms of the device do this before shutting down.
- Satchel Switcheroo: Sam places his suitcase down next to Guy's because he's excited by how they both have the same one. Guy only takes Sam's by accident because he trips over them in his haste to leave.
- Shout-Out
- One of the SnerzCo board members gives an impressed "Wowsers!" upon seeing Guy's invention work.
- The expository headline in Guy's paper about how he was the only one not chosen to present in Meepville reads "Oh, the places you won't go," a referenced to another Dr. Seuss book Oh, The Places You'll Go!
- Guy angrily stomping around after missing his bus is the first of many parallels to Planes, Trains and Automobiles, in this case the scene where Neil reaches his Rage Breaking Point after his bus leaves him stranded in the rental car lot.
- Subverted Rhyme Every Occasion: The Narrator breaks the rhyming scheme as soon as he sees Sam performing ninja stunts to break into the zoo after dark.
- Tempting Fate: Guy claims that he "100% won't explode" when using his invention. Guess what happens.
- Trrrilling Rrrs: Sam, under the impression that Guy's name is "Grumph," pronounces it excitedly as "Grrrrrrumph!"
