Rand loses his job as CEO of Cognito and he's causing Cosmic Retcons to try and undo it.
Tropes:
- Alternate History: What Project Reboot inflicts. However, in a twist, it turns out our history is an alternate timeline, being the result of when Rand and JR first used the machine.
- Alternate-History Dinosaur Survival: One of the Cosmic Retcons prevented dinosaurs from going extinct.
- Alternate Timeline: Originally, there were 2 moons, Rand had a mustache and The Berenstain Bears were originally The Berenstein Bears before Project Reboot was tested. The timelines continuously branch and shift the more Project Reboot is used, with implications that a Time Crash would wipe out the universe if enough timelines come into existence.
- Alternate Universe Reed Richards Is Awesome: Instead of working for the shadow government, the department heads in the new timelines have more successful lives that make them happy (at first.)
- Alternate timeline Andre is a millionare, successful TV personality and is married to Scarlet Johansson. He goes back because he also has a literal horse cock, which, contrary to popular belief, makes it impossible for him to please his lover without making her get surgery to accommodate his size in bed.
- Alternate timeline Glenn is a handsome fully human man instead of an ugly hybrid, is still a respected soldier and married to Dolores. He leaves because Russia Takes Over the World in the new timeline and his hyper-patriotism won't stand for that.
- Alternate timeline Gigi is not only a member of the Illuminati, she's their queen. She leaves because she hates having to run their Disney Channel propaganda.
- Alternate timeline Brett has a job making puppets. He leaves because his peers are passive aggressive.
- Downplayed with Myc, who is just simply respected by his peers from Hive School. (And he also thinks he's pregnant but that's neither here nor there.)
- An Offer You Can't Refuse: The Robes want JR and Rand to shut down Project Reboot. In exchange, they allow them to form their own show organization. Thus, Cognito Inc was born.
- Ambiguously Jewish: JR calls the The Berenstain Bears "Christian Bears", implying that the characters were Jewish in the original timeline.
- Be Careful What You Wish For: While most of the Cognito Heads get what they always wanted in the new timelines, they find that their new lives aren't as glamorous as they thought, especially since Rand keeps altering the timeline after they jump ship.
- Andre wins the lottery the same day he would have joined Cognito and becomes a billionaire celebrity-doctor with a horse penis. Unfortunately, having a horse penis wasn't actually helping his sex life at all.
- Gigi becomes Queen of The Illuminati, with Lin-Manuel Miranda as her own personal lap-dog/chew toy to humiliate at her leisure... but she also has to run their propaganda, including their Disney Channel Division.
- Glenn keeps his handsome, pre-mutated physique and wins the medal of honor from the President—President Vladimir Putin, that is, this being a timeline where Russia Takes Over the World.
- Magic Myc thinks he's pregnant, but really it was from having too much Del Taco.
- Brett got to be a world-renowned puppeteer, but it meant enduring passive aggressive comments from his peers.
- Better to Die than Be Killed: Finding out that Russia has taken over the world in the new timeline prompts Glenn into trying to create a suicide pact, refusing to be taken by the Russians. The others, however, stop him from doing so.
- Bigger Is Better in Bed: Deconstructed; Andre's horse penis is far too big for any of his partners to handle, and his sex life is ruined.
- Brick Joke: J.R. notes that Cognito has the Roswell UFO and that they don't get much use out of it because it constantly crashes. In the climax, the Cognito Heads pilot it to save Reagan and, just as he described, it crashes a few seconds later.
- Call-Back: The fact that both JR and Rand have weird dicks is referenced again. Reagan also remembers when the team refused to support her in going against in father before.
- Caught in the Ripple: The only protection from timeline changes are tinfoil hats. After the timeline is changed, removing one causes a person to immediately be teleported into their new state in the timeline.
- Chekhov's Gun:
- Brett puts a tinfoil hat on his Shazaam poster and writes messages on it as J.R. did with his tattoos. This allows him to realize that he's been affected by the time changes after Reagan pulls off his tinfoil hat, at which point he goes back to Cognito, gets the memory gun, and restores everyone else.
- JR mentions that Cognito has their own Roswell UFO, something the other heads from Cognito use to save Reagan and Rand when JR tries using Project Reboot.
- Cosmic Retcon: Project Reboot doesn't allow for time travel. Rather, it randomly changes things in the past and the results of those changes ripple back into the present.
- Crazy-Prepared: When JR voices concerns about Rand wanting to work behind the Shadow Board's back, Rand admits that he will only use Project Reboot as an "insurance policy."
- Did You Just Flip Off Cthulhu?: After the Robes take Rand and JR in for building and testing Project Reboot.Rand: Who the hell are you dorito-headed dipshits?
Black Robe: We are the power behind all things, the true rulers of the world. - Failure Is the Only Option: After going through dozens of timelines, Rand struggles to find one where he gets both his wife and daughter back. In the end, he finds that no matter how many timelines he goes through, he will never be able to get them both back.
- Failure Montage: In the flashback we see a series of J.R. and Rand's failed inventions, the dog-walking bot and therapy robot require Disposing of a Body while the weather-control missile blows up the only electric car factory.
- Fingore: Reagan loses her left pinkie when J.R. shoots it off as Reagan and Rand are about to turn off Project Reboot, with the livid former Cognito head wanting his elitist lifestyle back and intending to use the machine to do it.
- Five-Second Foreshadowing: An ominous music sting plays when we see Brett's Shazaam (starring Sinbad, the "Shaq of Comedy") poster. Then walks in JR who freaks out when he sees it before emphasizing that it's supposed to be Kazaam starring Shaquille O'Neal, the "Sinbad of Basketball".
- For Want Of A Nail: Alternate realities work like this, which is why things like Rand getting estranged from his family, that are not the result of a single decision but of his whole overall personality, can't be fixed by moving through them. It's still enough to result into massive changes like having one moon instead of two or dinosaurs never going extinct.
- Grass is Greener: The main characters live less than perfect lives. When they see that the timeline alterations have apparently fulfilled their dreams, they ditch Reagan to live said dreams (and Reagan sends Brett away as thanks to his new life), but return to Reagan's side once they realize their dreams are not all they're cracked up to be.
- Andre is no longer the pathetic resident chemist, but is instead a famous celebrity doctor. However, he can't ever find love because he now also has a horse penis.
- Glenn gets his handsome old face back and is honored for his bravery in the military. But he can't stand being honored by the Russians (as this is now a timeline where Russia Takes Over the World).
- Myc is accepted by his class and even gets pregnant, but turns out to have just been fat.
- Gigi gets her wish of being a prominent Illuminati leader who humiliates Lin-Manuel Miranda, but said position requires her to lead their Disney Channel division, which she hates.
- Brett follows his dream of becoming a puppet maker, but hates having to contend with the passive-aggressive condescension of other puppeteers.
- Happier Home Movie: Rand has one playing in his makeshift lab of a younger him, Tamiko and Reagan cuddling on a couch and watching a movie.
- Human Notepad: J.R. is covered in tinfoil tattoos that allow him to monitor for changes in the timeline without having to wear a tinfoil hat everywhere.
- Laborious Laziness: Taken to the extreme from the last episode: Rand is willing to use extremely advanced technology going behind Cognito's back and rewriting reality itself time and time again to be able to be with his family once again. An impressive scientific endeavor, but it comes after two seasons refusing to make any actual effort into being a better husband and father, or even person in general, and at its core is about imposing his will over theirs ignoring their own personal autonomies.
Which is very likely why he can't find a reality where they still are together. - LOL, 69: The episode starts with a Route 96 sign changing into "Route 69", much to the amusement of a hobo who notices it.
- Mandela Effect: The episode centers around the idea. Not only is the Mandela Effect real, it's the result of a prototype Time Machine J.R. and Rand built that spontaneously creates Cosmic Retcons. While the robes had the device shut down, they were so impressed that they were able to make it that they make the both of them co-founders of Cognito Inc.
- Naked People Are Funny: In addition to the spelling of "Berenstein" being altered, the Berenstain Bears books also for some reason depict the bear family as naked with their genitals in plain view.
- Origins Episode: The first act has J.R. reveal how and why he and Rand founded Cognito Inc, as well as how they know the Robes.
- Perverse Sexual Lust: Andre is apparently into Simpsons porn.
- Refuge in Audacity: How was Andre recruited to Cognito? In Timeline B, he came to a job fair table headed by "Grassy" Noel with the Cognito symbol who outright asked in public if he would like to join the shadow government.
- Ripple-Effect-Proof Memory: Turns out aluminum is immune to the effects of Project Reboot's Cosmic Retcon properties, so Tinfoil Hats protect you from the ray's effects. Reagan also takes the extra step of backing up their memories so they can get themselves up to speed should they find themselves affected, which allows Brett to restore himself and everyone else after they've removed their hats.
- Roswell That Ends Well: Turns out the UFO from Roswell is in Cognito's possession, though it's prone to crashing due to, as J.R. puts it, "cheap-ass Roswell labor".
- Russia Takes Over the World: One of the Cosmic Retcons causes one of Ronald Reagan's jellybeans to suddenly grow to the size of a fist just as he's thrown it into the air, whereupon it falls into his throat and chokes him to death. Without the iconic "tear down this wall" speech, the Berlin Wall was extended to the states and became Russian territory, then renamed "USASR."
- Screw This, I'm Outta Here: After finding out that not only does Andre have a new and better life as a millionaire doctor celebrity with a horse penis, Myc informs the other Cognito department heads that they may have better timelines and verifies with the others that they do after looking at the ones shown by Alpha Beta, with Myc having gotten along with the rest of his class and gotten pregnant, Glenn never got his surgery and also got some awards and still has his wife, and Gigi runs the Illuminati with an iron fist. They proceed to take off their tinfoil hats and bail on the prime timeline for better lives.
- Shirtless Scene: After J.R. takes off his shirt to reveal his memory tattoos (revealing that he's surprisingly ripped underneath), he remains shirtless for the rest of the episode. Even when the other characters ask him to put on a shirt, he refuses to.
- Shoo the Dog: Just before confronting her dad, Reagan offers Brett her gratitude for his Undying Loyalty compared to the other Cognito heads, and reviews a timeline where things turn out well for him. She proceeds to remove his hat, sending him to his alternate timeline.
- Shout-Out: Alpha Beta doesn't like Reagan attaching a TV to his belly, as it makes him look like a Teletubbie. Reagan says it doesn't before attaching an antenna to his head that looks like an inverted triangle.
- Take That!:
- Brett compares Project Reboot to Christopher Nolan; "I don't understand it, and it gets worse the more questions you ask."
- When Reagan lies that Andre has no dick and is a Scientologist, Glenn says "That's disgusting! The thing about his dick too."
- Disney Channel is under the Illuminati's control, and heading it is what makes Gigi give up her dream timeline.
- Walking Shirtless Scene: J.R. rips off his shirt to show off his liquid tinfoil tattoos of the prime timeline and never puts it back on. Despite everyone's discomfort.
- What You Are in the Dark: At the end of the day, Rand turns out to be a broken person, destroyed by guilt, and what he wants more isn't power or revenge, but the chance to get back what he sacrificed.
- Everyone on the team but Brett and Reagan(and Andre, who never got to make the choice himself) picks living their dream life over saving reality. Reagan decides to give Brett a chance at his, even if it means facing her father alone, reasoning that her friends deserves to be happy.
- And Brett, when given the opportunity, comes back for her.
- Why Didn't I Think of That?: Seeing Brett's poster that survived the time shifts thanks to its own tinfoil hat, J.R. bemoans that it would have been much simpler to do the same instead of tattooing himself with liquid tinfoil.
- With Friends Like These...: Reagan and Alpha Beta decide not to let everyone know that Andre is doing fine in the new timeline because they all have a history of bailing on her when the stakes are high.
- You Have GOT to Be Kidding Me!: Myc, Gigi, Glenn, and J.R have this reaction when they realize that the former three have better lives in their alternate timelines.
