Recap / Invader Zim: A Very Tall Problem S1E01 "A Very Small Problem"

Episode 1: A Very Small Problem

Original Airdate: February 4, 2022 (part 1) August 22, 2022 (part 2)

Our Tallest seem to have A Very Small Problem on their hands. How will they get out of this one?

Link: Part 1 Part 2

---

Tropes:

• Armor-Piercing Response: Red and Purple's argument in the desert leads to Purple calling Red out on how he doesn't treat him with any respect. Red's response leaves Purple speechless.
  Purple: I bet you would've shown Tallest Miyuki more respect!
  Red: Well, Tallest Miyuki always liked me more.
  [Purple falls silent]
• Ash Face: Happens to Purple when he opens up Red's PAK to repair it and a tiny explosion comes out that covers his face in soot.
• Big Damn Heroes: At the beginning of part 1, right as the Tallest are about to activate the Massive's superlaser to blow up a planet full of terrified aliens, they are interrupted by the arrival of the Resisty, who fire on the Massive and disable its systems.
• Boarding Party: After the Resisty's starship disables the Massive with its weapons, Lard Nar and his rebels board the enormous vessel and blast their way through the ship's crew in their hunt for the Tallest.
• Boom, Headshot!:
  • Upon boarding the Massive, Lard Nar uses his Ray Gun to blast an Irken through the head. At least two more Irkens are also gunned down this way as the Resisty make their way through the ship.
  • The Irken guard who opens the door to the Resisty ambush is the first to be die when he gets shot in the center of his forehead, much to the horror of the Tallest and the other guards watching nearby.
• The Cameo:
  • Kidulor^note The small cute alien baby who said "He's gonna 'splode!" from "The Frycook What Came From All That Space" has a cameo near the beginning of where he is seen panicking with the rest of his species when the Massive begins charging up its main laser to destroy his planet.
  • Bob the Table-Headed Service Drone has a brief appearance on the Massive's bridge where he's holding up a bag of donuts for Purple before getting shoved to the floor by the latter.
  • Crystal from "Hobo 13" is seen amongst the Resisty aliens boarding the Massive.
• Cardboard Box Home: Purple is hiding from the rain in a cardboard box in an alleyway when Gaz stumbles on him.
• The Cavalry Arrives Late: By the time Irken reinforcements finally show up and force the Resisty to beat a hasty retreat, all the Tallest's guards are dead while Red and Purple have been teleported to Earth by Minimoose. Had Minimoose not intervened, the Irken soldiers would have arrived too late to prevent the Resisty from executing the Tallest via firing squad.
• Cliffhanger: Part 2 ends with Zim discovering Red in his base.
• Curb-Stomp Battle: The Massive is made into mincemeat by the Resisty spaceship and gets knocked out of the battle without ever getting the chance to return fire.
• Curse Cut Short: The end of Part 2 sees Red expressing his Oh, Crap! reaction to Zim showing up, only for the screen to cut to black mid-sentence and then credits.
  Red: Oh, shi-
• Description Cut: Purple asks for some sugar so he can put "a little" on his pizza to make it more tolerable. Cue a title card reading "5 seconds later", and then it's shown that he's buried the pizza in sugar.
• Dramatic Gun Cock: When the assassins point their pistols at the Tallest and their guards, the sound of multiple gun cocks are heard even though the assassins are all holding laser weapons.
• Dude, Not Funny!: An in-universe example. Purple starts giggling after accidentally causing Red to feel a jolt of pain while attempting to repair the latter's damaged PAK. Purple wasn't laughing at Red's misfortune and was merely trying to lighten the mood, but this proves to be the last straw for Red since he's in an incredibly stressful situation and could potentially die if his PAK isn't fixed soon.
  Red: PURPLE, THIS ISN'T FUNNY!
  Purple: Honestly it is a little. Besides, I'd rather laugh at you than be miserable and imagine the worst case scenario.
  Red: [angrily] What? That if we don't fix my PAK it might explode or shut off? Is that funny to you, Purple?!
• "Eureka!" Moment: Part 1 ends with Red wondering where on Earth he's supposed to find the necessary equipment to fix his PAK as he wanders through a city. His eyes are then drawn to an advertising column with a flier showing a drawing of Zim (likely put up there by Dib). The sound of a lightbulb turning on is heard in the background as Red then says "Zim" with a smile on his face.
• Explain, Explain... Oh, Crap!: The Almighty Tallest both go through this when they wake up in a desert and recognize the planet they've been teleported to.
  Purple: Wha-where are we?
  Red: It seems like we're on... Earth.
  Purple: [eyes widen] Wait, if we're on Earth, then that must mean... Ohhhh noooo.
  Red and Purple: [simultaneously] ZIM!
• Eye Scream: One of the murdered Irkens that the Tallest pass by while evacuating the Massive has their right eye blown out.
• Eye Take: Red is listening to Purple read through a PAK instruction manual in hopes of finding a way to repair Red's broken PAK. The solution proposed by the manual is basically turning the PAK off and on again. When Purple offhandedly remarks how this has the potential side effect of shutting the PAK down permanently (i.e. killing him), Red immediately goes googly-eyed in horror before angrily snatching the book away from Purple.
• The Ghost: Tallest Miyuki and Tallest Spork are mentioned by Red and Purple during their argument. Red unfavorably compares Purple to Spork then goes on to claim that he was always favored by Miyuki over Purple.
• Hanlon's Razor: Discussed. When Purple makes no headway in fixing Red's PAK despite having worked on it for four hours, a frustrated Red accuses him of feigning incompetence in order to get him killed. Purple takes offense to this and points out that he could've just not bothered trying to fix Red's PAK if that was the case. Red responds by snapping that the only other explanation he can think of for why Purple hasn't repaired his PAK yet is that he's just incredibly stupid.
• Hit Stop: When one of the Tallest's bodyguards is shot in the head by an assassin, the guard's body is shown falling to the ground in slow-motion as Red stares in shock while Purple cries out in horror.
• I Just Knew: Red somehow almost immediately knows that that the planet he and Purple were teleported to is Earth despite having never been to Earth before and knowing almost nothing about it aside from what Zim told him.
• In the Back: The last of the Tallest's bodyguards is killed by Lard Nar who shoots him in the back after he lets his guard down.
• Inopportune Voice Cracking: When Lard Nar yells at Red to be silent after the latter interrupts his Evil Gloating, his voice briefly cracks and becomes high pitched. Lard Nar notices this and pauses for a second to glance at his fellow Resisty fighters in a manner that suggests he's hoping they didn't hear his vocal slip-up, before giving an embarrassed cough and moving on.
• It's All About Me: Purple's reaction to Gaz telling him to make up with Red is to state that Red should apologize to him first.
• It's Quiet… Too Quiet: Right before the Tallest's entourage opens the door to a safe room on the Massive, Purple comments on how the hallway they're in has suddenly gone silent. Seconds after he says this, the group gets ambushed by assassins waiting on the other side of the door.
  Purple: [nervously] Hey, uh, it's suddenly gone quiet, Red.
• Manly Tears: As he starts walking away from Red after their argument, Purple starts shedding tears in his eyes when he hears Red claim he doesn't need his help and saying "good riddance" to Purple leaving him.
• Mass "Oh, Crap!":
  • The inhabitants of the alien planet the Tallest are planning to blow up at the start of the episode are all shown running around screaming and crying Tears of Fear when they see the Massive charging up its superlaser to fire on them.
  • The Tallest and their Praetorian Guard all collectively have an "oh snap!" moment when they try to evacuate the Massive during the Resisty's attack and open the door to a presumed safe room only to find a team of armed assassins waiting for them inside.
• Motive Misidentification: When the Tallest find themselves cornered by heavily-armed rebels, Purple tries to defuse the situation by offering to surrender all his snacks, assuming that was what they wanted. Unfortunately for him, the Resisty are actually there to assassinate the Tallest. Lard Nar reacts to Purple's offer by staring blankly at him in confusion before calmly shaking his head and nodding at his men to open fire.
• Mythology Gag: Gaz threatens Purple with a ham like the one she fought Zim with in Enter the Florpus.
• No, You: Purple does this to Red during their argument in the desert.
  Red: I'm so sick of this!
  Purple: Well, I'm sick of you!
• Oh, Crap!:
  • The Tallest share this reaction when the Resisty fire their Wave-Motion Gun at the Massive. The way they hug each other and scream in wide-eyed terror, with Purple even crying Tears of Fear, says it all.
  • Purple is utterly terrified when he finds himself staring down the barrel of an assassin's laser gun and freezes up, necessitating Red's Diving Save to keep him from getting shot.
  • Also Purple in The Stinger for part 1 when he sees water falling from the sky.
• "Oh, Crap!" Smile: Purple flashes when he and Red find themselves surrounded by the Resisty and completely at their mercy.
  Purple: O-o-o-okay, uh, you win now. Y-you can have all our snacks. That's what you want from us, yeah? You-you can have them. [nervously laughs]
• Pass the Popcorn: As the Massive approaches a planet to blow it up, Purple is eating from a bag of chips as he watches it all unfold from The Bridge with Red.
• "Ray of Hope" Ending: Part 1 ends on one for Red. He's marooned on Earth, is slowly dying from a damaged PAK, has just been abandoned by Purple, and it's starting to rain. However, he's just learned that Zim's base is nearby and is equipped with the technology needed to both repair his PAK and send out a distress signal to the Massive.
• "The Reason You Suck" Speech: As they continue to argue, Red gives a small one to Purple where he accuses him of being "selfish, self-absorbed, and always bailing on everything".
• Say My Name: Red and Purple simultaneously shout Zim's name in terror once they recognize that the planet they're stranded on is Earth.
• Shrug Take: After Minimoose does a Swap Teleportation with the Tallest in front of the Resisty, a bewildered Lard Nard tries to make sense of what he just witnessed. The scene then cuts to the various members of the Resisty all shrugging their shoulders.
• Skewed Priorities: After the Massive's alarms start blaring and the ship's comms officer warns the Tallest that they need to evacuate the bridge ASAP, Red's first act is dramatically shouting at Purple to secure the donuts. Also doubles as a Call-Back to "Backseat Drivers From Beyond The Stars".
• The Stinger: Part 1 has a post-credits scene where Purple, fresh off his argument with Red, finds a piece of paper on the ground containing a list of AVTP's patrons on Patreon. He then reads aloud the names of top-tier donors before being frightened away by the sight of a thunderstorm.
• Torso with a View: One of the Tallest's guards is killed when a Resisty assassin shoots him clean through the middle with a Hand Cannon, leaving a gaping hole where his chest and PAK used to be.
• Unusually Uninteresting Sight: No one in Bloaty's reacts to the presence of an alien sitting at one of their tables. And the guy whose umbrella Red steals does freak out at the sight of an alien, only to shrug it off after Red runs away.
• Wall Run: During the corridor fight between the Tallest's guards and the Resisty's assassins, one of the guards gets the drop on his opponent by running along a wall before leaping towards an assassin and stabbing them through the chest with his spear.
• What Could Possibly Go Wrong?: When Purple offers to repair Red's damaged PAK, the latter points out that the former almost failed his Hands-On Technician course at the Irken Academy. Purple nonchalantly responds with "Yeah, but how hard can it be?"
• What Happened to the Mouse?: The rest of the Irken Armada is nowhere to be seen when the Massive comes under attack by the Resisty. This is especially odd since the scene almost immediately preceding the attack had shown the Massive being escorted by dozens of smaller ships.
• You Have GOT to Be Kidding Me!: Red's reaction to seeing the interior of Zim's base, especially how the elevators are disguised as a toilet and a trash can.

---