"Whoa! That is a long title."
Kinga Forrester: Buckle up, buttercup! Your experiment this week is a South Korean monster movie that's long on smashing, and short on anything approaching human pleasure.
TV's Son of TV's Frank: It makes Gamera look like a movie... that's... a billion times better than Gamera.
TV's Son of TV's Frank: It makes Gamera look like a movie... that's... a billion times better than Gamera.
Film Watched: Yongary: Monster from the Deep
The Segments:
Prologue- Jonah and the bots share entries from their dream journals.
Segment 1
- Invention Exchange time. Jonah invents Tiny Desk, a miniature desk that's easier to flip over and makes less of a mess. Kinga and Max collaborate with San Francisco coffee brewer Todd Hitler to invent Hitler Coffee.
Segment 2
- Jonah shares his thoughts on the music playlists of various astronauts. Crow blindly agrees with everything he says.
Segment 3
- Inspired by the movie, Tom Servo and Crow design a nightclub with a death-by-kaiju theme: Yongary Nights.
Segment 4
- Jonah brings up the little kids in movies who have mystical bonds with kaiju. He and the bots discuss which monster they'd each like to befriend.
Segment 5
- Jonah and the bots are haunted by Yongary's death scene and deal with it the only way they can: with a song.
Tropes used in the MST3K presentation of Yongary: Monster from the Deep:
- Alas, Poor Villain: Jonah and the bots feel that the filming of Yongary's death verges on exploitative.Servo: Okay, turn off the camera, right now.
Crow: Yes, he's a public figure, but no one deserves to see this. - Argentina Is Nazi-Land: Hitler Coffee is brewed from beans grown in secret Argentinian fields.
- Award-Bait Song: "Push Past the Hurting", a Grief Song (except it's scored as more of a Break Up Song), performed as a spontaneous Distant Duet between five characters — Jonah and the Bots up in space, and Kinga and Max down on Moon 13.
- Bait-and-Switch:
- Jonah pulls one in his riffing.[Yongary breathes fire.]
Jonah: Man, I can really relate to Yongary right now.
Crow: How is that possible?
Jonah: There was this one time, I was driving through Buffalo, and I stopped because there was a Bills game that night, and I wanted to get some hot wings, and the wings were really hot, and admittedly, I probably had too much to drink, heh. Anyway, I kinda destroyed the city. - At the end, Tom Servo accuses the movie of pulling one:Servo: Nice bait and switch, movie. Get us to fall in love with his dancing, then pour out the reddest blood I've ever seen! Way to make us feel something, you jerk!
- And then in "Push Past the Hurting", Kinga and Max consider the possibility that Yongary's bloody, awful death was a step too far, and that maybe they should have screened the movie more thoroughly before showing it...Kinga and Max: Naaaaaaahhh.
- Jonah pulls one in his riffing.
- Better than Sex: As the young wife's wedding night was interrupted, she goes to Mission Control to see the rocket launch that called her husband away. "There, wasn't this better than an actual honeymoon?"
- Bread, Eggs, Breaded Eggs:Jonah: They're really throwing everything at Yongary. [...]
Servo: Yeah, the only things I can think of that they haven't done yet are snow and clowns.
Crow: Come on, movie! Gimme some Korean snow-clowns! - Broken Record:Soldier: They're going to hit Yongary any minute. They'll be using guided missiles. You'd better go. They're going to hit Yongary any minute.
Crow: Did they hit a glitch in the Matrix?
Soldier: They'll be using guided missiles.
Jonah: (as soldier) I'm out of dialogue.
Soldier: You'd better go.
Sun-jae: Missiles? Really?
Servo: Yeah! Any minute! - Bystander Effect: "Should we help him, or look at his photos?" "Photos!"
- Call-Back:
- A low shot of the rocket prompts Servo to declare "I'm huge!"
- "The mole people are really blazing it up."
- Max states that the film makes Gamera look even worse.
- Todd Hitler, though theoretically unrelated to the dictator, may call back to Adolf's fictional brother Chip Hitler.
- Captain Ersatz:Servo: (as Yongary) I know what you're thinking: I look like Godzilla. But you're wrong! I have a horn, and I'm smaller at the hips.
- Captain Obvious:Crow: We learned the secret: stay away from the fire.
- Chekhov's Gag: During the space subplot at the start of the film, they turn "Capsule!" into a running gag. Then Yongary shows up, and that gag disappears. Then the last shot of the film is of the space capsule again. "Capsule!"
- Coming-Out Story:Cop: Yongary is coming out!
Crow: Hey, good for Yongary. - Compensating for Something:Jonah: Can we take a step back and examine the Yongarian symbolism of all this for a second?
Servo: You mean, Jungian symbolism.
Jonah: No, no, Yongarian symbolism. Yongary wrote a really influential psychology textbook after this, called, Every Time You Shoot a Missile at Me, You're Compensating for Something. - Darkest Hour: "When I came to, I was in the middle of a field, wearing a Yongary outfit. That's when I knew I'd hit rock bottom."
- Death Is Dramatic:Crow: Okay. Now this monster is officially milking his death scene.Servo: Yongary's death scene is longer than Don Corleone's.
- Death of a Thousand Cuts:Jonah: Is there such a thing as pestering a monster to death?
- Does Not Know His Own Strength: Suggested as the true reason for Yongary's destructiveness.Servo: (as Yongary) Hi, Icho, did you bring your friends? I thought we could have a picnic by the river. I have no sense of my own scale.
- Downer Ending: In spite of the intended happy ending, Jonah and the bots spend the last host segment on the verge of tears as they contemplate Yongary's death.Servo: I gotta tell you, I didn't see this coming. Did Werner Herzog slip in and direct this last scene? I mean, I'm just a little red robot, and I'm shaken to the core!
- Dull Surprise:Crow: He shows no mercy! Or interest.
- Drives Like Crazy: A bizarre case, where a newlyweds' car drives right down the center of the road and swerves across lanes, but at a very slow speed.Servo: This is simultaneously the most and least responsible driving I've ever seen.
- Drugs Are Bad:Servo: Second-hand smoke is the real monster. Think about it, won't you? Thank you.
Servo: (later) Smokes weed once, destroys a city. Don't be Yongary. - Dutch Angle:Crow: We're getting attacked by Yongary and the city is sinking! Women and children first!
Servo: For a Korean movie, there sure are a lot of Dutch angles. - Enfant Terrible: Icho and his itch ray. "Die! Die, young lovers! Eheheheheh!"Jonah: So, toy robots and shooting family members with an experimental weapon are equally entertaining to this kid? Good to know. [under his breath] Psychopath.
- The End... Or Is It?: "But what of the red arrow, hmmmm?"
- Even Evil Has Standards: Kinga Forrester, Card-Carrying Villain, still has some lines she won't cross. She's willing to do business with Todd Hitler, but she refuses to associate with Adolf Hitler.
- Failed a Spot Check: "Where's the giant monster? Oh, right, over there!"
- Filling the Silence:Jonah: Icho, can't you just live in the moment instead of commenting all the time?
- Follow the Leader: Jonah: You know, where Godzilla was a parable about nuclear war, Yongary is a parable about copyright infringement.
Crow: And nuclear war! - Flipping the Table: Jonah designed Tiny Desk specifically for this trope. The small size means it's easier to flip, and makes less of a mess when you do.
- Forced Perspective: Used in one shot with fleeing civilians in the foreground and Yongary in the background. Crow notes that it doesn't quite convey the size the filmmakers meant:Crow: These people are almost as big as Yongary. When are they gonna stand up to him?
Crow: (later - as Icho) From this perspective, Yongary doesn't look that much bigger than a guy in a suit! I guess that's the magic of cinema. - Godwin's Law of Facial Hair: Kinga Forrester collaborates with a coffee brewer from San Francisco named Todd Hitler to launch the Hitler Coffee brand. But when she drinks the coffee, it sticks to her upper lip in the exact shape of Adolf's infamous toothbrush mustache. Upon realizing this, Kinga cancels the collaboration immediately.
- Good Hair, Evil Hair: When Kinga and Max drink Hitler Coffee, it sticks to their upper lip in the shape of Adolf Hitler's mustache. This convinces Kinga to immediately halt production of more coffee.
- Grief Song: The episode ends on one of these for Yongary.
- Harmful to Minors: "Don't worry, he's a kid. He's got years to work through the trauma."
- Heh Heh, You Said "X":Il-woo: Why not lure the monster away from the center of town? You've got to get him in another area.
Crow: He said "area". - Hemisphere Bias: The shots of Earth from space are centered on Asia, much to Crow's confusion.Crow: What if aliens approach Earth from this angle? How are they supposed to know America is the best country?
- Heroic RRoD: Il-woo's father worked himself to death. Naturally, it's the subject of a few Black Comedy jokes.Servo: (as Il-woo) How did Dad do it? At this rate I'll never die from overwork!
- Hipster: "Running away from the monster is so mainstream. Let's ironically run towards the monster!"
- I Resemble That Remark!:Servo: (as Il-woo) Call me a computer? Major data error!
- Ignored Epiphany: After hearing Jonah's and the bots' pain from the movie, Kinga and Max sing their own verse, wondering if they've gone too far and should turn away from their evil ways...Kinga and Max: [singing] Is that too much to ask?
Is it really so strange?
Two evil leopards finally changing their spots?
[Beat]
Naaaaaaahhh. - Imaginary Friend: They speculate that Icho is actually the repressed parts of Il-woo's mind.Jonah: I'm calling it now: these two are actually the same person.
Servo: You're right! That kid is one hundred percent his Tyler Durden. - Imperial Stormtrooper Marksmanship Academy: When the army fires missiles, most of them strike in Yongary's general vicinity.Servo: Very good. One out of twelve. Maybe next time we should aim those missiles.
Jonah: Oh, they all missed.
Crow: I guess that's why they call them missiles. - Incredibly Lame Fun:Servo: Yeah, these office Christmas parties get pretty rowdy! One time, Kim Jung put his feet on the table. It was nuts! We all glared at him.
- It's Snowing Cocaine: As white powder pours down on Yongary:Crow: Oh, he's gonna die like Scarface, in a coke haze.
- Karmic Twist Ending:Servo: Wouldn't it be cool if this all turned into a Twilight Zone episode, where it's an alternative universe, and everything he knows is wrong?
Crow: Oh, you mean every Twilight Zone? - Lamarck Was Right: The unintended side effects of the itch ray.Servo: They'll be able to reproduce, but their kids will be itchy.
- Leave the Camera Running:Servo: So, this footage is from an abandoned camera they just left out by accident, and they used it.
- Lonely Piano Piece: "Push Past the Hurting (When a Movie Hurts Too Much)," Jonah's and the bots' song about how much pain Yongary caused them, is accompanied by a slow piano.
- Meaningful Name:Gypsy: Wait, his name is Icho and he makes people itch? Glad his name isn't Poo-oh.
- Missing Steps Plan:Crow: Jonah, I've got it. They just need to build a reverse earthquake machine that shakes the whole world in the opposite direction, causing everything to stand still.
Jonah: Yeah, but how would that work?
Crow: How should I know? I'm the big-picture guy. I don't do busywork. - Mood Whiplash: The movie gets abruptly darker when Yongary dies, with a lingering shot of his blood seeping into the water next to his still-twitching body.Jonah: This is a rubber-suit monster movie featuring a little kid with an itch ray. We don't need to see the seven stages of Yongary's death!
- Must Have Caffeine:Max: Coffee! Workers love it. Everybody drinks it, even people who don't.
- Nerd Glasses: "Welcome back to Speaking Spectacles. I'm your host, Glasses McFancyhair."
- No Name Given:Servo: (as newlywed husband, to his wife) Hey, you think we can tell each other our names now?
- "Not So Different" Remark:Servo: (as Il-woo) You know, you and Yongary are not so different. You both broke my heart!
- Only a Model: The movement of the earthquake is represented by a red arrow on a map. As the quake draws closer to Seoul, the military leaders wonder what to do...Servo: Have they considered just stopping that arrow?
- Out of Focus: "Hi! We used to be main characters."
- Out of the Frying Pan: As the heroes are dropping the ammonium precipitate to kill Yongary:Crow: The irony here is that the chemical they're dropping is going to cause the ants on the ground to mutate into giants, then they'll enslave humanity.
- Padding: Crow: I think I could've learned to speak Korean in the time it takes for this thing to land.
...
Jonah: Thank God they're showing us this [driving], otherwise we'd have to assume they all teleported to wherever they're going.
...
Crow: This movie is more repetitive than a Ramones song. - The Pig-Pen: Icho spends the middle stretch of the movie smeared with oil, even after he gets cleaned.Crow: How is he even dirtier? It looks like he rolled around in chocolate.
- The Power of Love: What's the chemical that brings down Yongary made of?Servo: Love.
- Priceless Ming Vase: Tom Servo and Crow talk up one of the houses just before Yongary smashes it.Servo: Oh, look. He's near one of those unique, one-of-a-kind Frank Lloyd Wright houses.
Crow: I wouldn't even be able to hazard a guess of the value of that.
Servo: Priceless, culturally and otherwise. Oh! There it goes. - Ready for Lovemaking:Crow: (as the young wife) Nothing gets a guy going like layers.
Servo: (as the young wife) Guess who's dressed like your grandma! - Real Dreams are Weirder: Tom Servo's dream.Servo: ...and when I got to EPCOT, it was also the underground world from Mario Bros. [...] And then, Eva Longoria handed me a flower, and then I woke up.
- Running Gag:
- Every time Mission Control calls out, "Capsule!" Jonah and the bots echo it in reply. Then they keep shouting "Capsule!" on their own.
- Stock riffs:
- The Scrappy: In-Universe:Servo: Please let this be the scene where Yongary finally kills Icho.
Crow: Let justice rain down, Lord. - Shoddy Knockoff Product:Crow: Yongary's the kind of monster you get at the 99 Cent store.
- Shout-Out:
- Crow dreams about electric sheep, every night.
- "Hello, darkness, my old friend..."
- "This must be Shining Time Station's military-industrial complex."
- ""Ground control to Major... Sorry, I had to do it."
- "I bet Neil deGrasse Tyson has a problem with this scene, too!"
- "And the Reservoir Dogs are here."
- "Devo: the origin story!"
- "You maniacs! You blew it up! You— J.K., everything's fine!"
- "10 Cloverfield Lane!" they shout as a house collapses.
- "Toonces, no!"
- "You wanted the best, you got the best! Ladies and gentlemen, KISS!"
- "The tanks are back in town, the tanks are back in town!"
- "I'm the Baby, gotta love me."
- "I'm just waiting for Pee-Wee Herman to ride through on his bike."
- "Lowrider, should be driving faster." "Lowrider, running from a monster."
- "It's the end of the world as—mmm, okra, delicious!"
- "I love you, you love me!"
- "I came in like a wrecking tail!"
- "Get me off this crazy thing!"
- "Thunderbirds are go!"
- While Icho's mother is crying: "I told you not to watch Dancer in the Dark." "But Björk is so cherubic!"
- "Isn't this the part of the James Brown show where they bring out the cape and try to lead him offstage?"
- "It's only a flesh wound."
- "Hehehehe..." "Wipeout.
" - "I've got 99 problems, and flaming oil silo ain't one."
- When they call for a helicopter over the radio, Tom Servo represents the other side of the call with muted trumpet noises.
- "Like a Mothra to a flame."
- "Someone left the kaiju in the rain..."
- "Yongary already ate after midnight, and now he's getting wet? This is gonna be trouble!"
- "Just a drop of this should be enough to turn me into Buddy Love permanently."
- "Say hello to my itchy friend!"
- "Yongary! Come out and pla-a-ay!"
- "I guess dancing is forbidden in the Republic of Footloose."
- "Highway to the ''monster zone!''"
- "Poppies will make Yongary sleep!"
- "You know, this was the original ending to Bridge on the River Kwai."
- "Don't cry for me, South Korea..."
- "Meanwhile, Elliot Ness and his men are brought in to stop the monster, one day late."
- As a reporter interviews Icho, who for some reason is wearing a garish Hawaiian shirt to the wedding:
Crow: And why do you dress like John Lasseter?- "I'm so excited! I'm so excited! I'm so scared!"
- On a shot of three guys wearing white jumpsuits, helmets, and sunglasses:
- "Woo-woo-woowoowoo! Nyuk nyuk nyuk!" over three soldiers tripping all over each other as they try to run away.
- "Pan, pan, pan, AND ZOOM! Just put a Kinks song underneath and you've got a Wes Anderson movie. Ohh!"
- "He's doing Death of a Salesmonster."
- Show Some Leg: How should they lure Yongary away from the city? Servo suggests, "Show him a little leg."
- Skewed Priorities:Servo: You know, monster or not, it's not a good idea for a kid to be running through the sewer this time of night.
Crow: So you're saying it's a time-of-day issue? - Special Effect Failure: Jonah: If this wasn't such a crummy matte shot, I'd be worried for that guy.
- When Yongary breathes fire, the nozzle producing the flame is clearly visible in his mouth:
Crow: Yongary's got a jet growing out of his throat? That's badass! I want that. - Spinning Paper: But it's in untranslated Korean.Jonah: I can't read that.
Crow: Korean Marmaduke sucks. - Something Else Also Rises: Inverted. After the young couple's wedding night is interrupted by an urgent call, the wife retracts her radio's long antenna. Servo quips, "That's a metaphor for our honeymoon."
- Stock Footage:Jonah: The movie knows we've already seen this shot, right?
Crow: Oh, it knows. It knows exactly what it's doing. - Take That!:
- "Get out, get out! There's an Eagles tape in the deck!"
- "Something's wrong with the radio." "I'm getting nothing but reggaeton."
- When Yongary destroys a building: "Luckily it was a Radio Shack, so nobody was in there."
- As Yonary destroys a bridge: "Must... crush one more structure before I die. Cost the taxpayers... billions! Ugh... Ugh... Call Governor Christie into question!"
- Technicolor Science:Jonah: Those chemicals look delicious.
Servo: Like fruit! -
Throw It In!: When Yongary starts frantically flailing and scratching himself:Servo: Funny story. On the set, a scorpion actually got inside the Yongary suit. Nobody knew, so they just kept filming. And Yongary history was made! - Too Dumb to Live:Servo: Are you thinking what I'm thinking?
Jonah: Fly closer to the fire-breathing monster?
Servo: Exactly. Engage Operation Dumb Idea!- Later:
Crow: Come on, you flew right into his mouth! How'd you think that was going to end? - Unusual Euphemism: During the first military engagement with Yongary, a tank commander pokes his head out of the hatch looking like he's emerging from a toilet. When Yongary looks over at him he flinches, with Jonah adding a "Flush me!"
- Unusually Uninteresting Sight: When the ground shakes and there's an unearthly glow over the next ridge:Servo: (as cop) It's probably nothing, but I better call it in anyway...
- Visual Gag:
- Tom Servo bounces on some military caps like they're trampolines.
- Tom teases Yongary by flying around his head, just out of reach... then he nearly gets burnt by Yongary's fire-breath.
- Weaponized Exhaust: As the rocket launches, bathing the entire launch pad in flames...Jonah: Oh! Did we remember to evacuate the hermit living under the launch pad?
Crow: Well, too late now, I guess. - While Rome Burns: Inspired by the movie's scenes of individuals throwing themselves into hedonism rather than trying to flee Yongary, Tom Servo and Crow design a kaiju-themed night club. Yongary Nights: where you can dance, gorge yourself on fresh vegetables, and have someone pour beer over your head as you pray, until Yongary comes to crush us all.Servo: Ain't no party like a Yongary party, because a Yongary party's the last thing you'll ever experience.
- With Lyrics: They sing along with the haunting space music: "Capsule, capsule, capsule..."
- Yes-Man: For one host segment, Crow starts agreeing with everything Jonah says.Crow: I just wanna do what you wanna do.
