This episode contains examples of:
- Actor Allusion: In addition to reprising the role of Mxy, Gilbert Gottfried also voices the 5th Dimension Tribunal's Judge (and uses his then-famous Bela Lugosi impression from The Howard Stern Show).
- Alien Non-Interference Clause: The rulers of Mxy's dimension seem to have something like this, since one of his offenses is "maliciously torturing members of a less-advanced species".
- Amusing Injuries: Mxy gets lots of minor injuries, Played for Laughs.
- Appeal to Inherent Nature: Mxy tries to argue to the fifth dimension judges that pranking Superman is just his personality. They don't buy it.Fish gotta swim, birds gotta fly. I gotta bug that jerk till I die! (Beat) Or he does.
- Arc Welding: The Mxy and Bizarro storylines from Season Two intersect and are merged (at least for this episode).
- Brick Joke: Mxy tricks Bizarro by claiming that Superman and other characters are laughing while watching him through a screen. The episode ends with Superman watching Bizarro and Mxy's antics through a screen.
- Brought Down to Normal: As part of his community service, Mxy is stripped of his powers until he performs at least one good deed for the lives of those he once tormented.
- Call-Back:
- Mxy has been plotting vengeance on Superman ever since "Mxypixilated".
- Bizarro wound up creating a city for himself on that planet in "Bizarro's World."
- The Cameo: Mxy's "evidence" of Superman insulting Bizarro includes cartoonish versions of Jimmy, Lex, and Supergirl.
- Destination Defenestration: Bizarro throws Clark Kent out the Daily Planet window, and a conveniently open manhole allows him a quick costume change into Superman without compromising his secret identity. When Lois asks about Clark, Superman takes a moment to assure her he's fine, giving the impression he rescued his alter ego.
- Didn't Think This Through: Mxy only starts to realize this was a bad idea once he's in too deep to back out. He also thought the tribunal would actually let him keep his powers when banishing him to Earth.
- Easily Forgiven: Bizarro doesn't understand why Superman risked himself to save him and is so forgiving about all this. Superman says he knows Mxy is responsible for all this and has tricked him in the past, too.
- Everyone Has Standards: The head of the tribunal denounces Mxy for both tormenting a less advanced species and breaking his word.
- Downplayed, but their treatment of Gspy implies the 5th Dimensional Tribunal has as little love for lawyers as their human counterparts in an Earth courtroom.
- Forced Transformation: When Mxy's wife steps up to defend him, the authorities turn her into a tree.
- Hello, Attorney!: Gspy plays Mxy's lawyer and is super attractive as usual; unfortunately for her, the judges aren't too fond of lawyers and turn her into a tree for her efforts.
- Insanity Defense: Gspy, Mxy's wife, asserts to the 5th Dimension Tribunal that her husband's obsession with Superman makes him not responsible for his actions. (They reject it.)
- Kangaroo Court: Zig-Zagged with Mr. Mxyzptlk's trial, where he's charged with "maliciously torturing members of a less-advanced species", violating interdimensional travel laws, and breaking his word (which is considered a very serious crime in his dimension, apparently). The trial consists simply of the three judges reading the accusations, scolding him, and finding him guilty (and when his wife Gsptlsnz tries to defend him by arguing "extenuating circumstances", they responded by turning her into a tree — clearly they aren't fond of lawyers). Of course, Mxyzptlk was obviously guilty of these charges, and the sentence he receives could be viewed as lenient, considering all the trouble he caused. (Superman compares it to "three months of community service", although Mxy probably didn't like it very much.)
- Karma Houdini Warranty: Mxy's only punishment in his previous appearance was to be banished from Earth forever. His wife points out it means they have more quality time together. He was willing to settle for that at the time. Here, he ends up charged with perjury for breaking his previous word to stay away from Earth, and they say he can only return to his dimension, regaining his powers, if he does at least one good deed for those he tormented with his reckless misuse of power.
- Karmic Twist Ending: The fifth dimension judges sentence Mxy to exile on Earth, for three months, without powers. As a result, Mxy has to do "community service" for those he tortured while punished. Clark has a good idea...give him to Bizarro to serve as his assistant, and his dog Krypto apparently has a taste for fifth-dimensional beings. As the fair play goes, since Mxy was watching him get beat up, Superman watches the imp getting chased up a tree by the vicious alien dog from a security camera in the Fortress of Solitude and smirking to himself.
- Loophole Abuse:
- Invoked by Mxy. He said he wouldn't return to harass Superman; he didn't say anything about not getting someone else to do it for him. (This turns out to be an inversion, as the rulers of his dimension don't buy it.)
- Upon being confronted by Bizarro and Superman, Mxy desperately attempts to use the old bet he had with Superman of being banished back to his home dimension if he says his name backward twice in a row, but with his powers gone, it doesn't make a difference.
- Motive Rant: While pleading for understanding, Mxy ends up ranting at length about how much Superman irritates him.
- Mythology Gag:
- Bizarro's created a model of a square planet, namely Htrae, Bizarro Earth from The Silver Age of Comic Books.
- Then Mr. Mxyzptlk's girlfriend Ms. Gsptlsnz summons up a real-life Action Comics issue advertising Mr. Mxyzptlk on the cover.
- Nice Kitty...: Superman sends Mxyptlk to "help" Bizarro on his planet for three months to fulfill the "community service" the judges of his own dimension assigned him. As Mxy rolls a rock to "threaten" Bizarro's "town", he grumbles about quitting and then sees Krypto, Bizarro's small, aggressive alien pet, running towards him. Mxy ends up scrambling to the top of a tree, yelling commands at Krypto like one would a dog, doing his best not to get bitten...much to Superman's amusement.
- Not So Harmless Punishment: Mxy is fine with the idea of being banished to Earth for three months; until the judges strip him of his powers first and tell him the conditions for getting them back.
- Not-So-Innocent Whistle: Bizarro whistles to himself, before knocking a boulder down a hill so he can "rescue" the 'city-zens' of his planet.
- The Oath-Breaker: Mxy breaking his word after his last encounter with Superman in "Mxypilated" was what eventually brought the judges down on him.
- Pass the Popcorn:
- Mxy summons a bucket of popcorn while watching Superman and Bizarro fight.
- Superman doesn't need the popcorn to relax. He enjoys watching Mxy's "community service" on Bizarro's planet.
- Recycled Animation: When Gsptlsnz gets turned into a coconut tree, there's a full-screen frame of a fire explosion, which is reused footage from "Where There's Smoke" when Volcana blasted Superman with a fireball in the parking lot. This is used again when she is restored to her normal self.
- Red Oni, Blue Oni: Gspy is clearly blue to Mxy's red, being far more sensible and reasonable than he is.
- Sequel Episode: To "Mxyzpixilated" and "Bizzaro's World", continuing Mxy and Bizarro's storylines from Season Two (and concluding them within the context of STAS, as only Bizarro would return for Justice League).
- Serious Business: While the 5th Dimension Tribunal considers some of Mr. Mxyzptlk's transgressions against their laws, like violating interdimensional travel laws and torturing members of a less advanced species, to be pretty bad in and of themselves, they call out the fact that he broke his word as the most heinous of all his crimes.
- Stylistic Suck: Myx tricks Bizzaro into thinking Superman and others consider him a joke by showing him Super-Deformed caricatures of Clark and the rest mocking him. As Bizzaro isn't very smart, he still believes the footage to be legitimate.
- Taking the Bullet: Feeling that they have no choice, the Metropolis police open fire on Bizarro with blasters designed to cause damage to super-life forms. Knowing that Bizarro won't survive the next few shots, Superman performs a Diving Save — which finally gets his clone to believe him.
- Tempting Fate: When Gsptlsnz warns him of how their leaders will react to his actions, Mxyzptlk openly scoffs at them ever finding out about this. He is immediately transported before the tribunal and forced to stand trial.
- That Liar Lies: Superman tries to explain to Bizarro that he's not his enemy, and Bizarro fires back that Mxy told him differently. Superman retorts that Mxyzptlk lies like a rug, citing personal experience.
- This Is Gonna Suck: Mxyzptlk realizes he's in deep when the tribunal interrupts Gspy's defense by turning her into a tree.
- Title Drop: Bizarro's nickname for Mxy.
- Unwitting Pawn: Mxy gets the ball rolling by convincing Bizarro that Superman just wanted to strand him on a distant planet and that the other characters have been laughing at him behind his back.
- What Happened to the Mouse?: Gspy is never heard or mentioned after the trial scene.
- Worth It: Mxy initially thinks his punishment is, in exchange for getting revenge on Superman. He changes his mind.
