Line #21 Recap/InvaderZimS1E20DoorToDoor


1	The skool forces it's students to sell sawdust-laced candy, promising them fabulous prizes if they sell enough. Zim is intrigued by the "mystery prize" he'll get if he sells more than anyone else, and stops at nothing to get it.
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3	!Tropes
4	* AccentUponTheWrongSyllable: GIR about Dib: "Why IS his head so BIG??"
5	* AmbiguousSituation: It's made very confusing if the Poop Dawg specter is just an illusion after Zim forces a family to buy his candy with his BadFuture Simulations and he invites Poop Dog to witness his triumph, promptly pulling down a window sheet to reveal Poop Dawg is very clearly staring in through the window in shock. This is doubled down on when Zim curses Poop Dawg for not getting the prize and cuts to him laughing as the episode ends.
6	* AllForNothing: It turns out that there is no mystery prize, meaning all of Zim's efforts throughout the episode were pointless. And even if there ''was'' a secret prize, it would never be anything he would find useful for his mission. One way or the other, this was never going to go well for Zim.
7	* TheBadGuyWins: Poop Dawg gets the millions of dollars Zim earned from scamming off the whole neighborhood and gives Zim nothing as restitution even after promising a real special prize.
8	* {{Bowdlerize}}: Following the September 11th attacks, Zim's ultra-violent simulation which he subjects his customers to had to be toned down from a ruined metropolitan area overrun by alien space ships to humans being thrown into cages by monsters. Jhonen Vasquez even said he liked the new version more because it was more violent (the original broadcast accidentally played the pre-9/11 version of the episode due to a mix up with the master tapes).
9	* BrokeEpisode: In this case, it's not a character, but the skool, which is facing so many budget cuts that the students have to use whatever junk is lying around to replace their desks. Subverted in that selling candies doesn't actually fund anything skool-related, just the chintzy prizes. {{Lampshaded}} by Dib.
10	-->'''Dib''': Ms. Bitters, how about instead of buying prizes, the skool just uses the money to buy new desks?\
11	'''Ms. Bitters''': [[MathematiciansAnswer That answer wasn't in the video]].
12	* TheCakeIsALie: Turns out there was no mystery prize, so all of Zim's efforts to win it were for nothing. He gets a can of tuna as consolation.
13	* CameraAbuse: During his apocalyptic simulation, Zim ''licks'' the camera while telling the viewer to buy his candy.
14	* ConsolationPrize: Zim gets a can of tuna for his efforts when he learns that there's no mystery prize.
15	* ClumsyCopyrightCensorship: InUniverse. The instructional film dubs over Poop Dog mentioning (presumably) Band-Aids as a prize with a rather unconvincing replacement voice that says "adhesive medical strips." When Dib wins the prize later in the cartoon, Ms. Bitters' mention of it is also overdubbed.
16	* {{Determinator}}: Zim will stop at nothing for that mystery prize.
17	** Dib's sole reason for raising donations was to beat Zim and humiliate him.
18	* DisproportionateRetribution
19	** Zim's sales pitch for his candies is to show his customers that [[TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt the world will end]] if they don't buy any.
20	** Later, due to dismal candy sales, Ms. Bitters tells the students that their parents will be instructed to love them less.
21	* DoorToDoorEpisode
22	* GainaxEnding: Once Zim learns that there was never a real prize, he spontaneously generates a humongous shockwave that bowls over his classmates while the specter of Poop Dog laughs over the spectacle.
23	* HilariousOuttakes: Poop Dawg's TotallyRadical dialogue eventually becomes so bad that even the actor can't take it anymore, resulting in a conspicuous cut to the next scene.
24	--> Poop Dawg: And if you think you's all somethin' with the top sellies... and... with... [actor breaks into normal voice] I can't do this.
25	--> Director: CUT!
26	* IAteWhat: The candy bars aren't made of chocolate, but rather ''sawdust''. GIR, an elderly woman and whoever else ate them all got sick from eating the "candy" with GIR even violently throwing up.
27	* MundaneMadeAwesome: Zim comes up with an evil plan to force people to wear helmets showing that the apocalypse will happen if they don't buy his candy. He is doing this for a school fundraiser because he's convinced the mystery prize will help him take over the world.
28	* MysteryBox: Zim is only interested in selling candy because the instructional film informs him that whoever sells the most candies gets a mystery prize. It turns out to be a complete lie that the skool just tells kids so they'll sell more candy.
29	* NoCelebritiesWereHarmed: Poop Dog is an obvious parody of the rapper, Music/SnoopDogg.
30	* ShoutOut: The pre-9/11 version of Zim's apocalyptic simulation resembles the original movie version of ''Film/TheWarOfTheWorlds''.
31	* TheSnackIsMoreInteresting: Even after Zim attaches visors onto the Grout family showing an Apocalypse that "will" happen if they don't buy his candy, the children keep indulging in eating weenies [[BigEater non-stop]]. They don't seem to realize GIR joined them in eating the weenies.
32	* StealthPun: GIR drops several eggs onto the sidewalk while Zim is tending to a customer. The sidewalk is literally hot enough that they fry.
33	* StoryboardingTheApocalypse: Zim manages to sell candies by putting virtual reality visors onto his customers' heads and forcing them to watch a simulation where the entire world is in ruins because they didn't buy his candy.
34	* ThinkOfTheChildren: Parodied in that the claim is made by a flaming mutant in Zim's simulation to coerce people into buying his candy when he had just devoured a little girl's doll while shoving her in his pocket.
35	-->'''Flaming Mutant:''' (''teary-eyed'') Pwease? For the children!
36	* TotallyRadical: Poop Dog, to the point that even ''he'' doesn't seem to understand his slang.
37	* UndesirablePrize: The prize for selling the bare minimum candies is [-Adhesive Medical Strips-].

Context Recap / InvaderZimS1E20DoorToDoor