Returning from a mission in Sector 5, Ulrich and Odd find themselves victims of a peculiar phenomenon: even though they are back in the real world, they believe they are still on Lyoko, fighting against XANA’s monsters. To them, the principal appears to be nothing but a horrible Megatank which must be eliminated; in their eyes, Jim, Sissi and the other students are just Krabs or Roaches that must be wiped out… Jeremy finds a way to return the pair to their senses but the two crazies have been hospitalized and getting them out of the hospital will be no small feat. To make matters worse, the clock is ticking as XANA has launched an attack in Sector 5 to destroy the Heart of Lyoko…
This episode contains examples of:
- Action Girl: Aelita doesn't usually take this role, but given the circumstances, she has no choice. Same goes for Yumi, she has no backup for going to Sector 5 initially.
- Batman Gambit: XANA's Hoping the Virus lasts long enough on Odd and Ulrich for the Core to be destroyed. As plans go, it very nearly worked, as Aelita blocks the last shot that was going to hit the core.
- Breather Episode: A relatively lighter, more comedic episode coming after three more intense, plot-focused episodes in a row.
- The Cameo: Thomas Vincent and Edna appear to interview the police officers that were chasing Ulrich, Odd, Aelita, and Yumi.
- Cannot Tell Fiction from Reality: Ulrich and Odd for this episode, thanks to XANA infecting them. They're harmless on Lyoko, but attempt to be dangerous in the real world.
- Cloudcuckoolander's Minder: Aelita takes up this role and leads Odd and Ulrich to the actual tower on Lyoko, and Yumi and Jeremie also play along. On Lyoko, Aelita becomes far more strict with them, and tells them to follow her and obey all her orders.
- Fluffy the Terrible: Odd starts naming the Manta Rays, which gets on Ulrich's nerves.
- Involuntary Group Split: XANA's plan is to destroy the core of Lyoko by driving two to see flipped viewpoints of life, so Yumi has to go to Sector 5 to stop the attack, and the rest have to go to a neutral tower to be freed from the virus.
- No Budget: In-Universe, the production of Cyrano de Bergerac is because the drama teacher didn’t have enough money for a new set, so he decided to stage another one that reused last years.
- Ominous Visual Glitch: A weird example of what happens when Ulrich and Odd get infected with some kind of glitch that makes their viewpoints and their mind switch between Lyoko and Reality, depending on where they actually are.
- Rhymes on a Dime: As Ulrich starts hallucinating:Ulrich: Odd, a Blok at three o'clock!
- Running Gag: Jim did a one-scene play when he was younger. He'd rather not talk about it. Probably one of his more believable scenarios, considering he tears up at the (very stilted) performance of the gang.
- School Play: 2 of 2; This time it's Cyrano de Bergerac.
- Stock Footage: A more noticeable example than most; the scenes of Yumi and later Ulrich, Odd and Aelita traversing Sector 5 are taken from Exploration, early in Season 2, which is particularly notable due to the improvement in the CGI animation since then.
- Sure, Let's Go with That: The solution to Aelita's issue of getting them free from the hospital psyche ward is by pretending to use energy balls to kill the monsters only Ulrich and Odd see, and then untie them. She later winks to Yumi to keep up this cherade, and takes them to "an activated tower" (the factory).
- Through the Eyes of Madness: Some of the shots of Ulrich and Odd show that due to XANA's virus, they see Lyoko as the school, and the school as Lyoko.
- Xanatos Speed Chess: Appropriately named too, as Aelita, Yumi and Jeremie have to adapt to the visions of Ulrich and Odd and act accordingly, while on Lyoko, Aelita has to keep them out of harms way, even using ice walls that they perceive as a glass cabinet.
