The trio learns about the importance of electricity by a robotic teacher. However, when Yellow Guy's batteries are replaced, he becomes smart and begins to question the world. Yellow Guy goes on a journey to find the true nature of their reality while Red Guy and Duck Guy discover something of their own during a power outage.
Tropes:
- Bookends:
- The episode begins and ends with a distorted music box tune of the opening theme song.
- The season begins and ends with the trio in the kitchen.
- Continuity Nod:
- Central Theme: Nesting/Recursive Reality, along with people or places being above the other.
- Crossword Puzzle: Duck Guy is solving one at the start of the episode, and asks for a "two letter word that is the opposite of down" which no one can correctly guess until later. When smart Yellow Guy solves the puzzle we see that the rest of the crossword appears to be similarly simple except for "SOYANA" whose meaning is uncertain.
- Downer Ending: Having lost his newfound intelligence and self-awareness, Yellow Guy happily shreds Lesley's book away while Red Guy and Duck Guy celebrate. The last shot of the season shows the trio cheering each other on as the camera zooms away, revealing that the staircase is now gone, signifying that they have likely lost their chance of knowing the truth and will forever remain trapped and ignorant.
- "Flowers for Algernon" Syndrome: With his batteries replaced Yellow Guy becomes a TV Genius, able to finish a crossword puzzle in seconds and even invent his own style of puzzle using non-alphanumeric characters he invented. At the end of the episode his batteries are forcefully replaced with the old ones, returning him back to his old self.
- "Groundhog Day" Loop: It is heavily implied that Yellow Guy's entire journey through the house has happened before and will happen again. There are paintings depicting Yellow Guy having already walked up the stairs, the other versions of Duck and Red Guy greet him as if they already know him, and the stair rails have been worn down (presumably by Yellow Guy always grazing them with his hand in every loop).
- Laser-Guided Amnesia: Lesley has seemingly wiped away the trio's memory of the previous episode, with Red Guy no longer feeling desperate to escape and now actively wanting new teachers to come out and teach them. Of course, it's possible that she didn't and Red Guy has simply given up hope and consigned himself to this existence.
- O.O.C. Is Serious Business: Yellow Guy, with his brain enhanced, actively pokes holes in a new teacher's lessons, sending him on his way. Red Guy and Duck are clearly aware that this isn't normal for him, and are understandably disturbed.
- Special Edition Title: The normal theme song is replaced with a shot of a diorama of the trio's house. Lesley's hand turns a crank that slowly spins the house and plays a distored music box tune of the theme song. The house begins to spin faster as the tune gradually becomes a loud, incoherent mess of sounds. Smash Cut to the title being displayed as we see the trio in the kitchen.
- Shout-Out: Duck Guy points out their new electric pet who bears a striking similarity to Jimmy Neutron's pet Goddard.
- Stock Sound Effect: When Lesley's book is shredded up, it lets out a stock creature roar. Which arguably adds more mystery to what the book's nature was.
- The Unreveal: The episode slowly builds up to Yellow Guy finally understanding the true nature of their reality. Unfortunately Yellow Guy loses his intelligence and promptly shreds the book Lesley gave him, one that had all the answers they needed, condemning the trio into ignorance seemingly forever.
- You Can See Me?: When Yellow Guy is trying to block out the song that is being sung by the Boundaries Guy and Rock Teacher, he accidentally glimpses at the latter's puppeteers, who become startled when they realize that he can see them.
