Airdate: November 18, 2012
Written by: Adam Modiano
Story editor: Janine DiTullio
The Superjail staff learns that Jacknife had apparently fathered an Ultraprison inmate's child, when the illegitimate baby is dropped back at their jail. However, Jacknife flees, unwilling to be a father, and the Warden opts to create 10,000 clones to see which one of them is most capable of raising the child. Although when it comes to the Jacknife clones, they have other interests in mind.
"Oedipus Mess" contains examples of:
- A Day in the Limelight: For Jacknife's clones and his son, to some extent, although the Twins have a B-plot going on as well (marking this as the second "Twins-centric" episode of the season by Karacas' word).
- Continuity Nod: The Mistress is still a hippie and acting a bit nicer (but pretty much more of a passive-aggressive attitude), but Nova's looking a little worse for the wear.
- The opening sequence was recycled from the scrapped opening for "The Budding of the Warbuxx", though with a detail changed here or there (such as the magazine Jacknife saw) and the sequence running much longer than the original one would have. But at the end, there appears to be a "Cancer Memorial Park" with a statue of a very familiar little girl, complete with birthday cake and the years listed being 2004-2008 (Cancer's birth and death years listed at the end of "Mr.Grumpy-Pants").
- There's not just a Time Court and Jail, but apparently a mall as well, where two Time Police work as cops. The aliens that were seen in the Time Court are also reused, along with even the Triplets' guard aliens from "The Trouble with Triples".
- The Warden troopers return yet again, this time gunning down the Jacknife clones.
- Aside from the pier from "Superbar" making a reappearance in the climax, a Jacknife clone also mows down a Chubsteaks mascot as he tries to evade Jailbot.
- Jacknife's son is briefly taken through the furnace room from "Mr. Grumpy-Pants".
- Freeze-Frame Bonus: The Warden's chalkboard displays his findings on babies, including a size chart comparing Jared and the Jacknife-baby's size, as well as a note: "Conclusion: Some people are smaller than Jared". The chalkboard also lists that the Warden's homework is to change 200 diapers, and to practice feeding and TLC.
- A bra fashioned for eight breasts can be seen on display, in the clothing store that the Twins visit at the Time Mall.
- Funny Background Event: As the Warden and Jared converse, one Jacknife clone gets held by another and punched by yet another.
- Generation Xerox: Jacknife's son already has tattoos and is already violent and on the way to being as criminal and devious as his father.
- Spell My Name With An S: While Jacknife's name is meant to be spelled as one word and with one "k", the Doctor's DNA machine has his name displayed as "Jack Knife" (which the writer of the episode noted as an error).
- Stock Footage: The Clone-a-majig shows some footage of Jacknife's past crimes that were seen in some of the opening sequences, most notably from "The Trouble with Triples" and "Nightshift" (which preceded production of this episode).
- The pier from "Superbar" is re-used in the mass Jacknife capture sequence.
- Would Hurt a Child: The Time Mall's "Security Orb" will disintegrate anything in its path, not even bothering to spare the lives of children. Apparently the network censors are only okay with children getting killed if they're not human and if they're killed in a matter that's more fantastical or science-fictiony rather than bloody and realistic.
