Recap / The Mask S 2 E 23 Enquiring Masks Want To Know

Stanley works as a photographer for Peggy Brandt after her own photographer leaves following The Mask's fight with the Terrible Two. Meanwhile, Skillit unleashes his "toys" (a gang of mythical creatures) on Edge City, and Peggy sees this as a chance to further her journalism career.

Tropes:

• All for Nothing: Peggy follows the Mask into the Shadowlands and takes photos of Skillit and the various mythical creatures he's released as a way to write a story worthy of the front page. Unfortunately, after everything is said and done, and she and the Mask return to Edge City, none of her photos are able to develop, as they only appear completely black.
• Big Bad: Skillit returns in this episode and this time he brings mythical creatures to Earth to get revenge on The Mask.
• Ironic Echo: When Skillit reads the spell to send his monsters, Stanley, and Peggy into Edge City after stealing the mask, Stanley can't help but laugh at the fact that the spell ends with the phrase "I double dog dare". When the portal opens, a smug Skillit fires back, "Don't knock it if it works!" Later, as Stanley and Peggy are in the portal, Stanley decides to try reciting the spell backwards to reverse it. When the portal actually does just that, he equally smugly repeats those words to Peggy, who doubted it would work.
• Now Do It Again, Backwards: After stealing the mask from Stanley, Skillit recites a spell^note "With the power in these old verses, open twix the universes. One long tube from here to there, open portal, I double dog dare!" to open a portal and exile him and Peggy from the Shadowlands. But before they're sucked in, Stanley manages to nab Skillit's spell book from him. While they're in the portal, Stanley gets the idea to try reversing its direction by reading the spell backwards. While Peggy dismisses the idea, he goes for it anyway, and turns out to be right.
• Rebus Bubble: When Peggy notices that the creatures they've encountered have no shadow, that's when the Mask realizes through one of these who's behind all this, as he knows there is only one person who's capable of stealing shadows; Skillit.
• Recycled Animation: A portion of The Mask's initial fight with The Terrible Two is reused from the airport scene of "The Good, The Bad And The Fish Guy"