I was born with webbed fish toes. Like some kind of horrible fish-boy. Wanna see? — Dirge

Invader Zim Episode
Bestest Friend
Chronology
Previous:	The Nightmare Begins
Next:	NanoZIM
Information
Episode No:	Episode 02a
Production No:	02a
Airdate:	April 13, 2001
Credits
Writer(s):	Rob Hummel Roman Dirge Jhonen Vasquez

Contents 1 Plot Summary 2 Facts of Doom 2.1 Cultural References 2.2 Trivia of Doom 2.3 Cuts and Changes 2.4 Inconsistencies and Animation errors 3 Music 4 See also

Plot SummaryEdit

During lunch, Zim overhears Jessica talking at another lunch table. Wondering why Zim has no friends, she comments that having no friends is so inhuman. Hearing this, Zim fears that his identity as an alien will be discovered, and that he will be captured by scientists, because he has no friends.

He goes over to the "rejects" table, and asks which of them wishes to be his best friend. After talking to a couple, he poses three challenges to the remaining children. He tests their absorbency, electro-conductivity, and issues a "final test" that includes a beaver and a toy taxi. What happened during this test is hidden from the audience, but evidently causes great pain, as the children Zim's testing are heard screaming during the test. Zim determines Keef to be the winner and his best friend. 

After a full day of friend-filled weirdness, Zim dismisses Keef and states that he requires Keef's services no longer. Keef doesn't get the message, and proceeds to stalk Zim. In a final attempt to rid himself of Keef after hearing of a surprise party Keef is throwing for him, Zim builds a machine which rips Keef's eyes out of his sockets in a gruesome fashion (seen only as shadows on the wall) and replaces them with new, artifical eyes. These new eyes have hypnotic properties,

and Zim uses them to convince Keef that an irritable squirrel is Zim.

The episode closes with Keef falling of a building and getting caught in some sort of explosion with GIRsuperimposed on the screen stirring his cake batter.

Facts of DoomEdit

Cultural ReferencesEdit

• Keef continually riding his bike in front of Zim's house is most likely an homage to the horror movies The Omen and The Shining.
• The picture that Keef draws of him and Zim is possibly a homage to a piece entitled Madonna and Child, with Keef as Madonna and Zim as the child.
• In the DVD commentary it was stated that Jhonen wanted a blood splatter on the wall in the "Taxi Cab and Squirrel" scene after Gretchen and Melvin are covered in black. This is a possible homage to one of his earlier works, Johnny the Homicidal Maniac and how blood is the main setting for the story. Of course, parents' complaints and Nickelodeon itself forbade him from using it.
• When Zim's robot ripped out Keef's eyeballs it can be seen as a shadow on the wall, just like how Jimmy's death was depicted in the Johnny the Homicidal Maniac comic. This could be a possible homage to Jhonen's past work. The Invader ZIM crew had to censor it with shadows, because parents, the squeamish and sensitive viewers would find it "too gruesome".
• GIR's transformation into his dog costume may be an homage to Sailor Moon's first transformation, Moon Prism Power, as both go in loops. A quicker version occurs in Tak: The Hideous New Girl, without the loops and dogbone background.

Trivia of DoomEdit

• The title was in the squiggly Invader ZIM font instead of the official one. It is the third episode to have the squiggly font.
• This is the first time that all of GIR's panels turned red as he went into duty mode.
• Jhonen Vasquez repeatedly referred to this episode during Comic-Con 2005. He said "Zim ripped a kid's eyes out of his screaming head and gave him new cooler more high-tech eyes... That I would kill for!"
• Dib and Gaz (playing her Game Slave) make a cameo appearance in the cafeteria, but aren't mentioned and lack lines.
• In the scene where Zim is imagining the whole population of Earth at his doorstep, you can see Jessica, even though she wanted no part in this 'Party".
• There was originally going to be a sequel to the episode called "Return of Keef", in the end of which Keef explodes, but reforms shortly afterwards.
• Keef has normal eyes in every other episode with him, despite the fact that his eyes looked different in this episode. So this could mean the eyes were only used temporarily or his eyeballs could've grown back
• The silly music that plays in the background when it shows Zim and Keef on the screen actually parodies itself and mocks other children's shows' "friendship" scenes.
• Melvin originally throws away his party invitation but still goes to the party anyway, though he disappears during one of the later scenes at the party.

Cuts and ChangesEdit

• When Keef is attacked by the squirrel and falls off a building, he was originally supposed to fall onto an electricity pole's wires or a car drives by and Keef gets stuck to one of its tires and gets rolled onto the road while becoming squished up. In both ways, Jhonen wanted him to be killed. Nickelodeon and Christian parents objected, like always, to Jhonen's idea and demanded a change.
• There was originally supposed to be a blood splatter on the wall after the beaver and taxi "Final Test" scene. It was called too explicit by Nickelodeon.
• This episode was originally set to air with Dark Harvest, but they were deemed "too twisted" to be aired together. So instead, this episode aired with "NanoZIM". However, both can be considered really dark episodes. These two air together in other countries such as Australia.

Inconsistencies and Animation errorsEdit

• While Zim is jumping on the table from the peas, Zim's pants turn pink for about a second. They turn black before he stops flopping around, however.

• When GIR goes into Duty Mode, only his eyes turn red, like in "The Nightmare Begins". However, in the very next scene, all the cyan parts of his body turn red.

MusicEdit

Main article: The Kevin Manthei Invader Zim-phony Special

• Dark Daydream
  • Is played as Jessica's voice echoes "Inhuman, inhuman, inhuman...." and ends when Zim approaches the reject table.
• Bestest Friends
  • Plays during the friendship montage.
• Bike Stalker
  • Plays while Keef is riding his bike past Zim's House.
• Party Favors
  • Is played when GIR walks past Zim with the bag filled with party stuff.
• Carnival Nightmares
  • Starts playing when Zim says "Humans and their fffilthy friendship. It brings nothing but trouble. I can see them now..." and ends after Zim's daydream.
• They're Coming
  • Plays while Zim, Keef, and GIR are screaming in slow motion, and while Zim is holding Keef's "present" and laughing maniacally.
• New Eyes
  • Starts when Keef opens up his "present".

See alsoEdit

• Bestest Friend (Transcript)
• Episode 02 Credits
• Bestest Friend Screenshots

Episodes of Invader Zim
Season One
The Nightmare Begins • Bestest Friend • NanoZIM • Parent Teacher Night • Walk of Doom • Germs • Dark Harvest • Attack of the Saucer Morons • The Wettening • Career Day • Battle-Dib • Planet Jackers • Rise of the Zitboy • Invasion of the Idiot Dog Brain • Bad, Bad Rubber Piggy • A Room with a Moose • Hamstergeddon • Plague of Babies • Bloaty's Pizza Hog • Door to Door • FBI Warning of Doom • Bolognius Maximus • Game Slave 2 • Battle of the Planets • Halloween Spectacular of Spooky Doom • Mysterious Mysteries • Future Dib • Hobo 13 • Walk for Your Lives • Megadoomer • Lice • Abducted • The Sad, Sad Tale of Chickenfoot • GIR Goes Crazy and Stuff • Dib's Wonderful Life of Doom • Tak: The Hideous New Girl
Season Two
Backseat Drivers From Beyond the Stars • The Girl Who Cried Gnome • Dibship Rising • Vindicated! • The Voting of the Doomed • Mortos der Soulstealer • Zim Eats Waffles • Gaz, Taster of Pork • The Frycook What Came from All that Space • The Most Horrible X-mas Ever
Canceled/Unfinished
Simon Says "Doom" • Invader Poonchy• Return of Keef• GIR's Big Day• When Pants Ruled! • Mopiness of Doom • Nubs of Doom• The Trial• Top of the Line • Ten Minutes to Doom • Roboparents Gone Wild • Squishy: Hugger of Worlds • It Feeds on Noodles • Day of da Spookies • Those! • Invader Dib