Hi! Sorry I'm late; my head's itchy! — Melvin

Invader Zim Episode
Lice
Chronology
Previous:	Megadoomer
Next:	Abducted
Information
Episode No:	Episode 17b
Production No:	18b
Airdate:	April 26, 2002
Credits
Writer(s):	Rob Hummel

Contents 1 Plot Summary 2 Facts of Doom 2.1 Cultural References 2.2 Trivia of Doom 2.3 Inconsistencies and Animation Errors 3 See Also 4 References

Plot SummaryEdit

When at Skool one day, Melvin comes into class late because his head is itchy, which Ms. Bitters recognizes is because of a massive amount of lice infesting his head. Before she can do anything, however, the lice infect the rest of the class, so Ms. Bitters summons the Delouser, Countess von Verminstrasser, who proclaims martial law and confines the children to separate rooms for research. Dib thinks that the Delouser is overreacting and tells her so, but only gets yelled at for being a skeptic. Zim, meanwhile, is completely separated from the other Skoolchildren along with Ms. Bitters for immunity research, because

neither of them have any lice. After being handcuffed to Melvin, Dib escapes from the room they were confined to.

While sneaking through the hallways, Dib and Melvin overhear the Countess talking to herself about a lice queen, the supposed source of all lice on Earth. Dib thinks this rant proves she's crazy, and becomes determined to stop her. Unfortunately, upon hearing about the lice queen, Melvin starts panicking and both he and Dib are discovered. Dib drags Melvin along with him as they flee from the Delouser, only to be cornered by her in a classroom.

The Countess is just about to recapture Dib and Melvin when the floor caves in, landing them inside the lice queen's nest. Dib realizes the Delouser was right all along, and begs her to save them. She is able to do this once one of her minions figures out that lice die on contact with Zim's skin. The Delouser puts Zim in a device that turns his skin into ammunition, and fires it at the lice queen, killing it and all other lice. The Countess then praises Zim for his "sacrifice" in the fight against lice, saying "Thanks to the bravery of this child, the world will never have to deal with the threat of lice ever again.", completely oblivious to the fact that the kid she's holding is clearly an alien. It seems like things are all over, but Ms. Bitters is still sitting in a room alone when she scratches her head for a second, and is then still again.

Facts of DoomEdit

Cultural ReferencesEdit

• When the Countess is about to grind Zim's skin, she says "Close your eyes, baby." This is a reference to the movie Aliens. When Ripley and Newt were up against the Xenomorph Queen, Ripley said the same thing to Newt. Of course in this episode they're fighting the Lice queen.

Trivia of DoomEdit

• In this episode, it is revealed that lice die upon coming in contact with Irken skin.
• One female student has dark skin and black hair for this episode and in season 2, but not in any others.
• This episode was going to be called "Lice Nazi", then "Lice of Doom", but they changed it to just "Lice" because it was after Megadoomer.
• This episode is one of the few episodes that doesn't feature GIR.
• This is the first and only episode in which Gretchen talks to Dib and he notices/listens to her.

Inconsistencies and Animation ErrorsEdit

• At one point in the episode, the students in Ms. Bitters' class ran out of the classroom, though they suddenly appear back inside the classroom when the Delouser arrives.

• As Dib and Melvin are march through the hall, we see the guy with the horn-shaped hair in one of the rooms, shaving a kid's head; but in the next scene, he is walking behind them.
• Melvin arrived late for class in this episode, though he was seen in class earlier when Dib was talking about Galileo.
• When Countess von Verminstrasser is holding Zim up his boots temporarily reappear but are gone in other shots.

  

• Gaz was playing the Game Slave, although she broke it and threw it away in Game Slave 2, which was earlier in the series.

See AlsoEdit

• Lice (Transcript)
• Lice Screenshots

ReferencesEdit

http://www.tv.com/invader-zim/lice/episode/178269/summary.html

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