"Alpha Dome" is the eighteenth episode in Season 8 (and two hundred and thirty-fifth overall) of Regular Show. It aired on October 20, 2016.
Synopsis[]
The park team finds the Alpha Dome, the first dome sent to space. When the crew goes to investigate they find that their inhabitants believe it is 1690.
Plot[]
The episode begins with Rigby sleeping under the controls because it's on autopilot, which means he doesn't have to touch any buttons. After arguing for some time, the crew reach Rawls' coordinates, where they find the Alpha Dome, the first dome sent into space. The Park Dome's computer provides a list of the Alpha Dome crew and Eileen attempts to make contact. But when the Alpha Dome does not answer the Park Dome's hails, Benson instructs Skips to go inside the Alpha Dome with Mordecai and Rigby to figure out what's going on and to keep a look out for anyone trying to get Pops. Before they depart, Skips warns Mordecai and Rigby that whatever stopped the Alpha Dome could be waiting to stop them as well.
Upon entering the dome, the three discover that the Alpha Dome is now a colony dubbed "New Silaston" and they are welcomed by pilgrim villagers. Skips recognizes one of the villagers as Mary Stone, the Alpha Dome's captain. But she is confused when Mordecai asks her why the Park Dome's computer brought them here as she finds the word "computer" unfamiliar, believing it to be a horse's name. Curious, Skips asks Mary what year it is: she responds that it is the year 1690, shocking the three.
The guys huddle up to discuss their next move following this revelation. Rigby wonders why they can't tell the villagers that they're in the future. Skips answers that it could send them into total shock. Mordecai wants to get to the bottom of this since he believes there is a reason why Rawls sent them here. Using his knowledge of the colonial era, Skips asks Mary who the leader of the town is. She and the other villagers claim that their leader is a person named "Silas the Wise", who is seen riding on a litter as the pilgrims sing praises to his name. When the person carrying Silas asks if he is carrying him well, Silas warns the "carriage" of the consequences of speaking before having a young pilgrim feed the man some hay as if he was livestock.
Mary tells Silas that the newcomers arrived on a horse named "Computer," which immediately causes Silas to grow worried before he brushes it off. However, Skips notices something familiar about the man, who has a striking resemblance to Alpha Dome crew member Steve Mikulski in the crew photo. When asked about this, Silas is instead confused about the word "photo" and congratulates Mary for her discovery by feeding her some hay. A frustrated Mordecai tries to ask Silas to take them to the dome's control room, but he is interrupted by a pilgrim alerting Silas that Stephen has accidentally buckled his shoe to his hat again. An amused Silas calls the pilgrims "simple creatures" and says that his work is never done. Rigby ask Silas if he, Mordecai, and Skips could take a look around, which Silas welcomes the trio as guests... but suspiciously stares at them as they depart.
Mordecai, Rigby, and Skips explore the Alpha Dome and discover different pieces of spaceship technology hidden throughout the colony. They find a white mechanized walker behind a pile of hay, an escape pod concealed behind a fake cow on wheels, and the dome's bridge located in an animal pen, which is a pigsty, as Rigby says. When Rigby presses a power button, the guys encounter a robotic pig that attempts to attack them, Mordecai grabs a nearby pitchfork and throws it at the pig-bot, causing it to squeal and explode upon contact. They then access the main console and discover a ship's log recorded by Steve Mikulski. In the log, Steve explains that the Alpha Dome unexpectedly entered a pink wormhole, identified as a time anomaly, while trying to escape their current coordinates. As the crew tries to break free from the anomaly's pull, Steve becomes increasingly paranoid and anxious. Ultimately, Steve becomes so terrified that he flees from the bridge in a panic, which he describes in the log as a heroic sprint to a time-proof shed. His absence results in the crew being unable to engage the auxiliary engines and save the Alpha Dome from being pulled through the time anomaly while Steve cowers and hides in the shed.
When Steve emerges from the shed, he finds that the entire crew- even Mary- had regressed to pilgrims and lost all memory of their prior identities. When the pilgrim-ized Mary asks Steve for his name, he responds "Silas the Wise". After 2 days, Steve realizes that his shipmates' regression has made him the smartest person on the ship and their superior, which he uses to intimidate his former crewmates into submission-namely by firing a laser pistol- and deeming himself an all-powerful ruler.
Mordecai radios Benson to tell him what they have learned. Benson wonders how they are gonna get the info we need from them, and Mordecai says they gotta figure out a way to turn Alpha Dome back to normal. Eileen asks the guys if they can send her the coordinates for the time anomaly. Mordecai accesses the Alpha Dome's console and transmits the coordinates to the Park Dome. Eileen sees that the time anomaly and the two domes aren't too far away, and thinks if they push Alpha Dome through the vortex in the opposite direction, it should reverse the time effect and bring it back to the present day. Benson instructs Eileen to plot the course and then tells Muscle Man that he's in charge of the helm, and tells the trio to get out of Alpha Dome... but before they can, they are confronted by Steve, who has grown tired of their snooping around. He manages to capture Mordecai and Rigby, but Skips manages to escape. When Mordecai tells Steve that he won't get away with this, Steve responds that he can do whatever he wants now that he is above everybody on Alpha Dome in every way.
Steve decides to make an example of Mordecai and Rigby with a witch trial, 1690s style. Using the technology from Rigby's video game system, which he had brought in case they had downtime, to frighten the villagers. However, a villager named Wallace is confused about what makes that "witchery" evil and what makes the "witchery" Steve uses to rule over them good. Steve quickly responds by claiming that Wallace is a witch, turning the villagers against him and ensuring he is no longer a threat to Steve's rule. Steve demands that Skips show himself, who is hiding behind some bushes while formulating a rescue plan.
Meanwhile, the rest of the park crew begins using their dome to move the Alpha Dome towards the time anomaly, causing the Alpha Dome to shake and shudder. These tremors further motivate the villagers' anger towards Mordecai and Rigby, think its a sign that they're witches. As Steve is about to execute them, his blaster is shot out of his hand by Skips, who is riding in the mech the trio found earlier. Skips causes the pilgrims to scatter in fear before blasting off the ropes binding Mordecai and Rigby. Back on the Park Dome, Benson tells the crew to break away once they get close enough. Eileen warns Benson if they don't do it just right, thet'll go forward in time too. Benson claims that he's not ready to face his future yet.
Back on Alpha Dome, the trio make a break for the escape pod However, just before the guys can reach it, Steve pops out from behind the fake cow and opens fire, blasting the mech and forcing the trio onto the ground. Steve is angry that the trio had to meddle in his affairs, but say he'll only get more smarter once the Alpha Dome goes through the vortex and laughs in triumph until Rigby leaps onto his face, bringing him down on top of the guys. Steve tries to retaliate as everyone piles on top of him and pulls the trigger, but the recoil from his weapon sends all of them into the time-proof shed just as the Park Dome disengages and the Alpha Dome passes through the time vortex again, a shocked and horrified Steve hurries out of the shed, but he finds himself too late. The Alpha Dome crew are no longer pilgrims, but are now glowing energy beings that scold him for being a jerk.
Mordecai ask Mary what happen to them, which she explains that they're now super-advanced energy beings from the year 3300 due to vortical flux, meaning Steve is no longer in charge. Mary thanks the trio for putting Steve in his place. The crew quickly decides to keep Steve as a pet from the early twenty-first century and feed him some hay, just like Steve did to them, establishing Steve's new place at the bottom of the ladder. Mordecai tells the crew that they still have no idea why Rawls sent them here. Mary replies by saying that Rawls had instructed Alpha Dome to give the Park Dome some new coordinates. Upon receiving them, a frustrated Mordecai asks why Rawls didn't give these to them in the first place, to which Mary answers, "We needed to hide your path." As she says this, she reveals a mark of Pops' face on her palm, showing that she and the rest of Alpha Dome are part of the galaxy-wide resistance movement sworn to protect Pops from Anti-Pops at all costs. With a new destination to travel to, the Park Dome blasts off into space.
Characters[]
- Mordecai
- Rigby
- Benson
- Pops
- Skips
- Muscle Man
- Hi Five Ghost
- Eileen
- Captain Mary Stone
- Steven Mikulski
Video[]
Trivia[]
Episode Connections[]
- The resistance insignia from "New Beds" is seen again.
Pop-Culture References[]
- Steven pulls out a Nintendo GameBoy from Rigby and the game itself is a reference to Super Mario Land.