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"The Ice Tape" is the twentieth episode in Season Eight (and two hundred and thirty-seventh overall) of Regular Show. The episode first aired on November 3, 2016.
Synopsis[]
The gang must travel to an ancient VCR that will play a VHS tape, made of ice, so that they can learn about Pops' origins.
Plot[]
The episode starts with the park gang walking to a video store. The trio (Joel, Fi, & Kai) ask if the gang are there to rent a movie or for any other reason. Benson tells them that he and the park gang don't know what they are trying to look for. He then pulls out a hologram map (given by Mary Stone) and tells Joel, Fi and Kai that the map might be a clue. As Pops takes off his hood, Kai, Fi, and Joel gasp at the sight of "The chosen one." Pops wonders where the chosen one is, and then notices Kai's Pops tattoo on her sleeve. Fi also shows her Pops tattoo on her leg, and Joel reveals his Pops tattoo under his hat. Joel then opens a door while holding a lamp and reveals a blanket with an image of Pops. Behind the blanket, there's a hole and a wall sliced in half. Kai and Fi grab Pops and take him to the wall. Muscle Man predicts that they are going to put Pops' head in the hole to open a secret door. As Fi and Kai do so, and the door opens horizontally. Everyone is amazed at what they see behind the door. Pops opens the door and walks through it, finding a tape made of ice. Pops grabs the tape and everyone speculates about its contents. Mordecai ask if they can use one of their VCRs upstairs, but Kai tells him that the tape won't work in a normal VCR. Fi tells them that they have to take the tape to the Forbidden Mountain to reveal its contents. Joel and the gang assure the park gang that they will help him get there safely.
The gang and the video store employees travel to the mountain on snowmobiles with the ice tape placed in a cooler. Rigby claims that all this "Chosen One" stuff about Pops is crazy. He always thought Pops was just a nice old guy. Mordecai wonders what Pops really is and imagines what Pops actually could be. They imagine Pops as a robot or a smaller guy piloting a robot. As they approach the mountain, they must cross a frozen lake to get there. Joel mentions the alternative routes through Magma Lake or Lightning Lake, which appear more dangerous than the Frozen Lake. Muscle Man decides to go across the Frozen Lake, and they must make haste. As they move across the Frozen Lake on their snowmobiles, the ice begins to crack. Eileen notices the cracking ice and warns the others. Joel orders everyone to ditch the snowmobiles and run. Everyone hurriedly gets off their snowmobiles and runs across the frozen lake, panting along the way. Much of the ice gives way, taking the snowmobiles with it. Joel tries to make it across the frozen lake with the cooler, only for all of the ice ahead of him to melt into the water. Everyone else made it across the lake safely. Joel says he's not going to make it and throws the cooler to Kai, saying it's too late for him. But Rigby tells him to jump across the frozen lake, with Eileen thinking Joel can make it. However, Joel says he's not much of a jumper. Mordecai asks if he's sure he doesn't want to at least try. Joel attempts to run and jump to the other side of the lake, only to forget to jump, Skips suggests forming a human chain to pull him out. Joel expresses concern about the cold, but Rigby reassures him that it won't be too bad. Joel ultimately agrees to the plan, but unfortunately, he gets eaten by a fish, making him the first casualty of the expedition. The rest of the group is shocked and horrified by what they witness.
The rest of the group continues their journey up the mountain, stopping for rest in a cave. Pops acknowledges how brave it was for Joel to sacrifice himself. Eileen wonders what's on the tape, but Pops has no idea, but he's eager to find out as he know so little about myself and my past, and can't even remember anything from before he was two years old. Eileen reassures Pops that nobody can remember that far back, and Rigby jokes that he can hardly remember anything before he was 22. Pops agrees and has a flashback about noticing a VCR covered in fire at a younger age.
Meanwhile, Skips, Mordecai, Rigby, Benson, and Kai discover some bones that Fi and Kai recognize as belonging to a snow mammoth's den. Suddenly, a snow mammoth appears behind them, and Fi tries to distract it with a flaming stick. Unfortunately, the mammoth grabs Fi by her leg, causing her to scream. She insists that she's not worth saving and urges the others to leave her behind. Hi Five Ghost tells her that she should have more self-respect and deserves to live just as much as anyone else. Fi considers this and realizes it may be too late as the mammoth consumes her, becoming the second fatality, devastating Kai. Skips discovers a hole they can go through, and Benson tries to comfort Kai, urging her not to let Fi's death be in vain.
The park gang, and Kai, runs away from the snow mammoth and finds a hole to slide through rushing water. They subsequently land near three VCRs: one covered in fire, one made out of ice, and a regular-looking one.
They meet the Eggscellent Knight, Mordecai and Rigby are surprised to see him here. The Eggscellent Knight explains that he found his job guarding relics outside the Andromeda Galaxy after posting his resume on a job website. He warns them about three VCRs, and tells them that if they choose the wrong one, it will result in the loss of the information on the ice tape forever. Benson is unsure which VCR to pick, but Rigby correctly suspects that the seemingly normal one is a trap. As he suspected, the "normal" VCR opens up to reveal a pair of eyes and a gun. Mordecai considers putting the tape in the ice VCR since both the tape and the VCR are made of ice. Skips agrees, and asks Pops for his opinion. Pops, having a flashback, suddenly realizes that it's the fire VCR that they should use, as he recalls a delivery of a hot VCR to Mr. Maellard.
Benson and Mordecai are confused because the tape is made of ice, and it will just melt in the fire. If they put the tape in the VCR, they'll never know what's on it. Hi Five Ghost tells Pops that he won't be able to learn about his destiny, but Pops tells the others to trust him. Kai hands over the ice tape to Pops and wishes him luck, but just as Pops is about to insert the tape, the snow mammoth from earlier returns. Kai tells the park gang to hold it off, as Pops must see the tape. Skips and Eileen begin to shoot the mammoth with laser guns, but Eileen says the laser guns are just making the cave smell like burnt wigs. As the mammoth begins to leap towards everyone, Skips says to keep shooting at it, as it's all they've got. Both continue to shoot, making a hole in the mountain wall. The mammoth strikes the group, causing the ice tape to fall out of Pop's hand and land on a block of ice. Rigby says they didn't come this far to not get answers, and he proceeds to leap across the ice blocks to retrieve the tape. Skips and Eileen continue to shoot lasers at the mammoth. Rigby grabs the tape just as it is about to flow out of the mountain. The mammoth moves backwards due to the lasers hitting the wall spikes and causing them to fall from above towards Rigby. Rigby leaps away from it. Kai runs towards the mammoth to sacrifice herself. Eileen suggests they could just keep shooting rocks at the mammoth, and Skips says that it was working really well. Realizing her mistake too late, both the mammoth and Kai fall out of the mountain, falling to their eventual deaths. The gang looks on. Mordecai's cell phone rings, and as he picks up his phone, Kai calls him to tell him that she knew her time would come, and it was totally worth it to die for Pops. With this, Kai is the last of the video store employees to die. Mordecai turns to the group and tells them what Kai said to him. Skips adds that Joel, Fi, and Kai had a calling.
After Kai's death, Pops plays the tape where Mr. Maellard reveals that he is not Pops' biological father, and instead, found him after a meteorite crash. He also states that Pops has an evil-twin brother, who is Anti-Pops. Towards the end of the tape, Mr. Maellard tells Pops that, in order to defeat Anti-Pops, a mentor named Earl will train him on his journey. The tape stops playing and melts. Later, Earl arrives and tells the Park Gang that it is time for training, setting up the events of the next episode, "The Key to the Universe".
Characters[]
- Pops
- Mordecai
- Rigby
- Benson
- Skips
- Muscle Man
- Hi-Five Ghost
- Eileen
- Joel, Fi, & Kai
- Snow Mammoth
- Earl
- Eggscellent Knight
- Mr. Maellard (video tape)
- Captain Mary Stone (mentioned)
- Anti-Pops (mentioned)
Trivia[]
- Mr. Maellard reveals that he is not the biological father of Pops.
- He also reveals that Pops is actually an alien being who arrived on Earth and was adopted by Mr. Maellard as a baby.
- It is also revealed that Anti-Pops is Pops' evil brother, and they're both part of a prophecy that deals with the fate of the Universe.
- This is Mr. Maellard's and Eggcellent Knight's last speaking appearances in the series.
- This is also Eggsellent Knight's last appearance in the series.
- This episode is also David Ogden Stiers’ final television appearance before his death in March 2018.
- Muscle Man is correct when he predicts that the Ice Tape contains Pops' origin story.
- Joel predicts his, Fi's, and Kai's deaths at the beginning of the episode by stating that they would "willingly die" to allow Pops to watch the Ice Tape.
Episode Connections[]
- This is the second appearance of Pops' mother and Mr. Maellard's wife, who previously appeared during a flashback montage in "Skips vs. Technology."
- The events of the episode "Alpha Dome" are mentioned by Benson at the beginning of the episode.