Plot summary
Master Shake is stuck watching puppet shows without sound in an underground bunker beneath the Aqua Teen House. Using sign language, Meatwad asks if Shake has been practicing sign language since Frylock said that’s how he had to communicate. Through the power of sheer contempt, Shake relays to Meatwad that he didn’t do it. Shake threatens to drop the remote control, but Frylock intervenes and forces Shake down the loud waterfall. During the walk to the waterfall, Shake has to walk on the sand to keep from making noise.
At the waterfall, Frylock and Shake argue about the situation. For many months Earth has been conquered and terrorized by ear creatures from another planet with all the major cities in America “on fire”. The creatures find the sources of the noise and destroy the inhabitants on sight. Shake says it’s a hoax created to “silence his valid opinions” and then heads off with his kazoo to make as much noise as he wants.
In the house, Shake takes up the guitar and drum “simultaneously” to protest Frylock. Carl next door, who’s been locked up for months and now has a scruffy beard, hears guitars, drums, a car washer and a nail gun and walks into the house (again, just stepping on the sand to keep it quiet) to ask: Is it over? Shake (playing guitar until Carl makes him stop) insists that all the ear monsters are gone. Carl comes out to release the comically unnatural amount of gas he’s built up in his guts over the previous 18 months. Carl then agrees to be the bass player in Shake’s band and Meatwad wants to join. Frylock is still worried about the ear monsters, but comes up with a plan involving Carl’s ugly underwear.
Frylock has a near-invincible bubble around him and heads to a giant ear-shaped spaceship where eared aliens snooze with giant earplugs. The ear monsters take him to their leader “The Emperor”. The Emperor and Frylock discuss the situation: ear aliens came to Earth because they mistakenly believed that planet Earth was planet EARTH. The Emperor says that they will continue to kill Earthlings because they are ashamed to admit that they were wrong, but Frylock goes through with his plan. He first makes sure his hypothesis is correct, that all ear monsters are “sonically connected”, and then applies the underwear to the Emperor (which the Emperor agrees to due to the logic of the ear puns). The underwear is visibly riddled with disease, causing the Emperor to get an ear infection, leaving them unable to defeat him. Frylock then sets the autopilot to planet EARth and escapes the spaceship. The spaceship crashes on the roof of Carl’s house. Frylock praises Shake, Carl and Meatwad’s rock music as “Van Walen”, and Shake informs him that an alien named Glenn taught them all to play music via telepathy. Shake says that this alien doesn’t like “nerds”, but Frylock doesn’t believe the alien and shouts out the formula for the mathematician Euler’s polyhedra. This results in Frylock being killed by Glenn. Shake and Carl ask Glenn for help writing a song about Carl having a three-way potty at a construction site, so Glenn touches Shake again, causing Shake to telepathically write the entire song immediately. The Van Walen band play their new song as the credits roll.
Details
The premise of this episode is a loose parody of the 2018 film “A Quiet Place”.
The middle finger shake in sign language may reflect a similar action in the episode “The Time Machine”.
When Shake finds his kazoo, the music he plays is reminiscent of Aqua Teen’s theme song.
Van Walen is a spoof of the famous rock band Van Halen. Carl also wears makeup similar to Kiss.
Shake is really talented at playing the electric guitar in this episode. In previous installments like “MC Pee Pants” and “Party All the Time” he was either very bad at acting or just a beginner.
The ending sequence of season 12 is not used in this episode. The credits simply roll over Van Wallen’s performance.
