“Shaketopia” is the first episode of the 12th season of Aqua Teen Hunger Force and the 140th episode overall. It is the first new episode since 2015, after Aquadonk Side Pieces and Aqua Teen Forever: Plantasm.
Conspiracy
Master Shake has been in the house for two months using a virtual reality headset, and Frylock is upset that he has to keep Shake alive while feeding his body, which is immobile and in an altered state of consciousness. In the game world, Shake is the leader of the titular Shaketopia, where he rules the citizens like a dictator. Shake forces the citizens to always compliment him, perform sexual practices for him (especially licking his buttocks), never question him, etc. Shake puts on a control helmet to play an app where he folds shapes, but Shake is only able to fold a rectangle from two squares all the way around.
After going through what he believes to be a “sexual orgy”, Shake is displeased to discover that Meatwad bought a previous model of the VR headset from Carl, who was selling models that allegedly fell off a truck. Meatwad insults Shake by drawing a “dick” on his chest, which is actually a series of scribbles. Shake is very upset at the prospect of Meatwad causing glitches in Shaketopia due to the outdated model Meatwad is using (“KÜL WORLD 3.0”), and hates the idea of Meatwad ruling alongside him. He challenges Meatwad to a game of “Fantasta-Splooge”, but Meatwad proves far more talented than Shake ever was on his first try. This infuriates Shake, so he tries to find another place in the virtual world for Meatwad to rule.
Shake tries to get Meatwad to start his kingdom in “St. Meatersburg” (which looks like a mountain of excrement), but Meatwad clearly doesn’t want to settle for that and still wants to rule alongside Shake. Meatwad argues with Shak until the latter challenges the former to a fight to the death.
Shake uses virtual powers, but Meatwad proves particularly adept at using them as he summons hot dogs to attack Shake and defends himself with an igloo energy shield. After Shake taunts Meatwad about his tendency to only transform into a hot dog or an igloo, Meatwad transforms into Wesley Snipes with a blade and nearly kills Shake with it. Shake agrees to let Meatwad rule by his side and even agrees to a name change.
Back at the Aqua Teen House, Frylock is upset that he has to take care of both Meatwad and Shake, and Carl talks about how they aren’t active while he turns on the TV in the living room and watches American football, which annoys Frylock. Frylock then asks if Carl has any other VR headsets, so Carl tries to sell him a “KÜL WORLD 2.0” helmet (which Carl notes is much older than the current model, much more buggy than the “KÜL WORLD 3.0” by Meatwad) .
As Shake and Meatwad announce their peace treaty to the kingdom, Frylock (represented by pixelart) intervenes with his VR headset. Master Shake and Meatwad ask Frylock to leave, but allow him to hand out blankets with “Sluggy Buggy” sleeves for the citizens of the kingdom to wear before leaving. This spreads a computer virus to destroy the virtual world, and Shake and Meatwad finally return to the real world. Naturally, Shake berates Frylock for destroying Shaketopia, but his head separates from his spine (presumably due to muscle atrophy from lack of exercise and nutrition). Shake is initially upset that Meatwad drew on his cup before deciding that he likes it.
Details
This episode features the entire remixed theme song created for season 12. It is slightly longer than the version used in “A Quiet Shake”.
It’s unclear if Carl got the VR headset through illegitimate means (like his cousin Terry, who appeared in “She Creature” and “Bookie”), or if they literally fell off the back of a truck for Carl to find and then never come back. Regardless, it’s safe to assume that Carl is selling them illegally.
“Sluggy Buggy” is a spoof of Snuggy blankets with sleeves.
Shake’s “cream dream” attack could be a different take on his “Shake Power” which was originally seen in “Rabbot” “Balloonenstein” and “Rabbot Redux”.
Meatwad’s “Wesley Snipes” transformation resembles his “Samurai Lincoln” transformation first seen in Season 1’s “Circus”.
Additionally, Meatwad takes the “Meat bridge” transformation from “Rabbot” when Shake attacks him with an earthquake stomp.
Before using Wesley Snipes’ transformation, Meatwad asks if Shake wants to “snake hunt?” “Snake Hunt” is a farce in which one group (often consisting of children) is sent out to capture an imaginary creature called a snipe. Contrary to this belief that snipe are fictional creatures, snipe are a genus of birds found in real life.
This is one of many episodes that suggest that Shake doesn’t have a penis and knows very little about what intercourse is. Other examples include “Ezekial” and “Freda”.
