"Simple as a pickle in a cup."
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"Brain Grub" is the 16^th episode of Season 1 of Chowder and the 32^nd episode overall. It aired on June 26, 2008.

Synopsis

Mung attempts to cure Chowder's constant scatterbrained behavior. But it could spell disaster for the kitchen!

Plot

Mung thinks Chowder needs something to make him not so scatterbrained, so he makes some Brain Grub which he eats too much of it resulting in his brain to become huge. At first it goes well, but he becomes too smart and notices the fourth wall. Realizing that the world he's in is no more than a 'silly cartoon' filled with nonsensical and fake foods, Chowder proceeds to use his brain to turn the entire show into Cooking Talk with Chowder, a boring intellectual show where actual cooking is boring and nearly nonexistent. Chowder thinks this is what Mung wanted but Mung admits that he wanted things to stop blowing up in his face. Mung even shows what happened to other major characters in the show: Ms. Endive and Panini sing soft rock, Gazpacho works as an accountant, and Kiwi sells used cars. He even tells Chowder about all of this and how it even made the viewers cry, and Chowder realizes the severity of his mistake. In an attempt to return the show to its former state, he pulls his now-oversized brain from his nose and smashes it with a hammer, sending everyone into a white void room with an on-off switch in the middle. Mung is glad to have his normal apprentice back, but Chowder wonders what the switch does and pulls it, cutting the cartoon to black abruptly.

Trivia

• In "The Hot Date," when being interrogated, Chowder mentions the events of this episode during one of many confessions.
• The song that Ms. Endive and Panini sing is a parody of John Denver's Leaving on a Jet Plane.
• Chowder is shown to survive the removal of his brain despite it being a vital organ that control his movement and actions, further reinforcing the cartoon world where logic does not apply.

Breaking down the fourth wall

Main article: Breaking Down the Fourth Wall

• The largest and most notable fourth wall breakage in this episode was when Chowder grew so smart from the brain grub he had consumed that he realized that he, and everyone else, were in a television show. He then proceeded to turn it into a boring & educational cooking show.
• The other instances include:
  • At some point in the episode, Mung states that an order is going to take a while and Truffles responds with "We've only got 11 minutes." This references the runtime of an average Chowder episode.
  • After transforming the show, Mung tells Chowder that he's making the audience cry.
    • The crying man in the scene following this is Peter Browngardt, a writer and storyboard artist for the show.^[1]

References

v • e List of episodes
Season 1	The Froggy Apple Crumple Thumpkin • Chowder's Girlfriend • Burple Nurples • Shnitzel Makes a Deposit • Grubble Gum • The Cinnamini Monster • Certifrycation Class • The Sing Beans • The Wrong Address • The Wrong Customer • Mahjongg Night • Stinky Love • The Thrice Cream Man • The Flibber Flabber Diet • Gazpacho Stands Up • A Taste of Marzipan • The Puckerberry Overlords • The Elemelons • At Your Service • Chowder and Mr. Fugu • The Vacation • The Sleep Eater • Sniffleball • Mung on the Rocks • The Heavy Sleeper • The Moldy Touch • The Bruised Bluenana • Shnitzel and the Lead Farfel • The Thousand Pound Cake • The Rat Sandwich • Chowder Loses His Hat • Brain Grub • Shnitzel Quits • The Broken Part • The Meach Harvest • Banned from the Stand • Créme Puff Hands • The Apprentice Games
Season 2	The Arborians • The Garage Sale • Panini for President • Chowder's Babysitter • The Fire Breather • The Flying Flinger Lingons • Hey, Hey It's Knishmas! • Chowder's Catering Company • The Catch Phrase • The Hot Date • Shopping Spree • The Party Cruise • Won Ton Bombs • The Big Hat Biddies • The Deadly Maze • Kid Shnitzel • Gazpacho Fights Back • The BLT's • The Trouble with Truffles • The Dinner Theater • Big Ball • The Brain Freeze • The Snail Car • The Lollistops • Endive's Dirty Secret • Big Food • Paint the Town • The Blackout • The Dice Cycle • The Chain Recipe • The Garden • Sheboodles • Gazpacho Moves In • My Big Fat Stinky Wedding • Apprentice Appreciation Day • The Grape Worm • A Faire to Remember • Tofu Town Showdown
Season 3	Hands on a Big Mixer • The Blast Raz • The Spookiest House in Marzipan • The Poultry Geist • The Apprentice Scouts • The Belgian Waffle Slobber-Barker • A Little Bit of Pizzazz! • The Birthday Suits • The Heist • The Prank • Old Man Thyme • Chowder's Magazine • Weekend at Shnitzel's • Taste Buds • Gazpacho! • The Toots • Chowder Grows Up