Top 10 Dexter’s Laboratory Episodes, Ranked

Dexter’s Laboratory is making a comeback to television as part of the new Checkered Past nostalgia block with Adult Swim later this month, so now is the best time to look back and recommend the best episodes in the series overall! Dexter’s Laboratory helped launch Cartoon Network into a very memorable era of Cartoon Cartoons that sparked a ton of imagination, and inspired new shows that we are still getting to this day. Series creator Genndy Taratakovsky has even gone to to create multiple award winning programs as a result of this early success with Dexter’s Laboratory‘s release.

Dexter’s Laboratory will be returning to screens for the first time in quite a while with its comeback on Adult Swim. Leading the Checkered Past programming block with a bunch of other Cartoon Network classics, Dexter’s Laboratory is about to show all kinds of new fans about what to expect from the animated series when it finally kicks off. This also means it’s the time to highlight the best episodes of the series to keep an eye out for when they finally make their rebroadcast debut after all this time. 

Read on to find out our picks for the Top 10 best episodes of Dexter’s Laboratory below, and let us know your favorites in the comments! You can even reach out to me directly about all things animation and other cool stuff @Valdezology on Twitter!

10. Dexter and Computress Get Mandark! (Season 2 Episode 34A)

While it may not be one of the “best” of Dexter’s Laboratory, “Dexter and Computress Get Mandark!” deserves a place on this list for just how unique of an experience and project it ultimately is. It’s the only episode in the series (and in Cartoon Network overall, really) that bases itself off of a young fan’s work and is animated around the audio a young 6 1/2 year old fan had sent in. It’s just one of the bright stand outs of the series overall because of the innocence that went into it, and helps to further showcase just how experimental Dexter’s Laboratory could be with its stories.

9. Pslyghtly Psycho (Season 2 Episode 35B)

Some of the best Dexter’s Laboratory episodes highlighted the different members of Dexter’s family, and helped to show how both Dexter and Dee Dee got their respective quirks. While it’s not the first really eye-opening episode for Dexter’s Mom, “Pslyghtly Psycho” was the one that really got into her head. There were hints of her intensity when it came to cleanliness in the past, but this episode hilariously takes the idea of the rest of the family wanting to be nice for Mother’s Day (as the rest of the family is completely inept at cleaning) and twists it into a full parody of Psycho as Dexter’s Mom becomes a huge germaphobe. Out of all of her highlight episodes, this was definitely the best. 

8. Ham Hocks n’ Arm Locks (Season 2 Episode 3B)

But while the episodes about Dexter’s Mom were intense, they never were quite as intense yet funny as the episodes highlighting Dexter’s Dad. He’s got his own kind of intensity where he focused on a singular thing, and the first real sign of that came during “Ham Hocks n’ Arm Locks.” While he was willing to shrug off the rude trucker when he was the target, he got intensely angry when cede trucker was rude to his wife. Then you get some good old fashioned arm wrestling, Over The Top style and Dexter’s Dad being hilariously oblivious to the technological enhancements he got was just icing on the cake. 

7. Paper Route Bout (Season 2 Episode 30A)

There were many Dexter’s Laboratory episodes that experimented with their formats or stories, and even more that wore their influences on their sleeves. One of the funniest examples didn’t even involve Dexter at all as Dee Dee’s paper route had been usurped by a group of pranking ninjas that just liked to throw newspapers and cause as much damage to the neighborhood as possible. The contest between Dee Dee and the ninjas then leads to a hilarious “They’re neck and neck” joke at the end (with both being so terrible that neither got a single point), and takes it even further with a not so subtle nod to the act of seppuku. It’s just such a wild ending. 

6. Critical Gas (Season 2 Episode 26A)

But not all of Dexter’s Laboratory episodes are experimental or full of intense character moments as one of the best in the entire series is just a ten minute long fart joke. “Critical Gas” highlights how naive Dexter can be despite his brilliant scientific mind as he thinks he’s going to die when he feels his stomach rumble after eating a giant burrito. He then spends the rest of the episode winding down a list of things he’s going to do before he dies, and nearly tells his parents about his secret lab before letting a huge fart explode. Sometimes this sort of humor just works because it does, and there’s no better example of how to nail it.  

5. Last But Not Beast (Season 2 Episode 39)

Dexter’s Laboratory might have gone on for two additional seasons after this, but “Last But Not Beast” truly was the grand finale for the series overall as it was literally never the same. The art changed, Christine Cavanagh no longer voiced Dexter, and just the whole vibe it all shifted. But “Last But Not Beast” was an excellent grand finale in both spirit and story. References to Power Rangers, Godzilla, and Japan abound in the grand finale that unites Dexter’s Laboratory with “The Justice Friends” and “Dial M For Monkey” in a cool all-out battle that showed off everything the show has to offer. I remember being blown away the first time I saw it as a kid, and it certainly still has that impact all these years later. 

4. The Big Cheese (Season 1 Episode 8C)

If there’s one episode of Dexter’s Laboratory that’s found a whole new life outside of itself, it’s “Dexter du Fromage.” “The Big Cheese” no real explanation why it belongs in the best episodes of the series overall. It’s just a classic episode of the series that shows more of Dexter’s naivete. Making it so that he can only say “Omelette du Fromage” and giving him everything he wants as a result hits him even harder when he can get back into his lab with a spoken password. It’s a small stakes episode that’s remembered because of its repeated phrase, and that’s basically everything you want in a classic toon. 

3. The Muffin King (Season 2 Episode 17B)

As mentioned before, Dexter’s Dad’s intensity leads to some of the funniest moments of the series overall but the best one (and third best in the series) is “The Muffin King.” Dexter’s Dad gets into such a “fit” over his wife’s muffins that he tries all kinds of shenanigans to get past Dexter and Dee Dee to get them. Ranging from dressing in his wife’s clothes to trick his kids, using his “power” to hypnotize Dexter, and even recruiting a squirrel to make him seem like a hero in a final gambit to get the muffins before dinner. All that plus a hilarious fantasy sequence, and this episode really has everything. 

2. LABretto (Season 2 Episode 38B)

In terms of the experimental episodes, “LABretto” is the most memorable one of the bunch. Not only does it serve as an origin story for Dexter and his lab, but it’s told through the style of an opera. Dexter’s solemn solo at the end of the episode is one of the most emotionally stirring endings in the animated series, and that’s saying something because it’s not a particular vein that Dexter’s Laboratory hit often. It’s also a good look into Dexter’s life from the outside as while he might be a little jerk in some ways, it’s something that was bred out of open antagonism (regardless of how unintentional it might have been) from his sister. 

1. Ice Cream Scream (Season 2 Episode 15C)

But while “LABretto” helped show a more emotional side of Dexter, the best aspect of the series was that showcasing how much of a naive jerk he could really be. There were two very specific examples in the series of how Dexter had an impact on just regular folks doing their jobs, and the both of them were very good in their own way. While “Trapped With a Vengeance” ultimately didn’t settle things between Dexter and the custodian (as the two were actively fighting one another), “Ice Cream Scream” is the best episode in the series because it has an actual ending. 

The Ice Cream Man was angry for counting all of Dexter’s pennies (after Dexter rudely asking for the most expensive ice cream despite protests) and tried to ignore him before Dexter caught up and apologized. Only for Dexter to start things all over again by paying with a $100 bill. Tom Kenny delivers absolute gold here, and if there’s one episode to recommend from the entire series overall, it’s this one. It’s simply the best.