When it's time to go to bed, I know I don't have to feel alone, 'cause I'll see you tomorrow, at the creek
"“We’ve seen a lot of positive reactions to [the show], especially moments like in the credit sequence where we see Craig just having dinner with his family,” Levin says. “People have pointed that out, like, ‘this is so refreshing to see on television.’ We’re looking to show those little moments. They’re not big political statements, but they can mean so much to people.”"
—Ben Levin, from an article by Fast Company
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General
- The ending credits song played to Craig's family together for dinner listening to Jessica.
- Bernard smiling at the end, showing he's not as cynical as he presents himself.
Season 1
Itch to Explore
- Craig, Kelsey and J.P. letting the Scratchless One keep the Poison Ivy Grove to himself.
You're It
- Kelsey willing to abandon the Creek so that no others will have to worry about getting tagged.
- Craig's speech about how warriors can have feelings too and she has to fight for her right to stay at the creek.
Jessica Goes To The Creek
- Craig apologizing to Jessica about snapping at her and wiping her tears/snot away.
- Kit being friendly to Jessica when Craig brings her to the trading tree.
The Final Book
- Kelsey willing to try a book from a genre she doesn't like so that Stacks will have a friend to talk about said book with.
Escape from Family Dinner
- The talk Craig has with his parents about what's been going on with his life along with Nicole explaining why she wanted to hold the family dinner in the first place.
Monster in the Garden
- Seeing Bernard smiling and being kind to his grandma during their visit is really sweet.
The Curse
- Tabitha and Courtney's relationship. They only want to spend time with one another, and a later episode reveals it's not just friendship either.
- The goth girls becoming fond of the kids after they helped them get away from Tabitha's meddling dad and deciding to use their witch act to help them from now on.
Bring Out Your Beast
- Bernard letting Craig play with his cards.
The Brood
- Both the fact that Craig's Granddad doesn't hold it against Craig for accidentally breaking his cicada shell and Craig's determination to replace it.
Doorway to Helen
- Craig's friendship with Helen. Even through they don't understand that they just go to the creek at different times from each other and believe that the other is in a different dimension they manage to form a beautiful friendship just from their letters.
Secret Book Club
- Kelsey forming a secret book club with J.P., Craig and Stacks, so that they can enjoy the book that she's interested in.
The Shortcut
- A cute moment where Craig catches Kit when she's about to trip into the water, and the small smiles they give each other afterwards.
- Even though J.P. is gullible, his heart is definitely in the right place where he wants to trade with a gentle approach in contrast to Kelsey's aggressive nature.
- Evelyn might be hard to please but she’s reasonable enough to give her granddaughter some ice pops. She even teased Kit for having a crush on Craig.
Alone Quest
- When Craig and J.P. return to the creek, the latter tells Kelsey from her dad that "he treasures every day with you". This confuses Kelsey, but makes sense when you consider how anxious Kelsey's dad got, a few minutes earlier, when he thought Craig and J.P. were going to tell him something really bad had happened to his daughter.
- Kelsey being able to enjoy her alone time without feeling bored or miserable. It's nice to show how kids can still have fun by themselves if their friends are unavailable to play with them.
- When Kelsey rolls down a hill to "embrace the serenity of nature", she takes a small moment to talk to the dead."It's a beautiful day, Mom."
Season 2
Kelsey the Elder
- It's subtle, but while Elders Mark and Barry are distracted by their spat, Elder David is more focused on making sure Kelsey enjoys her first tabletop experience. Those familiar with railroading DMs and power gamers will find it sweet to see a veteran encouraging a newcomer.
Turning The Tables
- Craig feeling guilty about how bad he's treated Bernard through the episode, which culminates with him trying to reason with Bernard's rude customer. Two children swindling a man out of twenty dollars has never been so heartwarming.
Sparkle Cadet
- The fact that the "Anti-Sparkle" is defeated by Craig, J.P. and Sparkle Cadet simply listening to Kelsey vent about her terrible day, even as she insists several times it's stupid.
- Sparkle Cadet's character in general. For many viewers, it's touching to see a black girl with a cute magical girl theme who is dedicated to spreading happiness and positivity to those around her. It's a rare form of representation that most kids don't get to see.
Cousin Of The Creek:
- It's a small detail but Duane styling Jessica's hair for her at the very beginning of the episode is very cute.
- The whole "Duane thinks Jessica loves Darnell more than him" B-plot is mostly played for laughs, but his love for Jessica is actually pretty touching, especially with how happy he looks when Jessica hugs him at the end of the episode.
Evolution Of Craig
- Craig's granddad quickly realizes that Craig is clearly feeling bummed out about entering fifth grade, and lets Bernard take the car so the two of them can spend some more time together and he can try to cheer Craig up.
- Craig's sheer excitement at watching the tadpole "evolve" into a frog is really adorable.
Sleepover At J.P.'s
- The whole reason J.P. wanted his friends to go to his sleepover was because he wanted his mom, an airline pilot who is always busy because of her job, to finally meet his best friends.
- Boris is moved to tears by J.P.'s motivation that he allows the Stump Trio to escape confinement by tearing down the tree they were stuck to so they can go home.
Tea Timer's Ball
- When Kelsey accepts Aaron's public proposal to the ball out of pressure, Maney and J.P. frequently assure her that she is allowed to turn down his offer if she doesn't feel comfortable or have any romantic feelings for him. It's a refreshing message on how it's okay for girls to turn down offers from guys asking them out and how they shouldn't feel ashamed or guilty for doing so.
- And after Kelsey goes through with turning down Aaron (albeit with some shouting involved), the boy apologizes for what he put her through and walks away without trouble. And not once is Kelsey ever treated as "the bad guy".
- Maney and J.P.'s interactions throughout the episode was ripe with sweetness as the two showcase the qualities of a healthy and loving couple.
Secret in a Bottle
- At the climax of the episode, all the kids and Elders openly confess their secrets so that they wouldn't have to give away their prized possessions. And rather than getting angry at each other, they confide in one another as friends.
- The Secret Kid is portrayed as an honestly good guy. He takes his job as the Creek's Secret-Keeper very seriously and wants to preserve their privacy. He even takes the fall for Marie when Eliza reveals her secret dislike of horses and claims it as his own.
Trading Day
- Kit is revealed to give free snacks to Todd from the Ten Speeds (you remember him right?) who is allergic to a variety of foods.
The End Was Here
- At the end of the episode, Craig realizes that it doesn't matter what created the war between the First Ones of the Creek, but what does is that the Present Kids of the Creek make better relations with each other so that another war doesn't happen. And he starts by offering his rival Jason a chance to hang out with him and his friends.
Season 3
The Other Side: The Tournament
- After Craig spends a good amount of the episode worrying that his card for his dad's birthday would be disappointing compared to the smart watch Bernard bought, Duane is seen loving the card just as much as Craig hoped he would.
The Ice Pop Trio
- Craig and Cannonball helping Sparkle Cadet learn to ride a bike. They're patient with her no matter how many times she fails and encourage and cheer her on when she succeeds especially when she jumps the ramp.
- Craig, Cannonball, and Sparkle Cadet going on their own adventure while the other kids are on vacation, even agreeing at the end of the episode to do it again in the future.
Afternoon Snackdown
- Craig revealing why he makes spider bites.
Creature Feature
- Bernard's friends making sure that J.P. and Kelsey are safe.
- One of Bernard's friends was willing to throw J.P. out the window to protect him.
- Bernard punching the swamp monster to protect Craig and his girlfriend.
The Rise and Fall of the Green Poncho
- After most of the creek council doesn't take Craig and Omar's warning about the other side seriously, we see that Cannonball, the Sewer Queen, and Jason are willing to hear them out.
Alternate Creekiverse
- Even in a reality where they didn't initially hang out, Craig, Kelsey, and J.P. can't imagine themselves not eventually becoming friends.
Snow Day
- Bernard's joy of finally having a snow day for the first time in years.
Breaking the Ice
- Throughout the episode, Craig shows that he’s surprisingly patient with Wildernessa and her personality as he genuinely wants to be her friend, and when it all goes south, Wildernessa realize how accepting he is if she’s just honest with him.
- Wildernessa apologizing to Craig for tearing him down, and then giving him her dog whistle so that he can call her and Cheesesticks if he's alone or in danger again.
Winter Creeklympics
- Even though Craig, Kelsey, and J.P. fail to win any medals, they realize that having fun is more important. The other contestants and the hosts Wren and Handlebarb even join in.
Fan or Foe
- Craig throwing the trivia challenge so as not to risk his new friendship with Diane, a fellow Slyde the Ferret fan.
- Kelsey sharing her graphic novel with the kid selling stickers and vice versa.
The New Jersey
- J.P.'s dad sending him a jersey that looks just like his old one, realizing that it's what would make J.P. happy.
The Sunflower
- While Kelsey's attempts at helping Sun get over the death of her pet hamster might not have been timed well, it still shows how much she cares about her new friend to put that much effort into it.
- After helping the sunflower grow with the aid of Kelsey, Sun finally comes to terms with Cookie's death and is smiling again.
Capture The Flag Part 1: The Candy
- The Council of the Creek voted in letting King Xavier enter the Creek for his rich supply of snacks and candy. Craig voted no including those who have his full support before from "The Rise and Fall of the Green Poncho" such as the Sewer Queen, Cannonball, Jason. Even Wildernessa went from going yes to a full no vote as she trusts Craig especially after their last encounter. Unfortunately, Bobby was the deciding vote in letting King Xavier in for the candy and tells Craig to accept that he failed to get Kit to operate her Trading Tree again.
Capture The Flag Part 3: The Legend
- The story of how Kenneth became king of the Other Side of the Creek. When he was younger, he met up with his friends Mark, Barry and David (who would later become the Elders of the Creek), dressing up like the characters in the anime Haru: King of the Forest. When the overpass was built, it cut off Kenneth's access to his friends, and he was left all alone. Then other kids befriended him, thinking his costume was cool, and join him in his cosplaying; they began calling him King, and would evolve into the kingdom as it exists today. Kenneth points out that he was made king by his friends, whereas with Xavier, "that crown is the only reason he has friends."
- Nicole not grounding Craig. In so many other shows, one would assume the Adults Are Useless trope is in play and she'd fall hook-line-and-sinker for a lie told by a stranger and ground her son for it. Here, not so much. She does tell Craig he should stay away from the Creek for a while, but it's only because he's so worked up about the whole situation with Xavier, and that it's a recommendation and not an order.
Capture The Flag Part 4: The Plan
- This episode showcases how far along Craig and Jason's friendship has come. Jason likes Craig enough to join Xavier's guard and act as The Mole to give Craig inside information on Xavier, which is risky with how Xavier is. Craig trusts Jason implicitly to pull this off, stay loyal to their side of the creek, and to simply be part of the plan. Craig never once questions the information Jason gives him, for Jason's information is right on the money each time.
- When Craig tries to recruit Omar for the game, Omar is reluctant to do so at first, believing that the creek let him down by letting Xavier in after having spent 3 summers trying to keep him out. However, while he says he won't go to war for the creek, he will do it for Craig.
- In a way, the establishing shot of the meeting in Craig's room could fall under this. Particularly Nicole getting a chance to see how many friends her son has made during his time at the creek.
- After Bobby expresses how sorry he is for voting to let Xavier in as well as selling Craig out to the king for candy, Craig allows him to make up for it be helping their team out in the game.
Capture The Flag Part 5: The Game
- Craig and Wildernessa shares a good relationship here where the latter comforts him regarding to his fear of losing the game. Wildernessa also sacrificed herself from being tagged all because of her crush on him.
- Omar telling Maya that it's not too late to make things right and trying to talk her out of winning the game for Xavier. Even after her betrayal years ago, he still just wants his best friend back.
- When Craig manages to get his hands on the flag, the kids who help him get back to the overpass are Cannonball and Sparkle Cadet— the other two members of the "Ice Pop Trio." It's a sweet and awesome payoff to the three's friendship.
Season 4
Beyond the Overpass
- While Kelsey and J.P. were helping the kids rebuild the regions of the Creek, Craig invites Omar to hang out with him so he can introduce him to the other kids of the Creek.
Sink or Swim Team
- Craig and the Sewer Queen's friendship is highlighted here. Throughout the episode, Eileen is kind towards Craig and teaches him everything that he needs to know about her Filipino family and culture. And although their ruse was discovered after their friends got into a fight, Eileen still invites him for dinner.
- Eileen finally admits to her mom that she just doesn't like swim team and has been lying to her, and her mom takes it as well as can be. She cares more about Eileen's well being in general than anything else.
Better Than You
- Aggie and Craig's fierce drawing competition unexpectedly dissolves to them both helping the other with their weaknesses (Aggie is good at realism but can't draw cartoons, Craig is good at cartooning but struggles with animals, especially horses) and just having a good time drawing together.
Fire & Ice
- Kelsey and Stacks writing together and complimenting each other's additions to the story they're working on.
- Laura and Kat giving Kelsey advice after she starts worrying about how her story reminds others of her and Stacks as well as how she herself feels about Stacks.
- Kelsey and Stacks confessing to each other. While it's clear that Kelsey in particular is nervous, they still embrace their feelings for each other and even quote their story while doing so.
Dodgy Decisions
- It's small, but J.P. and Maney protesting the dodgeball game together. They've had plenty of adorable moments together already, and them being equally opposed to the game is no exception.
- The flashback showing Kelsey putting Craig's name into the drawing for team captains instead of her own when he couldn't make it to the creek that day believing that he would make a good captain.
- Craig taking the dodgeball that was meant for Kelsey to make up for not picking her to be on his team.
- After spending three years on opposite sides and her disappearance after the Capture the Flag game, it seems like Omar and Maya are starting to rekindle their friendship.
Grandma Smugglers
- Craig helping Raj take his grandmother to a rock that he found in the creek, knowing how much it reminded her of a rock from her youth in India.
The Champion's Hike
- The show casually reveals that Craig has been learning sign language ever since Dodgy Decisions when he uses it to say hi to Jackie.
- When Maya shows up, Keun Sup happily says that she finally accepted their invitation, implying they invited her multiple times to take the hike before, even when at risk of her telling Xavier about their hikes.
- Maya talking to Craig when he starts to feel out of place among the Champions. She assures him that the others invited him on the hike because they really seem to like him and that he doesn't need to impress them, noting her own experience with Xavier.
Scout Guest
- Nicole willing to let Jason stay the night after a phone call with his parents.
- After spending the episode insisting that he and Jason aren't friends, Craig finally treats him as one after hearing about his home life, even asking Jason to wait for the bus with him and Jessica.
Silver Fist Returns
- The Secret Keeper revealing his crush on George and the latter reciprocating, along with Secret Keeper refusing to battle George earlier on.
Craig to the Future
- The Stump Kids and Omar running into David again, having not seen him since the Elders' falling out.
- In the future scenario:
- Seeing that Craig and Wildernessa (now Vanessa) are dating.
- Maya taking on a big sister role to Kelsey, with them both on a wrestling team.
- Kelsey and Stacks making up after Kelsey thought they broke up over an argument they had.
- J.P. and Omar still hanging out together. Especially with the later reveal that in the scenario, the former Stump Kids aren't that close anymore.
- After seeing the kids worried about the future, Courtney and Tabitha assuring them that it's only one of a different number of possible outcomes, not wanting to crush their spirits.
- Despite the possibility of them not being close in the future, Kelsey, J.P., and Omar are still optimistic, thinking that there's no way a future with them not being friends could happen.
Puppy Love
- It's brief and mainly there as a reason for them to not be involved with the plot, but Kelsey and J.P. going to spend time with Stacks and Maney respectively.
- While Craig is initially surprised that Wildernessa texted him asking to talk alone, his realization after recalling what happened the last time they met makes him nervous about the possible implications of her sending that text.
- Craig showing immediate concern upon finding out Cheesesticks ran away, even preparing to text Kelsey and J.P. to help look before Wildernessa asks him not to, worried that they'll think less of her for losing Cheesesticks. While Craig is skeptical about how true that is, he still respects her wishes and offers to help her look himself.
- Craig being the only one Wildernessa asks for help really shows how much she's come to trust him. With her happily hugging him after he agrees to help, followed by them awkwardly backing away afterwards.
- Craig trying to comfort Wildernessa after seeing Cheesesticks with Brigid, even if she doesn't initially believe him about Brigid being a kid in a dog costume as opposed to an actual dog.
- Wildernessa talking about her bond with Cheesesticks, seeing him more as a friend than a pet and wanting to respect his decisions.
- Wildernessa's reunion with Cheesesticks at the end, telling him that while she knows he can choose anyone to be friends with, she's glad he chose her.
- Wildernessa nervously admitting to Craig that "Cheesesticks" likes him, with him understanding what she means and admitting he likes "them" too. Followed by them laughing and howling in response.
Galactic Goodbyes
- When Craig is upset after Jessica spilled juice on his map, Sparkle Cadet decides to cheer him up by painting his nails.
- Sparkle Cadet talking about her old friend, which makes her sudden moving away after getting to know them much more sad.
- After Sparkle Cadet is discouraged with how their original song turned out, Craig remembers how much she's done to cheer him and others up in the past, and he, Kelsey, and J.P. decide it's time to return the favor by encouraging her to get the band back together so they can try to write the song again.
- Earlier in the episode, Sparkle Cadet mentions not even being able to remember her friend's face. As the song plays on, the friend's facial features gradually start to return, giving her closure on not being able to say goodbye.
Season 5
A League of Maya's Own
- Maya's mom subverts the When You Coming Home, Dad? trope by initially seeming too distracted to get involved in Maya's personal issues, but comes to her baseball game and assures Maya that the time they spend together is her favorite time of the week. When Maya comes clean about her complicated relationship with Omar, her mom is quite understanding.
The Cheese Stands Alone
- While Craig does freak out regarding the idea of he and his friends drifting apart like in the Witches' tarot card reading, the moments themselves that lead to the realization are actually pretty heartwarming in one way or another:
- Kelsey and Stacks essentially having a library date, with them reading the sequel series to Ythrith of Scriggth.
- J.P. and Omar texting about a show they're both enjoying and even sharing memes about it.
- Wildernessa listening to Craig vent about his worries, as well as both of them finding the concept of the show J.P. and Omar are watching to be ridiculous.
- Her reaction upon Craig mentioning them dating in the future, with him saying that they get each other and he wants them to be cool together.
- Despite Craig wanting to prevent the future where he and his friends drift apart, he still wants to be with Wildernessa in the future.
