To impress Sylvia Sundew, Hop Pop asks Anne to teach him how to dance.
At that moment, Toadie arrives in the town square to announce a dance event taking place that night. As Hop Pop considers attending, he is teased about his dancing skills (or lack thereof) by Monroe, another elderly frog who has been Hop Pop's rival for years, beating him at almost everything they do. Hop Pop resolves to attend the dance in order to spite Monroe and win Sylvia's heart, but as he tries to practice in private, he's forced to admit that he really can't dance.
Loud noises coming from the basement prompt Hop Pop to investigate, and he finds Anne dancing to music from her homeworld. Realising that she can dance, he asks her to teach him so he can win over Sylvia. Anne agrees, and one Training Montage later, Hop Pop has actually become a pretty good dancer - though his freestyle dancing is horrifying, and Anne tells him never to do it again.
At the dance, Hop Pop again finds himself tongue-tied and unable to ask Sylvia to dance, but he finally spits it out after Monroe asks to dance with her first. This initiates a Dance-Off between the two, and while Hop Pop's opening routine is good, Monroe turns out to be even better than Anne. Realising he has no chance of winning, Hop Pop decides instead to show Sylvia how he feels the only way he knows how — through freestyle.
Everyone present is appropriately horrified by Hop Pop's bizarre routine... except Sylvia, who turns down Monroe's advances and chooses to join in with Hop Pop's terrible dancing. Mayor Toadstool cancels the dance in disgust, and everyone leaves save Sylvia and the Plantars. When Hop Pop wishes they could continue their dance, Sprig produces a violin and begins to play a romantic solo, to which the pair dance the night away.
Tropes:
- Bait-and-Switch Comment: On seeing Hop Pop "freestyle", Mayor Toadstool says "I ain't never seen moves like those... it's horrifying."
- Be Yourself: The episode's Aesop. It's signalled early on when Hop Pop remarks that Anne's lesson on freestyling - encouraging him to express himself in his own unique way - is the first of her lessons he's actually enjoyed. That freestyling is ultimately what wins over Sylvia.
- Birds of a Feather: Hop Pop is a horrible dancer, but, fortunately, so is Sylvia.
- Cannot Spit It Out: Hop Pop easily gets tongue-tied around Sylvia, which is why he turns to dancing to express himself.
- Chekhov's Gun: At the start of his training with Anne, Hop Pop trips and stumbles into a fire ant hill. During his freestyle at the end, it turns out he kept some of the ants in a jar, and uses them to spice up his routine.
- Chekhov's Skill: Hop Pop's utterly bizarre freestyling, which Anne tells him never to do again. Guess how he wins the Dance-Off.
- Continuity Nod:
- In the beginning, the Plantars are shown being forced to sell their wares in a wheelbarrow in an alley due to having lost their stand back in "Plantar's Last Stand".
- Sprig mentions that he enjoys dances so long as he's not forced to date anyone at them, referencing the events of "Dating Season".
- Dance-Off: Monroe challenges Hop Pop to one, for the right to dance with Sylvia. Monroe is deemed the winner... by everyone except Sylvia, who is charmed by Hop Pop's bizarre dancing and chooses him instead.
- Drunken Glow: An implied example. As Anne is encouraging Hop Pop to dance with Sylvia, she starts blushing rather inexplicably, considering she doesn't seem to be embarrassed or anything like that. Considering she's holding a glass of punch that she then proceeds to take a sip of, it's possible that she may have been indulging in some (potentially unintentional) underage drinking.
- Earn Your Happy Ending: Sylvia tells Hop Pop with her moves that she likes him, and they dance the night away as Sprig plays and Anne waltzes with Polly.
- Epic Fail:
- Hop Pop opens a book on dancing and tries to practice on a broom. The broom breaks and he tumbles into his bookcase, with a book titled "Dying Alone" landing on his face.
- Trying footwork causes him to tumble into a fire ant hill.
- Rhythm practice with a bucket and hammer causes him to smash his own foot.
- Gilligan Cut: Anne promises not to tell anyone about giving Hop Pop dance lessons. Cut to Polly and Sprig cheering him on.
- Give Geeks a Chance: As Sylvia Sundew puts it, she has "a soft spot for the weird ones".
- Hidden Depths:
- Anne is a very capable dancer, and is quite flexible.
- Sprig is revealed to be a very talented violin player. It's a Continuity Nod to "Taking Charge", but his skills are even better here.
- Hope Spot: At the dance-off, Hop Pop does fairly well by emulating Anne's lessons. Then it turns out his rival is even better, possibly better than Anne.
- I Can't Dance: Hop Pop asks Anne to teach him how to dance presumably to avoid this trope. With Anne's training, he gets pretty good at it.
- Just the Way You Are: After she makes a fool of herself on the dance floor for him, Sylvia tells Hop Pop she likes the "weird ones" and dances with him.
- Meaningful Echo: While buying produce from Hop Pop, Sylvia picks out one that looks a little like Hop Pop's head, saying "I have a soft spot for the weird ones." She later says the same thing when she asks Hop Pop to dance.
- "No. Just… No" Reaction: Anne is mortified to see Hop Pop's attempt at freestyling, and tells him "Never do freestyle again!!"
- Noodle Incident: Monroe alludes to "last year's barn dance fiasco" while teasing Hop Pop about his lack of dancing skills. What that fiasco entailed is never elaborated upon.
- Oh, Crap!: When Sprig and Anne realize Hop Pop has decided to freestyle:Sprig: Wait, you don't think he's gonna...
Anne: [gasps in horror] Oh, no! Hop Pop! HOP POP! - Parental Sexuality Squick: When Anne mentions that Hop Pop and Sylvia will be kissing all night, Sprig and Polly are grossed out.
- Pop-Cultural Osmosis Failure: After Hop Pop gets better at dancing, Anne calls him "Hip Pop". Hop Pop flat-out admits, "That reference means nothing to me".
- Screw This, I'm Outta Here: Everybody at the dance floor upon witnessing Hop Pop and Sylvia performing freestyle with Sprig, Anne, and Polly being the only ones remaining.
- Sitcom Arch-Nemesis: Monroe to Hopidiah, besting him at most competitions.
- Sucks at Dancing: Hop Pop when he freestyles. Everyone finds it horrifying... except for Sylvia.
- Throw the Dog a Bone: After several episodes of humiliation and losses, Hop Pop finally gets a win by expressing his feelings for Sylvia.
- Training Montage: When Anne is teaching Hop Pop how to dance. Lampshaded by her playing a song on her phone named "Training Montage Song".
