"The Agent of Change"
Tropes for "The Agent of Change" include:
- Action Girl: Agent Double X, who "rocks out and saves humanity from its stupidity".
- Actually Pretty Funny: From what we see of the movie, the antagonist appears to be a Binky lookalike named "Cranky Yarns". Part of the reason the movie was even made is because Binky kept mocking Molly, Francine, and Muffy for wanting more good girl movies in the first place. Despite this, Binky ends up really liking the movie.
- Amateur Film-Making Plot: Disappointed with the female characters in movies they watch being portrayed as Satellite Love Interests for the protagonists, Muffy and Francine team up with Molly to create Agent Double X, a cartoon starring a female secret agent.
- Clothing Damage: Binky suffers this in Francine and Muffy's Imagine Spot, where his clothes are in shreds after he is trampled by a large crowd of people.
- Depending on the Writer: Francine, Muffy, and Molly all have their own take on Agent Double X. Francine imagines her playing sports, Muffy sees her as a "glamorous spy" who wears dresses and likes fashion, while Molly (the original creator) describes her as "a punk rocker who occasionally saves the world". However, in the final short, she ends up coming off as a Composite Character between the three of them.
- Double-Meaning Title: "The Agent of Change". At first, it seems to be about Agent Double X being literally a secret agent who saves the world, but it can also refer to the overall intent behind the short: taking an active role to introduce more female characters into animation.
- Eiffel Tower Effect: Muffy wants Agent Double X's hideout to be "not too far from Paris". Molly draws the Eiffel Tower in the distance to represent this.
- Imagine Spot: Francine and Muffy have one about Agent Double X becoming a successful movie franchise.
- Mondegreen Gag: When told that they need to storyboard the short, Muffy interprets this as "everything needs to be store-bought." She's set on doing it before Molly corrects her.
- Multiple Choice Form Letter: Muffy, Francine, and Molly send an email to a movie-making company, asking them to put more female characters in their movies. They instantly receive a response. The result?Francine: (reading) "Thank you for your email about 'please create some decent girl characters.' Your thoughts on 'please create some decent girl characters' are important to us. And remember, go see Trucks, the movie about a boy who follows his dreams."
- Never a Self-Made Woman: Discussed. Francine and Muffy complain that the only two female characters in Trucks are the male protagonist's mother and his girlfriend.
- Revenge of the Sequel: Three in succession. Francine and Muffy imagine various sequels to Agent Double X: Return of Agent Double X, Revenge of Agent Double X, and Daughter of Agent Double X.
- Satellite Love Interest: Conversed, with Francine and Muffy complaining about the female characters in the animated movies they watch being this for the male protagonists.
- Shout-Out:
- "Trucks" is a parody of Cars. The character Rita the Meter Maid refers to The Beatles' song "Lovely Rita, Meter Maid".
- "Donny Droid" is a parody of Astro Boy, while "Kung Fu Koala" is a parody of Kung Fu Panda.
- Molly has a green Domo plush toy.
- Show Within a Show: Agent Double X, the cartoon created by Muffy, Francine, and Molly, as well as Trucks, the movie that inspired them to make it.
- Spin-Offspring: Implied. In Francine and Muffy's Imagine Spot, one of the Agent Double X movies is called Daughter of Agent Double X.
- Start My Own: Tired of the way girls are portrayed in movies, Francine, Muffy, and Molly make their own movie starring a female main character.
- Surprisingly Realistic Outcome: Muffy, Francine, and Molly want to make their own movie to rival a big-budget theater film. However, while Molly is a good enough artist and Muffy has the money for it, the three of them aren't experienced animators and they only end up making one minute of Stop Motion footage after spending an entire night working.
- Title Drop: When Molly, Muffy, and Francine are working on the short, they don't give it a name until the very end (which we don't get to see). It's only when Binky finds the cartoon on the street that we see the name: "The Agent of Change".
- The War on Straw: The episode as a whole falls into this. Muffy and Francine are dissatisfied with the animated movies they watch because the female characters in most of them are simply the male protagonist's girlfriends, and don't have any personality to speak of. The problem is most animated movies from the time the episode aired (including the ones it references, like Kung Fu Panda and Cars) had long since begun including much more well-developed female characters, so it's effectively Two Decades Behind.
"D.W. Unties the Knot"
It's time for your Big, Fancy Wedding, D.W.!
After watching a reality program, D.W. plans her own dream wedding, but becomes confused when she is reminded of trying to find someone to "marry."Tropes for "D.W. Unties the Knot" include:
- Accidental Marriage: Narrowly Subverted. D.W. initially wants to have a wedding only so she can throw a fancy party, not realizing it also means actually marrying someone. After she finds out the true meaning of a wedding from Muffy, she no longer wants to go through with it and tells her would-be groom, James, "No" at the wedding ceremony.
- All Take and No Give: D.W. thinks her groom should be somebody who's good at doing what she tells them to do, which is why she chooses James.
- And Now You Must Marry Me: Played with. D.W. sets up a wedding for herself and James without his knowledge or consent and has the Tibble twins forcibly bring him to her during the wedding party. However, she did this without knowing the actual purpose of a wedding, assuming it was just about throwing a fancy party and nothing more. She has second thoughts when she learns from Muffy what she actually set herself up for.
- Answer Cut: In the intro to the episode, after an episode of Dark Bunny, a newscaster asks if children are prone to imitating what they see on TV. We immediately see Arthur and Buster acting out the cartoon in the same room.
- Breaking the Fourth Wall: In the intro, D.W. explains that the episode is about "how Arthur can't help copying what he sees on TV". Arthur protests, saying that's not what the episode is about, and tells the audience to watch the episode and see. Indeed, it's about D.W. wanting a wedding after she sees one on TV.
- Comic-Book Time: The events of S1's "D.W. Thinks Big" are said to have happened "a few months ago."
- Continuity Nod:
- D.W. doesn't want Arthur to come to her wedding, since the last time he was at one, he lost the ring. This indeed happened, back in "D.W. Thinks Big".
- Timmy says he didn't wear a suit when his Grandma took him to see Trucks: The Musical. Notable in that it's a nod to the previous story in this very pair of episodes!
- Dramatic Drop: Mr. Read drops his tray of hors d'oeuvres in shock upon seeing the bill for D.W.'s wedding party.
- Exact Words: D.W.'s dad tells her she can have a wedding when she's older. Just an hour later, D.W. reasons that since she's technically older, she can have one now.
- Hope Spot: When D.W. is nervous about her wedding, her mom asks if she'd like to spend the day with her father. D.W. is excited, but it turns out he was hired to cater the wedding.
- Imagine Spot: D.W. has two in this episode: one where she and Emily ride on the back of a flying unicorn to the former's wedding, and another of living with James' extended family after marrying him.
- Interspecies Romance: D.W., an aardvark, chooses James, a rabbit, as her "groom."
- Lohengrin and Mendelssohn: The Standard Snippet from Lohengrin plays at D.W. and James' wedding reception.
- Medal of Dishonor: D.W.'s Imagine Spot of living with James' family features a show called the Shy Guy Awards, where people are seemingly awarded trophies for shyness.
- Onion Tears: D.W. tells Emily to bring an onion since she needs to have Tears of Joy at her wedding. When Emily sees D.W.'s impression of it, she decides against needing an onion.
- Runaway Bride: Having not realized what a wedding actually entails until it's time for the reception, D.W. tells James "No" at the "altar" and runs away in tears.
- Sequel Episode: This episode could be considered a spiritual sequel to both "D.W. Thinks Big" and "Kiss and Tell," continuing with the plot point of D.W.'s interest in weddings from the former and the "D.W. likes James" subplot from the latter.
- Series Continuity Error: D.W. recalls serving as the ringbearer at "Cousin Lucy"'s wedding. While this did indeed happen back in "D.W. Thinks Big", Lucy was referred to as Aunt Lucy there.
- Sesquipedalian Smith: When Muffy asks who the wedding is for, D.W. gives a fake name of "Deeangeleenora Woo". She claims that she likes to be called "Dee Woo", though.
- Ship Tease: D.W. does not take long to choose James as the "Unicorn King" to her "Unicorn Queen." While D.W. is unaware of the actual purpose of a wedding and has second thoughts when Muffy tells her, she still seems genuinely upset when she has to tell James "No."
- Shockingly Expensive Bill: Implied with the bill for D.W.'s wedding reception, given Mr. Read's reaction to seeing it.
- Show Within a Show:
- Big, Fancy Wedding, the reality show that inspires D.W. to have a wedding of her own in the first place.
- D.W.'s Imagine Spot of living with James' family has a show called the Shy Guy Awards where a boy receives a trophy presumably for shyness. It is unknown if this show exists in "reality", however.
- Squee: On the Big, Fancy Wedding reality show, the bride screams in delight when she learns she's about to have a wedding.
- Themed Wedding: Naturally given her love of unicorns, the wedding D.W. plans for herself is themed after them, with the bride and groom called the "Unicorn Queen" and "Unicorn King", respectively.
- Unconventional Wedding Dress: For her wedding, D.W. wears an oversized yellow dress with orange floral print and puffy sleeves. Justified, as it's not actually a wedding dress, but one of Emily's nanny's dresses that she was going to give away.
- Undisclosed Funds: D.W. wants to have a fantasy wedding after seeing one on TV, and asks Muffy Crosswire if she can have it at her huge estate. Muffy calculates how much it would cost to rent (minus a 10% friends' discount) and shows it to D.W. and her friend Emily. When Emily says she only has a dollar on her, Muffy will only give them the space inside a small chalk square, though she gets excited upon learning the occasion is a wedding and offers the estate. Not realizing the wedding was for D.W. herself, a 4-year-old, Muffy goes all out and plans the ultimate fantasy wedding with a unicorn theme. Only on the day of the wedding does Muffy realize that D.W. is the bride, who refuses to go through with it once she realizes what it means to get married. Since it's "customary" for the father of the bride to pay for the wedding, Muffy presents Mr. Read with the bill. Even with catering costs deducted, the amount is enough for him to gasp and drop his tray of hors d'oeuvres.
- Walkie-Talkie Gag, Over: When Emily names the groom at "Dee Woo"'s wedding:Emily: The groom is James. Er, King James.
Muffy: (on walkie talkie) Roger! Over and out!
Emily: Not Roger, James! - Wedding Episode: Parodied. When D.W. sees a show about fancy weddings, she wants to have her own. However, she misses the most important part: that it's not just about throwing fancy parties, but actually marrying someone.Muffy: Don't you know what it means to get married? They're vowing to live together and love each other for ever and ever! It's so romantic!
D.W.: Romantic?! Live together?! No one told me that part! - What Happened to the Mouse?: We never find out if D.W. was punished in any way for setting up a wedding for herself and James without his knowledge or consent, thus also forcing her father to pay the Shockingly Expensive Bill for the preparations even when she ultimately refuses to go through with it.
- Winged Unicorn: Averted. The unicorn in D.W.'s Imagine Spot does not have wings despite being able to fly.
