When there's a blood moon, it's Farm of the Dead.
Blood MoonThe kids' first Halloween in Big City is threatened when a blood moon turns all the farm animals into zombies.
"Blood Moon" contains examples of:
- Adapted Out: The book adaptation of the episode removes all of Gloria's scenes, thus cancelling out all theories of what would happen if one is bit by a zombified farm animal. Cricket's Jump Scares are also cut out.
- Animal Stampede: The zombie animals break into the apartment complex and chase after the Greens, plowing down anything in their path.
- Artistic License – Biology: A zombified chicken lays an egg, which hatches into a chick also zombified. In reality, a chicken egg takes about 20 to 21 days before it hatches, as the embryo has to develop inside the egg. Also, the chicken has to sit on the egg to keep it warm to prepare.
- Backing Away Slowly: Bill nervously backs into the basement wall when Cricket corners him, suddenly suspicious after Bill mumbles that he is seemingly aware of the animals getting out and knowing how bad it has become.
- Bad Moon Rising: The blood moon. Once in some years, it curses farm animals to turn into man-eating zombies on Halloween.
- Big "NO!": By the little boy who shows up at the Green house and is attacked by the zombie animals.
- Blunt "Yes": When she sees Gloria at the front door, Gramma is asked if she's carrying a club, to which it's revealed that she's indeed holding one. Gramma gives a firm "yes."
- Bottle Episode: The episode is one, unusual since it is a double-length episode, as it is set entirely at and around the Greens' home lane territory, particularly inside their house before escaping to the Elkins building in the climax, and going no place further. Justified, as the blood moon curse prevented them from exceeding said land.
- Brick Joke: After Bill (as "Jill") gives out porcelain unicorns, Remy tries to eat his before Bill stops him. When we next see them trick or treating, Remy has the unicorn in his mouth as he asks Cricket if he's going to eat his.
- Calling the Old Man Out: When Cricket realizes Bill is the reason for the animals getting out for the sake of not wanting the kids to trick-or-treat without him, he angrily calls him out for ruining Halloween.
- Cassette Craze: True to her scientist costume, Tilly uses one to record her scientific findings throughout the episode.
- Cat Scare: More like chicken scare. Bill sees something out of the corner of his eye while he’s locking the animals up for the night and tension builds as he goes to investigate. Something jumps out and scares him, but it ends up just being a loose chicken.
- Double subverted as Cricket gives Bill a Jump Scare immediately after.
- Chekhov's Gun: Cricket’s secret entrance, which he jumps out of at the beginning of the episode to scare his dad, ends up being how the animals get into the house.
- Closed Circle: Crazed animals surround the Greens, along with Remy, his bodyguard Vasquez, and Gloria, in the house. It becomes a Trapped-with-Monster Plot when the animals find a way in; they escape to the apartment building next door, but the animals follow them there. It turns out Bill engineered the whole thing by leaving the barn door open because he wanted to spend Halloween together with the kids, but it got out of hand.
- Cold Open: The episode begins with a prologue of Gramma explaining the blood moon to the kids.
- Description Cut: While everyone hides in the basement, Bill quips, "Well, at least we all made it outta there." Cut to Gloria, who was left behind, getting attacked by the animals.
- Dresses the Same: Both Remy and Vasquez dress as hot dogs for Halloween. Remy accuses Vasquez of stealing his costume, but it turns out Vasquez always goes as a hot dog; Remy just happened to dress as one this year.
- Early-Installment Weirdness: This is the first double-length episode, and it stands out from all future ones as it is a Bottle Episode.
- Eaten Alive: Almost happened to the Greens, and also Remy, Gloria, and the other citizens.
- Exorcist Head: Cricket does it following Bill's Wham Line below.
- Eye Cam: Gloria has this when waking up from fainting.
- Face Death with Dignity: The Greens hold hands on the rooftop as they prepare to face the inevitable from the animals as a family. It doesn't last long, because the blood moon ends right before they could do so, sparing them.
- Failed Attempt at Scaring: Gramma Alice tries to warn Cricket and Tilly about the Blood Moon, but they just laugh her off.
- Faint in Shock: Gloria faints when Cricket drops down the doorway to scare her. She kind of sets herself up for it when she comes to the Green house to complain about a disgusting jack o'lantern that he left at the coffee shop and demands to see him.
- Flashback-Montage Realization: When Vasquez tells Remy that he stole his yearly hot dog costume and not the other way around, Remy thinks back to all the other times Vasquez went as a hot dog for Halloween.
- Foreshadowing:
- After Bill is rejected by Cricket and Tilly and they run out on him, he goes "Hmm..." to himself, foreshadowing his plan to let the animals out.
- Bill somehow knows about the blood moon and when it will fade, which worries Cricket.
- When suggesting indoor trick-or-treating, Bill says they'll do it "as a family".
- Doubling as a Rewatch Bonus, Bill is noticeably absent during the scene when the kids greet Remy, the blood moon rises, and the animals start attacking. Not only does this foreshadow Bill's connection with the animals, but the fact he was the one who let the animals out, as shown in his flashback where we see what he was doing during that scene.
- Note the way Bill screams for the kids to come inside, he sounds as if he had it planned.
- Friend-or-Idol Decision: When cornered by the animals on the roof, Bill prepares to willingly sacrifice himself so Cricket can enjoy the candy he got from the apartments. However, Cricket chooses to protect him instead and gives the candy to the animals, because he realizes Bill was right and he'd rather spend his potential final moments with him.
- Gasp!: The rest of the group’s reaction when Cricket shows them the lock to the garage door that fell out of Bill’s pocket.
- Gory Discretion Shot: Gloria ignores the warning to stay inside and gets attacked by the farm animals, however we only see the rest of the group’s reactions to the attack.Gramma Alice: Get outta the way! I can’t see!
- Halloween Episode: Self-explanatory.
- Heroic Sacrifice: Bill at first, and later the whole Green family decide to spend their final moments together and prepare to sacrifice themselves to the animals...then the blood moon fades and the animals return to normal.
- Holding Hands: The Greens all do this when facing their fate on the rooftop, just before the moon returns to normal.
- I Got a Rock: Cricket, Remy, and Vasquez get tiny porcelain unicorns from “Jill.” Granted, it’s the best they can do while trick-or-treating inside.
- Jump Scare: Cricket does this to Bill while he's locking up the animals. He does it again to Gloria when she shows up at the Green house.
- The Man in the Moon: The episode ends with a "Pan Up to the Sky" Ending to a close-up of the moon... which suddenly turns around to reveal Cricket's face yelling "Happy Halloween!" at the audience.
- Near-Death Experience: The Greens are nearly devoured by the animals, but the moon reverts to normal before they can do so, sparing them.
- Noodle Incident:Gramma Alice: [to Bill] I bring you into this world, and you take me out! Just like that fortune teller predicted.
- 1-Dimensional Thinking: The Greens have no excuse to not jump off the roof and land safely in a bush or tree when cornered on the roof, something Cricket doesn't even think of until a whole season from now.
- Patient Zero: Tilly and Gramma treat Gloria as this, being the first person to be bitten by the Blood Moon-affected animals. Tiffy then makes it her mission to Find the Cure!.
- Raising the Steaks: The Blood Moon turns the Greens’ animals into bloodthirsty monsters.
- Raised Hand of Survival: Played for laughs. To get to the apartment next door so the kids can still trick-or-treat, the group digs their way out of the house and comes busting out of the ground like a bunch of zombies.
- "The Reason You Suck" Speech:Bill: I realized this whole thing turned into a whoopsie-daisy.
Cricket: Oh! Is that what you called this? A whoopsie-daisy!?! You put the whole family in danger! And also, NO TRICK-OR-TREATING!! Are you hearin' this, Tilly!?!
Tilly: I hear it, and I cannot absorb it....
Cricket: Oh! And you broke Tilly while you were at it!
Bill: Well, when you put it like that, uh...
Gramma: Oh, Bill...
Cricket: Well, you wanted us to spend Halloween together, so...here we are. Happy Halloween. - Red Eyes, Take Warning: The animals get these when they turn into zombies.
- The Reveal: Bill let the animals out on purpose because he didn't want the kids to spend Halloween without him.
- Rewatch Bonus: In later viewings, once you find out that Bill is responsible for letting the animals out, it takes on a whole new meaning.
- Single Tear: Cricket sheds one when he sees the trick-or-treating nirvana that is the apartment complex.
- Special Edition Title: This episode has a Halloween themed version of the opening, with red tinting, spooky details added, and brief flashes of creepy things spliced in.
- Title Drop: Several times throughout.
- Total Eclipse of the Plot: A lunar eclipse (or "blood moon") on Halloween causes the farm animals to go crazy.
- The Triple: Gramma in the opening sequence mentions that there’s much to be afraid of on Halloween:Gramma Alice: ...ghouls, goblins, and those spooky motion-sensor decorations, you know the ones.
- Unexpectedly Dark Episode: The episode takes "dark" to a whole new meaning when the blood moon rises and turns the animals into zombies, and the Greens' first Halloween is threatened. To add up to it, the entire outside view is bathed in bloody red light, Tilly and Gramma treat Gloria as one of the victims, and it gets even worse when the family are nearly sacrificed near the end.
- Weakened by the Light: Cricket discovers the animals' weakness is shining flashlights in their faces, and everyone does so to fend them off. Unfortunately, the batteries die.
- Wham Line: When hiding in the basement, Bill utters the following line which makes Cricket suspicious.Bill: Oh, I didn't think it would be this bad.
- Wham Shot:
- Vasquez checking outside to find the garage door wide open.
- The lock to the garage falling out of Bill's pocket.
- What the Hell, Hero?: Cricket's reaction when he realizes Bill let the animals out in the first place.
