Recap / Dr. Crafty Season 3 Month 4: Cartoon Month

Dr. Crafty Recap Index
Season:
Season 1 | Season 2 | Season 3 | Season 4
Month:
#1: Season 3 Premiere Month | #2: Valentines Month | #3: Season 3 Commission Month
#4: Cartoon Month | #5: Disney Month | #6: Hero Month
Bonus Content:
Season 3 Patreon Episodes | Season 3 Promotional Videos

Airing Range: 5/31/19 - 6/21/19

The next monthly theme revolves around cartoons that Crafty has enjoyed, with him drawing a poster for every single one. However, someone has sent a malevolent spirit—Bill Cipher—over to the castle for some nefarious reconnaissance. Through Bill's exploits, Nurse's backstory is uncovered, along with some other mysterious elements that will change how the show progresses in the future.

Tropes Applicable to the Month as a whole:

• Arc Villain: Bill Cipher of Gravity Falls fame serves as this month's main antagonist. He's sent against his will by Dr. Mindstein to gather intelligence from Crafty's mind. As a precautionary measure, in case Bill tries breaching their agreement, Mindstein deliberately keeps Bill in the dark about his quarry. Thus, she expects him to figure out what she's after when he sees it, and he soon does.
• Easter Egg: Bill's likeness is hidden somewhere in each of the main show episode thumbnails. He grows steadily less apparent as the month progresses, with him overlooking Crafty and Nurse in the first image, looking on at them as a pony in the second, hiding as a pyramid-shaped gem in the third, and looking on from the Teen Titans Go Robin's uniform in the last.

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Main Show E63: "Something Weird This Way Comes"

Air Date: 5/31/19

Dr. Mindstein, the mysterious scientist that has been overlooking the Crafty Crew from her lair, has successfully revived Bill Cipher. She forces him into doing some reconnaissance work on Crafty's castle, which hides something she needs. Coincidentally, Crafty and Nurse kick off the month with a Gravity Falls poster. Before they do, Nurse discovers Crafty looking through Stanford Pines' journal, an encyclopedia of all kinds of mysterious and mystical phenomenon, for some much-needed answers about "The Foreshadow Game's" events.

Tropes Found in This Episode:

• Call-Back: Crafty doesn't show up to start the show at first, and Nurse finds him locked away in his room. He was thumbing through Stanford Pines' journal to figure out how Bakura returned for the "Foreshadow Game's" events. The whole incident has been on his mind since he woke up from his coma in the season premiere.
• The Cameo: Stanford Pines calls up Crafty at the end of the episode, questioning him about his stolen journal. Ultimately, after Crafty explains what he was doing, Pines decides to let Crafty keep it in case he discovers something important.
• Evil Is Petty: After the episode's art is complete, the episode cuts back to Mindstein's lab, where she's finally gotten control over Bill and is giving him a mission briefing. Mindstein holds out a photo of Crafty to help Bill Cipher identify him. As a surprisingly petty jab at her enemy, her photo depicts Crafty unflatteringly sobbing, just to make Crafty's first impression on Bill very embarrassing.
• Foreshadowing:
  • Mindstein plays a certain tune on the Infinium Flute to get Bill Cipher under her control. That tune is a rendition of Disney's "It's a Small World." It's a subtle hint of her next appearance during the succeeding monthly theme.
  • When Nurse asserts that Crafty made her, Crafty once again becomes visibly uncomfortable and hurries Nurse to go start the episode. His reasons for being so apprehensive about the matter are explained in the future.
• Given Name Reveal: The mysterious scientist reveals her name, or at least her alias, to Bill Cipher: Dr. Mindstein.

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Main Show E64: "Socializing is Arcane"

Air Date: 6/7/19

Nurse and Crafty discuss how the My Little Pony franchise evolved from its humble beginnings to its most popular incarnation yet. As they draw a poster commemorating Friendship is Magic, Bill Cipher makes his first move on Nurse's mind.

Tropes Found in This Episode:

• Call-Back:
  • This episode has another flashback to the time Crafty first met Sasha... from Nurse's perspective. She witnesses him walk out of their school to some nearby cliffs, where he tries jumping off. Nurse hurries to his aid when she realizes what he's doing, but she only catches him right as he starts plummeting. Thankfully, Sasha managed to return him to shore, but she's scared off by Nurse. And just as a Vinnie mentions in the "This is Crack(ship)" flashback, Nurse was the chubby girl who got Crafty into the hospital.
  • The memory begins from Nurse's first-person perspective. She laments that she doesn't remember anything playing out before her until her memory from "The Beachles" briefly flashes into view. It gives Nurse some conformation regarding what is happening while also implying that the heavyset figure in the "Beachles" flashback was her.
  • Nurse confirms her real first name to be Greta. The name was strongly hinted to be hers before this episode, in both "Aqua Marina" and "Yugi Vs. Sakura," in which the Millenium Ring package she receives is addressed to her under "Greta."
  • Upon arranging Crafty's stay at the hospital, Nurse departs with a kiss and a get-well card, signed with her real name. It's the same card that Crafty was left with in the "Aqua Marina" flashback.
• Creator Cameo: Crafty makes a snarky remark about how certain people treat their toys. This prompts a Cut Away Gag showing Alex taking his statement literally:
  Crafty: You know, I'm really curious what the old fandom was like before this newer iteration [of My Little Pony].
  Nurse: Oh! I can talk about that no problem!
  Crafty: Oh? You were into the old one while I'm into the new one? I'm interested to hear your input.
  Nurse: O-oh, well, um... Back in the old fandom, people were really nice and would come together to be creative with one another. There would be dolls that artists would bake, and they'd act as bases, letting other artists come up with really incredible designs.
  Crafty: Oh wow! That sounds so... wholesome. You'd never see a guy do the same thing with his transformers. Gotta keep them in mint condition, I guess. 'Cause I mean, who wants to play with kids toys, am I right?
  [There's a cut to Alex editing the show in his room. He perks up at Crafty's question, then looks back concernedly at the various unboxed toys atop his dresser.]
  Alex: What have I been doing with my life?
  [Nurse and Crafty return after a Dr. Crafty-themed transition. Both of them look a little confused.]
  Nurse: ... Do you ever worry that we get too meta on our show?
• Wham Episode: Bill Cipher uncovers one of Nurse's repressed memories. She's forced to relive its events, which reveals some huge information about her backstory: Nurse and Crafty were schoolmates, and Nurse witnessed Crafty's suicide attempt and successfully saved his life. She also remembers more of her troubled childhood, with the sight of her mother—Mindstein—terrifying her awake and setting her up for more horrific revelations to come.

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Main Show E65: "GEMS! Truly Outrageous!"

Air Date: 6/14/19

Crafty and Nurse work on a Steven Universe poster and discuss the show and what it does right and wrong. Bill restarts his trip into Nurse's mind and uncovers a few more interesting secrets.

Tropes Found in This Episode:

• Abusive Parents: In the flashback sequence, Mindstein discovers that Nurse had snuck out for the night. She rediscovers Nurse, and as punishment, she violently stabs her own daughter in the neck with a syringe. Mindstein is unrepentant about the whole thing, too; she flashes her trademark Slasher Smile just before committing the act.
• Foreshadowing: To fool with Nurse, Crafty slips on the very Garnet T-shirt she wanted to wear. But he later slips back into his green turtleneck to feel more like himself. His attachment to this sweater is revisited much later in the show.
• Take That!: The episode riffs on Steven Universe's infamously toxic fanbase, with the Crafty Crew fortifying the castle against them before the commentary begins. There are even Cutaway Gags depicting the show's fanbase as an angry mob of Crystal Gems. Notably, the last gag abruptly ends when Rose Quartz pops up on screen and warns the viewers not to draw her thin. Her warning all but directly calls out the infamous harassment of a certain Steven Universe fan artist.
• Used to Be a Sweet Kid: Screw—whose real first name turns out to be Hazel—was a fairly ordinary young girl, according to the flashback. While her face barely emotes, she's clearly concerned about where her older sister—Nurse—is going so late at night. When Mindstein finds where Nurse has gone, Hazel swears up and down that she didn't speak of Nurse's whereabouts. She can only look on in horror and sorrow as their mother administers Nurse's punishment. Her behavior here is a far cry from the robotically stoic, implicitly bloodthirsty bruiser shown off throughout the present-day.

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Main Show E66: "Titans! Reboot!"

Air Date: 6/21/19

The main duo finishes the month off with a Teen Titans poster, discussing its sequel series, Teen Titans Go, and how it stacks up to the original. Running out of time, Bill resorts to drastic measures to finally get what he wants.

Tropes Found in This Episode:

• Actor Allusion: As Bill Cipher starts dying from being stabbed by Sasha's Infinium Sword, he briefly transforms into other roles his voice actor played, including Hades, Sans, and the Boogieman.
• Fake-Out Fade-Out: The episode ends with the same-old shenanigans... until Bill Cipher appears in the credits to make his presence known to Crafty and Nurse.
• Five-Second Foreshadowing: When the end-card appears for the first time, the thunder sound effect preceding it is noticeably truncated, as if something's amiss. Sure enough, a few seconds later, Bill Cipher interrupts the ending sequence to finally confront Crafty and Nurse directly.
• Gosh Dangit To Heck: Robin from Titans (2018) drops in for a visit, and his language is significantly toned down compared to the Precision F-Strike he's infamous for.
• Super Zeroes: There's a Cutaway Gag to a hypothetical superhero team called "The Adequate Acquaintances", comprising of Bat-Baby, Arm-Fall-Off Boy, Peter Porcupine, Snowflame, and the Ultimate Warrior. Crafty and Nurse are left speechless by how dumb the concept is.
• Xanatos Gambit: For Mindstein's plan to succeed, either Bill Cipher delivered the information about the Infinium Door, or he fails and gets killed in the process. The latter ended up happening, but Mindstein still considered her plan a success; Crafty finds out about Mindstein, and she now knows that the heroes have some way to combat gods.

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Top Ten Tub E10: "Funniest Characters"

Air Date: 6/1/19

Prank Queen Messibelle enjoys a list of the funniest fictional characters with Crafty, with some unexpected additions here and there.

This episode's list contains the following:

• 10. Daffy Duck
• 9. Seto Kaiba
• 8. Freakazoid!
• 7. Infinite
• 6. Caboose
• 5. Yakko Warner
• 4. John Freeman
• 3. Heinz Doofenshmirtz
• 2. Dan Backslide
• 1. Phil Ken Sebben

Tropes Found in This Episode:

• Harmless Villain: During the #7 entry's discussion, Infinite can't take Crafty and Messi's mocking much longer, so he teleports into the bathroom to set them straight. Despite all his bluster, Infinite immediately caves when Crafty lightly slaps him in the face.
• invoked Narm: Unlike the other entries on the list, Infinite the Jackal was chosen for being ironically funny. His attempts to be a serious villain end up backfiring on Crafty and Messi; neither can contain their laughter when discussing him.
• President Evil: Jedah Dohma interrupts the episode with a campaign ad announcing his bid for the American presidency. Naturally, his Obviously Evil nature shines through during his speech, and his followers still buy it.

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Chara-Cafe E10: "Duck and Cover"

Air Date: 6/1/19

Pepper mistakenly prepares for an anime-themed drawing for this month, but she is disappointed when Crafty points out that they're actually making a DuckTales (2017) OC. She may not have been entirely off-base, however…

Tropes Found in This Episode:

• Chekhov's Gun: Pepper's anticipation for an anime-themed episode isn't entirely off the mark, as she later discusses Ducktales' extremely important influence on anime. Its presence can still be felt throughout much of the industry today thanks to the Japanese content creators inspired by it.
• Disney Owns This Trope: Scrooge McDuck sends Crafty a subpoena at the end of the episode, suing him for the usage of his name and likeness in the show. Jedah chose to represent him to spite Crafty, and he drops by the kitchen to remind Crafty to meet him and Scrooge in court.
• Foil: The OC design, Phillianne Tropy, is a direct answer to Scrooge McDuck. Both are incredibly rich ducks, but while Scrooge is exceptionally frugal with his wealth, Phillianne is—true to her name—a philanthropist.

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Questionable Qloset E4: "Atop the 4th Door"

Air Date: 6/1/19

During this batch of questions, Crystelle has to deal with an unwanted visitor.

This episode's questions for Crystelle are revealed on the following three cards:

1. The Hermit (Disgustilda): "Does Disgustilda have any hobbies, or is it just breaking into Crafty's Castle for kicks and giggles?"
2. The Tower (Crafty's Castle): "Where exactly is Crafty's castle? I'd assume somewhere remote."
3. The Hierophant (Crafty's Parents): "How did Crafty's parents meet, anyway?"

Tropes Found in This Episode:

• Arson, Murder, and Jaywalking: On the topic of Crafty's lair, Crystelle lists the natural defenses towards intruders trying to find it: the terrain, alligators, and worst of all... Country Music!
• Cards of Power: For this episode, Crystelle draws the Hermit (Disgustilda), the Tower (Crafty's castle), and the Hierophant (Howard and Vinny, Crafty's parents). Keeping true to the funnier aspects of the monthly theme, Disgustilda is not only discussed but shows up in person.
• Comically Small Demand: Disgustilda goes through the trouble of infiltrating Crystelle's closet. She even gets help from a passerby construction worker, who builds a window into the room for her to use as an entrance. She does all this... to ask Crystelle for a lightbulb. This happens right after Crystelle remarks that "not all the lights are on in [Disgustilda's] head."
• Foreshadowing:
  • Disgustilda's sudden appearance legitimately catches Crystelle by surprise. This is rather unusual because Crystelle's abilities should allow her to see Disgustilda coming. A later occurrence implies something ominous about this interaction.
  • When asked about where the Crew's castle is located, Crystelle takes some time to describe the castle itself, and her comments imply something big about it that gets elaborated upon as the show progresses.
    Crystelle: This castle... has an ancient aura about it, one that I dare say predates my own existence. And yet there's such an odd sense of familiarity about it, too. Most... peculiar, now that I reflect upon it.
• Riddle for the Ages: Crystelle deems Disgustilda an utterly perplexing case study. She compares her search for answers on Disgustilda to spending an evening with Tommy Wiseau.

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