Webby sets out to prove to a homesick Penumbra that Earth can be a lot of fun by riding Glomgold's newest gift to Duckburg, the suspicious Flintferris Glomwheel.
Tropes:
- An Aesop:
- It can be hard to adapt to a new setting, but it doesn't hurt to try.
- Just because two people don't make a great couple, that doesn't mean they can't be friends.
- Agony of the Feet: Glomgold tries to fire the cannon on the Ferris wheel as it's collapsing, but the cannonball just lands on his foot.Glomgold: AUGH! Curse you, Me-Ferris Me-Wheel!
- Armor Is Useless: Despite the fact that Penumbra was wearing a helmet while fixing her engines in the compartment, she still bangs her head and feels the effect after Della comes in.
- Armor-Piercing Question: Penumbra releases all her pent-up frustration by saying that on Earth, she feels she has nothing to save her fellow Moonlanders from. Webby asks her, "Is that what you're so afraid of?" This briefly unnerves Penumbra before her guarded persona goes back up.
- Arson, Murder, and Jaywalking: After Glomgold's Ferris wheel sinks into the water, the safety inspector gives him safety violation fines, repair bills for damaging the pier and a thank-you note from Timmy Jenkins.
- Bait-and-Switch: When asked if he wants to check out Glomgold's Ferris wheel, Dewey pulls out a news article and somberly tells the tale of how he narrowly missed danger on Glomgold's last amusement park ride because he let a kid named Timmy Jenkins go first... and then he rants about how he could've gotten Jenkins' place in the spotlight.
- Benevolent Boss: Glomgold towards Gibbous, surprisingly, at least compared to how he usually treats his employees. Even after Gibbous indirectly gets him saddled with numerous fines, Glomgold admits that he can't stay mad at him.
- Berserk Button: Suggesting Penumbra is afraid of anything irritates her greatly.
- Better as Friends: Launchpad feels awkward around Penumbra after their date didn't go well, but she eventually reassures him that she likes him even though she has no interest in dating an "Earth... male". They end up bonding over Launchpad's clumsy 'combat style' and his skill at dismantling aircraft, after she invites him to help take apart her ship.
- Big Eater: Penumbra eagerly eats multiple hamburgers and still has room for the ice cream. She explains that she's been on a hunger strike since getting onto Earth.
- Brain Freeze: Penumbra is finally coming around on Earth until she gets one of these from a mountain of ice cream, sending her back to square one.
- The Bus Came Back:
- Penumbra's back for the first time this season, and her first appearance since "Moonvasion!".
- Glomgold also makes his first appearance this season.
- The Moonlander couple Gibbous and Zenith also return.
- Call-Back:
- One of the things Webby was excited to do was eat a hamburger.
- Penumbra went to get coffee with Launchpad, after the Ship Tease from "Moonvasion!"
- Gibbous and Zenith have gotten a dog and given it snap bracelets.
- Glomgold says that Gibbous is a better assistant than his last one, Zan Owlson.
- Just like Della when she returned to Earth, Penumbra keeps complaining about Earth gravity.
- Casting Gag: Gibbous, now Glomgold's assistant, is played by Rob Paulsen, who has some experience in playing the simple-minded assistant of a megalomaniac with hare-brained schemes.
- Complexity Addiction: Glomgold had a Ferris wheel built just to aim a cannon at McDuck Manor.
- Did Not Get the Girl: Penny politely tells Launchpad that she has no interest in dating an "Earth male" and Launchpad is actually okay with it.
- Everyone Hates Mimes: Penumbra mistakes a living statue at Duckburg Pier for a "deceptive flesh robot" and throws him into the bay.
- Evil All Along: Not evil, but Timmy Jenkins reveals that he was intending to one-up Dewey all along, after spending the entire episode coming off as an Unknown Rival.
- Face Palm: Zenith does it when Gibbous tells Penumbra about the party they went to,
- Failsafe Failure: Dewey is unable to get to the steering wheel to stop the limo when Launchpad bails out of the limo because he can't unbuckle his seat belt.Dewey: This seatbelt will be the death of us all!
- Fake Ultimate Hero: Glomgold has rebuilt his reputation by taking sole credit for saving the day in "Moonvasion!"
- Fantastic Racism: Downplayed. Glomgold and some assorted pier-goers aren't over the Moonlander invasion from the season two finale. Nonetheless, the populace have been accepting (and forgiving) enough to allow the Moonlanders to integrate into society, to the point Glomgold hired Gibbous as Owlson's replacement.
- Ferris Wheel of Doom: Not only is Glomgold's Ferris wheel not compliant with safety regulations, he also installed a cannon in it that's aimed directly at McDuck Manor.
- Fish out of Water: Penumbra has spent most of her time on Earth repairing a ship so she and her fellow Moonlanders could return home, and thus missed out on adapting like the others did, though her desire to reclaim her position as a warrior defender hasn't helped matters. She's obviously completely out of her depth at the fair, for starters.
- Foreign Culture Fetish: Of all the things from Earth that fascinate Zenith and Gibbous, what do they go with? The '90s.
- Freeze-Frame Bonus:
- During Glomgold's commercial, a shark is visible in the clip of the GlomCoaster.
- During the limo drive, there is a very brief shot of Dewey preening his hair before we cut to Webby and Penumbra.
- You can briefly read Timmy Jenkins's thank you letter. It says, "ty, timmy jenkins. :)"
- You can see the tiny silhouette of Lunaris's ship, still orbiting Earth, in front of the final shot of the Moon at the end of the episode.
- Full-Name Basis: Apart from Dewey's cry of "JENKINS!" at the end, Timmy Jenkins is always referred to by his full name.
- Furry Confusion: Penumbra spends about thirty seconds watching in dismayed confusion as Dewey and Webby feed popcorn to some non-anthropomorphic ducks, and then horror as she sees Dewey eat some popcorn himself.
- Gilligan Cut: Penumbra says that she has a meeting with her fellow Moonlanders to discuss going home, then it cuts to her talking to Gibbous and his wife Zenith, who have decided to stay on Earth.
- Going Native: Many of the Moonlanders who decided to stay on Earth seem to be assimilating better than Penumbra is at the start of the episode. For example, Gibbous and Zenith have gotten a dog, wear Earth-style clothing (although it's not in style), and use Earth slang like "barrel of monkeys". Gibbous is even working for Glomgold now.
- Gravity Is a Harsh Mistress: Penumbra complains several times about Earth's gravity. Justified since The Moon's gravity is just a fraction of Earth's, so Penumbra feels herself moving slower than everyone and everything around her.
- Hates Small Talk: Penumbra, during her "coffee" with Launchpad.Launchpad: Sooooo..... er, do you get Darkwing Duck on the Moon? Or....
Penumbra: This is terrible. - Hoist by His Own Petard: As the Ferris wheel is sinking into the bay, Glomgold tries to fire off the cannon, but it just smacks him in the foot.
- I Choose to Stay: All the Moonlanders besides Penumbra decide to stay on Earth due to seeing how much fun it is. At the end, Penumbra also decides to stay because she can save earthlings from danger, giving Launchpad the offer of destroying the spaceship she was building.
- Incompatible Orientation: Penumbra confirms to Launchpad that she doesn't hate him, but that she just has no interest in an "Earth... male." It would later be confirmed that this was meaning to say that she's a lesbian.
- Insistent Terminology:
- Penumbra calls the kids, and Webby in particular, "small Della(s)". She later refers to Dewey as "blue Della".
- Glomgold repeatedly calls Gibbous a Martian, despite him pointing out that he's from the Moon. Notably, when he's scapegoating Penumbra, he correctly identifies her as a Moonlander.
- Laser-Guided Karma: Though he doesn't get arrested, Glomgold is hit with multiple fines for the amount of safety violations in regards to his Ferris wheel, not to mention his reputation as Earth's savior has gone down the toilet following his latest bungled attempt at destroying Scrooge's home that also put numerous civilian lives in danger due to his shoddily-constructed ride. And his cannonball meant for McDuck Manor lands on his foot.
- Minion with an F in Evil: Gibbous becomes one for Glomgold.
- Mythology Gag:
- Penny watches in confusion as Webby and Dewey feed non-anthropomorphic ducks, much like Donald's reaction to non-anthro ducks in Fantasia 2000.
- One of the stands on the pier is Hamburger Hippo from Darkwing Duck.
- Glomgold's Ferris wheel looks exactly like Mickey's Fun Wheel at Disneyland.
- Noodle Incident: The disaster that was Glomgold's roller-coaster. The most we know is that a kid named Timmy Jenkins was trapped on it and got famous thanks to the incident.
- No OSHA Compliance: The "Flintferris Glomwheel" is shaky and prone to collapse, especially since there are a ton of unused parts. The GlomCoaster is also implied to have been in similar conditions. Subverted with Gibbous calling the safety inspector.
- Never Trust a Title: There are actually several Moonlanders on the Earth in this episode.
- Oblivious to His Own Description: Gibbous tells Penumbra that Glomgold told him he "single handedly saved the planet from Lunaris and his terrible Moon scum".Penumbra: ...Gibbous, we're the "Moon scum"!
- Pet the Dog: Glomgold becomes so charmed by Gibbous's relentless, innocent fawning that he forgives the latter for getting him in trouble with the safety inspector
- Plot-Mandated Friendship Failure: Happens between Penumbra and Webby when the former blames the latter for giving her Brain Freeze and then having her humiliated. They patch things up after Penumbra saves Webby and Dewey from the collapsing Ferris wheel.
- Revenge Before Reason: Glomgold got his company back and has public adoration for his role in stopping the invasion, but he throws it all away for yet another attempt to get Scrooge. He not only loses all his goodwill among the people, but he also gets hit with multiple fines and an injured foot.
- Rollerblade Good: Penumbra initially fails at roller-skating, but later uses the skates to save Webby and Dewey.
- Russian Reversal: The episode title is an inverse of "They put a man on the moon".
- Sarcasm-Blind: Gibbous, being from another culture, misses numerous signs Glomgold is only joking about calling a safety inspector to check his Ferris wheel.
- The Scapegoat: Glomgold pins the blame on Penumbra to avoid getting in trouble with the safety inspector.
- Screw This, I'm Outta Here: Launchpad finds being around Penumbra so awkward, as a result of their failed date, that he does this multiple times to get away from her. The first of these is while he's driving them.
- "Shaggy Dog" Story: Dewey deliberately endangers himself in order to get on the news like Timmy Jenkins did, only for the reporters to be more focused on Jenkins once again instead of the kids currently trapped on the Ferris wheel.
- Shaped Like Itself: Gibbous's logic when Penumbra points out that Glomgold didn't defeat Lunaris.Gibbous: Penumbra, I don't think a great hero like Glomgold would lie about such an important detail, do you?
- Ship Sinking: Any Launchpad/Penumbra shippers are sure to be disappointed here, since they decide that they're Better as Friends. Becomes an almost literal ship sinking later, as Launchpad helps Penumbra destroy her (space)ship.
- Shout-Out: Timmy Jenkins has buck-teeth and wears pink and blue, similar to another Timmy.
- Shown Their Work: Webby is correct that caterpillars literally melt into butterflies during their pupa stage (they produce enzymes which digest almost their entire bodies, leaving only the stem cells for the wings, antennae, vital organs, and other features).
- Special Effects Failure: In-Universe, with Glomgold's commercial for his wheel. The curtains behind him end up catching fire - Smash Cut to him standing in front of burnt curtains.
- Surprisingly Realistic Outcome: As the safety inspector points out, the shoddy construction on Glomgold's Ferris wheel means it will fall apart before it can fire its cannon. Scrooge isn't in any danger from it, but Dewey and Webby are, being in one of the gondolas.
- Suspiciously Specific Denial: Webby definitely doesn't want to hang out with and/or swap battle techniques with the super-cool alien war hero living in their backyard. That's just crazy.
- Tempting Fate: Inverted, as Dewey wants things to go wrong.Webby: What could go wrong?
Dewey: Hopefully everything! - "Test Your Strength" Game: Webby and Dewey get Penumbra to try out a high-striker. Because of her Super-Strength, the weight breaks off upon hitting the bell and flings onto her head, enraging her into attacking it only for her to be hit by the hammer. She also plays an arm wrestling game, and manages to break the robot arm.
- Unknown Rival: Timmy Jenkins shows no sign of having any idea who Dewey is, let alone caring about one-upping him... up until the end, after having garnered all the media attention again, whereupon he gives Dewey an evil smirk and taunts him with "Better luck next time, Dewey."
- Verbal Backspace: When Zenith suggests that Penumbra is afraid of trying to adapt to Earth, she quickly back-pedals when she sees the look on her face.
- Villain with Good Publicity: Played With. Glomgold is still a villain but has gotten some good press and love from the public after his part in Lunaris's defeat. While he's taking it a bit too far by acting like he did all of the work, he did play a critical role in saving the world, so he does deserve some credit. As you might expect from someone as haplessly self-destructive as Glomgold, though, his failed scheme in this episode starts to lose him his good publicity and image.
- Worst News Judgement Ever: The newscasters ignore the giant cannon coming out of the Flintferris Glomwheel or the two children trapped in it, instead focusing on Timmy Jenkins.LOCAL BOY ALMOST RIDES RIDE
- Yes-Man: Gibbous while working for Glomgold. Much of this is the result of his genuine innocence; he sincerely thinks highly of Glomgold and thus figures the boss does know best. However, when attempting to tell Glomgold that he's a Moonlander and not a Martian, he senses how angry being corrected makes him and is smart enough to backtrack.
