For some unknown reason, Ed has been grounded, so Eddy and Edd do their best to bust him out without Sarah and Jimmy knowing.
Tropes:
- Abusive Parents: Ed’s parents take down the stairs and everything in his room when he gets grounded. The only thing they leave for him is a cardboard box for him to sit and stew in.
- An Aesop: Never attempt to help someone who is being punished or risk escaping your punishment as it will only lead to you, and/or others, getting into more trouble.
- The Bad Guy Wins: Sarah wins. Eddy's plan to break Ed out horribly fails, and as Edd warned him, it would extend to both Edd and Eddy getting grounded. All three Eds are cooped up in their rooms, as Sarah not only comes out on top, but also tortures them repeatedly bashing them into their walls by tugging on their tin-can telephones with an umbrella.
- Bait-and-Switch: When Eddy declares that Ed can jump the space to the door out of the basement, he pulls out a comically large safety pin and approaches Ed from behind with it, with Double D looking away as it seems like Eddy's about to inflict a Pain-Powered Leap on Ed, followed by the sound of pin being jabbed...into the floor. Eddy was actually setting it up like a catapult to launch the Eds up to the door.
- Behind a Stick: A rare seen-from-the-front version, with the Eds trying to sneak Ed past Sarah and Jimmy by walking behind the second floor bannister, contorting their bodies like spaghetti. This manages to look hilarious and oddly creepy at the same time.
- Brick Joke: Double D vaguely warns Jimmy that he can risk getting a splinter if he keeps holding his wooden musket. Later on, he'd end up with a splinter and is taken inside to get it out.
- Character Catchphrase: Ed states "I am grounded!" throughout the episode.
- Comically Small Bribe: According to Eddy, Jonny would do anything for a handful of granola.
- Continuity Cavalcade: Eddy stumbles upon Double D's closet of decommissioned inventions which were used in past episodes.
- Didn't Think This Through: Eddy never really came up with a good strategy to break Ed out of his house. At most, it just boils down to "get outside and make a break for it". So it's unsurprising that his plan backfired horribly.
- Downer Ending: After their escape plan fails, Sarah tattles on Eddy and Double D's parents who have them grounded alongside Ed. Furthermore, she and Jimmy deliver physical pain to the Eds by messing with their communication lines.
- Dumbass Has a Point: Ed repeatedly points out that Edd and Eddy breaking him out would only make Ed's parents realize he's fleeing and he'll be punished even harder. Edd even adds on to this by informing Eddy that Ed's parents will notify his and Eddy's parents regarding their actions.
- Food as Bribe: Eddy manages to convince Jonny to dress up as a leprechaun by offering him a handful of granola.
- Great Escape: The plot of this episode involves Eddy and Double D helping Ed get out of grounding.
- Grounded Forever: Eddy claims this is his punishment in comparison to Edd getting three days, though he's likely exaggerating.
- Hope Spot: The Eds manage to escape via kite just as Sarah is about to catch them only for the string to unwind from the spool and drop them directly onto Jimmy.
- Idiot Ball: Double D, of all people, holds this when he decides to place a book, an intellectual one, not even a comic book as Ed is known to enjoy, in front of the Ed decoy, simply because he thought it was “unfinished” otherwise. This leads to Sarah quickly seeing “Ed” in his room was a decoy.
- I Warned You: As both Double D and Ed warned Eddy not to go through with his plan to help Ed escape his grounding as not only will Ed’s parents ground him longer but they will also tell his and Double D’s parents leading to them being grounded as well if they find out about it. Surely enough, both predictions come true at the end of the episode.
- Leprechaun: The Eds manage to distract Jimmy (and by extension Sarah) by having Jonny dress up as a leprechaun and goads him to chase him for his pot of gold. But because he's a fake leprechaun, all he can offer is his fake beard.
- Literal Metaphor: Eddy tells Ed to keep his shorts on when he begins to panic upon Sarah learning of their ploy, then quickly walks over and pulls them up as they've actually fallen down around his ankles.
- Ludicrous Speed: Eddy goes down Double D's modified laundry chute so fast his coloring starts flaking off.
- Mundane Made Awesome: Double D managed to turn his house's laundry shoots into high speed mini-rides.
- Nice Job Breaking It, Hero:
- Ed's breakout would've gotten a lot smoother had Ed not in a burst of joy seeing Edd and Eddy hug them so strongly making Edd lose his grip on the manhole-opener that they used to sneak into his room (and the hole closed up, with Edd's brilliant invention going down as well). Not that Ed wanted to leave anyway.
- The whole reason Sarah found them out in the first place was because Edd left a book for the dummy Ed (an intellectual book at that, despite Ed being The Ditz). Since Ed was grounded from doing anything, including reading, Sarah immediately gets suspicious when she sees the book. Granted, she and Jimmy were about to enter the room anyways, but it still lessened the time the Eds had to escape.
- Noodle Incident: Why was Ed grounded in the first place?
- Only Sane Man: Ed is the one who, as miserable as he is, would rather not escape at all to avoid getting in further trouble.
- Overly Narrow Superlative: Double D boasts to Eddy that he treated the chute for his laundry with a lubricant that makes it the fastest slide to any basement anywhere.
- Pet the Dog: Despite being an abusive jailer and horrible little sister, Sarah was thoughtful enough to make Ed's lunch a combination of his two favorite foods: buttered toast and gravy.
- Point That Somewhere Else:
- When Sarah aims a popgun at Eddy for inadvertently trespassing while Ed is grounded, Eddy pushes it aside while saying "Get that stupid thing out of my face, Sarah." Sarah retaliates by slamming it onto Eddy's head and telling him to take a hike.
- Moments later, this happens between Jimmy and Edd as Jimmy has a gun-shaped hunk of wood aimed at him, though playfully admits he's just roleplaying. Edd just calmly pushes it aside with a finger as he warns Jimmy "It's all fun and games until someone gets a sliver, Jimmy."
- Properly Paranoid:
- The only other reasonable explanation for Ed's parents taking down the stairs to his room is because they predicted Eddy might try a stunt like breaking him out of his room.
- Ed is rightfully worried his parents punish more if they find out about Eddy's plan to help him escape from being grounded. Similarly, Edd stresses to Eddy that they'll get in trouble for attempting to free him.
- Punch-Clock Villain: Leprechaun Jonny plays his part as a distraction and then unceremoniously leaves because Eddy only paid him for that much.Jonny: Nope. Up to the fake rainbow, that's all you get for one handful, pal.
- Super-Toughness: A great example of Ed's incredible toughness is when Sarah unknowingly opens the door on the Eds' faces. While Edd and Eddy sport funny faces, Ed looks largely unfazed.
- This Is Gonna Suck: When the Eds get busted at the end, Edd and Eddy's reactions are more weary and annoyed than anything else.Edd: (weary) Remember that parental ring, Eddy?Eddy: Oh, great. Now we're gonna get it.
- This Is Wrong on So Many Levels!:Eddy: (noticing the staircase has been removed from Ed's room) WHAT HAPPENED TO THE STAIRS?!Ed: My parents took them down because I am grounded!Edd: ... That's disturbing.
- Tin-Can Telephone: The Eds use them while grounded to communicate with each other (although Ed’s is a sponge, and thus gets no signal). Sarah pulls on the strings to make them slam against the walls.
- There Was a Door: Window, technically, but after Edd and Eddy go through the trouble of sneaking into Ed's room via his floor drain, his attempt to re-enter it upon being freed prompts Edd to ask if his window was unlocked the whole time.
- The Unreveal: It is never revealed what Ed did that got him grounded. Most fans believe it's punishment for tearing up Jimmy's toy rabbit and breaking his (Ed's) mother's teapot from "It Came From Outer Ed", which this episode is paired with.
- Unwanted Rescue: Throughout the episode as Eddy and Double D try to bust him out, Ed is reluctant to go along with it, constantly reminding them that he is grounded. Sure enough, all Eddy and Double D's efforts do is land Ed in deeper trouble while getting themselves grounded as well.
- You Are Grounded!: Ed has been grounded for an unspecified reason. At the end of the episode, Eddy and Edd are also grounded for trying to bust him out.
