The Great Outdoors
Manny and the tools go to Mrs. Portillo’s house to fix her washing machine- and end up having to convince Quinn to do something other than watch TV all day.
Tropes in “The Great Outdoors” include:
- Bizarre Taste in Food: Apparently, Mr. Lopart’s store sells steak-flavored candy.
- Captain Superhero: Quinn’s favorite TV show, “Captain Squirrel”, is probably (all that comes from the TV is generic action noises, and the TV screen is actually just displaying footage from “To Catch A Litter Bug”) about an Animal-Themed Superbeing with one of these names.
- Chekhov's Gun: At the beginning of the episode, Manny wants to have the tools play soccer, but is interrupted by a job before he can do this. Still, he puts the soccer ball in his truck- and, at the end of the episode, he, the tools, and Quinn end up playing soccer in the park together.
- Furry Confusion: The Show Within a Show that the tools are watching involves a handyman whose inanimate tools mysteriously go missing.
- Hollywood Tone-Deaf: Mr. Lopart doing vocal warm-ups for his commercial jingle is bad enough to drive Fluffy yowling out of his shop, although oddly enough when he actually starts singing the jingle he sounds fairly decent.
- I've Heard of That — What Is It?: Pat’s tendency to do this is Lampshaded.Mrs. Portillo: My grandson Quinn is visiting and I just made him some flautas.
Pat: Ooh! Those are my favorite!
Turner (sighing): Do you even know what flautas are?
Pat: Yes. A flauta is… (thinks for a second) No, I don’t know. But they sure sound yummy! - On Three: While helping Kelly stack hoses in her store, Felipe and Turner toss a coiled hose onto the stack on a count of tres.
- Stock Aesops: Quinn learns how it’s better to play outside than watch TV.
- Show Within a Show:
- At the beginning of the episode, the tools are watching one about a handyman whose toolbox mysteriously disappears. Apparently, it’s called “The Missing Toolbox”.
- Quinn apparently spent most of the day glued to Mrs. Portillo’s television watching his favorite show, “Captain Squirrel”.
The Cowboy Cookout
Manny and the tools head down to Francisco’s ranch to relax for a day, and enjoy his cowboy cookout. Unfortunately, his barbeque grill has rusted through, and once again Kelly’s hardware store is miles away…
”The Cowboy Cookout” provides examples of:
- Added Alliterative Appeal: Mr. Lopart apparently has a collection of “Cowhand Candy”, which includes “Lasso Licorice Loops”.
- Alliterative Title: Well, it would be if not for that pesky “The”.
- Bait-and-Switch Comment: When Manny is driving the tools to Francisco’s ranch, and Pat asks if they’re almost there.Manny: We’re not almost there, Pat.
Pat: Aww.
Manny: We are there! - The Bus Came Back: Shelly returns after having been absent since “Cowboy Manny”.
- Chekhov's Gun: When Manny first arrives at Francisco’s ranch, part of the old stone wall surrounding the ranch falls apart, and Shelly starts removing the stones. At the end of the episode, Manny uses the stones to replace Francisco’s broken barbeque grill with a stone barbeque.
- Department of Redundancy Department:Rusty: I don’t like water. You know, it’s too wet.
- Furry Confusion: At one point during the episode’s “We Work Together”, Manny is seen cracking a rock with an inanimate sledgehammer.
- Heat Wave: It’s apparently a very hot day, and Manny and the tools head out to Francisco’s ranch to cool off with a day of swimming and fishing- and, once the sun goes down and things cool off, enjoy a cowboy cookout!
- Hollywood Tone-Deaf: Felipe sings absolutely horribly after asking why anyone wouldn’t want to hear him sing cowboy songs, although later in the episode when he actually sings said cowboy songs he sounds fairly decent.
- Improvisational Ingenuity: After Francisco’s barbeque grill rusts through, Manny ends up building him a stone barbeque out of stones from the broken stone wall around the ranch.
- Instantly Proven Wrong: Mr. Lopart, after a blob of candy cowboy hats (It Makes Sense in Context) fall on him.Mr. Lopart: Oh, I’m fine, Manny. Little candy never hurt anyone.
(Another piece of candy falls on him)
Mr. Lopart: Ow. - Interscene Diegetic: This is inverted with the radio announcer heard discussing the Heat Wave at the beginning of the episode; he’s first heard talking over an aerial view of Sheet Rock Hills; the camera then cuts to the inside of Manny’s shop, where his voice is coming from an actual radio.
- Lily-Pad Platform: At one point, the tools chase a frog in Francisco’s pond across a series of lily pads.
- Knew It All Along: When Manny turns a fan on at the same time his workshop’s phone rings:Pat: Hey, that fan sounds just like a phone.
Manny: It is a phone, Pat.
Pat: Ooh, right! I knew that. - Musical Episode: Well, sort-of; Felipe diegetically sings a “cowboy song” as Manny and the tools are driving to Francisco’s ranch, and gives it an equally-diegetic Triumphant Reprise as the tools sit around Francisco’s ranch but, unlike the show’s other diegetic songs, Felipe’s song has a separate credit for its songwriter in the credits, earning this episode semi-honorary Musical Episode status.
- Object Ceiling Cling: Mr. Lopart’s jelly cowboy hats, which are partially melted and very sticky due to a Heat Wave, end up briefly sticking to the ceiling before falling on Mr. Lopart’s head.
- Offscreen Crash: Calling it a “crash” would be a bit of a stretch, but an offscreen “splunch!” occurs when the sticky jelly candies that had been sticking to Mr. Lopart’s ceiling come loose and fall on Mr. Lopart’s head.
- Overly Narrow Superlative: At the end of the episode, when Manny and the tools are enjoying their cookout:Pat: Mmm. That was the best Mexican cowboy cornbread I’ve ever had.
Turner: Pat, that was the only Mexican cornbread you’ve ever had.
Pat: Oh, yeah! I really liked it. - Radio Voice: The radio announcer heard talking at the beginning of the episode naturally sounds like this.
- Rhetorical Question Blunder: When Felipe brings up wanting to sing cowboy songs.Felipe: Who wouldn’t want to hear me sing? ♪ Aaaaaa! ♪
'Turner:'Me. - Triumphant Reprise: Felipe sings a(n entirely diegetic) “cowboy song” on the drive to Francisco’s ranch; at the end of the episode, he sings a reprise as the tools enjoy Francisco’s cowboy cookout.
