iDon't Want To Fight is the seventeenth episode in the first season of iCarly.
To celebrate their friendship anniversary, Carly makes Sam an iCarly t-shirt, but Sam trades it away to get tickets to a concert which causes a rift between the two, and Freddie must fix it.
Meanwhile, Spencer builds a fish-feeding machine after forgetting to feed his fish dozens of times.
Tropes:
- Adults Are Useless: Spencer in this episode. When Carly and Sam are fighting, he chooses not to intervene or help out Freddie, paying more attention to his fish feeder.
- Apple of Discord: The iCarly t-shirt. Sam trading it to Rodney for concert tickets is what ignites the girls' disagreement.
- Awesome, but Impractical: Spencer's fish feeder model II. It works more successfully than the first one so that Spencer won't have to worry about forgetting to feed his fishes... if he remembers to keep resetting the fish feeder itself. Carly took hint of this and decides to take the goldfish back to the pet store.
- Both Sides Have a Point: Carly is mad at Sam for carelessly trading away a present that she worked hard to make as if it was something very little, while Sam gets angry at Carly for being so attached to the shirt to the point that she holds it against Sam, not to mention that Sam traded the shirt for concert tickets that Carly really wanted. This trope is so much to the point that most viewers either agree with both of them or just don’t like seeing the two of them fighting over it so much.
- By the Hair: During Carly and Sam's confessions during the webcast, if either girl interrupts, says something insulting, or yells, Freddie will yank her ponytail hard. The girls use this against each other by shoving Freddie out of the way when he annoys them too much, and they yank each other's hair over and over until they have to massage their heads with agony after the webshow.
- Comically Missing the Point: After Sam tells Carly that she got the concert tickets by trading the shirt, she wants to get a knuckle touch for celebration. When a hurt Carly coldly says that she's not doing that, Sam is confused, saying that she just washed them.
- Didn't Think This Through:
- Carly, who's known Sam for many years to be an opportunist, assumes that her friend will keep wearing their first-ever homemade iCarly T-shirt and not trade it in for another commodity. Sam ends up selling the shirt to Rip-off Rodney for tickets to the Cuttlefish concert.
- Also, Spencer decides to create a device that will feed his fish for him since he keeps forgetting. He creates an elaborate device that does get the fish food in the bowl. Carly, however, brings up an important point:Carly: But wait, don't you still need to remember to put that ball back at the top every day?
(Beat)
Spencer:... I'm going to bed.
- Dissension Remorse: Carly and Sam immediately end their fighting when they realize the fans of the show don't like it when they fight and picked the third option more than the other two sides: that it was dumb of two best friends to fight because of such a thing they assumed.
- Door Slam of Rage: When Carly and Sam are angry at each other, they act bitter about it, including slamming their lockers shut. They decide to have a match over THAT, too, continuing to slam them over and over until Freddie yells at them to stop. When their fight is reignited, they resume their locker slamming, doing it much harder and then abruptly leaving.
- Feud Episode: The very first one between Carly and Sam.
- For Want Of A Nail: Carly is known to overreact, and here she goes berserk simply due to the loss of her homemade T-shirt that she only wanted Sam to wear but Sam felt spending it on concert tickets for both herself and Carly would be a better trade-off.
- Hope Spot: When Carly and Sam meet up at school, they apologize for the trade and it seems they've made up, but then Tareen comes in and thanks Sam for taking her to the concert in Carly's place, which reignites the fight. Freddie even lampshades it with despair.
- I Ate WHAT?!: Spencer foolishly drinks the cup that he put Brock in and ends up drinking Brock as well, and he spits the fish back out.
- Ironic Echo: "Neither do I." The first time it is said is by Carly when Sam claims she has nothing to apologize for and Carly replies she doesn't either. Freddie then says the same exact thing after the webcast when he reveals the fans of iCarly don't like it when Carly and Sam fight as much as he doesn't either, and they picked the third option for them to end their feud more times than the other.
- Jerkass Has a Point: Sam argues that Carly needs to stop being so attached to the shirt, especially since she used it to get a valuable present for both of them. Also, Sam taking Tareen to the concert was insensitive, but she already had the tickets and it'd be a waste to not go then since Carly was still mad at her.
- Milestone Celebration: In-Universe, this episode celebrates the five-year anniversary of the day Carly and Sam first met.
- Never Say "Die": Averted. Spencer says he was "at a funeral" for his fish Reggie, and claims he loved him even when he "dropped his lifeless carcass into the toilet".
- Only Sane Man: Freddie, between Carly and Sam's feud. Spencer doesn't help because he's too concerned with feeding his fish.
- Replacement Goldfish: Literally. Spencer lost lots of goldfish, with Brock replacing the late Swimmy. At the end, Carly just decides to return the fish to the pet store since Spencer is going to keep forgetting to reset his homemade fish feeder anyway.
- Rube Goldberg Machine: Spencer makes one that will feed his fish for him. He doesn't realize until it's finished that he's now going to need to remember to set the device back up everyday to make sure the fish stays fed.
- Take a Third Option: After the web show when Freddie tallies the votes to decide which girl was right, he reveals he put up a third option to vote for. The first option said Carly's right. The second option said Sam's right. The third option said, "Carly and Sam are both acting dumb, and they should just make up and be friends again." 693 sided with Sam, 705 sided with Carly, while 253,719 took the third option. After hearing the results, Carly and Sam agree to make up and forget about both the shirt and the Cuttlefish tickets.
- When It All Began: Near the beginning of this episode, we get a flashback to five years ago which shows how Carly first met Sam.
