Recap / Littlest Pet Shop 2012 S 3 E 8 Two Pets For Two Pests

"It's like you're the furry little versions of the Biskits!"

Written by Tom Minton

At school, Blythe hears an announcement in class by the principal that the following day will be Pet Appreciation Day. Blythe is initially delighted to hear that she can bring pets to school but is soon disappointed when she hears the principal has limited the quantity to two pets per student. Before Blythe can say much, she overhears Whittany and Brittany make snarky comments about Pet Appreciation Day, which Blythe takes offense to. The twins, however, hear a follow-up announcement from the principal that participants can skip class for the duration of the event. Ecstatic, they laugh to each other for a while but soon realize that they have no pets to show off.

The Littlest Pet Shop regulars, having heard the news, clamor over whom they think Blythe will pick to take with her. When Blythe finally comes back down the dumbwaiter, she takes a while to explain how she had come to her decision. During this while, Penny Ling and Vinnie tell the other pets that they have accepted not being chosen, but they are the two Blythe has picked to accompany her to school. The other five pets, though saddened, hope for the best for the day.

With nothing else to do, Sunil practices on a magic trick that would cause a wooden block to disappear. Before he can finish his introductory speech on the trick, Minka accidentally bonks him on the head with her easel, disrupting his concentration and preventing him from performing the trick. Minka tries to tell Sunil that she likes Sunil's magic performances so much that she wanted to paint him working magic, but Sunil, still deeply annoyed, dismisses Minka's art as crude flingings of paint at a canvas. In response, Minka forcibly takes Sunil to the easel with the canvas on it and puts a paintbrush in his hand. Initially reluctant, Minka employs a bit of Reverse Psychology on Sunil and soon provokes him to try painting.

Once Blythe gets to the school, she sees a double pet carrier made of high-end materials. Peering inside, she finds twin chinchillas named Cashmere and Velvet. Blythe initially wonders whom they belong to when Vinnie calls them a "two-for-one sale," causing Blythe to think of the Biskit Twins. Sure enough, the twins arrive at school and go over to Blythe, explaining that they obtained the chinchillas solely for Pet Appreciation Day and will put them in a chinchilla orphanage right afterwards, to the horror of Cashmere and Velvet. As Brittany and Whittany carry Cashmere and Velvet into the school, a worried Blythe gets to thinking about how she could find loving owners for the chinchillas.

At the Littlest Pet Shop, Sunil stares intently at the canvas, thinking about what to do. Figuring it can't be that hard, Sunil dips his brush into a can of blue paint and thrusts the paintbrush back, ready to swing it forward, but the paint flies off the brush on the way back and hits Zoe, who was admiring her outfit. After Zoe expresses her discontent, Sunil apologizes and figures he swung his brush too low. He goes for a higher swing and it flies over the canvas instead, splatting against the ceiling and dripping onto Pepper's food. Sunil compensates by providing Pepper with another bowlful of snacks. After two failures, Sunil starts to question if Minka's painting really is that difficult.

Cashmere and Velvet, on the desk in Mrs. Mondt's class, lament about the Biskit Twins causally giving them away, as they believe the twins would be their perfect pets. Vinnie and Penny, surprised at their insistence, suggest that they behave extra-nice to try to get the Biskit Twins to like them. At that moment, the school bell rings, announcing the students to get ready for Pet Appreciation Day. Cashmere and Velvet hear the heated exchange between Blythe, who continues to argue to adopt the chinchillas, and the Biskit Twins, who are still dead-set on releasing them at the end of the day.

Back at the day camp, Sunil tries putting on an artist's garb, as he feels he'll be better if he looks the part. Once again, he swings his brush back, only to have it fly off the brush again, this time landing on Russell's head. Minka drops down and offers Russell a towel to clean the paint, but Russell's mood sours considerably, and Sunil tosses his cloak and beret into the trash.

Blythe, the Biskit Twins, and the pets reach the gym for the Pet Appreciation Day presentations. Cashmere and Velvet draw a crowd of student council members, which they enjoy, but hear the twins complaining about them. After a bit of discussion between the two, Brittany starts getting second thoughts about the chinchillas, considering adopting them. Whittany blasts the suggestion down, however, as she considers having pets as work. Blythe, hearing them speak, tell them that chinchillas are low-maintenance as they groom themselves. To that end, Cashmere and Velvet start frantically licking themselves, and Whittany, suspicious of Blythe, asks Blythe if they're following Blythe's words. Blythe instantly brushes off the question and describes it as normal chinchilla behavior. Velvet then rubs up against Brittany's hand, and though initially apprehensive, Blythe eases her into petting Velvet, then Cashmere. As Brittany warms up to the chinchillas, Whittany gets even angrier, forcing Brittany to stop petting them and hating them again. The Biskit Twins then excuse themselves to go take a break.

Penny and Vinnie hop over to the chinchillas to ask how they're doing. Now frustrated, they snap back at Penny and Vinnie, saying the Biskit Twins now hate them even more. Describing the Biskit mansion as their paradise, Penny and Vinnie realize that Cashmere and Velvet are pretty much just like the Biskit Twins. Blythe comes over and requests the chinchillas try another approach: To drop the nice act and just behave as they normally would, if they want to live with the Biskit Twins that bad. They accept right away, free of having to put up a façade of niceness.

Sunil, staring at a still-blank canvas, decides to channel his "inner Minka." He starts hopping around the room and hollering, splashing paint around with his brush without aiming. This results in the entire room splattered in paint except for the canvas, which is still blank. Hearing Zoe, he turns around to see that she, Pepper, and Russell are almost entirely covered in paint.

Sherman comes by to look at the chinchillas, but they turn their backs to him. When Sherman asks why, the Biskit Twins are at a loss but, understanding how they feel, launch a tirade against Sherman about how being a pair of cute twins will draw a lot of attention, allowing them to be choosy in whom to pay attention to. Blythe, hearing the Biskit Twins actually defend the chinchillas, whispers to Vinnie to start hopping from stand to stand, which provokes all of the other pets in the gym, including Cashmere and Velvet, to give chase. In the ruckus, the chinchillas intentionally ignore Blythe's demands to calm down but hear Brittany tell them to return, which they do. Whittany and Brittany become flattered at their obedience to themselves and not to Blythe, and to cement it all, Blythe fakes anger over Cashmere and Velvet, calling them troublemakers.

Sunil, increasingly desperate, launches a water balloon filled with red paint point-blank at the easel, only for it to bounce off the canvas and splat against his head. He then tries a baseball pitching machine, only for all its shots to miss the canvas too. Finally, Sunil brings in a cannon, dumps a can of green paint into it, and fires it, only to see the can lose momentum in midair and fall before it can reach the canvas. Ready to give up, Minka comes up to Sunil and lets him know she's been watching him go at it the whole time and even painted a picture of Sunil attempting to paint. Sunil says sorry and that her painting is trickier than it looks. Minka assuages Sunil, saying that his magic is something she can't do—only for her to pull a coin out of Sunil's ear.

At the gym, after the whole even has ended, Blythe pretends to complain about Cashmere and Velvet, which only cements the Biskit Twins' like of them further. Blythe, the pets, and both pair of twins head to the front of the school, where a limo is waiting for them with François LeGrande. LeGrande brings out a pet carrier to take the chinchillas to the orphanage, but Brittany and Whittany protest, telling him they want to keep the chinchillas. LeGrande assures Blythe, however, that he has a deep knowledge of chinchilla care. Inside the limo, Cashmere and Velvet take the bands off their hair, causing it to flow down and form bangs resembling the Biskit Twins'. As the limo speeds off, Vinnie says he'll miss the chinchillas, but Blythe believes they'll see more of these chinchillas in the future.

Blythe, Penny, and Vinnie return to the Littlest Pet Shop, where Sunil asks how the day went. The three of them recount the experience, in particular convincing the Biskit Twins to permanently adopt pets. Sunil then tells Blythe that he learned to appreciate Minka's paintings, though when he finishes, Zoe, who's still covered in paint, dumps green and red paint over him as one more act of revenge.

This episode contains examples of (YMMV entries go here):

• Advice Backfire: Vinnie's suggestion to act nicely provokes admiration from everyone except for the Biskit Twins. Blythe's suggestion, however, for Cashmere and Velvet to act naturally, has the opposite (and intended effect) of getting the Biskit Twins, and only them, to like the chinchillas. That being said, Vinnie's advice almost worked on Brittany, but Whittany effectively stopped her.
• An Aesop: Pets are a lifelong commitment, not something you should get for one day and then abandon.
• Berserk Button: Minka's normally cheerful demeanor evaporates instantly when Sunil insults her means of painting. Of course, Sunil did describe it in an incredibly condescending and disrespectful way.
• Big "WHAT?!": Cashmere and Velvet give one when they find out the Biskits only plan to keep them for the day.
• Briar Patching: Minka convinces Sunil to paint by telling him he won't be able to.
• Brick Joke: In Act 1, Minka says that she intends to paint a picture of Sunil doing magic. By Act 3, she instead decides upon painting a picture of Sunil attempting to paint something.
• Call-Back: When Sunil notices Russell is taking not being chosen for Pet Appreciation Day fairly hard, Sunil points out that Russell has already been to Blythe's school.
  • Brittany says that the other students only like them when they give stuff out. This previously happened in "Inside Job."
  • Sherman reappears, and he gets another mental breakdown.
• Charles Atlas Superpower: Minka can effortlessly hold up Pepper, Zoe, and Sunil at once with her tail wrapped on a swing.
• Continuity Nod: Blythe picks two pets seemingly at random for a task, just as she did in "Hamster Hoods."
  • This is not the first time the Biskit Twins forget what an animal is called and make up names for them.
  • One of Sunil's final attempts splashes himself with red paint, like how Russell put red paint all over himself in "The Hedgehog in the Plastic Bubble."
• Delayed Reaction: When Cashmere and Velvet first talk to Blythe, it takes them a few seconds before they show surprise over the fact a human being is understanding them.
• Depending on the Artist: Assuming the food bowls are not used interchangeably in the day camp, if the colors of the bowls are any indication, according to "Books & Covers," Pepper is eating out of Vinnie's bowl, and Sunil gives her Zoe's; and according to "Sweet Pepper," Pepper is eating out of Zoe's bowl, and Sunil gives her Vinnie's.
  • The size of the gym seems to be a lot smaller than was depicted in "Bakers and Fakers."
• Droste Image: Only to the second degree, however, as Minka's painting of Sunil painting shows the blank canvas he's been staring down the whole day.
• Eek, a Mouse!!: As it seems, the Biskit Twins, until near the end of the episode, were actually afraid of chinchillas, or Brittany at least.
• Epic Fail: Sunil's attempts to fling paint at a canvas result on the entire day camp room being covered in paint while the canvas remains blank.
• "Everybody Laughs" Ending
• Evil Laugh: Brittany and Whittany laugh evilly to each other as everyone else leaves the room when the end-of-day bell rings at school. Everyone else just kind of ignores the two of them.
  • Brittany and Whittany laugh like that again in Act 3, with Cashmere and Velvet joining in.
• Happy Dance: Penny and Vinnie, seemingly to rub it in the faces of the other pets.
• Head Desk: Sunil repeatedly bangs his head against the cannon in frustration.
• Hypocrite: When Sunil is complaining about Minka's painting, he says that "Splashing paint at a canvas isn't real painting" though when he does try himself, that's the only method he attempts.
• Idiosyncratic Wipes: Mrs. Mondt travels across the screen in Act 2.
  • Lavender paint comes down the screen in Act 3.
• Imagine Spot: Cashmere dreams about how the Biskit Twins ought to be like as pet owners.
• Imperial Stormtrooper Marksmanship Academy: Exaggerated with Sunil trying to fling paint at the canvas—he covers the entire day camp room in paint, along with Zoe, Pepper, and Russell, and doesn't get a speck on the canvas.
• Insult Backfire: Done intentionally by Blythe, knowing the Biskit Twins like being called troublemakers.
• Is This Thing Still On?: A milder example than most—the principal simply doesn't know what to do to turn off the PA system.
• It's All About Me: Brittany is annoyed when she realizes she and Whittany have to talk about the chinchillas.
  Brittany: We're only good at talking about ourselves…
• Jaw Drop: Vinnie has one after the chinchillas continue to persist getting the Biskit Twins to adopt them even after seeing their abusive behavior.
• Jive Turkey
  Principal: Peace out!
• Let's See YOU Do Better!: Minka gives Sunil the canvas and asks him to paint something. Sunil immediately begins to regret it.
• Letting Her Hair Down: For much of the episode, Cashmere and Velvet's hair are tied up above their heads. When Whittany and Brittany adopt them at the end, they let their hair down, where it falls into a style similar to the Biskits'.
• Malicious Misnaming: A variant of it, at least. The Biskit Twins refuse to remember what chinchillas are called and call them "chimichillas," "fuzzchillas," "dogchillas," and "shrimpchillas."
• Plot Hole: For an unexplained reason, François LeGrande is back serving the Biskit family.
  • Actually, Whitney and Britney were the ones who fired him, but they may have never had the authority to, so he may not have actually "legally" been fired.
  • Another possibility is that the Biskits are so reliant on him that they quickly hired him back (most likely with a pay increase).
• Power Gives You Wings: In Cashmere's fantasy, the Biskit Twins both have butterfly-like wings. Whittany is also seen flying with them.
• Prehensile Tail: Minka uses her tail to grab Sunil and pull him over to the easel.
• Reverse Psychology: Blythe ultimately convinces the Biskit Twins to keep the chinchillas by pretending to not like them.
• Sesquipedalian Loquaciousness: Out of Cashmere when first seen.
  Cashmere: I'm a chinchilla, in case you're not up on your crepuscular rodents.
• Shout-Out: The mallard in the gym, when angered, hops up and down, one fist outstretched in front of him while swinging the other fist around, just like Donald Duck.
• Skyward Scream: Sunil rips one at the end of Act 2, when he's practically coated the room in paint and still has a blank canvas.
• Uncatty Resemblance: Cashmere and Velvet to the Biskit Twins, more so when they let their hair down. They not only look like the Bistkit Twins, they talk like them, act like them, and are similarly mean to Blythe (but not as mean as the Biskit Twins).

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