Air date: March 27, 2024
"Meteorite, Out of Sight": A meteor blazes across the Qyah sky, and Molly and Tooey set out to find it. But, Jay insists on going and thinks he has a better way of retrieving it than his brother Tooey. Who's right?
"Meteorite, Out of Sight" contains the following tropes:
- Artistic License – Geography: The opening scene shows the meteorite landing south of Denali. But in the very next scene, Molly and Tooey figure out that it actually landed west of fish camp. And once again, Denali is depicted as being north of Qyah, even though Qyah's location on the Kantishna River indicates that Denali is clearly located to the south.
- Artistic License – Space: A meteorite that large would've created a sonic boom loud enough to shatter every window in Qyah, then shaken the earth with its landing, creating an impact crater far larger and more destructive than what is shown. It would never have quietly dropped into a convenient little pile of snow to be dug up by a dog the next morning.
- Big Brother Bully: Jay doesn't listen to Tooey and teases him about not being old enough to drive the snow machine. Luckily, Jay apologizes to Tooey for underestimating him.
- Call-Back: Olin Benedict remarks that Qyah's pups are making quite the contributions to the museum, then gestures towards the Athabascan bark stripping tool that Suki found in "Suki's Bone."
- Face Palm: Tooey facepalms when Molly tells Jay about the meteorite.
- Hidden Depths: Jay took a college class on geology, so he knows a bit about meteorites.
- Older Is Better: The main theme of the episode is that the old ways are better. Tooey wants to put the meteorite on a sled, but Jay wants to put it on the snow machine. They eventually decide to deliver it on the sled, proving Tooey's point that the old ways are better.
- Speak in Unison: When Molly and Tooey realize the meteorite might have fallen at Big Rock Bend, they say "Big Rock Bend!" together.
- Stargazing Scene: At the beginning of the episode, Molly and Nat look at the stars, and see a super big meteor. Unfortunately, Tooey missed it.
"Not a Mascot": Molly learns that her basketball team is playing against the War Chiefs, whose mascot is a tomahawk-waving stereotype of an Indigenous person. Molly and her teammates set out to find a new mascot for them, but can they persuade the team to change?
"Not a Mascot" contains the following tropes:
- Braids, Beads and Buckskins: The mascot of the Sitka War Chiefs wears feathers, has a red face, and waves a burning tomahawk. Molly and Tooey feel like it doesn't represent Alaska Natives because they don't do any of that.
- Collective Groan: Molly, Tooey, Vera, and Oscar all groan when they hear they're playing the Sitka War Chiefs. Trini doesn't understand what's wrong, and Molly and Tooey explain to her that they don't like the name of that team or the mascot.
- Grandfather Clause: Randall, who used to be on the Sitka War Chiefs, explains that the coach wouldn't change the name because it's been around for a long time. Eventually, Molly convinces the coach to change the name to the Sitka Sundogs.
- Innocent Bigot: Walter says that teams with names like the Fighting Athabascans weren't purposefully trying to be mean or hurtful, but it is hurtful anyway.
- The Reveal: The name of Qyah's basketball team used to be the Fighting Athabascans. Walter didn't like the name, so he successfully got the coach to change it to the Qyah Northern Lights.
- Ripped from the Headlines: This episode is inspired by various Native American mascot controversies in sports.
