Footrests, built-in mini-fridges, built-in music players, joysticks...and they're comfy.
Best Seats in the HouseAirdates: December 10, 2014 note , March 15, 2015 note , April 19, 2015 note
Olive and Otto battle Oren and Olaf for the fanciest chairs at Odd Squad while Ms. O and Oscar run a top-secret mission.
Tropes:
- Ambiguous Time Period: The time period in which Odd Squad takes place in has been consistently zig-zagged by writers and
Word of God alike (and has been frequently contradicted by other works, such as the Odd Squad Agent's Handbook), but the episode seems to take place in the year 2015; more specifically, the week of June 14th (with the season taking place between 2015 and 2016). - Brick Joke: Olaf's solution for splitting the chairs is to cut them with a giant pair of scissors, which everyone else is strongly against. At the end of the episode, a question is raised about who gets Oda and Odalis's old desk lamps, which Olaf once again suggests cutting — and this time, everyone's on board with it.
- The Bus Came Back: Oren and Olaf make their first return appearance after being absent for eight episodes (fourteen, if you count each episode singularly).
- The Cameo: Ronnie and Donnie once again make a cameo as the Cold Open clients.
- Cool Chair: The fancy chairs definitely live up to their name. Among other features, it has cup holders, built-in booklights, and a holder for magazines and books. The main plot of the episode focuses on Olive and Otto as they battle Oren and Olaf for rights to the chairs.
- Continuity Nod: Olive stops the tug-of-war fight between her and Otto, and Oren and Olaf, in a similar manner as she did in "Ms. O Uh-Oh".
- Oren also intentionally mispronounces Otto's name once again.
- Conveniently Timed Distraction: While Olive and Otto are conversing with Oda and Odalis, Oren and Olaf make a move for the chairs and begin to haul them away once Oda and Odalis leave. They don't get very far, however, as Olive and Otto spot them and stop them in their tracks.
- Copycat Mockery: When Otto brags about having he and Olive's solved cases written in a journal, Oren throws his words back at him in a mocking tone of voice before revealing that he also has his and Olaf's solved cases written down.
- "Could Have Avoided This!" Plot: The episode could have ended much sooner had it been determined that Olive and Oren would each get a chair; they could potentially split each chair up between them and their respective partners as they see fit. Or if Ms. O had named a partner pair to take ownership of the chairs to begin with.
- Crazy-Prepared: Olive happens to have the Picnic-inator behind her back, which is used to free Donnie.Otto: How'd you know we need the Picnic-inator gadget?Olive: I didn't. I always carry it.
- Does This Remind You of Anything?: A person like Olaf should not be carrying scissors around, let alone a pair that could double as a weapon. The fact that Olive, Otto and Oren seem genuinely afraid when Olaf first brings up the "cut" suggestion (in regards to the chairs, at least) makes it worse.
- Foreshadowing: This episode is the first instance of Olaf howling as a use of primary communication, which foreshadows his werewolf reveal in Season 2.
- Funny Background Event: Inverted — agents are seen carrying a canoe and watermelons in a few foreground scenes.
- Get Out!: Ms. O repeatedly tells Olive, Otto, Oren and Olaf to leave her office, but they only do so once they find out how the chair debate should be settled.
- Hero of Another Story: Ms. O and Oscar are both taking part in a top-secret mission, and we get very few details on it. What details we do get are mostly out-of-context bits.
- Important Haircut: Oscar gets a haircut as part of the top-secret mission — and it sticks!
- Layman's Terms: Olive explains how there are 12 months in a year, and suggests that they split the year evenly. However, this leaves everyone confused, much to the frustration of Olive. She then explains, in simpler terms, that they can divide the time each partner pair can use the chairs, which everyone else understands.
- Literal-Minded: Odalis remarks that he and Oda need to bounce, then proceed to leave by bouncing away.
- Losing Your Head: Inside of Ronnie and Donnie's picnic basket is Donnie's head, which seems to be apart from the rest of his body.
- Malicious Misnaming: Oren refers to Otto as "Risotto" at one point. Doubles as a Stealth Pun considering risotto is a rice dish, which falls in line with Otto's Big Eater tendencies.
- Mistaken for Thief: Olive suggests that the two partner pairs split the year evenly so each pair gets 6 months' usage of the chairs. However, Olaf and Oren are quick to point out that the days in the months are uneven (going from 30, to 31, etc.) and accuse Olive and Otto of cheating and stealing the chairs for themselves. Olive admits that it was an honest mistake and something she overlooked.
- Mood Killer: A non-romantic example — when Otto is lamenting about how everyone is still tied, Oscar enters the bullpen via a slide and calls out that "the eagle has landed", causing all of the agents to fall silent.
- My God, You Are Serious!:Ms. O: Are you kidding me?![everyone shuts up and makes dissatisfied expressions]Ms. O: All right, I can see by your faces you're not kidding me.
- Noodle Implements: Olive is finishing telling Otto about how Odd Squad doesn't know whether the Chicken-ator gadget or the Egg-inator gadget came first before Oda and Odalis make their cue.
- Not So Above It All: While Olive generally serves as the mediator and leader amongst the group and ends arguments rather than starts them, she's not above acting like a braggart at times, as seen here
. - Off-the-Shelf FX: Olive's Picnic-inator is primarily modeled from a Zhu-Zhu Pets toy; specifically, the Hamster Funhouse.
- Poor Communication Kills: Ultimately subverted. It's stated that Oda and Odalis also told Oren and Olaf they could have the chairs, but when Otto remarks that he and Olive were also told they were now in possession of them, Olaf looks panicked as though he's caught in a lie — which is a tipoff that Olive and Otto are, indeed, the rightful owners of the chairs. Nonetheless, Oren and Olaf continue to put up a fight.
- Ms. O is guilty of this as well, to an extent. The two partner pairs repeatedly go to her to see who should get the chairs, but instead of naming names, she brushes them off and gives arbitrary conditions over who gets the chairs, such as whomever solved the most cases last week, or has a birthday closest to hers. Had she just named a pair, the entire conflict could have been resolved, and her agents would quit bothering her.
- Rapid-Fire Interrupting: The two pairs of partners repeatedly talk over each other when explaining the situation to Ms. O, to the point where it's a consistent Running Gag.
- Remember the New Guy?: Oda and Odalis are apparently longtime friends of Olive and Otto who are being transferred to another precinct. It's hilariously lampshaded by both Olive and Otto — the former remarks that she hasn't seen the pair in forever, and the latter needs a reminder about who they are.
- Ridiculously Cute Critter: Let's face it, the Feline Ambassador is adorable.
- Shear Menace: Olaf, of all agents, has a giant pair of scissors hidden in his Hammerspace spine.
- Significant Birth Date: Averted for Olive, Otto and Olaf, but may be played straight for Oren, whose birthday falls on November 20th — nearly a week before the show's premiere on November 26th (albeit, since the episode takes place in 2015, this is up for interpretation). Similarly, Ms. O's birthday falls on November 30.
- Skyward Scream: Olaf howls quite a lot in this episode as a means of communication. Olive and Otto are unable to translate; however, Oren translates for them.
- Super Multi-Purpose Room: Aside from being a normal ball pit, the Ballroom is also a Meeting Room with a fully-functional table that's voice-activated.
- Take a Third Option: Ms. O deems Octavia and the Feline Ambassador to be the owners of the chairs by the end of the episode.
- This Is My Chair: Averted — most of the episode revolves around the two partner pairs (Olive and Otto, and Oren and Olaf) deciding how to share the chairs amongst each other. However, no one ends up getting the chairs.
To call him "eccentric" is an Understatement.
Agent ObfuscoAirdates: December 10, 2014 note , March 15, 2015 note , April 19, 2015 note
Olive and Otto become concerned when they find out their Odd Squad test is being administered by Agent Obfusco, a mysterious agent who speaks only in word problems.
Tropes:
- Bait-and-Switch Comment: Ms. O gives a pretty effective one to Olive.Olive: Please, is there anyone else that can give us the test?Ms. O: Absolutely!Olive: [sighs in relief]Ms. O: NOT!
- And she gives another one at the end of the episode to Olive and Otto after Obfusco starts crying.
Ms. O: Very nice. (slams fists on desk) Now what are you standing around for?! Go fix something odd! - Blunt "Yes": Olive gives one at the end of the episode.Otto: By the way, is it weird that I miss pink pudding?Olive: Yes.
- Character Title
- Cloudcuckoolander: Obfusco, oh so much — to a much further extent than others such as Otto and Olaf. He is a Cowboy agent known as The Dreaded who speaks exclusively in Word Salad Philosophy, while his riddles are Meaningless Meaningful Words. On top of that, he's a Bunny-Ears Lawyer whose primary job in Odd Squad is to train and test agents, including Olive and Otto.
- Cower Power: Both Olive and Otto cower behind Ms. O for a brief moment when Obfusco suddenly appears behind them.
- Death Glare: Obfusco gives quite the killing look towards Olive.
- Don't Celebrate Just Yet: Invoked by Obfusco as Olive and Otto celebrate upon figuring out what tube leads to the park, only for him to cut the celebration short.
- The Dreaded: The mere mention of Obfusco's name causes Olive to become terrified.
- Extreme Omnivore: Ms. O eats Olive and Otto's badges to check if they're expired. However, the badges also double as phones, meaning she basically ate part of a cell phone.
- Foregone Conclusion: Considering Olive and Otto are the main characters and this isn't a two-parter, it seems inevitable that they would still be allowed to remain in the precinct.
- Foreshadowing: Obfusco is shown holding a timer when Olive and Otto are swimming in the ball pit, which may support his claim later on of Olive and Otto not finishing within the time limit.
- Heroic BSoD: Olive enters one at the climax after going through Sanity Slippage, which had been consistently exaggerated by Obfusco. Otto is able to calm her down with a simple explanation.Olive: (growls) This guy! Okay, so it was 2:30, 1983, and he had six kangaroos, and then they played salsa music-Otto: Olive, stop.Olive: But we need to save him!Obfusco: Yes, you do!Otto: We can! At the very end, Obfusco said the shutoff code is "123"! That's all the information we need to know! The rest...is obfusco.
- I Have Just One Thing to Say: "You pass!"
- Jerkass: Obfusco turns Olive's partner into pudding without getting his consent in order to set up the final challenge. This is what causes Olive to start going into Sanity Slippage.
- Leitmotif: In addition to having a song focused on him (which plays during the Training Montage), Obfusco's onscreen appearances are accompanied by acoustic guitar pieces.
- Meaningful Name: Obfusco's name is a shortened form of "obfuscate", which can mean to make something unintelligible or to bewilder someone. Obfusco succeeds at doing both, hiding word problems in his Sesquipedalian Loquaciousness speak and confusing both Olive and Otto.
- Meaningless Meaningful Words: Obfusco speaks in this manner, and it shows in his riddles — which both contain hints, and some sort of Non Sequitur ("I can make soup in my hat", etc.).
- Olive also speaks this way at the end of the episode as a thank-you to Obfusco. It manages to make him emotional.
- No Sense of Personal Space: Obfusco gets into Olive and Otto's faces at one point.
- Offscreen Teleportation: Similar to Ms. O, Obfusco combines this with Stealth Hi/Bye, and is able to pull it off effectively.
- Race Against the Clock: Played with — it's not explicitly stated there's a time limit, but Obfusco places one on Olive and Otto.
- Sanity Slippage: Olive goes through one during the climax. Obfusco doesn't help matters — first he turns her partner into pudding, then he strips her of her job, all in the span of a few minutes.
- Talkative Loon: Obfusco speaks exclusively like this, which makes it all the more harder for Olive and Otto to understand what he's saying.
- Teleporter Accident: Upon telling Olive and Otto they are no longer agents, Obfusco begins to leave for Headquarters through another portal, only to get half of his body stuck in it. It takes the combined work of Olive and Otto deciphering his instructions on how to shut the portal off in order to save him, which earns them their spot on the Squad once more.
- Tempting Fate: Olive assures Otto that since he passed the test once, he'll pass it again. And then it's revealed that the test administrator is Agent Obfusco, causing her to perform an Immediate Self-Contradiction.Olive: [screams] WE'RE GONNA FAIL!Otto: You just said we'd be fine!!
- Thinking Up Portals: Since Olive and Otto lack the ability to go to the Mathroom without their badges, Obfusco uses the Portal-nator gadget, which is able to transport him and the two partners to and from the Mathroom.
- Training Montage: Obfusco puts both Olive and Otto through one of these, which involves strength training (push-ups and sit-ups) as well as knowledge training (figuring out which pole goes in which hole and reciting the name of every agent in the precinct).
- Turn in Your Badge: Inverted, as Olive and Otto's badges are taken due to them being expired.
