Recap / Odd Squad S 1 E 24 Training Day

"If Odd Squad expects to play against Odd Todd, they had best be prepared to be dealt from the bottom of the deck."

Training Day

Airdates: May 25, 2015 ^note PBS Kids premiere June 8, 2015 ^note TVO Kids premiere, June 28, 2015 ^note ICI Radio-Canada premiere

Olive tells the story of what happened to her old partner, Agent Todd.

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Tropes:

• Adorably Precocious Child: Olive was quite the adorable kid at a very young age. Todd as well, to an extent.
• All of the Other Reindeer: Olive explains that while Todd was one of the smartest agents-in-training, he never fit in due to his Odd Name Out and his strange mannerisms.
• All There in the Script: The security guard's name is never mentioned in the show proper, but her nametag reads "Betty". Her name is also listed in the credits.
• Amusing Injuries: Olive, Otto and Oscar receive some when they slip and slide on Oscar's dropped marbles. Olive manages to land on the couch. Oscar and Otto, on the other hand, end up on the floor in considerably more pain.
  Ms. O: And watch out for those marbles.
• Bait-and-Switch Sentiment: When Olive and Otto enter the museum, Olive gives Betty (the pregnant security guard) her congratulations. She tells her thanks, as she believes Olive is referring to her baby. Olive then clarifies that no, she meant her hat, but the baby as well.
• Bittersweet Ending: While Olive did manage to stop the pienado and the precinct's headquarters has been cleaned up since the attack, Odd Todd is still on the loose, and Olive is unable to answer Otto's Armor-Piercing Question of how Odd Squad will manage to beat a former agent of their own organization. To punctuate the point, the episode ends on a Fade to Black, with Odd Todd's Evil Laugh echoing in the distance as the pair walk away.
• Bubblegum Popping: Odd Todd makes his escape from Olive, Otto and Betty by chewing his gum and blowing a bubble bigger than himself. It also doubles as a Stealth Hi/Bye.
• Bullet Time: Used when the agents-in-training come across four doors, with one leading to the Training Room. Odd Todd moves at normal speed while the others move in Slo Mo, in order to emphasize how Good with Numbers he is.
• The Cameo: Agent Obfusco makes an appearance as the teacher for the agents-in-training.
  • Orzack also makes a cameo appearance as one of the agents in charge of cleaning headquarters.
• Character Development: Aside from the development featured in Olive's Backstory, this episode has her opening up to Otto about her former partner, when before, Otto was left out of the loop about her past. This is what enables Otto to support his partner and be the complete antithesis of Odd Todd.
  • Otto receives some development as well to an extent, as he adopts a more serious personality along with his normal Cloudcuckoolander tendencies that carries well into future episodes, as well as The Movie.
• Chekhov's Gun: Oscar is shown carrying a pienado along with a few other scientists across the bullpen, with Todd asking what it is. Sure enough, releasing the pienado is what Todd does as an attempt to take down Odd Squad.
  • Oscar's newly-invented Triangu-lator functions as one of these as well.
  • And on that note, so is Todd's invented gadget, which he uses to undo the lock on the pienado vault.
• Comically Missing the Point: You'd think Otto would have some sensitivity for his partner after she suffered from the loss of Todd. But alas...
  Otto: Yes! I knew I would find a way into the story! [Olive shoots him a Disapproving Look] Boom-story-lotta! [looks over to Olive, still with the look] Continue.
• Conjunction Interruption: Otto is interrupted from asking his question by Ms. O, who gives him a taste of Hold Your Hippogriffs: "No buts, no cuts, and no coconuts!"
• Continuity Cavalcade: Odd Todd is hiding inside of a painting when he is first introduced, which has pictures of the Debbie clones, the Hydraclops, and Centigurps, among other things.
• Continuity Nod: Yet another ball of gum has been vandalized. Otto even remembers the event and believes the gum's been shrunken down to one wad.
  • Otto's inability to pose for a picture goes all the way back to when he was an agent-in-training.
  Ms. O: Hopefully, he solves cases better than he takes a picture.
  • Even Steven makes a physical appearance after receiving a mention last episode.
  • When Olive is attempting to stop the pienado, Orzack and his partner are seen having just finished up their Cleaning Day duties.
• Conversation Cut: When Odd Todd is explaining where the culprit responsible for the giant peanuts will strike next, he presses a button on Ms. O's remote. Cut to said culprit with a peanut ray returning home, opening his door, and finding Olive and Otto inside, with Todd finishing his sentence as though he and Olive had never moved.
• Crash-Into Hello: Narrowly averted, as Olive nearly backs up into Oscar as he's dragging a vault across the bullpen.
• Dare to Be Badass: Ms. O gives one to Olive in her "final" moments while holding one hand over her chest and grabbing Olive's jacket with the other, just before she's hit and knocked out by a pie.
  Olive: Ms. O!
  Ms. O: Forget about us! You have to stop that pienado! Think like you've never thunk before!
  Olive: But Todd always did all the work! I can't figure it out in my head like him!
  Ms. O: Listen to me, agent! I don't care how long it takes! If you count on your fingers or toes, or use a million pieces of paper. Solving the problem is solving the problem. Solve. This. Problem!
• Dramatic Drop: Done Rule of Three-style with Ms. O dropping her juice box, Oscar dropping his container of marbles, and agents in the bullpen dropping most everything else. In the case of the first two, the effect is amplified with Slo Mo.
• Dramatic Unmask: Todd unmasks Even Steven to show that he's really Sammy Squirrel, which explains why he was leaving peanuts everywhere.
• Dynamic Akimbo: Shapeshifter pulls this pose while bragging that she can shapeshift into anything.
• Early Personality Signs: Played for Drama — upon witnessing Todd making things odd, Olive assumed it was nothing more than a phase he was going through, and that it would pass with time. It didn't, and the urge to turn things odd stuck with him.
• "Everybody Laughs" Ending: A downplayed, Played for Drama variant; the episode ends on Odd Todd's Evil Laugh echoing from offscreen as Olive and Otto walk through the bullpen before it fades to black.
• Expository Hairstyle Change: Olive goes through a few. As an agent-in-training, she has her brown hair down in waves secured by a black headband in the back, then has it in a high ponytail with a navy-colored scrunchie as an agent. Before battling the pienado, she undoes her high ponytail and changes it to the mainstay curly ponytail (although it wasn't curly at the time).
• Expy: Odd Todd has been confirmed to be one of The Joker, having similar psychopathic tendencies (although toned down since, well, it's a kids' show), as well as a similar representation of oddness the way the Joker represents chaos.
• Failed a Spot Check: Neither Olive, nor Otto, nor Betty notice the human being lurking in one of the paintings. Not even Otto's gadget manages to catch him when the agent scans the room for oddness.
• Gadgeteer Genius: Todd becomes one of these, as he reveals how he took apart two gadgets and spruced them up to create a new gadget.
• Family-Friendly Firearms: Zig-zagged. The pies released by the pienado are meant to function as a TV-Y equivalent of bullets, but exactly what the pies' effects are upon hitting someone ranges greatly, from them being lethal and killing agents to just being normal pies that don't cause damage at all. There has been no clear explanation on this, but a few fans have speculated that the pies carry a disease of some sort, and the agents hit by them are infected with said disease, which would explain why characters like Dr. O and Ms. O are knocked out while those like Oscar and Olive are able to get back up after being hit.
• Flashback to Catchphrase: It's revealed that Olive got her "Let's go" catchphrase from fighting the pienado.
• Ghost Butler: The door manages to close behind the agents-in-training as soon as they enter the white room leading to the Training Room.
• Good with Numbers: Todd can solve math problems in his head within mere seconds, what it takes others to do in a few minutes. This is part of what makes him such a threatening villain to Odd Squad, as he is smarter than they are in the realm of mathematics.
• Heroic Sacrifice: Oscar covers for Olive so she can aim the Triangu-lator at the pienado vault for one final shot. However, it comes at the devastating cost of being hit by multiple rounds of pies. Olive does eventually manage to make the shot and stop the pienado.
• Hoist by His Own Petard: Todd manages to beat the Shapeshifter by challenging her to shapeshift into various things, eventually settling on a dog bone. Before she can shapeshift back, Todd sends Agent Otis (no, not the Season 2 agent) to capture her, which makes her surrender.
• "I Am Becoming" Song: "Strange Weather", which has lyrics pertaining to both the pienado and Olive's Character Development.
• Idiot Ball: Ms. O, in Olive's flashback, gets a firm hold on it in the episode. She is completely oblivious to what Todd is doing and what he's planning, even after she fires him for turning to the side of oddness. When he eventually does attack by releasing the pienado, she tacks the "Agent" back onto his name and orders him to close the pienado; naturally, Todd refuses to comply. It's only when she gets fatally wounded by Todd's pies that she realizes what is happening and relies on Olive to be her precinct's last hope, giving her a few encouraging words before being knocked out by another pie to the head. Present-day Ms. O, on the other hand, averts this entirely, as she fully realizes how much of a threat Todd is.
• I Just Want to Be You: Invoked by Obfusco as he suggests that Olive be more like Todd.
• I Never Told You My Name: A variant — Otto is startled when Odd Todd calls him out, although the ex-agent never says his actual name.
• Is There a Doctor in the House?: Dr. O quotes this trope verbatim when she is hit by a pie. Olive points out that she is that doctor, before Dr. O wishes them good luck, as she is in no state to help anyone.
• Large Ham: Todd, in spades. And he keeps the ham after turning villainous.
• Let's Get Dangerous!: Ms. O's Dare to Be Badass speech manages to get through to Olive, which gives her the confidence to close the vault containing the pienado.
  Olive: Let's go.
• Locked Out of the Loop: Otto is the only one out of the Main 4 to not know about Olive's past. Justified by the fact that he is the rookie of the cast, and was not present during the pienado attack.
• Magical Security Cam: While Olive is looking through Todd's file, there is a shot of him as he appears out of the painting, startling her and Otto — a scene that happened just a few minutes ago.
  • There's also a shot of Todd with a pig nose just before he leaves Olive, which appears to be taken from her POV; however, in the scene proper, Olive isn't holding a camera or taking pictures.
• Malicious Misnaming: Todd refers to Olive as "Scribbles", which is a nickname she receives for writing in her notebook constantly.
• Mass "Oh, Crap!": Done in rapid succession by Ms. O, then by Oscar, who goes to tell the rest of the precinct. Cue various sound effects, including a piano, That Poor Cat, and a boat horn, among others.
• Meaningful Echo: When Olive sees the pienado locked away in a vault for the first time as an agent-in-training, she remarks "ooh, I love pie!" with enthusiasm. After she stops the pienado as an agent, her Bond One-Liner is spoken in a more cynical tone: "Too bad. I used to like pie."
• Multi-Part Episode: The fourth one after "Reindeer Games", "Crime at Shapely Manor", and "6:00 to 6:05".
• Mythology Gag: One of the cases that Todd and Olive solve is the appearance of giant peanuts that have landed at various places all over town — a nod to the show's original pilot for "Zero Effect", which had Oscar spot giant peanuts atop a building while on his way to Otto's birthday party.
• No-Sell: Todd is able to avoid the pies flying all around the bullpen as agents run, and doesn't get hit with any. Similarly, Olive takes a hit to her back, but is still able to fight, and the amount of pie covering her at the end doesn't affect her in the slightest.
• Nothing Is the Same Anymore: Odd Todd is now an active threat for Odd Squad, as his primary goal shifts from antagonizing Olive and getting her to join him, to antagonizing the city and the Odd Squad precinct.
• Orbital Shot: Olive is introduced to Headquarters for the first time like this.
• Origins Episode: For both Olive and Otto, as well as Odd Todd, although Otto doesn't get much expansion on his past other than how he came to be Olive's partner.
  • It's also one for Ophelia and Oakley, the two agents who are featured in Oscar's Training Videos, and how they got the idea to make said Training Videos. Apparently, it was their idea.
• Red Herring: Cleverly invoked by Todd, who intentionally misleads Ms. O and Olive to the wrong address so Tiny Dancer can continue making houses dance. This is what leads Ms. O to fire him.
• Series Continuity Error: Even Steven lives at 8 Eighth Street, despite last episode revealing that he lives at Villain Estates. (Although maybe he has two houses, or moved sometime between that episode and this one.)
• Shower Scene: Todd is shown taking a shower while playing the drums at one point, although since this is rated TV-Y, he and his drum kit are only shown in silhouette.
• Shrinking Violet: Olive was painfully shy back when she was an agent-in-training, and had no self-confidence to stand up to Todd, instead going along as he took the lead on cases while she attempted to figure out problems by writing in her notebook, which earned her the belittling nickname "Scribbles".
• Stealth Hi/Bye: Odd Todd shows that he is capable of this throughout the episode, complete with an echoing Evil Laugh.
• That Poor Cat: When Oscar tells the agents in the bullpen of Todd's return, we hear a collection of sound effects from offscreen, including a yowling cat.
• "The Reason You Suck" Speech: Todd gives one to Olive, Oscar and Ms. O that sums up his mindset and how he feels about Odd Squad as an organization.
  Olive: Todd, please, stop!!
  Todd: You're the one who should stop, Scribbles! Don't you see? Odd Squad's get- (stammering) GOT IT ALL WRONG!! They should be making the world more odd! Which is exactly what I will do! Bye-bye...or should I say... (takes out two pies from Hammerspace) pie-pie? [hits Ms. O and Oscar with pies while doing his Evil Laugh]
• They Call Me MISTER Tibbs!: This episode begins a Running Gag throughout the rest of the season of Todd insisting that others refer to him as "Odd Todd".
  • Ms. O sharply corrects Todd when he calls her Oprah.
  Ms. O: It's Ms. O to you, young man!
• Trespassing Hero: Olive and Todd intercept Even Steven at his own home by opening the door from the inside.
• Troll: Todd becomes one when he continuously makes Olive's sandwich disappear. Of course, Olive doesn't find the prank funny at all.
• Unwanted Assistance: When Olive first retrieves the file, she's shown going at a faster pace than normal, rushing through the file and ignoring Otto's attempts to help her out. Eventually, after some persuasion, she cracks and begins telling Otto all.
  Otto: I wanna help you. But I can't help you unless I know the whole story.
• Vile Villain, Saccharine Show: Odd Todd is by far one of, if not the most destructive villain in the entire series. While other villains do have their darker sides, a majority of them are Harmless Villains — Odd Todd, however, pulls no punches in being malicious and out-and-out antagonistic towards the agents of Odd Squad.
• Visual Pun: Oscar drops a container of marbles when informed that Odd Todd has come back. In short, he lost his marbles.
• Wham Episode / Mid-Season Twist: One of the biggest in the series. Olive's old partner, who has been alluded to via Freeze-Frame Bonuses and multiple Foreshadowing moments up to this point, is revealed via a flashback to how Olive became an agent of Odd Squad. Furthermore, how Olive got her fear of pie is also revealed.
• Wham Line: You didn't think a Wham Episode would go without a few of these, now did ya?
  • When Odd Todd introduces himself:
  Betty: Impossible. There are only 42 paintings in this room.
  Olive: That means one of these paintings is-
  Odd Todd: ME!!! [...] That's right, Scribbles. I'm back.
  • When Otto asks who Odd Todd is:
  Olive: My old partner.
  • The beginning of Todd's Face-Heel Turn:
  Olive: But...our job is to fix odd stuff, not make things more odd.
  Todd: I guess that's where you and I disagree.
  • When Ms. O fires Todd for pulling a Red Herring on her and Olive:
  Ms. O: Your badge, Agent Todd!
  Olive: [gasps] No! Ms. O, you can't!
  Todd: No, no, it's okay. [unclips badge and hands it to Ms. O] Best of luck...both of you.
  • Todd revealing himself as the one behind the pienado attack, as well as him performing his Evil Laugh for the first time:
  Oscar: But I've been with my nose all day, so I-I don't know...
  Olive: Todd!
  [automatic doors open to reveal Todd]
  Todd: That's right! [Evil Laugh]
  • Olive adopting her well-known Catchphrase:
  Olive: Let's go.
  • One at the end of the episode that sets the tone for the remainder of the season:
  Otto: If Todd is the best agent there ever was...then how are we gonna beat him?
  [short pause]
  Olive: I don't know, partner. [sighs] I don't know.
• Wham Shot: There are several to be found in the episode, including Odd Todd revealing himself for the first time in the museum and the automatic doors inside HQ opening to show him as the person behind the release the pienado, as well as others.
• Whole Episode Flashback: A majority of the episode is Olive's Backstory as told via flashbacks.
• Wild Take: Both Olive and Otto have one when startled by Odd Todd's Stealth Hi/Bye trick. Otto's in particular is a bit of a invoked meme amongst the fanbase.

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