Recap / Odd Squad S 1 E 39 Disorder In The Court

"Both parties have agreed to drop their claims, and have their cases settled here, in our forum, The Odd Squad Court."

Disorder in the Court

Airdates: February 17, 2016 ^note PBS Kids premiere, September 29, 2015 ^note TVO Kids premiere, August 30, 2015 ^note ICI Radio-Canada premiere

When Olive is accused of causing oddness by Odd Todd, she must go on trial and prove her innocence or get kicked off the Squad forever.

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Tropes:

• Ad-Break Double-Take: Parodied when Olive cries out "I'm innocent, I tell ya!" only for Octavia to casually stroll in and interrupt the trial. When she leaves, Olive repeats the line again.
• A Fool for a Client: Odd Todd represents himself during the trial and doesn't have a lawyer.
• Apologetic Attacker: Oscar apologizes to Olive just before he eats the bite-size pizza that Odd Todd presents him, knowing full well that doing so proves the ex-agent right in his statements. The fact that the scientist is already a Nervous Wreck just sitting in the witnesses' stand, having to be at the behest of Odd Todd and his Smug Snake demeanor, makes it all the worse.
• Beyond the Impossible: Even by this show's standards, the scene of Defendant!Odd Todd performing a Secret Handshake with Witness!Odd Todd (who are viewed as two separate people) falls under this trope. Even Ms. O is confused by the act!
• Both Sides Have a Point: At one point during the trial, Otto relies on the fact that he and Olive are partners as a way to prove that she didn't steal the town museum. Odd Todd agrees with this point, if only because of the fact that he was Olive's partner at one point as well.
• Bottle Episode: Aside from the Cold Open, the majority of the episode takes place in Odd Squad Court, held in the bullpen.
• Breather Episode: Averted; this is the last episode before the season finale, but it can hardly be considered a breather considering the plot revolves around Olive potentially being fired from Odd Squad for good, with Odd Todd framing her.
• Bunny-Ears Lawyer: For all of his Cloudcuckoolander ways, Otto makes a pretty competent lawyer for his partner and manages to raise some valid points during the trial (although he tends to miss important questions and other details at times).
• The Bus Came Back: This is the first time any member of Soundcheck has made a physical appearance since "Soundcheck Part Deux".
• Cassandra Truth: Subverted with Ms. O and Otto, who both believe Olive when she tells the former that the accusations placed on her aren't true. Ms. O, knowing her well by now, believes her enough to call for a trial.
• Character Narrator: Oscar serves as the narrator for the "Where Are They Now?" Epilogue scene at the end of the episode.
• Chekhov's Gun: At the beginning of the episode, Otto is walking with Olive and talking about how he was so busy with work, he missed the Soundcheck concert at the mall. Olive asks him how he can like the boy band and vows to make him a list of their detriments when they get back to the office. Sure enough, Otto not being at the concert plays a key role in proving Olive innocent...because she attended the concert instead of him (much to everyone's surprise).
• The Chessmaster: Odd Todd manages to intercept Otto nearly every step of the way during the trial. When Otto talks to various witnesses, he immediately jumps the gun and declares the case closed when the witnesses talk about what they did with Olive. However, Odd Todd is well aware that the case isn't closed, and further questions the witnesses as to how much time Olive spent with them, using a clock to represent chunks of time from 1 p.m. to 2 p.m. Even when Otto mentions near the climax how no evidence has been presented linking Olive to the crime, Odd Todd plays him a clip of what appears to be Olive herself doing exactly that. At that point, Otto calls a recess, which Ms. O grants. Eventually, Odd Todd is foiled by Otto bringing in a witness he didn't see coming: Danny T, who uses his knowledge of Olive attending the surprise Soundcheck concert (and a duet with her) to help prove her innocent.
• Chewbacca Defense: Played with. Odd Todd's testimonies serve as a Running Gag throughout the episode; while he does give logical evidence relating to Olive stealing the town museum, he also makes repeated remarks about how she doesn't like babies.
• Children Are Innocent: Ms. O has babies serve as the jury in Olive's trial, believing that the younger you are, the fairer you are.
• Child Hater: Invoked by Odd Todd, who accuses Olive of hating babies as a Running Gag throughout the episode in order to convince the jury (which is comprised solely of babies) that she's guilty. Of course, anyone who knows Olive well enough knows that she's as far from hating babies as one can get.
  Olive: What's this thing about babies? I love babies!
• Clear My Name: The episode has Olive attempting to prove herself innocent from theft and vandalism of the town museum in a court of (odd) law. Unfortunately, the defendant in the trial is Odd Todd, who seeks to find her guilty so she can be fired from Odd Squad.
• The Cloudcuckoolander Was Right: Defied when Oscar is dismissed from the witnesses' stand after Odd Todd claims that Olive still had 10 minutes to steal the town museum — Otto stands up and states that even if Olive can't prove where she was, there is no legitimate evidence linking her to the crime. However, Odd Todd is quick to prove him wrong with a video showing Olive shrinking and stealing the town museum.
• Competition Freak: Invoked by Odd Todd as part of his evidence of her stealing the town museum. He claims that Olive couldn't stand to lose to Orson in winning the Agent of the Month award, so she stole the town museum to get one more case and secure the win.
• Continuity Nod: Nicole's real name is Jennifer, which was a name that the Shapeshifter called Olive in "The Briefcase" as an act of Malicious Misnaming. May also double as clever Foreshadowing considering that the Shapeshifter later makes an appearance in the episode disguised as Odd Todd's briefcase.
  • Similarly, this isn't the first time that Odd Todd and the Shapeshifter have teamed up.
  • The scene where Odd Todd throws an item as a distraction for Olive, first seen in "Now You Don't See Me", makes a resurgence — only this time, it's the museum that's being tossed.
• Courtroom Antics: There are plenty of antics to be found, from Odd Todd talking to his shoe to Otto distracting the plaintiff with random bird noises at one point in order to stall.
• Courtroom Episode: The episode revolves around Olive being accused by Odd Todd of shrinking and stealing the town museum. He does so with the goal of getting her found guilty and fired from Odd Squad. The accusation leads Ms. O to hold a trial in order for her to prove she's innocent. Ms. O serves as the judge, while Otto serves as Olive's lawyer; Odd Todd represents himself. Oscar also makes a brief appearance as a witness, and a group of baby Odd Squad agents serve as the jury.
• Cutting Corners: Odd Squad Court is located in a building in the center of town, but Olive's trial is held at Precinct 13579 due to Ms. O needing to save money.
• Death Glare: Olive and Otto both manage to shoot Odd Todd one when he confronts them before the trial. Otto's includes a Kubrick Stare to boot.
• Delayed Reaction: This brief exchange ensues between Otto and Odd Todd at one point.
  Otto: Babies of the jury, Olive would never cause oddness. I should know. I'm her partner.
  Odd Todd: I gotta say, Otto makes a good point.
  Otto: Thank y- [he stops; he and Olive look confused] I do?
• Desperate Object Catch: Odd Todd throws the museum for Olive to catch so he and the Shapeshifter can get away. Luckily, the agent manages to catch it by doing a Diving Save.
• Disapproving Look: There are plenty throughout the episode that are primarily given by Olive and Otto as they are on the losing side of the trial.
• The Easy Way or the Hard Way: A variant occurs when Owen tells Olive to "not make this any harder than it has to be". When Olive asks "Make what harder?", Owen and the two Security agents in riot gear flanking him make their move and proceed to arrest Olive. Ms. O says the line a few seconds later upon entering the tube lobby.
• Evil Gloating: Odd Todd, natch. And he's not afraid to do it during a high-stakes trial, especially when he knows he has the high ground.
  Odd Todd: [after taking a sip of lemonade] Tastes. Like. Victory. [cue Evil Laugh]
• Evil Has a Bad Sense of Humor: When Defendant!Odd Todd asks Witness!Odd Todd how long he and Olive have been partners, he responds with "I'd have to say...too long!" Defendant!Odd Todd finds this hilarious, to which Witness!Odd Todd thanks him and says that he's been taking improv classes.
• Evil Is Hammy: Odd Todd definitely hams it up in this episode, but adds some extra flair in the form of tics and various dramatic body movements.
• Face Palm: Otto does one when Coach Roberts reveals that he attended the surprise Soundcheck concert that was held at the mall earlier.
• Facial Dialogue: Like with "Oscar the Couch", the episode is filled to the brim with high-quality face expressions from numerous characters — Olive and Otto especially.
• Flat "What": Otto's reaction when Oscar doesn't state his real name for the court, but rather, comes up with Daniel Berryman as a name.
• Friendship Moment: One occurs when, during the recess, Olive refuses to tell Otto her Big Secret when he asks her where she was for the last 10 minutes of her break. What follows is a very invoked heartwarming moment between the two that culminates in her cracking and telling him the secret, to which Otto replies that it changes everything — and he's right; not just for their friendship, but for the trial as well.
  Otto: Where were you?
  Olive: If I tell you, it'll change everything between us.
  Otto: Olive, we're not just partners. We're friends. Nothing will ever change that.
• Funny Background Event: While not meant to be humorous, Owen can be shown in the background raising and lowering his baton into his hand in a menacing manner as Ms. O informs Olive and Otto of what's happening.
  • Everyone in the courtroom (sans Odd Todd and the jury) is shown holding light sticks and waving them back and forth steadily during Olive and Danny T's duet. There are also candles sitting on the judge's podium.
• Gasp!: One is heard throughout the courtroom as Otto reveals Olive's secret.
• Hero-Worshipper: Nicole is implied to be this, as she tells Olive and Otto that her friends (whom have been helped by the partner pair in the past) have stories about them, and she wanted them to help her so she could have a story to tell too. Olive offers her a chance to stop by the precinct for a free tour whenever she's free, then the client asks if the kids can sign her bowling ball. They eventually end up taking a picture with her.
• Hesitation Equals Dishonesty: Subverted when Odd Todd asks Oscar what he and Olive ordered for lunch. Oscar is hesitant to admit the truth, but Odd Todd's Smug Snake demeanor gets him to crack.
• Holding the Floor: Otto does this in an attempt to buy time until Danny T can arrive at Headquarters, and it nearly sends Odd Todd on the verge of a Villainous Breakdown. First he shows them a freckle on his elbow:
  Otto: And here... [pulls his sleeve up and shows his elbow to Ms. O] ...is a freckle on my elbow that kind of looks like a shark.
  Odd Todd: Your Honor, this is the ninth freckle that he's shown us. He's clearly stalling!
  Otto: I'm actually going somewhere with this.
  Odd Todd: Where?! Where could you possibly be going with this?!
  • Then he gives them a recording of bird noises:
  Otto: Babies of the jury, I present to you an audio recording of bird noises. [presses button on remote and begins dancing and whistling to bird noises]
  Odd Todd: This has less and less to do with anything as you go on!
  Otto: Then how do you explain...this? [presses button on remote; Stock Sound Effect of red-tailed hawk plays]
  Odd Todd: MORE BIRDS?! You're STALLING!!
• I Can't Hear You: The Shapeshifter reveals herself after the verdict is given, holding the tiny museum in her hand. When Odd Todd angrily tells her that she wasn't supposed to shapeshift back into her regular form until they got in their getaway car, she fires back that she couldn't hear him as she was in the form of a briefcase at the time.
• Implausible Deniability: Nicole, the client in the Cold Open, continuously makes up lies in order for Odd Squad to help her — she builds sandwiches using her hands as filling and claims them to be sandwich hands, and hides her hands in her coat sleeves while claiming her hands are invisible. Naturally, Olive and Otto don't buy any of it, and she cracks.
• Insistent Terminology: When Odd Todd refers to Debbie's business as "Delivery Debbie's Pizza Place", Oscar corrects him under his breath, saying that it's "Pizzeria" and not "Pizza Place".
• I Should Write a Book About This: Invoked by Odd Todd, as one of his statements includes Olive writing a book about her hatred of babies.
• I've Heard of That — What Is It?: When Ms. O tells Olive that she's asked for a trial, Otto begins to express his relief before asking what a trial is.
• Jabba Table Manners: Oscar's way of eating a bite-size pizza is exactly what it sounds like: eating it in one bite. However, the way Oscar does so is outright stuffing it in his mouth.
• Javelin Thrower: Olive is revealed to be taking javelin lessons from Coach Roberts. Otto refers to the spear itself as a "weird stick" (even though Coach Roberts explained what it was a few seconds beforehand).
• Joker Jury: Downplayed; Olive's trial is comprised mostly of Odd Squad agents, not villains, and the only villain present (that plays a major role) is Odd Todd, who serves as the defendant and represents himself in the trial. However, baby Odd Squad agents (none of whom can speak coherently) play the role of the jury.
• Judicial Wig: Ms. O wears one while serving as the judge in Olive's trial.
• Lazy Alias: Played for laughs when Otto asks Oscar to state his name for the court, and Oscar blurts out "Daniel Berryman". When asked about it, he says that he thought Otto meant he should state his favorite name, not his actual name.
• Leader Wannabe: While there have been subtle implications throughout the season of Olive wanting to be a Director someday (and being perfect for the job, to boot), this episode outright confirms it, and makes it known to Ms. O herself. No guesses as to what happens in the next episode.
• Literal-Minded: Odd Todd submits a menu from Delivery Debbie's Pizzeria into evidence, and orders Oscar, the testifying witness, to read what it says on the bottom of it. Oscar reads aloud what's written directly on the bottom: "Printed in China". Odd Todd tells him to go a bit higher than that, and Oscar reads aloud the sentence above: "Don't forget to tip your server." Odd Todd then puts on a tight smile, angrily snatches the menu out of the scientist's hands, turns around, and points at the sentence he wants him to read.
  • When Otto calls for a recess, Ms. O leads everyone to a playground — the "recess" in Odd Squad Court are the recesses that elementary school kids have (and considering a majority of Odd Squad agents would be in elementary school, it's fitting).
• Leonine Contract: Defied. Odd Todd offers a deal to Otto: if his partner gets fired from Odd Squad, the kid villain gets a new car. Ms. O ends up driving a wedge between the deal by remarking that the only one who's getting a car is her. (A purple one, to be specific.)
• Let's Duet: Olive and Danny T sing "The Work of Heart" together, and it's absolutely beautiful. It's easily considered one of the best songs in the series to date, pedaled further by Lucas Meeuse's and Dalila Bela's incredible singing voices.
• Littering Is No Big Deal: Nicole manages to throw the bowling ball far away enough that it goes into a neighbor's yard, wherein he takes it thinking it's a gift.
• Locked Out of the Loop: Otto is unaware of what Olive did on her lunch break, and thus, he (nor anyone else) has no knowledge that she went to the Soundcheck concert at the mall.
• Long Song, Short Scene: Averted; the song "The Work of Heart" is played in full and none of the lyrics are left out for time.
• Missing Time: Olive has a bit of trouble remembering what occurred during her lunch break over the course of the episode, nor can she remember how long each event lasted (javelin practice, eating lunch with Oscar, etc.). The audience doesn't know either, as the episode takes place after the lunch break.
• Moment Killer: A non-romantic example occurs with Octavia, who makes her way right into the center of the courtroom just after Olive pleads innocence. Hilarity Ensues in the form of extreme awkwardness from everyone in the room, including Odd Todd.
• Montage: A brief one is shown when Polly makes a glass of lemonade, to demonstrate how long it takes her to do so.
• Monumental Theft: Olive is accused of shrinking the town museum and stealing it. It turns out the ones actually responsible were Odd Todd and Shapeshifter.
• Multi-Part Episode: The ninth one of the season.
• No Name Given: Neither the stenographer nor the Security agent present at the trial (who likely serves as the bailiff) are given names.
• Nose Tapping: Odd Todd taps Otto on the nose with his finger at one point.
• No Sense of Personal Space: Odd Todd, naturally. He has absolutely no concept of personal space, and manages to get up in Olive and Otto's faces numerous times throughout the episode.
• Notably Quick Deliberation: All it takes is a few seconds for the baby jury to make their verdict before Ms. O announces it.
• Offscreen Teleportation: Odd Todd somehow teleports Polly's entire lemonade stand to the bullpen, even though it wasn't in the shot directly prior to it (and it likely didn't come from Hammerspace either). It manages to leave Polly slack-jawed — not only that, but it promptly disappears offscreen as soon as she's finished making a glass of lemonade.
  • The same goes for the computer that suddenly appears on the witnesses' stand after Oscar is dismissed.
• Oh, Crap!: Quite a few throughout the episode, but one of the most notable is when Oscar gives the name of the restaurant where he and Olive ate — Olive is shown looking quite panicked.
• Only Bad Guys Call Their Lawyers: Averted for Odd Todd, the defendant, as he represents himself during the trial. The Shapeshifter, who accompanies him, doesn't reveal herself until after the verdict is given.
• Pride: Ms. O has quite the high view of herself as a judge.
  Ms. O: Don't worry. I hear the judge is fair, and kind, and really amazing.
  Otto: Who is it?
  Ms. O: It's me!
• Open-and-Shut Case: As evidence is presented as to where Olive was for the duration of the hour, Otto repeatedly invokes this in his statements once the witnesses make their testimonies. However, in exchange, Odd Todd repeatedly defies the trope and asks the witnesses questions as to the duration of their time spent with Olive.
• Phrase Salad Lyrics: This is found within a majority of Soundcheck's songs, but "The Work of Heart" gets special mention for the title having absolutely nothing to do with the actual song, unlike previous songs such as "The Force of Gravity" and "Gonna Add One".
• Plot-Driving Secret: Olive attending the surprise Soundcheck concert serves as this, as no one knows about it but her. The secret is the key that Otto needs to turn the tables on Odd Todd during the trial, bringing in a surprise witness in order to prove Olive innocent.
• Put on a Bus: This is the last Season 1 episode where any member of Soundcheck has a physical appearance — they later make an appearance in The Movie as a brief cameo, and they are alluded to in Season 2's "Dr. O: Party Time, Excellent" (and of course, their music still lingers on in the show). However, neither the band as a whole nor any part of the band make any physical appearances in any major roles until Season 3's "Music of Sound".
• Quality over Quantity: Polly Graph has this approach when it comes to making lemonade.
  Odd Todd: It takes you 15 minutes just to make a glass of lemonade?
  Polly: You can't rush quality.
• Repeat to Confirm: Otto does this to Odd Todd — who had been accusing him of stalling repeatedly during his Holding the Floor moment — when Olive manages to get ahold of Danny T.
  Olive: Otto? He's here.
  Otto: HA!! The joke's on you, Odd Todd, because I was stalling!
  Odd Todd: I just said you were stalling!
• Series Continuity Error: Olive explains to Otto that she believes Odd Todd is guilty of shrinking and stealing the town museum, saying that he's attempting to get back at her for her kicking him off of Odd Squad. However, "Training Day" previously showed that Olive never actively conspired to get him fired from Odd Squad; Ms. O fired him after he pulled a Red Herring on her and his partner and intentionally misled them so Tiny Dancer could continue wreaking havoc.
• Shapeshifter Baggage: The Shapeshifter transforms into the much-younger Olive in order to shrink and steal the town museum and pin the crime on her. It was revealed before that the Shapeshifter manages to retain the same weight no matter what form she's in (and it's highly unlikely she and Olive have the same weight, considering the age gap), but it's not explained where the extra weight went when she turned into Olive.
• Shapeshifter Guilt Trip: The Shapeshifter manages to transform into Olive and steal the town museum. However, at the time Odd Todd plays the video for the court, Olive and Otto are unaware it's the Shapeshifter in disguise, and Otto, having had enough Kick the Dog moments throughout the episode in regards to him and his defendant partner, calls for a recess.
• Shapeshifting Excludes Clothing: Averted; the Shapeshifter gains Olive's entire winter wear when shapeshifting into her.
• Ship Tease: There is quite a bit to be found with Olive and Oscar having lunch together before the trial started.
  • Olive and Otto's Friendship Moment as well falls under this.
• Shout-Out: The music that plays as Olive, Otto, Ms. O and later Odd Todd enter the courtroom is invoked quite similar to the theme of The People's Court.
• Silent Whisper: Olive engages in this with Otto numerous times as she whispers what is implied to be the names of witnesses she wishes to have testify. She also does this later on when Otto asks her where she was from 1:50 to 2:00.
• Statute of Limitations: In order to prove herself innocent, Olive must prove where she was between 1 p.m. and 2 p.m, when she was on break. Any time before or after that is not counted, since Olive was at work, and it does not factor into whether she is innocent or guilty.
• Stock Legal Phrases: There are quite a few to be found throughout the episode.
• Take That!: Olive refers to Soundcheck — a band that serves as a Shout-Out to One Direction and other similar boy bands — as having "manufactured sound" (AutoTune) and "meaningless lyrics". Danny T responds in kind with "That's what we do best, dawg!"
• Talking to Themself: Odd Todd calls himself to the witnesses' stand at one point. True to the nature of this show, he finds a way to play both defendant and witness, and treats both of them as though they're different people (although, since they do share a Secret Handshake at the end, maybe they are two different people...).
• The Tell: Otto asks Olive where she was for the last 10 minutes of her lunch break. She lies and tells him that she didn't do anything and that she walked back to headquarters. Otto immediately sees right through her, saying that she always takes the tubes back and that she never walks. She doesn't even get the chance to try and lie again before Otto presses her further, and she eventually cracks.
• Temporary Substitute: Otto outright states that since he couldn't go to the surprise Soundcheck concert due to being too busy, Olive went in his place. Since Olive and Otto have performed with Soundcheck before, this may be justified.
• Villain: Exit, Stage Left: Odd Todd and the Shapeshifter make their escape through the roof of Headquarters with the latter having shapeshifted into a jetpack so the former can take flight. (No one tell them that they're underground and have to go through layers of dirt before reaching the surface.)
• Villain Has a Point: When Odd Todd tells Ms. O to just declare Olive guilty, fire her, and be done with the trial, Otto says that not only is there no way Olive did it, but the ex-agent hasn't proven a thing. Odd Todd is quick to remark that Otto can't prove where Olive was from 1:45 p.m. to 2 p.m. — which makes sense, considering that none of the witnesses Otto had brought in to testify thus far were of any help in proving Olive innocent.
• Villainous Breakdown: Odd Todd manages to get shades of this when Otto gains the upper hand in the trial. He becomes increasingly frustrated by Otto's stalling, and it only gets worse when he attempts to re-gain the upper hand by claiming that Olive could shrink and steal the town museum in a minute. Olive herself is quick to tell him that isn't possible. Odd Todd objects that since the song "The Work of Heart" is new, Danny T has no way of knowing how long it is. To find out its duration, both Olive and Danny T perform a duet of the song, which lasts exactly one minute — which, in turn, effectively crushes any chance he has of framing Olive.
• Villain Team-Up: Odd Todd and the Shapeshifter work together to prove Olive guilty of shrinking and stealing the town museum, although the Shapeshifter doesn't reveal her true self until after the verdict is given.
• "Where Are They Now?" Epilogue: Parodied. The end of the episode shows the fates of some characters after the trial is over:
  • Otto played various Soundcheck songs for Olive repeatedly until she went back to hating the band.
  • Ms. O kept the Judicial Wig she wore during her time as a judge for the trial.
  • Owen and the stenographer still believe Olive committed the crime.
  • The Security agent present at the trial believes he stole the museum.
  • Danny T. remains frozen in mid-air(which could somewhat explain him being Put on a Bus).
• "YEAH!" Shot: Double subverted — the episode appears to end on one, then it shows a "Where Are They Now?" Epilogue before going back to the shot and officially ending the episode on it.
• You Have to Believe Me!: At one point during the trial, Olive gives a desperate "I'm innocent, I tell ya!" When Octavia interrupts the trial then leaves, the defendant repeats the line.

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