Recap / Odd Squad S 2 E 12 Threes Company Behind Enemy Mimes

The Benevolent Boss to many is quickly turning into The Dreaded for all.

Three's Company

Airdates: November 8, 2016 ^note PBS Kids premiere, October 17, 2016 ^note TVO Kids premiere

Ms. O is sent from her office down to the bullpen due to odd infestations.

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Tropes:

• Aesop Enforcer: O'Beth makes sure that Olympia — and by extension, the audience — knows what a triangular prism is.
  O'Beth: This power triangular prism needs to be fixed ASAP.
  Olympia: Fine!
  O'Beth: I feel like this is the part where you ask me what a power triangular prism is.
  Olympia: I don't need to know.
  O'Beth: [as Olympia wears a tight smile] It's 3D, made of 1, 2 triangles, and 1, 2, 3 rectangles.
• Amusing Injuries: Otis, being used to sitting in a chair and not on an exercise ball, has absolutely no balance whatsoever, and ends up doing a full-on backwards flip onto the floor, much to Olympia's (and even Ms. O's) shock.
  Otis: I'm- I'm still finding mine.
  • Ohlm later slips and falls at the end of the episode due to Owen loosening his support on him and letting him rest on a nearby filing cabinet.
• Batman Can Breathe in Space: Somehow, Olympia and Otis were able to go up into space and put the Moon back where it belongs, using a ladder and no spacesuits whatsoever.
• Be Careful What You Say: Olympia offers for Ms. O to work at her and Otis's desk while her office is being repaired, which is suspected to take about 10-15 minutes. When Otis asks her if it's a good idea, Olympia shrugs it off by saying that it's only for a short while. Unfortunately, Ms. O staying in the bullpen causes strife among the other agents, with the Director being more of a hindrance than anything else — which isn't helped by O'Beth, one of the IT workers, uncovering problem after problem. By the time Ms. O heads a strenuous step aerobics class for the entire precinct, Olympia realizes just what she's done.
  Olympia: You did it!
  O'Beth: Sure did.
  Olympia: [desperate] So Ms. O can come back up here and leave us alone?
• Beyond the Impossible: Olympia and Otis went into space and put the Moon back in its proper position...using a ladder. There's also a picture from the event as well, which Ms. O notes is part of a trend of taking pictures from when the partner pair end up solving cases. Even by this show's standards, it's a bit of a stretch.
• Big "WHAT?!": Olympia has this reaction when O'Beth tells her it'll take her 2 years to get a new power triangular prism.
  • Otis, Ohlm and Owen all give a unisonant one to Olympia when she suggests everyone work in Ms. O's office during a Gretchen infestation.
• Big "WHY?!": Inverted when Rebecca shows Olympia and Otis her foot bath with paint instead of water, only for Olympia to give a small, confused "Why?"
  • She later plays the trope straight when she sees Owen's Security monitors' screens with a yellow tint.
• Blatant Lies: When Ms. O says that she's happy she could help out her employees in the bullpen, Olympia, Otis, Ohlm and Owen all respond with hesitant agreement.
• The Bus Came Back: Nicole, the client seen in the Cold Open of "Disorder in the Court", returns in this episode, albeit under a new identity: Rebecca. The credits parody this.
• Butt-Monkey: Out of every agent working at Odd Squad, Oona is arguably the most affected by Ms. O taking up temporary residence in the bullpen, to the point where she ends up causing an absolute mess of things and begs for help.
• Cloudcuckoolander: Rebecca, in spades. She manages to figure out that mixing orange juice and cereal together in a cereal box can make a particular white shirt clean (which she gives to Olympia and Otis for an odd solution), and claims that people discovered French fries by accident. She's eccentric in more ways than one.
• Compressed Vice: Nearly all of the agents are shown having various negative reactions to Ms. O coming down to the bullpen and staying there, ranging from nervousness to outright annoyance. This is despite the fact that Ms. O has come down to the bullpen numerous times and has stayed down there before (albeit this time, it's an extended stay, and not just for a few minutes).
• Credits Gag: The credits list "Rebecca" not by that name, but as "Not Nicole", parodying her previous appearance in "Disorder in the Court" ^note It's the same actress, as well.
• Deadpan Snarker: Olympia and Otis both have a hearty dose of snark to give to their boss while making paper.
  Ms. O: [happily sighs] Now this is what you call paper.
  Olympia: Greeeat.
  Otis: So helpful!
• Dragged by the Collar: Owen drags Olympia and Otis away to the Security monitors by their arms.
• Dramatic Drop: Otis's response to Ms. O deciding that she, him, and his partner will make their own paper — despite the current paper (which is the only kind in the office) being perfectly viable to use — is to drop his pen in absolute disbelief.
• Face Palm: Otis does one when Olympia suggests everyone working in the bullpen work in Ms. O's office.
• Funny Background Event: While Ms. O is explaining how she got rid of the chairs and replaced them with exercise balls, a Maintenance worker can be seen attempting to stay on one in the background.
• Gratuitous Spanish: When Ms. O thanks Olympia and Otis for allowing her to sit at their desks, Olympia responds by saying "mi casa es su casa" ("my house is your house"), believing it's a phrase people say in France. When Otis reminds her that it's a Spanish phrase, she responds by clarifying that there are Spanish people in France.
• Here We Go Again!: At the end of the episode, Olympia's desk becomes overrun with a "Gretchen infestation" and is forced to relocate along with everyone else working in the bullpen. She immediately suggests that everyone work in Ms. O's office for the time being, which earns less-than-favorable reactions from Ohlm, Otis and Owen.
  Olympia: Ugh, I gotta stop doing that!
• Insane Troll Logic: Both Ms. O and Owen develop this when the former makes the latter's Security monitors yellow because it shows oddness better, leading the latter to ask "if everything's highlighted, isn't nothing highlighted?"
• Insistent Terminology: O'Beth corrects Olympia when she addresses the cube the IT worker is holding as a square. She also later corrects Olympia on the amount of time she has.
  O'Beth: Hey, 10-15! Don't take away my wiggle room.
• The Klutz: While Oona can be klutzy from time to time, this episode takes the trait a step further by having it become a sort of Compressed Vice for her, dropping gadgets whenever Ms. O is nearby in the bullpen. It gets to such an point where she is holding a pile of broken gadgets as a countertop falls and a lightbulb blows its fuse.
  Oona: [pleading] Help meeee...
• Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: Ms. O's repeated "improvements" for the precinct don't help her co-workers in any way, and many of them express upset or anxiety over her staying downstairs.
  • Olympia suggesting that Ms. O come downstairs to begin with also falls under the trope, and she ends up regretting it as O'Beth keeps delaying her boss's return and finds more problems within her office.
  • This is played with later on when Oona ends up literally breaking the power cube into two halves, each making a triangular prism, which is what O'Beth needs to fix the office's Black Hole Regulator so Ms. O can move back into her office and stop making improvements to it.
• No Hero Discount: Subverted. Ms. O asks how much repairs to her computer monitor are going to cost her, only for O'Beth to respond that she'll give her the "kid discount"...which turns out to be free. Ms. O sits on the offer for a bit, looks to Olympia and Otis for their take on it, then agrees to it.
• Now, Let Me Carry You: Owen helps out his fellow co-worker Ohlm by giving him support and teaching him how to walk when he loses the knowledge how to.
• Parrot Expo-WHAT?: Olympia responds to O'Beth saying that she needs a new power rectangular prism with a "power rectangular what?"
• Poor Communication Kills: When noticing the blob infestation inside one of the walls of the office, Olympia attempts to invoke this by asking O'Beth if she can put the wall back up and not tell Ms. O. O'Beth responds in kind by asking Olympia for her name, and when the agent asks why, she tells her that when the blobs take over in a month and Ms. O looks for someone to blame, it'll be placed on Olympia and Olympia alone. The agent begrudgingly forgoes her suggestion.
• Pop-Culture Pun Episode Title: The episode's title is a reference to the late-1970s sitcom of the same name.
• Power Source: Cubes and rectangular prisms make up the power source for Ms. O's computers, as well as a majority of her entire office.
• invoked Squick: In-universe example — Olympia has this reaction to Oona explaining that her hands are covered in butter, but the nervous kind of butter.
• Too Dumb to Live: The longer Ms. O stays in the bullpen, the dumber Ohlm gets. By the climax of the episode, he even forgets how to walk entirely. This is justified by the fact that he is merely pretending to be stupid.
• Training from Hell: Ms. O, believing that they aren't getting enough exercise, puts her employees through a step aerobics class with her as the teacher. However, a majority of agents are shown looking exhausted during the exercise, while others look worried or confused (especially when Ms. O tells them to step faster).
• The Unblinking: Olympia does this briefly in order to see the lights of Ms. O's office blinking rapidly in a multitude of colors.
• Unrealistic Black Hole: Ms. O's office's Black Hole Regulator doesn't suck things in, and instead blows wind onto O'Beth and Olympia. Whether this is justified by said regulator being shot isn't explained.
• Unwanted Assistance: Ms. O makes improvements to the office that are more hindrances to her employees than anything else, which doesn't settle well with anyone — up to and including Olympia herself, who suggested Ms. O come down to the bullpen to begin with.
• Worldbuilding: This episode introduces a new department: the IT department. Specifically, it introduces one of the two members in the department: O'Beth.
• "Yes"/"No" Answer Interpretation: When O'Beth hears a scratching noise in Ms. O's office, this exchange ensues between her and Olympia:
  O'Beth: Hold on.
  Olympia: No.
  O'Beth: Do you hear that scratching?
  Olympia: Noooo?
  [scratching noises continue]
  Olympia: Okay fine, I hear it. I mean, can we just ignore it?
  O'Beth: Sure, your name is Olympia, right?
  Olympia: I'm gonna take that as a "no."

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We haven't heard from him in a while.

Behind Enemy Mimes

Airdates: November 8, 2016 ^note  PBS Kids premiere, October 17, 2016 ^note  TVO Kids premiere

Ms. O needs Otis and Olympia's help to track down her old partner O'Donahue.

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Tropes:

• Blatant Lies: Olympia lies to Otis and Ms. O about finding the clues at 8 Orange Street before the latter did.
• Call-Back: Ms. O brings up how everyone believes that O'Donahue is retired. Ms. O also tags along with Olympia and Otis much like how she ventured out onto the field in the same episode.
• Captain Obvious: Yes, Ms. O, the paint is still wet because you touched it and some got on your finger. Great observation.
• Comically Missing the Point: Olympia has this gem to give at one point.
  Ms. O: If I know my partner, he likes his orange juice hot, his eggs raw, and he always leaves a clue behind.
  Olympia: His breakfast sounds awful!
• Dehumanizing Insult: Calling a mime a clown is one of the most offensive things one can do to them, and Ms. O isn't above calling the Thrimes such right before she and the others take the trio on.
• Doomsday Device: The Thrimes are planning to build a "silence ray" that will make the world silent forever, and they plan on using it that day. Olympia, Otis and Ms. O head out to stop the trio, with O'Donahue leaving clues to their location.
• Dynamic Entry: Ms. O's version of "knocking" on a building's door is essentially busting down one of the walls of the building with her bare hands. When Otis asks her to use the door handle instead of smashing through a door while at 8 Orange Street, she agrees...and then ends up punching a hole through the wall, opening up the door from the inside.
• Enemy Mime: The Thrimes definitely fit the bill to a T. O'Donahue is an exception since he is part of The Infiltration.
• Everyone Hates Mimes: A Brick Joke in the episode revolves around Olympia saying that clowns and mimes are the same thing, only for Ms. O to tell them never to say that around a mime. The Director later calls the mimes "clowns" as an insult, which offends them greatly.
• Exact Eavesdropping: Subverted. As Olympia and Otis are walking behind Ms. O, they quietly discuss their previous "mistake" (read: not catching on to the clues before their boss did) and resolve to turn things around before moving on to the topic of two elevators, one of which is broken. Just as Otis tells Olympia that the trio should use the unbroken elevator, Ms. O perks up, turns around, says "aha!" knowingly...and then says that the "broken" elevator isn't broken, and is instead another clue, meaning that she didn't overhear any of the partner pair's conversation concerning messing up in front of her, and doesn't know what they're doing.
• Hoist by His Own Petard: The Main 3 and O'Donahue end up beating the Thrimes by miming various attacks, including blowing wind and tying them up with a fishing rod's string, all of which are accompanied by various sound effects.
• Idiot Ball: Olympia and Otis determine that there are 30 floors on the 6th floor of 8 Orange Street. When Ms. O spots a rug on the floor, she immediately goes to count the threads in the rug instead of looking for any additional clues first. This stupidity is what allows Olympia and Otis to discover the actual clue O'Donahue left behind: a light and a smoke alarm on the ceiling separated by a wooden X.
• The Infiltration: O'Donahue is revealed to be working undercover for Ms. O as a mime in order to stop the Thrimes, a trio of mimes who wish to take over the world. He does have a few close calls in getting caught, but eventually manages to keep the ruse up until the last minute.
• The Knights Who Say "Squee!": Olympia's and Otis's primary shared motivation throughout the episode is to have Ms. O notice what good agents they are (or in Otis's case, if they make a mistake, have her notice how mistakey they are). Of course, any attempts they make to get them to notice her ultimately fall flat as they keep making "mistakes" that come in the form of not finding and figuring out clues before their boss does.
• Meaningful Name: "Thrimes" is a Portmanteau of "three" and "mimes" — fitting, since the eponymous villains are a trio of mimes.
• Mistakes Are Not the End of the World: Olympia and Otis both end up learning this from Ms. O, as they keep making various "mistakes" throughout the episode (which is basically not finding clues before the Director does) that culminates in them realizing that Ms. O made a mistake in thinking the rug is the clue that O'Donahue left, and having to tell her that she's wrong. While the partner pair initially believe she'll snap at them for telling her she made a mistake, she ends up being perfectly calm, telling them that "everyone makes mistakes sometimes, even the boss."
• Noodle Incident: It's implied that Ms. O made the mistake of saying that mimes and clowns are the same thing from the way she tells Olympia that they're different, but no specifics are given.
• The Perfectionist: Both Olympia and Otis fall into this over the course of the episode in order to impress Ms. O (the former moreso than the latter, since being a perfectionist is part of her personality). However, Ms. O solves nearly every clue faster than they do, which doesn't help them.
• Pre-Mortem One-Liner: "Agents...it's time to mime!"
• Rapid-Fire Interrupting: Played with when Otis answers Olympia's questions as Ms. O resolves to go on the field with them.
  Olympia: [whispering] Otis, this is amazing!
  Otis: What is?
  Olympia: Think about it.
  Otis: Think about what?
  Olympia: You have to stop interrupting me. How many times has Ms. O gone out on a case with agents?
  Otis: 102 times.
  Olympia: What?
  Otis: I'm just guessing.
• Sidetracked by the Analogy: This exchange ensues between Ms. O, Otis and Olympia at one point.
  Ms. O: Ever heard the expression "sometimes the answer is right under your nose"?
  Otis: No.
  Olympia: Me neither.
  Ms. O: Really? 'Cause it's a common expression.
  Olympia: Oh, like "don't judge a book by its cover"?
  Ms. O: I have no idea what you're talking about.
• The Unintelligible: O'Donahue becomes this at the end of the episode, as he hasn't spoken in 5 months while undercover.
• You Are Too Late: Otis, Olympia and Ms. O end up being too late in stopping the Thrimes, as they manage to be long gone with the silence ray by the time the trio enter the building where they were building the machine.

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