Oona's about to drop the hammer on her co-workers if they don't stop driving her to insanity.
The Cherry-on-Top-inatorAirdates: March 22, 2017 note , December 4, 2016 note
Agents talk about their most beloved gadget, the Cherry-on-Top-inator, because they don't want Oona to destroy it.
Tropes:
- Attack of the 50-Foot Whatever: Invoked by the Puppy Master, who wants to make a puppy big enough so it will chew up Earth like a giant slipper, but it ends up defied by Olympia and Otis, as they manage to get wind of the plan (and they likely reported it back to Odd Squad, who stopped her before the plan was put into action).
- Bait-and-Switch: Employed for all five stories at various points.
- It's also used at the end of the episode when Oona manages to create a hole in the wall with her mallet, causing a leak to occur. Instead of using the Cherry-on-Top-inator, Ohlm uses one of his cherries that he bought at the store to plug the hole.
- Beauty Is Never Tarnished: Averted. Everyone gets sprayed from the water coming from the leak, and ends up completely doused.
- Beware the Nice Ones: Oona may be a lovable Gadgeteer Genius that's always willing to help you out in a pinch, but may God help you if you push her to her breaking point.
- Bluff the Impostor: The Puppy Master doesn't believe that Olympia and Otis are waiters, so in order for her to determine whether they are who they say they are or not, she has them bring out her favorite meal. While Olympia and Otis initially have trouble, an actual, employed chef of the restaurant helps them out, and the partner pair present the villainess with her favorite meal: salad, which turns out to be correct.
- Bottle Episode: Aside from the Flashbacks of the agents, a majority of the episode takes place solely in the lab.
- The Bus Came Back: Evil Knight, who was last seen in "Undercover Olive", returns in this episode, albeit with a different appearance.
- Captain Obvious: After Otis finishes reciting his and Olympia's story of how they stopped the Puppy Master, Ocean is in enough awe to ask an incredibly stupid question and receive a viable answer in return.Ocean: Whoa, did you stop it?Otis: Is the world still here?
- Character Narrator: Olympia and Otis, Ohlm, Orchid and Ocean all serve as one for their respective stories.
- Chase Scene: One occurs between Ocean and a creature known as a chicken-horse in the former's story. As Ocean becomes cornered, he eventually decides to use the Cherry-on-Top-inator to throw against a rock, which startles the creature as it runs away.
- Chewing the Scenery: Olympia and Otis's story is by far one of the most blatant uses of this trope when applied to songs in the show — from Milking the Giant Cow with wild hand gestures to overdramatic lyrics. Even the Puppy Master and the chef go full-on ham at some points!
- Cold Open: Once again, the trope is averted — the episode opens with Oona in her lab ready to smash the Cherry-on-Top-inator.
- Continuity Nod: In Orchid's story, Ms. O has her bring a Centigurp to her.
- In Olympia and Otis's shared story, they work undercover at the same restaurant where O'Donahue first scoped out the Thrimes.
- Crazy-Prepared: The chef at the restaurant that Olympia and Otis go undercover at has a box full of previous orders that he stores. He's got over 9,000 of them, up to and including the Puppy Master's, which helps the pair determine what kind of meal is the villainess's favorite.
- Cute and Psycho: Oona falls into this trope quite a lot throughout the season, but this episode in particular takes it up to eleven with her eliciting psychotic screams every time she goes to smash the gadget, with her calling the act of smashing it "good fun".
- Dancing Is Serious Business: Orchid's story (which is told via puppetry) comprises of her telling Ms. O that she'll fetch a Centigurp for her after the pair have a dance party. Cue them dancing for a few seconds before Ms. O orders her to leave.
- Deadpan Snarker: Whoo boy, does Oona go full-in on the snark in this episode.Orchid: Drop the mallet!Oona: [puts the mallet down; completely deadpan] Why, did this gadget save your life too?Orchid: Let's not be so dramatic. But it did get me out of a big jam.
- Disapproving Look: Oona gives plenty throughout the episode, and a majority of them are combined with Death Glares for maximum effect.
- Does This Remind You of Anything?: A psychotic person who doesn't have a good grasp on their sanity, wielding a hammer which they use to destroy something of sentimental value that other people love...yeah, that should ring a bell for a few people. note
- Dreadful Musician: Averted. Both Anna Cathcart and Isaac Kragten are pretty good singers, as are Thom Allison (the chef) and Starr Domingue (the Puppy Master).
- Face Palm: Oona gives a couple throughout the episode, most notably when Olympia informs her that her and Otis's story is a musical (see the episode's page image).
- Film Noir: Ohlm's story is presented as a parody of the genre, being Deliberately Monochrome and having Ohlm be...well, Ohlm.
- Flashback Stares: Ohlm does one when telling his story.
- Framing Device: The stories of Olympia and Otis, as well as those of Orchid, Ohlm and Ocean, are all framed by the story of Oona wanting to get rid of the Cherry-on-Top-inator, and the episode mostly consists of the five agents recounting stories of how the gadget helped them in some way to Oona, with the mathematical Aesop of predictions coming into play in all of them.
- The Glasses Come Off: Subverted. While spying on Evil Knight and the Puppy Master, Olympia takes off her red glasses, but doesn't keep them off — she puts on her purple pair instead (the ones seen in "First Day" while she was an agent-in-training).
- Gratuitous Rap: The song in Olympia's and Otis's story changes from an "I Am" Song about exposing the Puppy Master and Evil Knight and being brave in the face of danger, to a rap in mid-song as the partner pair sort through the orders to find out what the Puppy Master's favorite dish is. And yes, it's just as hammy as the rest of the song.
- HA HA HA—No: The Puppy Master's Evil Laugh comes off as this, as after she tells Evil Knight her plan, she laughs before abruptly stopping and asking Olympia and Otis for some pepper flakes for her salad.
- Hidden Depths: Ocean can not only paint incredibly well, he can apparently play the saxophone and make a mean fettuccine alfredo dish. (He can't play the sax while he runs, though.)
- Orchid is apt at knitting to the point where she can make her own puppet show out of her creations. Furthermore, she also appears to be telekinetic, if the way she moves the puppet show theater on her own is any indication.
- "I Am" Song: The song in Olympia and Otis's shared story, referred to by many fans as "A Likely Story", counts as one of these, as the song represents the partner pair's goal in getting info from the Puppy Master and Evil Knight on their plan, and also shows how determined they are in achieving said goal. It also features a few lines from the Puppy Master herself, as well as a chef working at the restaurant they're working undercover at, and at one point, the genre ends up shifting from a piece found in a musical to a rap song. It's definitely one of the better songs to come out of the show, and sounds just as awesome.
- Idiot Ball: All of the agents, sans Oona, share this ball throughout the episode. Not only do they fail to realize that Oona is looking for a story where an agent used the Cherry-on-Top-inator for its intended purpose (creating a cherry), but they are Innocently Insensitive and fail to see just how much of a strain they're putting on Oona's mental health.
- It Was a Dark and Stormy Night: Spoken verbatim by Ohlm just before he launches into his story.
- Let's Duet: Both Olympia and Otis duet while they tell their story, and are later joined in by the Puppy Master and one of the chefs at the restaurant.
- Meaningful Echo: Olympia's and Otis's story opens up with them singing, "This is our story, it's a likely story." When they give the Puppy Master her order and seemingly leave to bring Evil Knight's tuna melt out, the Puppy Master sings, "And now for my story, it's an evil story!"
- Medium Blending: Ocean's story goes from a simple watercolor painting into a full-on animated sequence.
- Portmanteau: Oona uses "really-ously" ("really" and "seriously") at one point when Ocean tells her that the Cherry-on-top-inator saved his life.
- Mic Drop: Otis does this after the Gratuitous Rap, but instead of using a microphone, he uses a small notepad.
- Mix-and-Match Critters: Ocean's story involves a creature that is half-horse (the body) and half-chicken (the head), which ends up chasing him. While the "horse" part of the creature looks more akin to a Pegasus, it's not referred to as such.
- Mood-Swinger: Olympia goes from being overjoyed that Oona is thanking them for making her decision clear, to outright terrified as soon as the Scientist brings the mallet up and starts letting loose another one of her psychotic screams, to the point where the agent lets out a terrified scream of her own shortly before Ohlm interrupts.
- Musical Episode: It doesn't take up the entirety of the episode, but Olympia and Otis's story is presented as a musical.
- No Title: Otis and Olympia's duet song isn't given a proper title. However, some fans have taken to calling it "A Likely Story", after the second lyric of the song.
- Power Glows: The Cherry-on-Top-inator glows when Otis gets an idea of what they can use to take care of the leak. Too bad that the gadget isn't used at all.
- Priceless Paperweight: All of the agents, bar Orchid (who doesn't use it at all), end up using the Cherry-on-Top-inator — a gadget which Oona hopes to destroy solely to use it for parts in other gadgets — for completely mundane things.
- Ocean throws it against a rock in order to scare away a chicken-horse.
- Olympia and Otis use it as nothing more than a footstool for the latter in order to retrieve a salad bowl.
- Ohlm uses the curved tip of it as a spoon for his ice cream sundae.
- Puppet Show: Orchid's Cherry-on-Top-inator story is presented in this fashion.
- Rage Breaking Point: Oona hits hers at the climax of the episode when she delivers a furious tirade to all five agents after hearing their stories of how they used the Cherry-on-Top-inator for nothing more than mundane tasks.
- Reading the Stage Directions Out Loud: When Ocean becomes cornered by the chicken-horse, he ends his Flashback by saying "dramatic pause".
- Sadist: Oona. For the love of God, Oona. Her sadism comes in the form of having fun smashing gadgets and destroying them with a large mallet she keeps in the lab, and it's clear that she's not in the healthiest state of mind in this episode. The only reason she doesn't try and beat up her fellow agents with the hammer is because the show has very little physical violence, and, well, this is a TV-Y show on PBS Kids.
- Sanity Slippage: Oona continuously loses her grip on sanity as her co-workers attempt to convince her not to destroy the gadget, and it shows.
- Sarcasm-Blind: Oona delivers some Tranquil Fury-infused snark towards Olympia and Otis when she sarcastically thanks them for making her decision very clear. They both end up taking it at face value. For Otis, it's potentially justified since he has No Social Skills and isn't good with people.
- Sassy Black Woman: While the Puppy Master can slip into this from time to time, it becomes more prominent in this episode when she orders Olympia and Otis to bring Evil Knight a tuna melt, because "he eats whatever I tell him to eat!"
- Service Sector Stereotypes: Played with. Olympia and Otis disguise themselves as waiters at a local sit-down restaurant, but aren't actual employees of the place.
- Shout-Out: A giant, misbehaving puppy who chews up the world like it's a toy? Sounds similar to the plot of the Wander over Yonder episode "The Ball", only this episode has more villain involvement.
- Smash to Black: The episode ends like this, just as Oona lands a hit on the Cherry-on-Top-inator with her mallet.
- Stealth Hi/Bye: It isn't just Ms. O and Oona that have this ability — Ohlm does as well, as he suddenly rises and appears in front of Oona just as she's going to smash the Cherry-on-Top-inator.
- Stealth Pun: Ohlm manages to get in on this, mentioning that even though it was Tuesday, "this agent had Sunday note on the brain."
What happens when you take Breaking the Fourth Wall up to eleven.
SirAirdates: March 22, 2017 note , December 4, 2016 note
Agents Olympia, Otis, and Oona help a man with an odd problem.
Tropes:
- Anthropomorphic Food: One of the rooms that Sir runs into consists of what appears to be a talking meatball wearing a mustache and a cowboy hat.
- Attack of the 50-Foot Whatever: Sir ends up eating too much of the Growing Potato and grows tall enough to completely tower over the Main 3.
- Audible Gleam: The Un-Pasta-inator's activation is accompanied by a very loud "whirr" sound as the screen fades to white briefly.
- Beauty Is Never Tarnished: Averted. Both Olympia and Otis emerge from the Potato Room covered in mud and debris, with their jacket sleeves sliced in two.
- Butt-Monkey: Sir ends up going through quite a lot in this episode just to fix his problem.
- Call-Back: In order to help Sir grow back to normal, Otis suggests that he and Olympia fetch a Growing Potato for him. And just like in that episode, he ends up eating too much of it, causing him to grow to gigantic proportions.
- Character Title
- Continuity Nod: Sir ends up hitting his head on the steel beam above the doors leading from the tube lobby into the Trophy Room, just like Olive did in "Trading Places" while stuck as an adult. However, unlike Olive, he manages to hit his head on the other steel beam located above the double-doors leading into the bullpen.
- Olympia and Otis are forced to face off against yet another spaghetti monster, only this time, it's not with malicious intent, and comes from a man suffering from Spaghetti-itis whose spaghetti noodles wave all over the place.
- The episode ends in a similar manner as "Trials and Tribulations", only the Main 3 and Sir perform a much longer HA HA HA—No that serves as an Overly Long Gag.
- Cool Crown: Otis wears one after emerging from the Potato Room, having been crowned the King of Potatoland.
- Cringe Comedy: While Olympia and Otis are adventuring in the Potato Room, Oona takes the time to make small talk with Sir. It's an incredibly awkward conversation, up until Oona decides to ask a "if you were stranded in the desert and could only bring one thing" question of the shrunken man.
- Disapproving Look: The Main 3 all give one when Sir ends up shrinking due to the carelessness of Ohlm. For Oona, it gets to the point where she delves into Tranquil Fury.
- Both Olympia and Otis give Oona one when she reveals that she forgot the Un-Pasta-inator helmet in the lab.
- Does This Remind You of Anything?: Sir's initial refusal of his condition and his refusal to come with Odd Squad for help, as well as his wife encouraging him by telling him she just wants him to get the help he needs, is strongly reminiscent of someone refusing to seek help for the sake of their health (i.e., refusing to see a doctor or therapist).
- Dragged by the Collar: Inverted; Olympia doesn't drag Oona, but rather, she pushes her towards Sir as the two fight their way through the storm while Otis kicks away various chairs.
- "Everybody Laughs" Ending: The episode ends with the Main 3 and Sir delving into Mirthless Laughter at the latter remarking that Otis should make anything but spaghetti, that quickly turns into a HA HA HA—No moment.
- Exposed to the Elements: The Main 3 and Sir are all severely underdressed for the snow inside of a room with a hill of snow, but don't feel any ill effects from it.
- Grumpy Old Man: Sir's boss definitely has the appearance and demeanor of one.
- HA HA HA—No: The Main 3 and Sir do this at the end of the episode.
- Hero of Another Story: Unlike in "The Potato Ultimato", the audience doesn't see what Olympia and Otis do in the Potato Room due to Sir (whose point of view serves as the camera angle for the episode) remaining outside with Oona.
- Hidden Depths: It's revealed in this episode that Otis is a Supreme Chef, although we never find out just how good of a cook he actually is.
- I Lied: A heroic example. Olympia and Otis admit to Sir that his wife wasn't cutting his hair like he thought — rather, she was measuring his head so Oona could make a perfectly-fitted Un-Pasta-inator helmet for him to wear.
- Mirthless Laughter: When Sir remarks that Otis can make anything but spaghetti, everyone launches into exaggerated, strained laughter that lasts for an awkwardly long time.
- Mistaken Identity: When Olympia and Otis confront Sir, he remarks that they must be mixing him up with someone else. The partner pair are quick to confirm that they've got the right person, as Sir turns out to be afflicted by Spaghetti-itis.
- Moment Killer: Just as Sir worriedly remarks that he and the Main 3 only have 5 minutes left before he's turned into spaghetti, Ohlm comes up to Oona and asks him if now's a good time to ask about his broken gadget. All three agents are quick to inform him that it's a very bad time.
- Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: Ohlm, having the brain of a pebble, decides to leave the broken gadget he has on one of Oona's gadgets, which ends up shrinking Sir and renders the helmet unfitting (since, well, he's small). Later on, he ends up inadvertently firing off the Hurricane-inator on Sir, which causes a hurricane to ensue mixed with his spaghetti noodles.
- No Name Given: "Sir" isn't given a proper name in the credits. Likewise, his boss and wife are respectively referred to as "Sir's Boss" and "Sir's Wife". note
- Noodle Incident: Whatever happened in the Potato Room not only left Olympia and Otis a complete mess, but Otis was somehow named the King of Potatoland and wears a crown on his head to prove it.
- No-Paper Future: Sir lampshades this when he asks the Main 3 why there's so much paper, since everything is digital now.
- P.O.V. Cam: A majority of the episode is shot from Sir's point of view as he is afflicted with an odd illness known as Spaghetti-itis. It isn't until the end of the episode that we find out his actual appearance.
- Race Against the Clock: Sir has only 10 or so minutes before he turns into spaghetti for good, and the Main 4 (sans Ms. O) must turn him back to normal before this happens.
- Skewed Priorities: The Hurricane-inator fires off on Sir, which creates a hurricane mixed with his Spaghetti-itis. Ohlm, who is in possession of the gadget, is more concerned with feeding his hamster than taking care of Sir or handling the situation in any manner.
- Somethingitis: Spaghetti-itis is an odd illness which gradually turns its victims into spaghetti as time goes on. Sir just happens to be afflicted by this illness, and the episode is spent getting rid of it before he turns into spaghetti for good.
- Spring Coil: The Spring Room has a rather large one that is able to push Sir far back enough to become effectively separated from the Main 3.
- Talking Is a Free Action: Sir's wife ends up lampshading the trope when she informs Olympia and Otis, who are busy giving a lesson on time (the mathematical Aesop) to Sir, that she feels like they're spending too much time talking about time.
- Tranquil Fury: When Ohlm manages to shrink Sir, this exchange happens shortly after Oona explains to the man what happened. Oona's reaction is nothing short of furious and tired.Ohlm: [peering over the countertop] Sir, I will find out the person who did this to you and avenge you!Oona: Ohlm, please leave my lab.Ohlm: Okay![he leaves]
- Tube Travel: This is a common staple of the show, but special mention goes to the audience getting a first-person view of actually riding the tubes themselves (the credits sequence aside).
- Worldbuilding: This episode introduces the audience to some new doors, including a gray one at the end of one of the halls that leads to the cliff of a mountaintop. It also reveals that the doors automatically change at random times.
