Looks like Ms. O's got a deep-seated grudge with another Olive.
Shapely UniversityAirdates: March 27, 2018 note , January 7, 2018 note
Otis and Olympia compete against rival Odd Squad agents to catch a loose creature.
Tropes:
- Big Red Button: All four agents press this to make Oprah and Olivia fall into their respective pools of pickle juice.
- Bratty Half-Pint: Both Oprah and Olivia fall under this trope, although Oprah in particular isn't usually snark-filled and mouthy. Luckily, they aren't this to their agents, but rather to each other, but said agents still feel the brunt of their bad attitudes.
- Buffy Speak: When Professor Triangle asks what the word for people working together as a team is, Otis replies in dead earnest with "teamwork". She is surprised, having believed that it was something like "friendsies" or "helpsies".
- The Bus Came Back: Miss Triangle returns after having last been seen in "Crime at Shapely Manor", and it's revealed that she is a teacher at Shapely University, going under the name Professor Triangle.
- Call-Back: Oprah competes against another Director to achieve some sort of victory? Sounds familiar...
- This also isn't the first episode to have the main conflict centered around a rivalry between two pairs of agents.
- This episode introduces the eponymous university, which was mentioned back in "Crime at Shapely Manor". However, Professor Square doesn't make an appearance nor is he mentioned.
- Calvinball: Apparently, there are laws in place regarding friendly competitions (written in a rather thick book, no less) — one of them being that if the competitors end up tied and have made some sort of deal or bet beforehand, they must continue to go through with the deal even if no one won or lost. This doesn't please Oprah or Olivia.
- Comically Missing the Point: Otis remarks that the Purple Circle Room smells like wet garbage stuffed into an old boot. Instead of agreeing with him that it smells bad, Olympia...asks what the size of the boot is. (It's a size 7 boot.)
- The same exchange occurs later on with Omaha and Olena, the former of whom asks the latter what kind of refrigerator when the former says that the skigeon smells like moldy food in an old refrigerator. (It's a stainless steel one with a freezer on the bottom.)
- Competition Freak: Both Directors, as well as both pairs of agents, qualify. However, for the agents, it's downplayed compared to the Directors.
- Compressed Vice: Oprah definitely has a lot more Pride in this episode when it comes to beating Olivia than what she has had in past episodes that had her as a competitor, such as "The Jackies" (where she wasn't nearly as prideful).
- Continuity Nod: This isn't the first time a creature has been shown by only using P.O.V. Cam shots.
- Conversation Cut: When Olympia asks Professor Triangle what parallel lines are, the scene cuts to the four agents and the Professor as the latter explains what they are. Once she does, the scene cuts back to the Red Square Room.
- Corner of Woe: When Olympia tells Professor Triangle that they can't find the skigeon's pattern, the Professor says that she's going to have a good long cry in the teachers' lounge.
- Cross-Referenced Titles: With "Crime at Shapely Manor".
- Department of Redundancy Department: Professor Triangle is shown calling up about a job in the newspaper where people list jobs in the newspaper.
- Finishing Each Other's Sentences: Both Directors do this to each other at one point. They even hang up the phones in sync!
- Glad I Thought of It: When Oprah and Olivia make their first bet, Olivia steals Oprah's idea.Oprah: How about this. If you lose, you have to wear a T-shirt with my face on it.Olivia: Fine. But if you lose, you have to wear a T-shirt with my face on it.Oprah: Hey, that was my idea!Olivia: I know. I stole it from you.[both girls growl and hang up their phones]
- Later on, the tables are turned as Oprah steals Olivia's idea for a bet.
Olivia: Thank you for holding, Oprah. Wanna make this friendly competition interesting?Oprah: Get to it, Olivia.Olivia: If your agents lose, you get dunked in juice.Oprah: That doesn't sound so bad.Olivia: Pickle juice.Oprah: [growls] Fine!! But, if your agents lose, you get dunked in pickle juice.Olivia: Did you just steal the idea of stealing ideas from me?Oprah: You bet I did.[both girls growl and hang up their phones] - Foil: Olena serves as one to Otis. Both agents are very intelligent and know how to solve cases, and are the more rational ones of their respective duos.
- While it's very subtle, Omaha and Olympia are this to each other. Omaha is the less rational one between him and Olena, being a Nervous Wreck, while Olympia is less rational by way of being an overexcited Genki Girl and letting that cloud her common sense at times.
- A more prominent example is with Oprah and Olivia. While Olivia is mostly calm and collected, Oprah is more hot-blooded and is a Tiny Tyrannical Girl.
- Friendly Rivalry: Played with. The competition is explicitly referred to as friendly, and it is portrayed as such with both partner pairs, since they team up at the climax and act generally friendly towards each other. However, Oprah and Olivia — both of whom originally proposed the idea of the competition — are very antagonistic towards each other and serve as foils, making them seem more like bonafide rivals than anything else.
- Headbutting Heroes: Olympia and Otis compete against Olena and Omaha. Oprah competes against Olivia.
- Idea Bulb: Invoked by the Cold Open client, whose issue is that he can't think of any bright ideas without lightbulbs hanging over his head, due to the fact that he works at a place that makes lightbulbs. Apparently, calling Odd Squad to fix the issue wasn't a good idea at all.
- Idiot Ball: Instead of catching the skigeon when it heads straight for them using a bag and some rope, Olena and Omaha duck, which allows the skigeon to get away.
- Implied Death Threat: Olivia and Oprah attempt to do this to the four agents, with Olivia in particular shaking her fists angrily. However, since they're underwater with nothing more than goggles, their words are muffled by the pickle juice. Otis, knowing that both Directors could very well kill them if they so wish, decides to book it, and encourages his fellow coworkers to do the same. All of them run away, along with a small audience of background agents looking on.
- Instantly Proven Wrong: When Omaha suggests that his partner and Olympia and Otis call their respective Directors, Otis agrees, saying that he's positive they'll resolve the situation in a calm and civil manner. He could not be more wrong.
- Mix-and-Match Critters: The "skigeon" is a half-skunk, half-pigeon hybrid.
- Nervous Wreck: Omaha dips into this at one point when he thinks that the skigeon is flying all over the place.Omaha: Oh boy. The skigeon's flying all over the place. What if there's no pattern?! What if life is an illusion?! What if we're living in the 18th century?! What if-Olena: [places a hand on his shoulder] Get a hold of yourself, Omaha. Don't worry, there is a pattern.
- No Listening Skills: While Olivia does a pretty good job of listening to her agents, Oprah...doesn't. When she calls Olympia for an update and the agent tells her that they think the skigeon is going in a color pattern, she jumps the gun and immediately assumes that she and Otis solved the case. When Olympia tries to tell her that they haven't actually solved the case yet, she is sharply cut off by Oprah saying that she's sure they will, then hangs up on her as she switches the call back to Olivia, who is on hold.
- One-Steve Limit: Averted. This episode introduces Olivia, the Director of Precinct 13577 who shares her name with Olive, a main character of Season 1 who was promoted to Director in the Season 1 finale. note
- Pool Scene: Of a sort — the end of the episode shows both Oprah and Olivia being dunked into pools of pickle juice as a result of them tying in the competition (with the pickles still inside!). However, they aren't wearing bathing suits, but rather, they're wearing shirts with the other's face on it, as well as their usual skirts.
- P.O.V. Cam: The creature is never shown onscreen, and instead, we only see shots from its point of view.
- Resigned to the Call: Both Olympia and Otis, as well as Omaha and Olena, are forced to solve the case at their respective Directors' behests while they compete against each other.
- The Rival: Olivia is one to Oprah, and vice versa. They both believe that one of them is always saying how her own precinct is better than the other's precinct, and the episode primarily focuses on their rivalry as they come up with bets for who wins and who loses (the loser has to wear a shirt of the winner's face, etc.).
- Olympia and Otis are also one to Olena and Omaha respectively, although on a far lesser level than Oprah and Olivia. They are competitive, but not overly so, and end up teaming up with the other partner pair at the climax.
- Rivals Team Up: Olena and Omaha, as well as Olympia and Otis, team up to catch the skigeon together, and end up doing so with ease. This doesn't please their bosses, however, who are not happy when they find out that they end up tied.
- Screw This, I'm Outta Here: All four agents immediately book it when Olivia and Oprah are shown making threatening gestures and attempting to yell at them while underwater in pickle juice.
- Smelly Skunk: The skigeon, natch, being a hybrid of a skunk and a pigeon. The stench is bad enough to make Olympia and Otis recoil in horror (Otis in particular outright fumbles when he stops in his tracks).
- Split Screen: One is used when Oprah and Olivia hang up their phones and look at each other, although it's more depicted as though they're standing side by side. Oprah even reaches her hand across the screen to shake hands!
- Split-Screen Phone Call: Used whenever Oprah and Olivia have conversations with each other via phone, although the split-screen isn't shown until after they hang up, up until the very end of the episode. It's later parodied when Professor Triangle squeezes her way in between the two partner pairs and the two Directors in a four-way Split Screen.
- Stink Snub: When Olympia and Otis encounter the skigeon in the Purple Circle Room, Otis says that it smells like wet garbage stuffed into an old boot. Later on, when Olena and Omaha encounter it in the Orange Square Room, Olena remarks that it smells like moldy food in an old refrigerator.
- Trademark Favorite Food: Notably averted for Olivia, who appears to like both lemonade and what appears to be chocolate milk, in the same fancy glass — normally, Odd Squad Directors have one signature drink.
- Unsportsmanlike Gloating: Oprah and Olivia engage in a lot of this with each other.Oprah: [continuously smug] Thanks for holding, Olivia. I was just talking to my agents, who are about to catch this parallel creature.Olivia: Oh please. You don't even know what parallel lines are.Oprah: Parallel lines are two straight lines next to each other that never cross.Olivia: I was testing you. You passed. But we're still going to win this competition.
- Visible Odor: The skigeon's stench is represented by green vapors.
- Women Are Wiser: Yep, the show is dipping its hands in this well again for Olena and Omaha — Olena is much more calm and rational than her partner.
- Worldbuilding: This episode introduces Precinct 13577, an Odd Squad precinct in the next town over that is run by a Director named Olivia.
- It also introduces the Odd Squad Helpline, which clients can call if they have an odd problem and need it to be sent to a precinct for agents to solve. If an odd case is on a town line, the case is sent to both precincts in both towns.
- Shapely University is introduced as a location after it was mentioned in "Crime at Shapely Manor". It seems to function like a normal college that teaches about various shapes.
Airdates: March 27, 2018 note , January 7, 2018 note
People in town are stuck in slow motion.
Tropes:
- The Alleged Car: Parodied. Pam's car has the issue of transporting her to different places when she activates the wipers. While Otis and Olympia agree it's cool, the former tells her that to get home, all she has to do is put the wipers up to its highest speed and it will come up eventually. Olympia has to ask him if it'll come up eventually, to which he responds, "I absolutely hope so."
- Bait-and-Switch: As Otis sees what Pam's car is doing, he remarks that he knows what the problem is: her car is the coolest car in the world and she doesn't even know it. Olympia is quick to agree with him.
- When Olympia asks the jogger if she had pizza for lunch, she slowly says "no". Both Olympia and Otis take this to mean that the pattern regarding what the clients ate is broken...only for the jogger to finish her sentence by saying "doubt".
- Cheerful Child: Olympia excitedly asks Oona if she's having a party three times, only for Oona to tell her that she's not, causing her expression to fall. Just look at how adorable she is!
- Chekhov's Gun: The beginning of the episode has Olympia reading aloud a flyer for a concert in the park hosted by DJ Max Relax. No guesses as to who is the culprit of everyone moving in Slow Motion.
- The Coats Are Off: Played with. Otis doesn't have his coat off to look badass, but rather, to appear more serious when conducting the interrogation. Olympia only has her sleeves rolled up.
- Concert Episode: Downplayed. At the beginning of the episode, Olympia picks up a flyer from Oona's Snackbot and reads it aloud: there's a concert being held at the park with a DJ named Max Relax. She, Oona, and Otis don't reach the concert itself until the climax, and it carries over into the end of the episode, with all three of them putting on a concert for the affected citizens of the town in order to bring them back up to normal speed, in place of Max Relax himself (which also serves as the party Oona was forced to throw for the precinct).
- Continuity Nod:
- Pam, who was last seen in "Two Agents and a Baby", returns in this episode. Her problem this time around is with her car.
- Time cards make a re-appearance after having last been seen in "Odd Squad Needs You".
- Debbie's Pizzeria also makes a re-appearance. While Debbie herself has been seen in numerous past episodes, the pizzeria as a whole hasn't been seen since way back in "Double Trouble".
- The headphones that Olympia produces from Hammerspace have the symbol of the Maintenance/Transportation department on them — something left over from when she and Otis worked in the department, perhaps?
- Creator's Culture Carryover: The post office worker doesn't wear the attire worn by most Canadian postal workers, but rather, by American postal workers. This is made especially prominent by the red, white and blue stripes across her jacket.
- Dancing Royalty: The postal worker is a pretty good dancer, something Olympia comments on.Olympia: Mail lady's got some moves!
- Derailed Train of Thought: Otis becomes distracted from the case by a client juggling balls in Slow Motion. Once he points it out to Olympia, she also becomes confused and watches him as her partner asks about the "rules" of slow motion, such as if things a person touches also move in slo-mo. Olympia sets them both back on track.
- Diegetic Switch: The song that Otis mixes for the concert is played as BGM, and isn't in the show. (Still awesome enough to make you want to get up and dance, though.)
- Does Not Like Spam: Otis doesn't like pickles. He believes that they're "wet vegetables". When Oona tells him that her Snackbot is only programmed to get pickles, he becomes disappointed, and does a brief Wild Take when Ms. O tells her that she should bring more than just pickles to the party she is throwing.
- Face Palm: Olympia gives one when Otis asks the postal worker where she was before she started moving slowly. Otis, on the other hand, is distraught enough to put his head on the desk, but later does a proper facepalm.
- Failed a Spot Check: Both Olympia and Otis fail to realize that the clients they have are moving Slower Than a Snail, and as a result, they are forced to wait for the clients to do whatever they ask of them (shaking hands, telling them what happened, etc.). Otis in particular makes the mistake of asking the clients where they were before they started moving slowly, and ends up outright suffering because of it.
- At the climax, Oona tells everyone to put their hands up if they're ready to party. Most partygoers comply, but do so in Slow Motion, causing her to realize that they don't have time for that.
- Hidden Depths: Olympia, Oona and Otis definitely know how to work a turntable, and do so with complete ease.
- Hoist by His Own Petard: A heroic variant of the trope that is averted — the Main 3 all wear noise-canceling headphones so they won't be affected by the sped-up music themselves, but those affected by Max Relax's music will.
- It's played straight for some background agents walking through the bullpen, who become affected by the fast-paced music. However, Ms. O tells the Main 3 to keep them like that, as they can get more work done that way.
- I'm Standing Right Here: Olympia high-fives Otis for another case solved. However, they completely forget about Oona, who is standing in between them and is quite hurt by their unintentional exclusion of her.Oona: What am I to you?[Olympia and Otis go to high-five her]Oona: It's not genuine now.
- Instantly Proven Wrong: When Olympia remarks that the three clients look fine, Ms. O orders them to jump. They do so...but in Slow Motion.
- Laser-Guided Amnesia: Invoked by Oona, who thought that Olympia and Otis would forget the party entirely since they're focused on the case. Olympia in particular happily reminds her that no, they have full memory of her preparing to throw a party.
- Leaning on the Fourth Wall: When Oona asks Otis and Olympia if they want some carrots, Otis responds by saying there's no time. Later on, Oona remarks that there's no time for people moving in Slow Motion to put their hands in the air to be ready to party. Both of them aren't wrong, considering there's only 11 minutes in a single episode.
- Literal-Minded: Debbie's customers take the phrase "everybody freeze" a little too literally — they all freeze in place when Olympia and Otis tell them to, since they stick to the rules.
- Little "No": Ms. O gives one when Olympia decides to go for a handshake.
- Making the Choice for You: Played for laughs with Oona, who believes that DJ Max Relax's concert sounds forced in contrast to Olympia finding it fun. In a twist of Irony, she later does get forced...into throwing a party for Precinct 13579. At Ms. O's behest.
- Meaningful Name: Make no mistake — DJ Max Relax definitely lives up to his name.
- The Music Meister: DJ Max Relax's music has the ability to make everyone move in Slow Motion. Olympia, Otis and Oona later reverse the effects by playing a song that goes from slow-paced to fast-paced.
- Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: Olympia's Fatal Flaw of being overly nice to people comes with consequences when the person she's nice to is moving in Slow Motion. It takes her a whole hour to shake the hands of three people who are moving slowly.
- The Nicknamer: DJ Max Relax refers to Otis as a "Squadster".
- Obliviously Evil: DJ Max Relax is completely unaware that his music is causing people to slow down drastically, as he believed that they were at "max relax". When Otis tells him to fix the issue by playing something that is more fast-paced, he refuses, stating that he has to go to a dentist appointment. The Main 3 take it upon themselves to borrow his equipment and continue the concert at HQ.
- Offscreen Teleportation: Four background agents manage to do this when Ms. O does her trademark Stealth Hi/Bye move.
- Poor Communication Kills: After the Cold Open, Olympia and Otis race into the lab, having caught wind of Oona's message that she has an emergency on her hands. As it turns out, Oona's emergency...is that she created a robot that brings snacks and fliers for an event taking place in the park.Otis: So, no real emergency?Oona: Nah, that was just for dramatic effect. [cut to Olympia who doesn't look happy] Like this xylophone player.[Brandon plays the xylophone]Oona: Thank you, Brandon.
- Running Gag: Every one of the Main 4, sans Ms. O, tells a person moving slowly to do something, only for them to realize that it will take forever just to do that specific thing.
- Single-Task Robot: Oona's Snackbot, which is barely the height of Otis's knee, is only programmed to get pickles. She later upgrades the robot to get other snacks as well as party supplies (during which she renames it Partybot) after Ms. O suggests that she bring more than just pickles to the party.
- Slow Motion: The odd problem of the episode revolves around people who move in this manner. It's eventually revealed that DJ Max Relax, a local DJ, has been the source of the problem and hasn't realized it. Apparently, it's also a common problem in the world of the show, known as the "slow-mo's".
- Stealth Hi/Bye: Ms. O returns to form in this episode, popping up right next to Oona, having gotten wind that the Scientist is throwing a party. Right after, Olympia excitedly asks Oona for the third time if she's throwing a party. The Director later does it at the end of the episode when the music the other Main 4 play causes other agents to be sped-up.
- Oona herself also does this later on while Olympia and Otis encounter DJ Max Relax.
- Tampering with Food and Drink: Otis takes a man's half-eaten pizza slice away from him using tweezers, and puts it in a bag. Upon leaving the pizzeria, Otis dumps the slice back onto the man's plate, only for Debbie to take it from him, remarking that it's been in a bag and shouldn't be eaten.
- Thousand-Yard Stare: Otis becomes entranced by one of the clients juggling. Olympia manages to snap him out of it.
