Recap / Odd Squad S 2 E 29 Where Theres A Wolf Theres A Way New Jacket Required

It's back to Potatoland one more time — for Olaf's sake.

Where There's a Wolf, There's A Way

Airdates: June 11, 2018 ^note PBS Kids premiere, January 28, 2018 ^note TVO Kids premiere

Otis and Olympia must stop werewolf Olaf from turning back into a boy.

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Tropes:

• Answer Cut: When Olympia tells Joy that she and Otis only have $3 to spend and asks her to cut them a deal, she agrees, but doesn't give them any rain jackets or targets. Otis then asks what he and Olympia are supposed to use as targets. Cut to the partner pair throwing slime at each other.
• Apology Gift: The Cold Open client gives Olympia and Otis a framed picture of his face as a way of apologizing for wasting their time. Olympia takes it reluctantly, then attempts to pass it off to her partner as she asks how many posters of his face the client has. He responds that he has 709 of them, prompting a shocked reaction from Olympia as he attempts to give even more posters to the two agents.
• Attack of the 50-Foot Whatever: The "special potato" that Olympia and Otis are tasked with retrieving is bigger than both of them.
• The Big Race: Olympia and Otis have one as part of their training with Joy LaFleur. Otis ends up winning by milliseconds.
• Call-Back: The Potato Room, and by extension Potatoland, is mentioned. However, the episode consists of the training that Olympia and Otis have to go through, and we don't see Potatoland until the end.
  • Joy LaFleur from "Agent Oksana's Kitchen Nightmares" returns in this episode, and is revealed to be an athlete in track and field in addition to her photography career.
• Cold Open: The trope is once again played straight for this episode.
• Conspicuous Consumption: Olympia and Otis run into conflict with each other when each agent splurges on something deluxe as part of their training that is outside of their $30 budget when the other is away. It doesn't help that Joy LaFleur in particular tempts them with "deluxe packages" that cost more and have extra features.
• Continuity Nod: Olympia and Otis are once again forced to stick to a budget to get something done (training, in this case) and Jackalope Dollars are used to cover the cost.
  • A Friendship Moment ensuing between two partners who throw slime at each other? Where have we seen that before?
  • This isn't the first time a character has become a Winged Humanoid — Ms. O also became one in "The Odd Antidote". However, Olaf's transformation is portrayed as something more positive, whereas Ms. O's transformation was a side effect from a plant. Furthermore, Olaf uses his wings for flight purposes, whereas Ms. O doesn't (she has Flight capability via wing flaps on her suit).
  • A ska version of The Potato Song plays at the end of the episode as Olaf takes Olympia, Otis and Coach O to Potatoland. And just like the scene with the song in that episode, the scene in this episode effectively qualifies as a invoked Big-Lipped Alligator Moment.
• Covered in Gunge: Both Otis and Olympia get covered in slime after their third training.
• Dancing Is Serious Business: During the Potato Song at the end of the episode, Olympia, Otis and Coach O, as well as Olaf, are shown dancing. Coach O is more of a peculiar case, however, since he pulled his hamstring.
• Dressed in Layers: Joy LaFleur wears her slime-throwing training outfit under her track-and-field training outfit. Under that outfit, she wears a pilot's outfit. She tries to put the slime-throwing outfit back on when Olympia tells her they have no money.
• Failure Montage: One occurs briefly (and overlaps with a Training Montage) when Otis and Olympia are taking the "fast karate" class, but fail to chop through a wooden board. By the end of the training montage, they are able to cut through it cleanly — and not just one board, but multiple.
• Feeling Their Age: Parodied with Coach O, who is revealed to have pulled his hamstring, then comments how getting old is the worst. While his actual age isn't revealed, he is still a child.
• Friendship Moment: One occurs with Otis and Olympia after the latter says she needs more practice with the dragon.
• Hair Today, Gone Tomorrow: Inverted. Coach O reveals that he was bald last year, but now has a full head of hair.
• Heroism Won't Pay the Bills: Olympia and Otis may have saved the world in The Movie, and they are employees of a helpful organization, but Joy LaFleur won't give them a free plane ride to Potatoland no matter how important it is.
• Hidden Depths: Otis likes oranges, which is included in Joy LaFleur's track-and-field deluxe package.
• Hypocritical Humor: When Coach O comes back after Olaf is cured, he asks Otis and Olympia why they went to Potatoland without him. Earlier in the episode, he mentioned having pulled a hamstring, leaving him unable to go to Potatoland himself — however, not only does Otis call him out for a different reason, but the coach ends up going to Potatoland by riding Olaf.
  Otis: You said we had to move fast.
  Coach O: I didn't think you'd move that fast!
• Kung-Fu Kid: Both Otis and Olympia become these with some training from Karate Kurt.
• Left the Background Music On: The deluxe package that Otis ends up buying comes with musicians. The scene cuts right after he agrees to buy the package, and some trumpets are heard playing as BGM before the scene cuts to three musicians playing different instruments.
• Locked Out of the Loop: Since Olympia is finishing up lunch when she and Otis are called to Coach O's office, she is unaware of Olaf's predicament and what the coach has assigned Otis to do. She ends up coming into the loop as Otis runs into her on his way to Joy LaFleur.
  Olympia: Hey, partner! What'd I miss?
  Otis: Do you want the long version or the short?
  Olympia: Short.
  Otis: Werewolf, potato, $30.
  Olympia: Got it!
• Mangled Catchphrase: Coach O says Ms. O's catchphrase, but instead of saying "Something very odd has happened", he says "Something super-weird is going down".
• Mr. Exposition: Since Ms. O doesn't appear in this episode, Coach O relays the problem to Otis and barks out orders for him and Olympia to follow.
• Name Amnesia: Due to Coach O having a horrible memory, he can't remember Olympia's name. As a result, he refers to her as "the girl with glasses and the hands".
• No Indoor Voice: Coach O, being a coach, is especially prone to this, due to his tendency to slip into being a Drill Sergeant Nasty. It greatly unnerves both Olympia and Otis.
• Our Werewolves Are Different: In the world of Odd Squad, werewolves can turn back into humans, but it's presented as being something permanent that they don't want to happen. Olaf in particular is presented as being at a sort of halfway point in the transformation (he has the face and claws of a wolf but is mostly human otherwise, being more of a Wolf Man), but is turning back into a regular human, and touching a special potato from Potatoland is the only thing that is able to cure him.
• Physical Attribute Swap: Subverted. The Cold Open client has the issue of having his face removed and replaced with a new face, and shows Olympia and Otis a picture of what his old face looks like. When Otis points out that the face in the picture looks identical to the client's new face but with a mustache, he realizes his mistake and apologizes to the two agents.
• Put on a Bus: This is Olaf's final appearance in the show, as his actor, Eshaan Buadwal, grows too old to continue playing the role.
• Renaissance Woman: Joy LaFleur is a part-time photographer, track-and-field coach, slime-throwing coach, and pilot.
• Resist the Beast: Inverted — Olaf is trying to avoid turning back into a full human, since he prefers being a werewolf.
• Training Montage: This episode takes the trope a bit further — instead of being a montage, a majority of the episode itself is dedicated to Olympia and Otis training for their journey to Potatoland.
• Undercrank: Used to demonstrate Karate Kurt's "fast karate" class.
• Vocal Dissonance: Hearing Olaf speak, one would think that Eshaan Buadwal (his actor) is providing his voice, as he's done since "Blob on the Job". However, the credits reveal that Olaf's voice isn't provided by Eshaan — Carter Thorne, who played Mr. O in "Night Shift", voices the character. ^note Most likely, this was due to Eshaan growing too old to play the role of Olaf, hence the voice of a younger cast member was used for him — fitting, considering Olaf as a character is Put on a Bus after this episode.
• What the Hell, Hero?: Olympia and Otis both end up being on the receiving end of this from each other.
• Winged Humanoid: Olaf is revealed to be this at the end of the episode.
• Worldbuilding: This episode introduces a Werewolf Council, who was on negative terms with Odd Squad as an organization up until Olaf stepped in and made peace.
  • It also introduces a few new places and occurrences in Potatoland: mashed potato pits, a potato salad avalanche, and a dragon that guards a special potato.
• Worth It: Otis's response to Olympia when Joy LaFleur lets her know that the track-and-field training costs them $15 instead of the presumed amount of $10. Naturally, she isn't happy about the splurge.
• You Have GOT to Be Kidding Me!: Otis's reaction when Olympia says she still needs more practice.

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invoked Technology Marches On in the realm of clothing. Otis, however, prefers going old-school.

New Jacket Required

Airdates: June 11, 2018 ^note  PBS Kids premiere, January 28, 2018 ^note  TVO Kids premiere

Otis struggles with a new jacket that is more high-tech than he is used to.

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Tropes:

• Almighty Janitor: Evil Janitor, who agreed to honor the No-Tattletale Code in exchange for being a janitor of Villain Estates.
• Barrier Warrior: Otis taps a button on his suit three times and ends up activating a forcefield. As a result, he becomes a No-Sell to Mr. Lightning's electrical attacks.
• Blow You Away: The aptly-named Miss Tornado has the ability to create and attack agents with tornadoes.
• Bond One-Liner: Otis delivers one to Mr. Lightning after getting ahold of his evil machine.
  Mr. Lightning: Hey, that's my evil machine!
  Otis: [as he passes the briefcase to Olympia] That was your evil machine.
• Bond Villain Stupidity: Both Evil Landscaper and Miss Tornado have Otis trapped due to his hang glider wings trapping him between two walls. Instead of hitting him with a double attack when Otis interrupts them by saying he just wants Mr. Lightning, they perform an Enemy Mime with him and end up leaving him still trapped.
• The Bus Came Back: Baby Genius returns via a brief mention.
• Call-Back: A previous Training Video, "A Guide to Your Uniform", showed off some of the features of Investigation agents' jackets, such as the ability to camouflage. This episode centers around Otis getting a new jacket that has even more cool and high-tech features.
  • Olympia and Otis go to Villain Estates, a place that was last seen in "Jinx". The No-Tattletale Code from the same episode is also mentioned numerous times.
• Cheerful Child: Olympia becomes absolutely adorable fawning over Otis's new jacket. She sees Otis has the instruction manual and jumps on the chance to test out its new features.
• Chekhov's Gun: A Running Gag in the episode is Olympia telling Otis about being able to shoot a plunger from his jacket if he presses every button on it. No guesses as to what he uses to get Mr. Lightning's machine.
• Cold Open: This episode once again plays the trope straight. However, the client just so happens to be Oona, who has a literal Green Thumb and is unable to fix it herself due to having no gadgets on her person (since it's her day off).
• Comically Missing the Point: Otis is being approached by a person that has wind powers and is twice his size. He asks Olympia for a jacket feature that can beat her, and she responds with pressing all of the buttons on his jacket to shoot a plunger. Cue Otis's frustrated "Something useful!"
• Continuity Nod: During his one-on-one battle with Mr. Lightning, Otis activates water travel mode using his new jacket.
• Costume Evolution: At Ms. O's behest, Otis gets a new jacket that is high-tech and comes with all sorts of features. Subverted when O'Q states that the jacket is too dangerous and needs to be worked on by him before anyone can wear it, as it's implied that he took the jacket back from Otis (and likely got a new one that is the same as his old one).
• Distinction Without a Difference: Otis believes that tapping a button and pushing it is exactly the same. His pushing of his lapel pin causes "alert mode" to be activated on his suit. When he asks Olympia what the difference between tapping and pushing is, she doesn't know. The same applies to the differences between tugging something and pulling it.
• Dynamic Entry: Inverted — Otis leaves the scene accidentally by tugging on his jacket and skyrocketing into the air and out of the building, which in turn breaks the roof. It turns out to be an ejection seat function for the jacket.
• Enemy Mine: Evil Landscaper and Miss Tornado help Otis find Mr. Lightning since neither of them like him very much.
• Evil Laugh: Miss Tornado and Evil Landscaper engage in this when Otis is stuck in between them with no way to get out.
• Explaining Your Power to the Enemy: Olympia does this on behalf of Otis, telling Mr. Lightning that her partner's going to defeat him with the new jacket he has and is going to help in the battle with the instruction manual for it. What makes this an idiotic move on the agents' part is that she holds up the manual to show the villain, allowing him to destroy it with a lightning attack.
• Flight: Otis becomes capable of this thanks to his jacket having a hang glider built in. Unfortunately, it comes at a cost of leaving him completely vulnerable to Miss Tornado's attacks.
• Foreshadowing: Oona's problem in the beginning of the episode is that she has a literal Green Thumb, and she is shown enjoying gardening. Later in the episode, Evil Landscaper, a villainous gardener, is introduced.
• Green Thumb: Oona has a literal one in the Cold Open.
  • Evil Landscaper is the antithesis of the Caring Gardener — he is a villainous gardener that uses his rake to fire plant-based attacks at agents. However, he still cares about the plants that he grows and doesn't take too kindly to someone mistreating them.
• Hidden Depths: When she has time off from work, Oona likes to garden.
  • Olympia has a sharp eye for telling the differences between Investigation agents' jackets.
  Olympia: [gasps] Is that the brand new high-tech jacket O'Q's been working on?
  Otis: How can you even tell?
  Olympia: Top stitch around the pockets, buttons are slightly larger, and lapels slightly smaller. I also believe it comes with an instruction manual?
  [Otis holds up the instruction manual]
  Olympia: [gasps as she takes it from him] You got the instruction manual! Otis, we can try out some of these new feeea-tuuures!
• Hypocritical Humor: When Otis complains about having to get a new jacket, saying that his old one (which is ripped and torn) is fine, Ms. O responds in dead earnest that Precinct 13579 is a professional workplace. Of course, anyone who has seen the show knows that "professional" isn't the first adjective that would be used to describe Odd Squad as an organization, let alone Ms. O's own precinct — never mind the fact that immediately after she says that, two background agents are shown getting around on tricycles outside of the office.
• I Am Very British: O'Q speaks with a heavy British accent, and even uses "Cheerio" as a Catchphrase (which Ms. O borrows).
• Impossibly Cool Clothes: Otis's new "high-tech" jacket, despite looking identical to his old one, comes with a load of fancy features, such as voice activation and the ability to fly via the use of a hang glider. Otis being who he is, he doesn't like the new jacket initially, but Olympia has fun helping him experiment with the new features on it. By the end of the episode, he eventually grows used to it even after O'Q deems it too dangerous for agents to wear. It even comes with an instruction manual.
• Impossibly Tacky Clothes: Both Ms. O and Olympia express dislike for Otis' ripped jacket, with the former ordering him to get a new one.
  Ms. O: Since we're ahead of schedule, Otis is getting a new jacket.
  Otis: What's wrong with this one?
  Olympia: Mainly the entire back of it.
  [Otis turns around]
  Otis: It's just a little worn-in, is all.
  Ms. O: Otis, this is a professional workplace.
• Improvised Armour: When Otis begins to activate the plunger in his jacket, Mr. Lightning holds up the briefcase with his evil machine inside as a shield. Turns out to be a bad move on his part, as the plunger sticks right to it and pulls it back into the hands of Otis.
• It's All My Fault: Olympia feels guilty over pressuring Otis into trying out new features on his jacket when he felt uncomfortable doing so, saying that it's her fault Otis is essentially a sitting duck (pun not intended) in battle. Otis doesn't fault her for doing so, and says that he needs to push more buttons to find something he can use to attack with.
• Limited Wardrobe: Oona's "day off" outfit is virtually the same as the outfit she wears while at Odd Squad, only her black suspender pants are swapped for a pair of blue suspender jeans.
• Literal Metaphor: When Olympia expresses excitement over trying out Otis' new jacket's features, Otis explains that he's not the type of person that wants all the bells and whistles. Cue bells and whistles suddenly appearing on him as a result of the jacket's voice activation feature.
• MacGuffin: Mr. Lightning's machine effectively qualifies as one of these. For Ms. O to explain what it does, she needs about 2 hours to go through a ginormous stack of folders and papers. Luckily, Otis and Olympia tell her that if it doesn't matter what the machine does, they aren't going to listen, and she complies. Not even Mr. Lightning himself gets a chance to explain what the machine does before Otis interrupts him by saying that he just needs to get it back from him.
• Oh, Crap!: Otis has one when Miss Tornado prepares to attack him with tornadoes. Luckily, he books it just in time.
  • Olympia also gets one when Mr. Lightning destroys the jacket's instruction manual, which only grows worse when Mr. Lightning begins attacking them.
• Overcrank: Used when Otis uses the plunger in his suit to pull Mr. Lightning's evil machine away from him.
• Present Company Excluded: Otis tells O'Q that there's no offense, but he doesn't need all of the buttons on his new jacket. O'Q doesn't take offense to his comment at all, but doesn't listen to his concerns.
• Race Against the Clock: Parodied. Oona tells Olympia and Otis that they need to hurry and fix her literal Green Thumb, saying that it can't wait until they get back to HQ. Once the partner pair fix it, a girl named Shelley comes up and asks Oona about some freshly-picked fennel, and the Scientist responds by giving a thumbs-up, remarking to Olympia, "That was a close one."
• Rapid-Fire "No!": Mr. Lightning gives some as his evil machine is pulled towards Otis.
• Read the Freaking Manual: Averted — Olympia instructs Otis on how to handle his jacket while he attempts to find Mr. Lightning. However, due to his inexperience with how high-tech it is, it doesn't go over so well.
• Remember the New Guy?: Downplayed. The Made-for-TV Movie World Turned Odd introduced the office of O'Q for the first time. However, O'Q himself makes his official debut in this episode, having been treated as though he's been Precinct 13579's tailor for a while.
• Series Continuity Error: A previous Training Video hosted by Oscar showed that making a new suit requires a capsule dropped into a bucket of water, and an agent can make one themselves if an old one is ruined. This episode introduces the rank and department of Tailoring, which handles the creation of suits, including those of Investigation agents.
• Skyward Scream: Mr. Lightning does one, but the camera doesn't pan up as he does it. He's also interrupted by the Evil Janitor telling him to keep it down.
• So Much for Stealth: As Otis is making his way down Floor -2 of Villain Estates, he attempts to make himself shrink so he can slip into apartments easily at Olympia's behest. However, he makes a mistake and pushes his lapel pin instead of tapping it, causing a Red Alert to sound from his suit and luring a villainess, Miss Tornado, right to him. The jacket also ends up speaking for Otis by ordering her to surrender — naturally, she refuses to comply.
• Villain: Exit, Stage Left: Miss Tornado and Evil Landscaper casually walk away from Otis as soon as he opens up his watch.
  • Mr. Lightning walks away from Olympia and Otis later on once he is defeated, giving a soundless, drawn-out "no".
• Waistcoat of Style: O'Q wears one, which goes well with his British accent and demeanor.
• Was Too Hard on Him: Olympia admits to Otis at the climax that she wanted him to use the new jacket he was ordered to get by Ms. O as well as its features, and pushed him into doing so when he felt uncomfortable with it. Otis tells her that she didn't push enough, but he means "push" as in "pushing more buttons on the jacket".

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