An adorable alien named Meap lands in the Flynn-Fletcher backyard, and the kids try to return him to space. Meanwhile, Doofenshmirtz plots to reunite with his long-lost best friend, Balloony.
Guest stars David Mitchell as "Mitch".
Tropes
- 2D Visuals, 3D Effects: Balloony is animated with 3D CGI compared to the 2D-animated Doofenshmirtz.
- Abstract Scale: Phineas invents a cuteness meter to find Meap after he wanders off after Candace.
- Actor Allusion: Mitch is named after his voice actor; David Mitchell, a British comedian very well known for going into rants at the drop of a hat. Naturally, this means he gets into a rant when everyone doesn't take their capture seriously, and that distracts him enough drop his guard and for Meap to defeat him.
- Adam Westing: Unusually, the narrator for the trailer in The Stinger, Don LaFontaine. At the end of the trailer, he closes with his signature line: In a World…, followed by him saying, "There, I said it. Happy?" It was his last role before he passed away in 2008.
- An Alien Named "Bob": Mitch is an evil poacher alien.
- Aliens Speaking English: Meap can only say his own name, while Mitch speaks English fluently. When Mitch is defeated, it's revealed that Mitch's mustache is a Universal Translator, and the language dynamic reverses.
- An Aesop: Candace learns to not judge a book by its cover, but then immediately forgets this lesson when she sees an alien monster, whom Meap identifies as his mother-in-law, thereby validating Candace's decision to run away.
- Badass Adorable: The seemingly helpless Meap is an intergalactic crime fighter who "busts" criminals, and quickly takes a shine to Candace in that regard.
- Balloonacy: Doofenshmirtz's Static-Electro-Amplifinator pulls so many balloons (and Doof himself, and Perry) into itself that it, Doof and Perry get carried off by all the balloons high into the sky.Doofenshmirtz: You know on paper... (sighs) this was the outcome, too.
- Big Damn Heroes: Candace comes to rescue her brothers and Isabella after they've been sort-of-abducted by Mitch.
- Big "NO!": Mitch lets out a Big "MEAP!" after Meap confiscates his Universal Mustache Translator.
- Borrowed Catchphrase: After Meap's spaceship crashes in the backyard, Candace mocks Phineas by saying, "'Hey, Ferb, I know what we're gonna do today. Let's get ourselves totally busted by crashing our stupid toy in the backyard.'"
- Bread, Eggs, Breaded Eggs: Doofenshmirtz charges up a surplus of static electricity to steal every balloon in the Tri-State Area. We see balloons get snatched from a child, a clown, and a clown child.
- Brick Joke: When Candace accidentally sets off the flying baseball and breaks someone's window off in the distance, she says "Strike 1". When she uses the baseball to destroy Mitch's robotic minions, she says "Strike 3; they're out". Phineas then lampshades the fact that she skipped Strike 2.
- Chekhov's Gun: Candace and Meap use the remote controlled flying baseball from the beginning of the episode to get to Mitch's space station.
- Comedic Underwear Exposure:
- During "My Ride From Outer Space", Ferb drives by Buford and Baljeet and unknowingly blows both of their pants off.Buford: We must never speak of this again.
Baljeet: Agreed. - This happens when Meap destroys the two security guards' clothes with his rainbow beam superpower.
- During "My Ride From Outer Space", Ferb drives by Buford and Baljeet and unknowingly blows both of their pants off.
- Comical Overreacting: When two security guards mistake Meap for a toy that Candace "lost", they give her the following speech:Guard 2: Hey, is this your doll, young lady?
Candace: Yeah.Guard 2: We found it abandoned on the floor over there.Candace: Oh, sorry.Guard 2: Your irresponsibility makes our job as security guards a million times harder! Someone could have stolen it. Or tripped over it.Guard 1: That's right. Injuries, lawsuits, stolen property.Guard 2: Even death!Guard 1: Yes, you could have killed me.Guard 2: Me too!Guard 1: We're lucky to be alive.Guard 2: Yeah, you're in big trouble. - Comically Missing the Point: Phineas doesn't acknowledge the fact that Mitch is evil or that they're trapped on his space station, even after Mitch explains it to him several times. Justified since he's young and isn't aware of the danger he's in.
- Companion Cube: Balloony to young Heinz Doofenshmirtz.
- Continuity Nod:
- In "My Ride From Outer Space", Ferb flies past the Shooting Star Milkshake Bar from "Out to Launch" and orders a milkshake from the same four-eyed purple alien who runs the bar.
- During his backstory, Doofenshmirtz says he lost Balloony one night while he was working as his family's lawn gnome, something even Doof lampshades:Doof: Whatever, you remember that backstory...
- Copycat Mockery: Mitch, annoyed with Phineas, Ferb and Isabella being unaware that they are trapped, makes fun of them in a falsetto voice, "Hi, Mitch! Look at all the cool stuff, Mitch! Blah, Blah, Blah, Mitch!"Phineas: Ha! He totally nailed you, Ferb.
- Evil Poacher: Mitch, though Phineas briefly misidentifies him as a zookeeper.
- Flapping Cheeks: Exaggerated. When Ferb tries out Meap's tricked-out spaceship, it goes so fast that at one point his skin gets ripped off his skull.
- Hammerspace: Meap attempts to explain the situation to Candace by showing her photos of Phineas and Ferb and Mitch's mugshot out of thin air. Candace briefly questions where he keeps those photos, but Meap tells her to stay focused.
- Hilariously Abusive Childhood: Some new staples of Doof's backstory are revealed here: at one point in his childhood, the Doofenshmirtz family disowned him and he was taken in by ocelots. To make ends meet, he got a job at a carnival and spray-painted a balloon, which he named Balloony. That balloon became Heinz's only friend until the balloon floated away while Heinz had to work as the Doofenshmirtz family lawn gnome.
- I Have Many Names: Mitch begins his introduction this way, but then says he only has two names, "Mitch" and some of the guys call him "Big Mitch".
- Insistent Terminology:
- Mitch insists that he's a poacher, not a zookeeper. Technically both apply (he's illegally acquiring animals for his zoo), but "zookeeper" makes him sound legitimate.
- He also insists that Balloony's name is "Colin", and the "Heinz" signature on him is a birthmark.
- Luke, I Am Your Father: Parodied. Before the kids learn that Meap is not an innocent and helpless little creature, they assume that Mitch's mug shot is a picture of Meap's father. Apparently, this isn't the first time people have jumped to that conclusion, as Mitch definitively states to Meap that he is not his father.
- May the Farce Be with You: The show has made plenty of references to Star Wars, but this one takes it up a notch (at this point, we're still two seasons away from Phineas and Ferb: Star Wars).
- Misplaced Wildlife: Drusselstein is thought to be somewhere in Eastern Europe, however, Doof says he was disowned by his parents and raised by ocelots, which are more native to Central America. This was actually lampshaded in AT2D, when Doof says he was "raised by Central American wildcats".
- Noodle Incident: Due to a backstory he doesn't want to get into, Dr. Doofenshmirtz smelled like pork all the time as a kid.
- Not-So-Innocent Whistle: While Mitch is busy monologuing, Candace, while stealthily using the remote controlled baseball mitt, begins whistling the beginning of "Gitchee Gitchee Goo".
- Oblivious to Love: Phineas to Isabella, as always.Isabella: (Sarcastically) I still need to get my You-Wouldn't-Know-Cute-If-It-Bit-Your-Legs-Off Accomplishment Patch.
Phineas: [Beat] Cool! Let's go. - Pokémon Speak: Without translation facial hair, all Meap can say is "Meap". At one point, Agent P attempts to go to his lair, but goes back into mindless pet mode when he sees Meap. He and Meap have a brief "conversation" together. When he goes back into agent mode, Perry seems a bit perturbed by what Meap just said.
- Poor Communication Kills: Meap, since all he can say is his name, attempts to tell Candace how they will rescue her brothers from Mitch, but all she gathers from his miming is "You're trying to tell me something!"
- Precocious Crush: In Ferb and Vanessa's second onscreen interaction, he flirts with her as he shows off the modified alien ship, and she actually seems impressed.
- Raised by Wolves: This is the first episode to reveal that Doofenshmirtz was disowned by his family and was raised by ocelots.
- Readings Blew Up the Scale: Phineas has tailored the cuteness tracker to ignore Isabella's cuteness after she voices concern that she may be inadvertently interfering in their search for Meap. He proves it to her by re-adjusting it to acknowledge her, and this is the result.
- Ridiculously Cute Critter: Meap.
- Sequel Hook: Over the credits, a series of unrelated clips play to promote "Meapless in Seattle", a sequel episode that was eventually made real.(Large robotic leg nearly crushes Phineas and Ferb)
Mitch: (laughing) Aren't you a little young to save the universe?
Phineas: Yes! Yes, I am!
Major Monogram: I want your hat on my desk!
(Agent P throws his chair at the screen.)
Doofenshmirtz: Balloony!
Mitch: Colin!
(Shot of Little Suzy Johnson fighting Meap in the Bango-Ru convention.)
Candace: What!? Jeremy's going to be there?!
Don LaFontaine: The Chronicles of Meap, Episode 40...
Meap: Meap!
Don LaFontaine: "Meapless in Seattle"! - Shout-Out: Candace carrying Meap on the flying bicycle is a parody of the famous shot from E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial.
- Special Guest:
- Lorenzo Lamas as Meap (both doing the "Meap" sounds and when he puts on the translation mustache).
- The late Don LaFontaine plays the announcer. The original airing of this episode was dedicated to his memory.
- Take That!: To zoos and zookeepers, in this exchange:Mitch: I steal rare creatures from their homeworlds and imprison them here on my ship. I'm a...
Phineas: You're a zookeeper?
Mitch: ...No, that sort of legitimizes it. - That's No Moon:Phineas: He's headed towards that small cloud!
Ferb: That's no cloud, that's a space station.
Phineas: I've got a good feeling about this! - This Is for Emphasis, Bitch!: Candace gives a TV-Y7 friendly version in her Big Sister Instinct moment: "Get away from him, Mitch!"
- Uncanny Valley: Played for laughs; Balloony has a creepily-realistic human face drawn on him.
IN MEMORIAM: Don LaFontaine (08/26/40 - 09/01/08) One man, in a land, in a time, in a world... All his own.
