"The Pink Candidate" is the fourth episode of the second season of Pinky and the Brain.
The Brain plans to have Pinky run for President of the United States. Once he is President, though, Pinky realizes he can no longer support a coup.
Tropes:
- Arson, Murder, and Jaywalking: The Brain is charged with "sedition, abuse of power, and shoplifting".
- Continuity Nod: A Congressional investigation unearths Brain's plans for world domination, and every one is a plot from a previous episode.
- Earpiece Conversation: The Brain uses communications technology called "Prompt-O-Specs". When Pinky is asked a question by the public, Brain types an answer on a transponder. This answer then appears inside the lenses of the glasses, telling Pinky what to say.
- I Am Spartacus: After becoming President, Pinky volunteers to come before Congress to testify during the impeachment of his chief of staff, the Brain. Rather than leave his friend to a horrible fate (and over Brain's objections), Pinky breaks down and claims that he was the world conquest mastermind, not the Brain. He even wails, "I'm Spartacus!" (One Congressman is heard asking, "Who's Spartacus?")
- Mistaken for Profound: Pinky writes to a newspaper to complain about his favorite comic strip, The Family Circus. His letter, which reads, "The Family Circus is not funny. Love, Pinky", is mistaken for a call for family values, and soon every publication in America is praising the mysterious "Pinky". This gives Brain the idea to have Pinky run for President.
- Script Swap: During a debate, Pinky is, as usual, wearing the Prompt-O-Specs. When Pinky is asked the meaning of "Narf", which he has been throwing into his answers randomly (as he does), Brain begins typing "North American Ratified..." The "F" key sticks, causing Pinky to read aloud, "North American Ratified Fffffffff...", going on long enough that even Pinky looks embarrassed. Brain, while trying to fix the transponder, accidentally smashes it, and its antenna starts picking up random transmissions (from an ATM, a drive-thru, a digital billboard at a baseball stadium, etc.). Pinky dutifully repeats everything displayed to him... which, amazingly enough, actually works as answers to the questions he's posed.
- Undying Loyalty: Defied. Pinky has always been devoted to Brain, but on becoming President, he realizes he can't go along with Brain's plan to enslave everyone—it would go against everything Pinky has come to stand for.
