Rest assured, It Makes Sense in Context.
During an assembly, the Amazing Jeffrey tries in vain to get Miss Finster to believe she is a six-year-old. While it doesn't work on her, it has to work on someone...Tropes:
- Accidental Misnaming: Upon seeing Prickly engaging in first-grader-like behavior, Miss Finster becomes so furious and frustrated that she calls Miss Grotke "Gratke."
- Bait-and-Switch: The kids plan on having 'Petey' go to the staff and simply say "I just forgot I was the principal" before issuing new rules such as pizza for lunch every day. It appears the staff will follow the new rules, but it quickly apparent they were merely humoring Prickly and proceed to lock him in his office.
- Big "WHAT?!": Miss Finster's reaction to Randall telling her that, due to the Amazing Jeffrey's hypnosis, Prickly is acting like a child.
- Delusions of Doghood: During his childlike trance, Prickly hangs upside-down from Upside-Down Girl's perch and pretends to be a bat.
- Don't Call Me "Sir": Prickly when Miss Finster tries to get him down from the jungle gym:
- Miss Finster: Principal Prickly, sir, come down from there before somebody sees you!
Principal Prickly: Why does everybody keep calling me "sir"? My name's Petey, Petey Prickly!
Miss Finster: (in a grandmotherly tone) Okay, Petey, but you really do have to come down.
- Exact Eavesdropping: When the Recess Gang is debating over whether they should bring Prickly back to his normal self, they overhear Miss Finster declaring that she's taking over the school (she doesn't know that Prickly left the intercom on earlier).
- Filthy Fun: As seen in the picture, Prickly liked playing in the mud when he was six.
- Fountain of Youth: Sort of, for most of the episode, he has mentally regressed into a six-year-old.
- Future Me Scares Me: A variation, where he sees a photo of himself on the wall. Though he's unaware that's him and instead of being scared, he think it's some adult jerk.
- Gasshole: In his childlike trance, Prickly uses his intercom to burp the alphabet and do armpit farts, to the dismay of the Ashleys.
- Growing Up Whomps: When told he is not a kid, Prickly freaks out and cries that he is not a grown-up. Telling from his rants as he climbs up Old Rusty ("I wanna stay a kid! I don't wanna go back!"), one can infer that he is actually aware of what he really is; he just wants to be a kid again.
- This is also reflected when he climbs up on Old Rusty and takes off his suit, as the suit can be considered a symbol of being a grown-up.
- Hypno Fool: Prickly, natch. He ended up becoming six when the Amazing Jeffrey was trying to turn Miss Finster six.
- Hypno Pendulum: When trying to hypnotize Miss Finster, Jeffrey uses a pen. And when bringing Prickly back to his normal state, Gretchen uses a pencil.
- Insult to Rocks:The Amazing Jeffrey: You can't treat me like this! I'm a professional entertainer!
Miss Finster: Yeah, yeah, I've seen better acts in a second-grade talent show! - I Reject Your Reality: Prickly's reaction to being told he only thinks he's a kid.
- Manchild: Prickly after being led to believe he's a first grader.
- More Hypnotizable Than He Thinks: Principal Prickly during the hypnotism scene:
- Jeffrey: (waving a pen at Miss Finster, who is not affected at all) Just watch the pen, Miss Finster...
Prickly: What a goofball! (feeling the effects of the hypnotism) Nice pen, though...
- Mustache Vandalism: Principal Prickly does this to his own picture during his trance. At the end of the episode he gets distracted by it (thinking he'd look pretty good with a goatee) and forgets to punish the cast.
- Oh, Crap!: The kids' reaction when they overhear that Miss Finster will take over until Prickly returns to normal.
- Tyrant Takes the Helm: With Prickly as a Manchild, Miss Finster decides to take over the school as acting principal, which forces the Recess Gang to bring Prickly back.
- Used to Be a Sweet Kid: Implied with Prickly. This episode shows that when he was six years old, he liked to play around in the playground.
- Vague Age: Averted with Principal Prickly; one scene has Gretchen state that he is fifty.
- Played straight with Miss Finster. When asked she refuses to say. Claiming it's none of Jeffrey's beeswax.
- Voices Are Not Mental: In an example that involves hypnotism, and not a body swap, Prickly's voice actor speaks in a higher pitch than normal when portraying the principal as thinking he's six years old. You can tell he's having a blast!
