It Was a Dark and Stormy Night when Rupert and his parents begin their holiday in the sleepiest, quietest, dullest beach town of Sandy Cove. This is no Rocky Bay — everyone knows "Nothing ever happens in Sandy Cove." While his parents look at exhibits of seaweed and driftwood, Rupert makes friends with a local girl named Frances. Inspired by a news article about the theft of the Tiger's Eye, "a priceless ruby the size of a tennis ball," from the National Museum by the infamous thief the Chameleon, the two play detective as they explore the town, beach, and lighthouse... only to find the Chameleon himself hiding out in the caves below Lighthouse Rock. Fortunately, they're saved by a classically suspicious-looking man they were following earlier, who reveals himself to be an undercover Special Agent for Scotland Yard who could use their help catching his Arch-Enemy of the past 20 years, the Chameleon! When their mission goes wrong, however, Rupert becomes even more suspicious of their new friend...
This episode provides examples of:
- Accidental Misnaming: The short mook is constantly referring to the Chameleon by the wrong word, ex. "the Comedian" and "the Canadian."
- Acting Unnatural: If Nigel was trying to stay under the radar with his disguise of a trenchcoat, incredibly thick moustache, and fancy cane, he failed.
- Bad Boss: The Chameleon leaves his two assistants behind while he escapes with the jewel.
- Baddie Flattery:Chameleon: He's quite a boy, that Rupert. Quite. A. Boy...
- Bench Breaker: When the two kids are tied up, Frances escapes by smashing the chair she's tied to.
- Birds of a Feather: So far, Rupert's never been seen with an adventuring partner he has as much in common with as Frances.
- Continuity Nod: Rupert demonstrates his prowess at games again, first seen in "Rupert and Bill in Gameland," easily beating his father at checkers.
- Didn't Think This Through: Nigel tells Rupert and Frances he can't bear to retire without capturing the Chameleon and asks them if they're willing to help. No real adult professional detective or law enforcement agent would ever recruit two children to help catch a dangerous criminal.
- Even Evil Has Standards: The Chameleon wanted to stop Rupert and Frances from interfering with his plans, but he didn't want his mooks to actually hurt them.
- Exact Eavesdropping: While they're locked up, Rupert listens to the two thieves talking and realizes neither of them is actually the Chameleon.
- Friendly Enemy: The Chameleon assures Rupert he'll leave him somewhere safe and send the authorities for him, says he sincerely enjoyed their game of cat and mouse, and is genuinely horrified when Rupert leaps out of the plane (not seeing his parachute).
- Genre Savvy: While playing detective, Rupert and Frances point out people in town wearing what the main suspects in mysteries always wear. They notice a certain fox has all the traits of a classic prime suspect...
- I Was Just Joking: Frances believes the Chameleon's plane crashing in Sandy Cove is way too much to hope for, but the news story gives her the idea for them to play detective and hunt for "suspicious characters." For fun... It's not like they'll actually find anything...
- It Was a Dark and Stormy Night: Yes, this is how the episode opens.
- Karma Houdini: Rupert gets the stolen gem back, but the Chameleon escapes without being arrested or punished in any way for his crimes.
- Lighthouse Point: Frances takes Rupert to explore Sandy Cove's old lighthouse, which is how they find the Chameleon's impromptu hideout.
- Mineral Macguffin: The Tiger's Eye.
- Museum of Boredom: The Seaweed Museum.Mr. Bear: There are 57 different varieties of seaweed found in this area.
- No Name Given: Rupert believes the name the Chameleon gave him and Frances is fake, so we have no idea what his real name is.
- Nothing Exciting Ever Happens Here: "Nothing ever happens in Sandy Cove."
- Plucky Girl: Frances enjoys adventure and mystery just as much as Rupert and is just as great at thinking on her feet and finding ways to escape when cornered.
- Primary Color Champions: Frances wears all blue to go with Rupert's red.
- Security Cling: Rupert and Frances throw their arms around each other whenever they get frightened.
- Sherlock Scan: When they first meet, Frances says Rupert is lucky he's a tourist, which she deduced from the page the newspaper in his pocket is turned to.
- Ship Tease: If Rupert's and Frances' demographic was a year or two older, they'd be a couple, and their interaction could remain identical to what it is here.
- Treacherous Advisor: Nigel, the Scotland Yard agent who's been hunting the Chameleon, is actually the Chameleon himself, who was just distracting Rupert and Frances and keeping them busy with his "mission" until he could get away.
- Weirdness Magnet: A storm just happens to come up and force a jewel thief to crash his plane in the small town where Rupert Bear's family is visiting.
- Worthy Opponent: The Chameleon is genuinely impressed with how Rupert caught him. When the kid actually manages to get away with the Tiger's Eye, he's even more impressed, not disappointed or angry.Chameleon: You know, I’ve been in this business for a long time. You're the only one who's even come close to catching me, and I must say, I've really quite enjoyed it, Rupert.
