Episode 4
- The Bubbler - Tales of Nino the Party Planner
Marinette wakes up and gets ready for school, knowing that today is Adrien's birthday.
The birthday boy isn't exactly in the best situation to enjoy it, as having to deal with akumas pretty much on his own, on top of nightly patrols and his already tight agenda, cause him to fall asleep on top of his breakfast, much to Nathalie's shock. Adrien manages to ask if he can have a birthday party, but Nathalie states that his father (for unspecified reasons) doesn't think it's a good idea.
Everyone in the class arrives ready for the potential party, knowing that Nino is likely to throw an awesome one for his new best friend. Adrien arrives and is greeted by an enthusiastic Nino. Their talk is suddenly interrupted by Chloé, who's screaming at Sabrina because her present for Adrien hasn't arrived yet. The two boys meet Alya and Marinette, who wish Adrien a happy birthday. Marinette tries to give him her present, but Chloé shoves her aside before she can.
Chloé asks Adrien if he got her present. When he says he hasn't, she attempts to give him a kiss to make up for it, but Adrien ignores her in favor of helping Marinette back on her feet. Marinette brings out a cup of coffee and a bag of cookies she brought for Adrien. Chloé scoffs that Adrien wouldn't touch either, but Adrien quickly picks up the coffee, kneeling to Marinette in thanks.
Marinette is unable to give Adrien her actual gift, a hand-made scarf, before school ends, so she and Alya bring it to his house: Nathalie tells her to put the gift in the drop box and collects it, and Gabriel then reminds his assistant that she should have bought his present for Adrien already.
Nino goes to Adrien's house to try and convince Gabriel to let him throw his friend Adrien a birthday party. However, Gabriel decides to order Nino out of the mansion on account of the latter's "fashion trash" clothing. Nino leaves the house in a fury. Adrien, unable to stop Nino before he leaves, retaliates by declaring to his father he intends to dye his hair green.
Hawk Moth runs to send a butterfly to Nino in order to turn him into an akuma—but not before Nino ticks him off by noting he sounds out of breath (due to dashing to his lair, unbeknownst to Nino) and calling him (as in both Gabriel Agreste and Hawk Moth) an old man. The Bubbler is thus born.
Bubbler uses his power to send bubbles all over Paris, trapping the adults inside before sending them into the atmosphere so he can throw a great party for Adrien. Chloé thinks it's the perfect chance to cozy up to Adrien while Marinette calls out the Bubbler for attacking her parents—but not before she unknowingly repeats Nino's reasoning for letting Adrien have a party.
Chloé discovers the bad part of no adults being around (namely, that she has no chauffeur now) and gets angry when she sees the Bubbler carrying Marinette while flying while she has to walk.
Adrien enters the mansion's dining room, expecting another lonely meal, only to see his classmates and the Bubbler ready to party. Closing the door again, he is unsure of what to do—he could let the akuma go ahead with throwing him a party (the first one he's ever had), but that would mean leaving the akuma to Scarlet Lady. Nonetheless, he chooses party—but he quickly notices everyone else is gloomy and unhappy. Not knowing the reason, he approaches Marinette.
Sabrina and Chloé ask the Bubbler for a slow song, as Chloé wants to dance with Adrien. The Bubbler, however, notices Adrien speaking with Marinette and puts on a song to give his friends a chance to dance together. Tikki tells Chloé she has to stop the akuma, but Chloé rejects the idea... until she sees Adrien slow dancing with Marinette. Meanwhile, Alix dances with Max, who isn't wearing his glasses because his mother accidentally took them with her when the Bubbler attacked as she was cleaning them.
Adrien attempts to ask Marinette what's going on, but before Marinette can tell him, Scarlet Lady furiously interrupts the party. Adrien decides to sit the fight out and watch Scarlet Lady fight an akuma on her own for once, but when Marinette attempts to convince the Bubbler to stop what he's doing, the akuma encases her in a bubble and sends her away, too, which is more than enough to convince Adrien to transform as well.
Scarlet Lady gets distracted when she sees Marinette being sent into space and is only saved from the Bubbler's next attack by Chat Noir's intervention. When all the party guests begin to cheer for Scarlet Lady, the Bubbler sends everyone but the heroes into space and runs for the Eiffel Tower, followed by Chat Noir and Scarlet Lady. Scarlet Lady summons her Lucky Charm—a large spanner—and promptly hands it to Chat Noir. Lacking many options, Chat Noir decides to just throw it at the Bubbler's head, knocking him out and allowing Chat to drag him back down so Scarlet Lady can purify the akuma and bring everyone back.
Hawk Moth laments the lost opportunity but believes that Scarlet Lady only stayed back to keep the Ladybug earrings safe, unaware that it was really out of laziness.
With normality restored, Nathalie gives Adrien Marinette's gift, taking advantage of the fact that it isn't signed to pass it off as Gabriel's.
The next day, Chloé violently attacks Sabrina with the latter's own tablet when Sabrina informs her that the present for Adrien won't arrive until the next week as the Bubbler's attacks on all the adults prevented anyone from delivering the present yesterday. Nino and Rose, both of whom witness the incident, offer to take Sabrina to the school nurse, which a sobbing Sabrina accepts while mentioning that Chloé has become more violent as of late.
Adrien arrives, with both green hair and Marinette's scarf around his neck. However, when Nino greets him, Adrien mentions that the scarf was his father's present, making Marinette realize that Gabriel Agreste is such a bad father that he didn't even bother to buy his son a gift. Adrien tries to apologize for what his father said to Nino, but Nino tells him not to sweat it.
This episode contains examples of:
- Abusive Parents: Combined with Parental Neglect. Not only does Gabriel veto the concept of celebrating his son's birthday with a party, he expects Adrien to work through the afternoon instead at another photoshoot.
- Bearer of Bad News: Poor Sabrina has to inform Chloé that the gift she ordered for Adrien hasn't arrived yet twice.
- Because I Said So: A variant is implied; when Adrien asks Nathalie why his father "doesn't think it's a good idea" for him to have a birthday party, she whirls around and snaps "BECAUSE—!" before trailing off. As far as Nathalie knows, Gabriel's only justification for denying his son a celebration is due to this.
- Berserk Button:
- Chloé's is triggered when she sees Adrien dancing with Marinette.
- This chapter provides the first example of Adrien's biggest button when the Bubbler attacks Marinette and sends her flying into the stratosphere. He almost transforms in the open before Plagg tells him to at least find himself a private place.
- Big "WHAT?!": Chloé reacts this way when Sabrina informs her that the present she ordered for Adrien hasn't arrived yet. It's loud enough to startle Adrien and Nino.
- Brick Joke: After Gabriel rejects Nino's request to throw a birthday party while insulting his son's friend, Adrien bluntly declares that he's dyeing his hair green. He follows through the next day, with his hair highlighted via a Splash of Color.
- Call-Back:
- The photo Marinette looks at while preparing to go to school is a memento from the photoshoot in the park, showing her posing with Adrien, Manon, and Alya.
- When Chloé shoves Marinette out of her way, either Marinette, Alya, or Adrien shouts, "AGAIN?!" in disbelief, referencing how she did the same thing back in "Stormy Weather" in the park.
- Convenience Store Gift Shopping: Adrien is used to receiving these sorts of presents from Gabriel; he describes most of his father's gifts as being the sort of thing you'd "grab off a desk," blissfully unaware that they're actually provided by Nathalie frantically using whatever she has on hand.
- Didn't See That Coming: Marinette's plan to give Adrien the scarf she made is stymied by two of these. First, she didn't anticipate that Gabriel would schedule a photoshoot on his son's birthday, making it harder for her to pass the gift off to Adrien after school. Secondly, she didn't expect Gabriel (really Nathalie) to steal her gift outright to cover for the fact he hadn't gotten his son anything.
- Dramatically Missing the Point: When Sabrina tries explaining to Chloé that Adrien's gift won't be delivered for another week because the Bubbler's attack sent all the adults away, Chloé angrily demands, "SO WHAT?!"
- Dull Eyes of Unhappiness: Most of the "guests" at the Bubbler's party sport these, much to Adrien's initial confusion.
- Entertainingly Wrong: Hawk Moth assumes that Scarlet Lady cleverly stayed out of the fight in order to protect her earrings, unaware that she's simply selfish and lazy.
- Everyone Has Standards: Despite Sabrina being Chloé's lackey, both Nino and Rose rush to check on her after Chloé brains her with Sabrina's own tablet and escort her to the nurse.
- Evil Is Petty: It's implied (and later confirmed by
Word of God) that the reason for the Bubbler's garish outfit was because Nino called both Gabriel and Hawk Moth a "geriatric" during his akumatization. - Exhausted Eye Bags: Adrien has a particularly nasty case of these when the episode opens, contrasting sharply with the Blush Stickers he's sporting in Marinette's photograph.
- Instantly Proven Wrong: Chloé insults Marinette's offerings of cookies and coffee, declaring that Adrien would never touch either, only for him to kneel before Marinette with sparkles in his eyes as he silently accepts her gifts.
- Meaningful Echo: While trying to convince Gabriel to let him throw a party for Adrien, Nino lists off all the ways that Adrien excels at school and his extracurriculars. Later, when the Bubbler appears in front of Marinette and complains about how Gabriel rejected his idea, Marinette starts listing off all the same traits.The Bubbler: ...You're so awesome, dudette.
Marinette: This doesn't mean I support you, you sentient popsicle! - Mood Whiplash: "Last Minute Pull" swings from Adrien regarding his "father's" gift with starry-eyed wonder before suspciously asking if it's stationary "to go with my pens." It then swings over to Sabrina cowering in the face of Chloé's wrath and being assaulted by her "best friend."
- Moral Dilemma: Played for Laughs. The Bubbler's party provides Adrien with the chance to spend his birthday the way he wants to for a change... at the cost of potentially leaving the akuma situation to be resolved by Scarlet Lady. Adrien initially chooses to participate in the party, unaware of what happened to his friends' parents.
- Never My Fault: How does Gabriel respond when Nathalie nervously reveals that she didn't know he wanted her to buy his gift to Adrien?Gabriel: Bic, how long you been working for me? Get it done.
- Parental Neglect: Not only does Gabriel not even bother picking out a birthday gift for his own son, he didn't see any need to remind Nathalie to do it for him, simply assuming that she would handle it herself without being asked.
- Poor Communication Kills:
- Gabriel assumed that Nathalie would automatically handle his gift for Adrien without being asked. She only finds out at the last minute that he expected her to do it, spurring her to steal Marinette's present. Judging from Adrien's remark about how often he gets pens and other items you'd usually "grab off a desk," this is a persistent problem.
- Adrien isn't aware that the Bubbler sent everybody else's parents into the sky, so he doesn't understand why all his friends and classmates (aside from Chloé) aren't really enjoying the party.
- Refuse to Rescue the Disliked: Scarlet Lady just chuckles evilly to herself after witnessing the Bubbler send Marinette up the sky in a bubble.
- Shipper on Deck: When Sabrina and Chloé ask for a slow dance song, Bubbler only agrees to it when he sees Adrien speaking with Marinette.
- Shout-Out: After being freaked out by the robotic eyeball popping out from the Agreste Manor's gates, Marinette remarks to Alya that "HAL 9000 works for the Agrestes!"
- Skewed Priorities:
- When Nino makes his pitch, Gabriel completely tunes out what he's saying in favor of scrutinizing his outfit and finding it wanting.
- Once again, Chloé doesn't care about the threat the Bubbler poses or whom he sends into the stratosphere, so long as she gets the chance to "cozy up to Adrien."
- During the party, Chloé asks for a slow song so she can dance with Adrien, in spite of Tikki telling her to focus on stopping the akuma. Then she sees Adrien slow dancing with Marinette, which finally prompts her to stop the party.
- Spoiled Brat: Played for both Laughs and Drama here. Chloé is so used to being catered to that she completely overlooks the people who handle all those tasks for her. As a result, she doesn't care about all the adults being sent away, never considering how that might impact her (let alone anyone else). When she finds out that all the disruption prevented her gift to Adrien from arriving, she takes out her frustration out on Sabrina.
- Stealing the Credit: Nathalie does this on Gabriel's behalf, passing off Marinette's scarf as a gift from Adrien's father.
- Thousand-Yard Stare: Chloé briefly sports one when she sees all the hotel staff floating away in bubbles.
