Mind Over Mallard
Original air date: October 4, 2001
Bill is flying through the sky, expressing his gratitude for the ability to do so… until he is woken from his dream by the resident below banging the wall and yelling at him to stop. Looking outside his window longingly, wishing he could really fly.
The next morning, Bill talks to Cecil, wondering why ducks have wings if they can't fly. Cecil reveals he's been researching the matter, and found out that there's no physical reason ducks can't fly; he posits that their ancestors became so comfortable that there was no longer a need to fly, implying that a duck would only need to persevere to overcome the mental barriers in order to fly.
Bill undergoes a dose of training and exercise and goes with Cecil to a cliff in order to attempt flight. Raoul overhears them and burst out into laughter at Bill's aspirations. Bill leaps off the cliff and tries to fly, only to plummet to the water below. Unbeknownst to him, he swallows a fly. Bill and Cecil later try again by attaching Bill to a balloon, but the cord Cecil is holding breaks, meaning Bill will have to release himself. He undoes the balloon and is sent whooshing through the sky, ending up in the water again, and provoking Raoul's mockery.
The next day, Raoul has gathered some other crows to watch Bill and Cecil again. Bill overhears their conversation and thinks maybe the knowledge that he has a safe landing is keeping his survival instincts from taking over. He instructs Cecil to point the catapult at the sand, not the sea. At this point, Raoul tries to talk Bill out of it, but Cecil fires Bill at the sand. Bill seems to have finally accomplished flight, but Raoul reveals he's only in mid-air because of an updraft. The updraft stops, but then Bill starts flying for real…
…until it's revealed Bill is having delusions while being put into an ambulance. The paramedics who drive him away shake their heads at his antics, convinced ducks can't fly.
"Mind Over Mallard" contains examples of:
- All Just a Dream: Bill is shown finally flying at the end of the episode, before it's revealed to be a hallucination while he's being put into an ambulance, implying what really happened was that he fell to the ground and was hurt.
- Ambiguous Situation: It's not clear whether Cecil's research about ducks being able to fly was correct and Bill just didn't manage to fly, or if Cecil was wrong.
- Balloonacy: How Bill and Cecil try to get Bill to fly on his second attempt.
- Dream Intro: The episode begins with Bill flying around in the air, then waking up from the dream.
- Everyone Has Standards: Raoul may be a Jerkass towards Bill and enjoys watching him fail at his attempts at flying, but he draws the line at seeing him get seriously hurt.
- Training Montage: After learning from Cecil that ducks are capable of flying, Bill is shown doing various exercises while listening to a looped recording of Cecil saying that ducks can fly.
The Fly Who Loved Me
Original air date: October 4, 2001
Bill is trying to sleep, but is pestered repeatedly by a fly. He repeatedly attempts to swat it or get it out the window, but the fly manages to evade everything Bill throws at it. Giving up on getting any sleep tonight, Bill decides to head over to the Decoy Café for a milkshake.
When Bill arrives, he finds several ducks sitting completely still and not responding to anything he says to them. At the counter, Bev is nowhere to be found, since she's "all tied up", and there's a different duck in her stead. Bill nonetheless orders a milkshake. The fly returns to bother him some more, but after Bill shoos it away, then tries to make conversation with a seemingly-unfriendly duck… said duck's head falls off revealing it, and all the other patrons, to be decoys.
As soon as Bill comes to this realisation, the literally-tied up Bev manages to hop out from the kitchen, and the duck at the counter turns out to be a puppet operated by an alligator who intends to eat them. But then the fly buzzes around, annoying the alligator, buying Bill some time to untie Bev's ropes. They make a beeline for the door, but the alligator blocks their path while the fly heads over to Bill's apartment where Aldo has been sleeping on the couch and wakes him up.
While Bill and Bev do what they can to fend off the alligator, Aldo enters the café, having angrily chased the fly all the way there. Seeing another alligator in there and recognising him as Arnold, Aldo claims Arnold is supposed to be on duty for his job at the bowling ball factory prompting Arnold to run away.
The next morning, Bev serves Bill a milkshake while vowing to close earlier. After Aldo pranks them with the duck puppet, Bill thanks the fly for its help.
"The Fly Who Loved Me" contains examples of:
- Bound and Gagged: Bev has been put in this state by Arnold, the alligator who took over her café.
- Edible Ammunition: Bill and Bev pelt Arnold with tomatoes. Arnold then throws several more right back at them.
- Evil Gloating: Arnold takes great pleasure in tormenting Bill and Bev.
- Palate Propping: While Arnold is making motions to eat Bill, Bill shoves a piece of broken broom handle between his jaws.
- Literal Metaphor: According to Arnold while puppeteering a duck, Bev is "all tied up". That is, she's tied up with ropes in the kitchen.
