Recap / Strong Bad Email E 130 Do Over

Airdate: Monday, May 16, 2005

Sender: Richie Z, Can-A-Duh

Strong Bad: (singing) Strong Bad Email! Makes money! Strong Bad Email! Gets paid!

Richie Z (who may or may not be related to Coach Z, "Or Coach Zed as you Ca-nooks call him") wants to know what Strong Bad could do different if he was given a chance to have a do-over.

Strong Bad: Well, while I've never actually made a mistake, there have been a few, let's call 'em "stnanks," that could be worthy of a do-over.

At the top of the list of "stnanks" that need fixing is the incident with Ali and Ali's sister from Sbemail #35.

Strong Bad: Oh, there's two of them! (places a candle next to the Tandy, romantic music starts playing) Well, Ali, There's ONE of me, and I'd like to cordially invite myself over to your place tonight for dinner and afterdinner mints. After afterdinner mints, you and your sister, Ali Jr. I'll call her, can fight to the death over me... (Record Needle Scratch) Wait, no, hold on. No, no dying. Um, (romantic music starts up again) we should have an egg drop soup eating contest... (another Record Needle Scratch) Hang on, I can't remember what happens next!

Strong Bad calls in The Cheat for help, but for some reason, The Cheat is being played by a thinly-disguised Homestar Runner ("from school!"). Strong Bad reluctantly decides to roll with it, and Homestar suggests they serenade Ali and her sister ("I can play the drums!") Unfortunately, the only person who falls for Strong Bad is Homestar.

Strong Bad: No, no, no, no, no! That is not right at all! Making Homestar dressed as The Cheat fall in love with me is not what I had in mind! Whatever. Who cares? I didn't want to go to Sally's house anydangway!

Strong Bad then admits he feels bad for kicking The Cheat that one time, and contemplates a do-over of "little animal".

Strong Bad: Well, Ash and Ant, or Ley and Thony, or Shle and Ntho, or whatever you like to be called, if a little animal came up to me, I'd give him a pat on the head, a tuna-flavored treat, and some sage advice.

Unfortunately, Homestar once again stands in for The Cheat ("Oh, no way! This does not count! You are not gettin' any fish cookies outta me!"), and the only thing Strong Bad is willing to give him is a severe beating with his keyboard. Unfortunately, Strong Mad is more easily fooled by Homestar's costume, and comes to "The Cheat's" rescue.

Strong Mad: DON'T HURT THE CHEAT!
Strong Bad: No, big guy, that's not The Cheat, that's Homestar! From School!
Homestar Runner: Meedley mee! I'm The Cheat! I'm not from school! Moooooo!
Strong Bad: Uh, The Cheat's not a cow, you know... (gets grabbed by Strong Mad) Woah!
Strong Mad: THE CHEAT IS SO A COW! (starts shaking Strong Bad, causing coins to fall out that Homestar eats)
Strong Bad: Strong Mad! Put me down! You're making a terrible stnank!
Homestar: It makes me feel all jangly inside!

Strong Bad concludes that this is the e-mail that needs redoing. Fortunately, the Lappy has a "DO-OVER!" function for just such an occasion.

Strong Bad: What would I do differently, Richie? Nothing. Absolutely nothing. Well, except I might go back and taste out one of them Cheatcakes. Those things looked a-pretty good!
Homestar: (appearing in his The Cheat costume, with a paper bag labeled "MOLDY BREAD, GUYS") Meeeeeeh?
Strong Bad: No! Wait! Nothing! Never! I regret nothing!
Homestar: (leaves, disappointed) Meeeeeeh...
Strong Bad: Phew!
(The Paper comes down; Strong Bad shakes his head, causing some change to come out and spill onto the tabletop.)

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Tropes:

• Be Careful What You Wish For: At end of the email, Strong Bad wishes that he accepted the Cheatcakes from "stupid stuff". Homestar proceeds to show up in his The Cheat disguise holding a bag of moldy bread, prompting Strong Bad to change his mind.
• Brick Joke:
  • Strong Bad claims that he prefers to use the word "stnank" instead of "mistake". Later, when his do-over of "little animal" goes awry, he shouts at Strong Mad "You're making a terrible stnank!"
  • Homestar and Strong Bad both refer to the former as "Homestar, from school" at different times.
• Cardiovascular Love: Heart symbols appear over Homestar's head when he falls for Strong Bad.
• Comically Missing the Point: When Strong Bad tries to remind Strong Mad "The Cheat's not a cow", the latter retorts "THE CHEAT IS SO A COW!"
• Call-Back: This e-mail revisits the events of "sisters" and a "little animal", and makes reference to The Cheat's Cheatcakes from "stupid stuff".
• Extreme Omnivore: Homestar eats the change dropped by Strong Bad during the second do-over.
• Fantasy Twist: Strong Bad's first two do-overs end disastrously. In the first one (redoing "sisters"), he screws up romancing Ali and her sister while also causing Homestar (inexplicably dressed as The Cheat) to fall for him. In the second (redoing "little animal"), he plans to not harm The Cheat, but Homestar in his The Cheat disguise shows up again and Strong Bad decides to beat him up anyway. This just leads to Strong Mad getting angry like the first time.
• Insistent Terminology: Strong Bad doesn't make mistakes, he makes "stnanks".
• I Regret Nothing: As Homestar comes on screen with the moldy bread, Strong Bad says "No! Wait! Nothing! Never! I regret nothing!" regarding the Cheatcake email.
• Mythology Gag: The term "stnank" comes from a rejected design for a made-up animal from the email "animal", as seen in the weekly Sketchbook.
• Never Heard That One Before: Strong Bad reads Richie's signature of "Crapfully yours" as "Totally not gettin' old."
• Paper-Thin Disguise:
  • Homestar's The Cheat disguise consists of covering himself in yellow and painting black spots on his head. It doesn't fool Strong Bad, but it does fool Strong Mad.
  • In an Easter egg at the end, The Cheat is thinly-disguised as Homestar on a date with Marzipan.
• Punctuated Pounding: In place of the promised "sage advice", Strong Bad gives Homestar one of these during the do-over for "little animal".
  Strong Bad: DON'T! EVER! DRESS! UP! As The CHEAT! AGAIN! PARSLEY! SAGE! ROSEMARY! And THYME!
• Rapid-Fire "No!": Strong Bad lets out a long string of frustrated "no"s after his do-over of "sisters" leads to Homestar falling for him.
• Record Needle Scratch: Interrupts the romantic music playing during Strong Bad's do-over of "sisters" when Strong Bad loses his train of thought.
• Role Swap Plot: In an Easter Egg, it's revealed that The Cheat and Homestar Runner swapped roles with each other for no apparent reason.
• Shake Someone, Objects Fall: Change falls out of Strong Bad's pockets (presumably) when Strong Mad shakes him down.
• Shout-Out:
  • The Easter egg picture of "Coach Zed" resembles Spike, Snoopy's brother from Peanuts.
  • Strong Bad shouts "Parsley! Sage! Rosemary! and THYME!" while pummeling Homestar, a nod to the old folk song "Scarborough Fair".
• Spanner in the Works: Strong Bad's attempts to re-do sbemails are repeatedly derailed by Homestar and The Cheat's inexplicable Role Swap Plot.
• Stupid Sexy Flanders: Strong Bad pulls this on himself when Homestar falls in love with him during the first do-over.
• Stylistic Suck: Strong Bad's attempt at serenading Ali and Ali Jr. is a feedback-laden mess.
  Strong Bad: Don't you know I have a big ol' red head! And a fat little body!
  And I never change my clooothes! (high-pitched) No, I never change my clooothes!
• Unusual Euphemism: Strong Bad uses "stnank" for "mistake".

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(Cut to Marzipan and The Cheat sitting in Marzipan's living room. The Cheat has been painted white, is dressed like Homestar, and is Covered in Kisses.)
Marzipan: Homestar, could you pass me the soy crisps?
The Cheat: (Affirmative The Cheat noises; holds up a bag of "Crisps A-Soy!")