Airdate: Monday, August 13, 2007
Sender: Somebody noone cares about in IA
"Somebody no one cares about in Iowa" ("Also known as everyone in Iowa") wonders if Strong Badia has its own miniature golf course, and also seems to be oddly fixated on the phrase "miniature golf course".
(New Paper comes down)
Strong Bad: No, no, no! Not now! Did that sound like I was done?! Get back up there!!!
(New Paper goes back up)
Back on the topic of mini-golf (and away from Strong Bad's teething troubles with New Paper), Strong Bad and friends like to "get our tiny golf on" over at Sweet Puttin' Cakes, a Sweet Cuppin' Cakes-themed miniature golf course that's "every bit as messed up as the cartoon on which it's based", to the point that people are inexplicably transported there whenever they feel a strong urge to play mini-golf.
Strong Bad: You know what I love? The smell of that rubber handle on the putters, that you know like a thousand other (slows down, zoom in on Strong Bad's mouth as it fades to black) people have touched...
Strong Bad: (voice-over) ...and the next minute, you're there.
(Cut to Strong Bad and The Cheat appearing at Sweet Puttin' Cakes)
Strong Bad: Whoa!
The Cheat: (simultaneously, surprised The Cheat noises)
"Your descent into madness" begins on the first hole, the "worm-hole", where players run a serious risk of the Worm moving the hole around and/or taking a bite out of their ball. There's also the "Eh!th Steve!" hole, which plays the "heavenly sound" of Eh! Steve's catch phrase when you sink a putt; the "infamous statue hole" with no obstacles, a statue of the Wheelchair several feet from the field of play, and a hole that's barely a foot from the tee; and a water hazard full of "blue family recreation water", litter, and the occasional discarded undergarments.
Strong Bad: Homestar, all that's down there are cigarette butts.
Homestar: And a bra. (holds up a brassiere)
Strong Bad: Sweet!
Finally, there's the 18th hole, which "puts a unique twist on the standard bottomless-hole-that-sucks-your-golf-ball-away-forever, hole" by having your ball fall from midair every time you try to sink the putt, as seen with Coach Z attempting several times to sink his ball.
Strong Bad: This will go on forever if you let it.
Ultimately, the only way to get home is to "will yourself back into reality", as demonstrated by The Cheat and Strong Bad, who find themselves back on the couch, picking up their conversation where it left off.
The Cheat: (surprised The Cheat noises)
Strong Bad: (shakes head clear) Woah, that was weird. My mouth tastes like... backwards.
The Cheat: (The Cheat noises)
Strong Bad: Your mouth tastes like WHAT??
(The Cheat opens his mouth, his teeth having been dyed blue, presumably from the "blue family recreation water" from the golf course)
Strong Bad: The Cheat! You didn't!
The Cheat: (apologetic The Cheat noises)
(New Paper comes down)
Strong Bad: There you go! See? That was a punchline! And, another thing. Are you ever not running out of ink?
Tropes:
- Alien Geometries: Several spots at Sweet Puttin' Cakes display odd quirks in time and space, especially the 18th hole, which "puts a unique twist on the standard bottomless-hole-that-sucks-your-golf-ball-away-forever... hole" by causing your ball to fall from above every time you sink it.
- Bread, Eggs, Breaded Eggs: Strong Bad remarks that the "blue family recreation water" at mini-golf courses just makes kids want to drink it, pee in it, "or worse, both."
- Continuity Nod:
- An Easter egg shows that Rumble Red is the proprietor of Kozmik Bowling.
- The way Strong Bad says "My mouth tastes like backwards" is reminiscent of the way he says "My mouth tastes like emails" in "morning routine".
- The Drive-Thru Whale is an obstacle in one of the holes at Sweet Puttin' Cakes.
- Department of Redundancy Department: On seeing how many times the sender used the full phrase "miniature golf course", Strong Bad wonders "Are you getting paid every time you say the words 'miniature golf course'?"
- Eldritch Location: Sweet Puttin' Cakes is "every bit as messed up as the cartoon on which it's based". It can only be reached if you suddenly have a strong urge to play mini-golf, and the only way you can leave is to will yourself back into reality.
- Exactly What It Says on the Tin: One of the "fun-time emporia" Strong Bad name-drops is actually named "That Paintball Place Down the Street".
- Mini-Golf Episode: Strong Bad and The Cheat play mini-golf, in an episode about a mini-golf course. Pretty self-explanatory.
- Ouroboros: The Worm eats your ball, then tries to eat itself.
- Overly Long Gag: Coach Z trying to complete the 18th hole.
- Place Worse Than Death: On reading the signature "Somebody no one cares about in Iowa", Strong Bad adds "Also known as 'Everyone in Iowa'."
- Sarcasm Mode: Strong Bad's reaction to "the infamous 'statue' hole", with no obstacles, just a statue that's several feet from the field of play.Strong Bad: Isn't the fun almost too much to taaaaake?
- Tastes Like Purple: After returning from Sweet Puttin' cakes, Strong Bad briefly talks in reverse, then remarks "My mouth tastes like backwards." Taken literally immediately after with The Cheat, whose mouth apparently "tastes like blue" after drinking the "family recreation water".
- The Unintelligible: The Drive-Thru Whale makes an appearance in an Easter egg.
- Unusually Uninteresting Sight: Homestar is less concerned about the Worm taking a bite out of his golf ball and then eating its own tail, Ouroboros-style, and more with whether that would count as a birdie or not.
Strong Bad: (irritated) No, the hole. Where is the hole?!
Drive-Thru Whale: Pour gravel on your stump please, ma'am.
Strong Bad: Did you just tell my mom to "pour gravel on her stump"?
Drive-Thru Whale: Cave your brown.
Strong Bad: "Cave my brown"? Homsar, is that you?
(Homsar floats by in the background)
Homsar: AaAaA! Don't count on it, muenster may-an!
