The second episode of the first season of T.U.F.F. Puppy.
"Mall Rat" provides examples of:
- An Aesop: Some people have good instincts; try to trust them better.
- Bad News, Irrelevant News: This exchange between Keswick and the Chief:Keswick: Chief, I've analyzed the blueprint of the mall. The bad news is, there's absolutely no way to stop the mall from hurtling toward the sun.
Chief: Hmm. What's the good news?
Keswick: The food court's open till nine. - Bread, Eggs, Breaded Eggs: Kitty tries to warn that Snaptrap's having reformed is probably a scam, and the citizens of Petropolis should not trust his kindness of giving them free muffins.Kitty: They could be poisonous, or bombs, or poisonous bombs!
- Carnivore Confusion: At the beginning of this episode, Dudley is revealed to be looking at pictures of meat on his computer. When Kitty asks him if he's doing so, Dudley tells her that he'd never do that, as it would be insensitive to Agent Bossy, one of T.U.F.F.'s cow agents.
- Cool and Unusual Punishment: When Snaptrap tells Larry that he forgot to put "Leave the mall" on his to-do list, he asks Francisco if Snappytown has a shark tank in it. Francisco tells him it doesn't, but it does have a cockroach in its dirty bathroom, so he makes Larry stand in the dirty bathroom.
- Companion Cube: During his time in prison, Snaptrap makes a friend from a bar of soap, which he names "Vivian".
- Disgusting Public Toilet: While it isn't actually shown, Snappytown is revealed to have a dirty bathroom with a cockroach in it, which Snaptrap makes Larry stand in when he forgets to write "Leave the mall" on his to-do list. Earlier, Snaptrap had advertised Snappytown as having restrooms so clean they could be eaten off of, and the Chief is horrified to find out just how dirty the bathroom is when he tries just that.
- Does This Remind You of Anything?: At the beginning of this episode, Dudley is distracted on his computer and drooling. Kitty asks him if he's "surfing meat" again, and his computer displays a large T-Bone steak.
- Falsely Reformed Villain: This episode has Snaptrap claim to have reformed, and everyone buys it except Kitty. He even does some good deeds for the city, but Kitty thinks he's up to his old tricks and ruins them, turning everyone against her. Then Snaptrap reveals he's still evil as he captures everyone in a giant mall and tries to fly it into the sun.
- Fun T-Shirt: When Snaptrap starts giving out free muffins, Dudley wears a blue variation of his shirt with "I ♥" and the graphic of a muffin.
- Hoist by His Own Petard: Snaptrap manages to trap everyone in Petropolis in Snappytown, upon which he reveals his ruse and plan to hurl them into the Sun. Unfortunately, Francisco points out that they're still in Snappytown, upon which Snaptrap finds out that Larry forgot to put "Leave the mall" on his to-do list.
- Hurl It into the Sun: When Snaptrap traps everyone in Petropolis except for Dudley in Snappytown, he plans to destroy them by flying them into the Sun.
- Mid-Battle Tea Break: As Kitty is fighting Snaptrap, the two stumble into a photo booth which snaps five pictures of the brawl, with the two striking a silly pose for the second-to-last slide. When Snaptrap is arrested at the end of the episode, he asks Kitty for a copy of their photos.
- Mourning an Object: When Vivian melts from the Sun's heat near the end of the episode, Snaptrap grieves over her.
- Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: The citizens of Petropolis are not happy with Kitty when she destroys the free muffins that Snaptrap gave them and Snaptrap's weather cannon when he tries to use it to clear away the rain clouds.
- Running Gag:
- Kitty being called a "mean lady".
- The little chipmunk girl complaining over Kitty.
- Rule of Three: Snaptrap gives three acts of kindness to fool all of Petropolis into thinking he's reformed. First, he gives them baskets of muffins (which Kitty destroys), then, he uses his weather cannon to clear away the rain clouds so it'll be sunny at the beach (which Kitty also destroys), then, he opens Snappytown, a new shopping mall which he advertises as having free frozen yogurt and clean bathrooms (Kitty doesn't interfere with this plan until after Snaptrap reveals his ruse).
- Shout-Out: The fish statue in the fountain at Snappytown resembles Poof from The Fairly OddParents!, another Nicktoon created by Butch Hartman.
"Operation: Happy Birthday" provided examples of:
- Anvil on Head: An anvil is dropped on Snaptrap's henchmen when Snaptrap's swelling hits the controls.
- Balloonacy: After Kitty captures Snaptrap and his henchmen when they rob Magnet Mart, Dudley unloads a bunch of balloons from the trunk of the T.U.F.F. Mobile. He ties them to Kitty's tail, causing them to float into the air. Kitty later pops the balloons when she tries to attack Dudley.
- Birthday Episode: Kitty celebrates her birthday in this episode.
- Bread, Eggs, Breaded Eggs: This line from Dudley after Keswick reveals Snaptrap's plan to steal a million refrigerator magnets from the Magnet Mart:"The Magnet Mart? That fiend! Wait, that's kind of stupid. That stupid fiend!"
- Carnivore Confusion: One of Kitty's flashbacks shows her eating a talking mouse magician hired to perform at her twelfth birthday party, something that makes the other partygoers freak out. Her mother then scolds her for that.
- Chekhov's Gag: In this episode, Keswick has invented the Flashbaker, a device that can instantly bake cakes, which Dudley finds out about after Keswick accidentally mixes it up with his Flashbacker. Near the end of the episode, Dudley uses the Flashbaker to make a cheesecake for Snaptrap to foil his plan.
- Cut a Slice, Take the Rest: Snaptrap does this to a cake Dudley makes with Keswick's Flashbaker when the latter convinces him to help him celebrate Kitty's birthday. He later finds out from Dudley that the cake was a cheesecake, and since he has a severe cheese allergy, he swells up and hits the controls, which cause him to set Dudley and Kitty free and capture his henchmen.
- Dude, Where's Our Car?: After successfully robbing the Magnet Mart, Snaptrap has trouble finding the D.O.O.M. Mobile. He eventually finds it after he and his henchmen escape from Kitty's trap.Snaptrap: Phase one of my evil plan is complete! Now where did we park?
Francisco: I don't know, Boss. Larry's the one who usually remembers that.
Snaptrap: Oh. Well, why don't you drive back to headquarters, jump in the shark tank and ask Larry? Oh, wait, you can't, because we don't know where the car is! - Even Evil Has Standards: Snaptrap would never kill anybody on their birthday without letting them celebrate it first, as he claims "No one's THAT evil!"
- Extendo Boxing Glove: One hits one of Snaptrap's henchmen when Snaptrap's swelling hits the controls.
- Hoist by His Own Petard: Snaptrap uses his cheese magnet to rid the world of cheese. When Dudley foils his plan, the cheese magnet brings all the cheese to him, causing him to swell up to the point of immobilizing him.
- I Ate WHAT?!: Snaptrap has this reaction twice. First, when he asks Ollie what kind of sandwich he had before they traded, only for Ollie tell him it was a grilled cheese sandwich. Then, when he asks Dudley what kind of cake he made him, only for Dudley to tell him it was a cheesecake. Due to his cheese allergy, Snaptrap swells up both times.
- If I Can't Have You…: Snaptrap's evil plan in this episode is to rid the world of cheese, as he claims that if he can't have cheese due to his allergy, then nobody should.
- Ironic Allergy: It is revealed in this episode that Snaptrap has a severe cheese allergy which gives him massive swelling if he comes in contact with it.Francisco: Ha! A rat that's allergic to cheese!
(Snaptrap's henchmen laugh)
Snaptrap: Silence! I'm aware of the irony! - Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: When Snaptrap is about to drop Dudley and Kitty into his lava pit, Kitty tells Dudley that they never would have gotten captured if Dudley didn't keep trying to celebrate her birthday.
- Selective Magnetism: Snaptrap creates a giant magnet that has a setting for cheese so he can use it to attract all the cheese in the world. When Kitty tells Dudley that there will always be more cheese since cows make them, Snaptrap adds a cow setting to the magnet by crossing out "Fish" and writing "Cow" in its place. At the end of the episode, the cow setting is shown to actually work when Dudley accidentally sets the magnet to it.
- Shark Pool: Snaptrap is revealed to have dropped his I.T. Guy into his shark tank after his computer froze. He later does the same to Larry when the latter complains about being shot. Near the end of the episode, he tries to drop Dudley and Kitty into it after capturing them, but accidentally presses the wrong button and opens up his lava pit instead, which he decides to go with anyway. When he swells up after eating the cheesecake Dudley made for him, he accidentally opens up his shark tank for real, which his henchmen fall into.
- Short-Distance Phone Call: A variant; at the beginning of this episode, Dudley says "Chief, I'm in position" into his wrist-com, to which the Chief says "I know that, Agent Puppy, I'm on your head.", and the camera moves up to reveal the Chief on Dudley's head.
- So Much for Stealth: When Snaptrap robs the World's Biggest Chili Pot Store, Kitty tries to sneak up on them, but Dudley gives her a musical card that gives their location away, causing Snaptrap to capture them.
- Spit Out a Shoe: A variant; on her twelfth birthday, Kitty ate a mouse magician her mother hired to perform at her party. After her mother scolds her for it, Kitty burps up some scarves.
- Stock "Yuck!": Snaptrap is revealed to dislike pimento loaf in this episode. When he finds out that his mom packed it for his lunch, he makes Ollie trade sandwiches with him, only to discover that Ollie had a grilled cheese sandwich. If one looks closely on Snaptrap's giant magnet later in the episode, it is revealed to have a setting for pimento loaf.
- Toilet-Drinking Dog Gag: After Dudley sneaks into Kitty's house to surprise her on her birthday through her toilet, he drinks out of it.
- Toilet Teleportation: Dudley sneaks into Kitty's house through her toilet. He drinks out of it afterwards.
- Weaponized Allergy: Dudley tricks Snaptrap into eating a cheesecake after he's revealed to be allergic to cheese.
