Louie: But very soon, her loving arms refused to let go of me, and she kept me captive. Her tender fingers now the bars of a gilded cage, from which I can never escape! Anyhoo, enough about me. What's your favorite food?
When Darwin and Gumball find out their step-grandfather Louie has no friends online, they pretend to be an old lady named Muriel.
Tropes:
- Brain Bleach:
- Gumball's smartphone would rather not show an image of Jojo's "cutie patootie" as Louie described and proceeds to terminate itself just for the thought of it!Smartphone: Goodbye, cruel world! *jumps off Gumball's hand and falls down to its death with its screen shattered*
- Louie's ramblings on Elmore Plus keep Gumball and Darwin awake, who decide to make better use of their time.Gumball: I'm going to go bathe in disinfectant.
Darwin: Good idea, I'm gonna steam-clean my brain!
- Gumball's smartphone would rather not show an image of Jojo's "cutie patootie" as Louie described and proceeds to terminate itself just for the thought of it!
- Clingy Jealous Girl: Jojo turns out to be very clingy to Louie, to the point that he isn't able to see his old friends again and also unable to make contact with any person or being as long as she's around.
- Continuity Nod:
- Rocky's ElmorePlus profile lists "cheese and internet memes" as his hobbies, which is what he said he likes when making a Trawlr account in "The Slide".
- This episode elaborates on why Louie hasn't been spending any time with his old friends after he started dating, previously mentioned in " The Crew".
- A Day in the Limelight: For Jojo and Louie.
- Feghoot: Much of the episode leads up to the pun of how a "catfishing" is being done by a cat and a fish.
- Ignored Epiphany: Instead of stopping being so jealous and possessive, Jojo tells Louie she's willing to let him have just one Elmore Plus friend and it turns out to be her.
- Invented Individual: Gumball and Darwin invent Muriel as an internet friend for Louie. It backfires badly when a jealous Jojo goes after the real woman whose photo they used for the profile.
- Ocular Gushers: Gumball's tears in reaction to Louie's predicament in not making friends was so hard for him to hold he gushes all the tears out at Darwin like highly-pressured water hoses.
- The Real Remington Steele: Played with; the profile for the Muriel persona is a real person, but that's not her real name. When Gumball tries to warn the lady about Jojo by calling out to "Muriel", a teapot actually named Muriel responds instead.
- Right for the Wrong Reasons: When Louie rhetorically asks Gumball what it's called when a cat and a fish pretend to be a fictitious person online, Gumball responds "Cat....fish...ing?" He's correct, but he clearly comes to that conclusion based on the cat and fish part.
- Shout-Out:
- The title and plot are a reference to Catfish.
- The Imagine Spot of a naked Jojo covered in prunes spoofs the dream sequence from American Beauty.
- Street Fighter II is referenced through a flashback of Jojo wrecking a self service checkout machine with E. Honda's Hundred-Hand Slap and Sumo Headbutt, and Blanka's Rolling Attack. The scraps from the machine even flicker like sprites as they fall right offscreen.
- Suicide as Comedy: Gumball's smartphone is actually alive, but it decides to smash itself against the pavement after hearing about Granny Jojo's "cutie patootie."
- Take That, Audience!: The reason Gumball doesn't search his name online anymore is because of the fanart he saw there, an obvious jab at fanart of characters in real life.
- That Came Out Wrong: When Louie asks Muriel to be more than just Elmore Plus friends, he means he wants to be friends with her in real life. Unfortunately, the way he puts it makes it sound like he has a romantic interest for her instead.
