Recap / The Backyardigans S 1 E 12 Race To The Tower Of Power

Original Airdate: July 18, 2005

Music Genre: Salsa

Absent Character(s): Tasha

Supervillains Yucky Man (Pablo) and Dr. Shrinky (Tyrone) are out to steal the Key to the World from the Tower of Power, while superheroes Weather Woman (Uniqua) and Captain Hammer (Austin) must stop them.

"Tropes to the rescue!"

• Batman Gambit: Pablo and Tyrone pull this on Uniqua and Austin when they reach the tower before they do, pretending to be exhausted and surrender to the heroes to fake them out so Tyrone can shrink Austin, granting the villains a chance to enter the tower.
• Book Ends: The episode begins with Pablo and Tyrone exiting Tyrone's house and it ends with the characters having a snack at the same house.
• Calling Your Attacks:
  • "Weather change! [Insert weather here]!"
  • "Build a [insert object here]! Whack!"
  • "[Subject], get gooey/stinky!"
  • "[Subject], shrink!"
• Domino Mask: Austin's mask is the only one that covers just the areas around his eyes, unlike the others.
• Evil Laugh: Tyrone and Pablo both have one.
• Delayed Reaction: The villains are too busy gloating about their apparent victory to notice that the heroes have escaped the sea of goo, and don't realize this until the heroes nonchalantly walk past them. The Double Take that comes from this is certainly something.
• Heel–Face Turn: After Pablo and Tyrone are trapped and beg for forgiveness, Uniqua promises to let them out if they promise to be good from then on. They agree and Tyrone becomes Dr. Grow, while Pablo becomes Very Clean Guy.
• Hoist by His Own Petard: During the final battle in the tower, Uniqua and Austin use the Key to the World to turn Pablo and Tyrone's powers against them, shrinking them to fit in a cage and making them dirty.
• Resized Vocals: When Austin gets shrunk, his voice becomes squeaky and helium-pitched.
• Shrink Ray: Dr. Shrinky's powers.
• Weather Manipulation: Weather Woman's powers.
• Villain Song: Pablo and Tyrone have two of them. The first is the first part of "Superheroes vs. Supervillains" as they demonstrate how yucky and evil they are. The second, "Key to the World", is about how the two villains plan to steal said key to Take Over the World.