Squeeze’s Day Off
All of the repairs for the day are done, and Manny and the tools are all set to kick back and relax- except for Squeeze, who just can’t bear the thought of not having any more jobs to do and, when the phone fails to ring with another job for Manny, decides that it must be broken and has the tools take it apart.
Tropes in “Squeeze’s Day Off” include
- An Aesop: Squeeze learns the importance of relaxation, and taking a break every once and a while.
- Broken Lever of Doom: The lever breaks off Mr. Lopart’s taffy machine when he tries to shut it down after it starts overloading.
- Comically Missing the Point: Squeeze does this when Alex asks her if she can tell what the picture in his connect-the-dots puzzle is.Squeeze: That’s easy! It’s just a bunch of little dots.
- Compressed Vice: Squeeze is presented here as a Workaholic who can’t bear spending more than a few hours without a repair to do, despite that not having been a part of her personality at all before this point.
- Continuity Nod: All of the “instruments” the tools play during their downtime (except Rusty’s) are the same as what they played in “Shine Bright”.
- The Cuckoolander Was Right: Workaholic Squeeze can’t stand how long Manny has gone (a couple of hours) without getting a call, and convinces herself that there’s something wrong with his phone. At the end of the episode, it turns out that the phone did actually have a problem (a loose wire) that was preventing it from receiving calls.
- Distant Reaction Shot: When Mr. Lopart’s taffy machine is about to explode, the scene cuts to Manny and the tools walking. A distant bang is heard and Manny stops for a moment, before shrugging and continuing walking.
- Everything Is an Instrument: The tools decide to spend their free time playing music on some of these- most of their “instruments” are recycled from “Shine Bright”, but Rusty has a new one in the form of some plastic cups which sound like an xylophone when he drums on them with a pencil.
- Explosive Instrumentation: Mr. Lopart’s taffy machine explodes (harmlessly) when overloaded.
- Fictional Document: Manny apparently has a book of puzzles, which he works on to relax during downtime.
- Instantly Proven Wrong:
- Percussive Maintenance: Mr. Lopart tries to kick his taffy machine in order to get it working; this proves to be a very bad idea.
- Workaholic: Being one is Squeeze’s Compressed Vice in this episode, as she can’t bear going more than a few hours without any repairs.
Renaldo’s Pretzel Castle
Renaldo, the owner of a grandiosely-named pretzel stand in the park, calls Manny after the giant, spinning pretzel on top of his shop suffers inexplicable damage. Could the park’s many birds somehow be to blame?
”Renaldo’s Pretzel Castle” contains instances of:
- Absurd Phobia: Apparently, Rusty is scared of balloons, because of the loud noises they make when they pop.
- Blatant Lies: Mr. Lopart gets his foot stuck in a bike rack and proceeds to immediately claim he’s not stuck.
- Brand X: Renaldo’s logo is very definitely not a pretzel-ified version of the McDonalds logo, mmkay?
- "Everybody Laughs" Ending: One happens after Pat tries to talk to the birds that are eating from the newly-installed bird feeders.
- Figure It Out Yourself: At the beginning of the episode, the tools are struggling to put together a puzzle, and ask Manny to do it for them. He responds by saying that they’ll get much more satisfaction out of it if they figure it out by themselves, although he does acquiesce to help a little.
- Help, I'm Stuck!: Mr. Lopart gets his foot stuck in some bike racks he put up outside his shop.
- I'm Okay!: Pat says this after falling off the top of Renaldo’s pretzel castle and landing in a bush.
- Literal-Minded: Pat does this when Manny helps the tools put together a puzzle by pointing out a piece that’s part of a tree.Pat: That’s not part of a tree, Manny, that’s a puzzle piece!
- Location Title: The episode is named after the pretzel stand Renaldo has in the park.
- Mondegreen Gag: Squeeze mishears Renaldo saying that he’ll bring out some pretzels and churros for the tools as him saying that he’ll bring out “pretzels and chairs”.
- Snap Back: The shiny new bike racks Mr. Lopart put up outside his shop promptly disappear after the episode ends.
