Line #3 Recap/SMG4MarioStealsTheAmericanConstitution


1	-> Mario steals the constitution to make [=MAR10=] a holiday since everyone's too busy to celebrate it.
2
3	No one is in the mood to celebrate Mario's favorite holiday: "[=MAR10=] day" (March 10th), so he and fellow participant Bowser decide to steal the American Constitution from the White House and make it an official holiday. But they first have to get past the Capitol's elaborate – and absurd – security.
4	----
5	* AmbiguousSyntax: In return for his help, Mario promises Bowser that he'll write in an additional "chicken nuggets day" to the Constitution. At the end, Mario makes good on his promise. The only problem is that he writes "Bowser = chicken nuggets", which turns Bowser ''into'' a chicken nugget. Either way, Bowser is overjoyed.
6	* ArtisticLicensePolitics: This episode is a doozy, although [[TropesAreTools it doesn't hurt the story]]…
7	** Why would altering the ''United States'' Constitution, as Toad 2 suggested, have an effect on anything in the ''Mushroom Kingdom''? Furthermore, why did Toad 1 mention a "president"? The latter may have been a mistake, as Mario specifically approached Peach about his holiday knowing she had the power to declare it (then captured her in a pokéball when she refused).
8	** This episode shows us the West Front of the Capitol Building. The Constitution is not kept inside the Capitol; it's a few blocks away at the National Archives along with the Declaration of Independence.
9	** The Oval Office, which is smaller than the room depicted here and is a completely different color scheme, is not adjacent to the House Chamber floor (labeled as "Main Government Court"), or in the Capitol at all. The president has no office in the Capitol – the ''vice president'' does but it's next to the Senate Chamber.
10	** Obviously, simply writing something on the Constitution does not make it binding. Indeed, the U.S. Constitution is known for being notoriously difficult to amend.[[note]] Aside from a 200-year-old curiosity in the early 1990's, the most recent amendment is the 26th, ratified in 1971, which lowered the federal voting age from 21 to 18.[[/note]]
11	** In the USA, while the President ''can'' declare a national holiday, making it an official one where offices are closed requires an Act of Congress, which has a long history of stinginess on that.[[note]] The most recent Federal Holiday signed into law is Juneteenth (2021), which celebrates the ''de facto'' end of slavery. Before that, Congress had not authorized a Federal Holiday since Martin Luther King Day (1983), and it was resisted outright by a handful of states – notably Arizona – while many Southern states grouped MLK with Confederate General Robert E. Lee whose birthday is one day earlier.[[/note]]
12	** While UsefulNotes/BarackObama ''was'' still living in the District Of Columbia (the USA's capital) as of this episode's airdate, he has not been president since January 20th 2017 – probably why he now runs his Convenient Ramp business in [=SMG4=]-world – yet he remains the Guardian of the Constitution.
13	** Obama is finally able to subdue Peach by using "Diplomatic Immunity". In reality defeating her would require the opposite – ''stripping'' her of her own diplomatic immunity (called "Persona Non Grata"). Obama doesn't need it since he's in his own country.
14	* TheBusCameBack: This is the first episode since ''WOTFI 2022'' in which Peach and Bowser appear, the first since "Mario Can't Play With You Anymore" that either has had a speaking role, and the first in even longer than that in which either has played a major part in the plot. Further, this episode features ''Guards & Retards'' characters other than Swag and Chris – aside from a brief cameo in "Mario Watches Nintendo Memes 11", they had not appeared since "Mario Gets His Pingas Stuck in the Car Door".
15	* ButtMonkey: Luigi gets it bad this episode. First, Mario burns down the flower shop when Luigi says he has to work on "Mario Day". Then, Mario and Bowser stow away in his van (without him knowing) when he makes a flower delivery to the US Capitol and Swag shoots ''him'' in retaliation. At the end we see Chris poking Luigi's body with a stick.
16	* ChekhovsGunman: Mario catches Princess Peach in a Pokéball to prevent her from interfering with his plans to steal the American Constitution. Later, when facing the Obama Prism, Mario uses Peach as a Pokémon to hold him off long enough for him and Bowser to swipe the Constitution from Obama's office.
17	* ContinuityNod: [=SMG4=] is still working on the special video after two weeks. Something Mario expressly calls attention to. And now he's so deeply-entrenched that [=SMG3=] has to do the EnforcedPlug at the beginning instead.
18	* ADayInTheLimelight: This episode centers entirely around characters who were part of the series before 2016. Aside from ''very'' brief cameos of Saiko, Meggy, and Bob (all slamming their doors in Mario's face), plus Boopkins helping [=SMG3=] with the sponsorship plug, no "modern" characters appear at all… unless one counts Obama.
19	* DisproportionateRetribution: Mario burns down Luigi's flower shop just because Luigi politely declined his request to spend "[=MAR10=] Day" with him.
20	* FailedASpotCheck: Swag, as usual. When he corners Bowser in a random office, Bowser has disguised himself with the only camouflage available – a flower. Swag gets right up in Bowser's face, declares him an "ugly-ass flower", and leaves still rambling about the ugliness of the "flower". Bowser takes the insult hard…
21	* AFriendInNeed: As per usual with this series. Mario and Bowser are not only good friends, but Bowser is the only other individual also looking forward to Mario Day. Bowser ''does'' briefly consider his eight children when Mario asks him for help, but Mario convinces him to go along by agreeing to add a "National Chicken Nugget Day" to the Constitution as well. [[PetTheDog For once, Mario keeps his word.]]
22	* {{Hikikomori}}: As noted above, for the third week in a row (real-time), [=SMG4=] refuses to leave his room because he's working on his "ultimate video". This time, however, his room is filled with garbage bags plus cans, and he now has noticeable stubble.
23	* IncrediblyObviousBug: For the second time in as many weeks, Glitch took a real news story from the USA and used it as a joke in an episode[[labelnote:*]] (the other was in "Mario Plays Cat Mario But Every Time He Dies The Walls Close In" where Mario swore so loudly for so long it caused Website/{{YouTube}} Supreme Leader Susan [=WabbaJabba=] to [[ScrewThisImOuttaHere quit]], mocking the real Susan Wojcicki announcing her resignation as CEO a few days earlier)[[/labelnote]] – establishing shots show the Chinese Spy Balloon which the US Military shot down off the South Carolina coast in February 2023. Here, it is ''much'' closer to the ground than the real thing was and has a sign on it assuring us it is [[BlatantLies "NOT A SPY BALLOON"]].
24	** Note the genuine article ''was'' kitted out with surveillance equipment… [[DidntThinkThisThrough which the NSA promptly jammed and started studying as soon as it entered US airspace]]. The only reason they waited to shoot it down was out of concern it might have a self-destruct function that could hurt people on the ground.
25	* SanitySlippage: [=SMG4=] is a ''lot'' less with-it than even the previous week. The creepy atmospheric sounds in the background-music only reinforce this.
26	-->'''[=SMG4=]:''' It's gotta be perfect... It's gotta be perfect... It's gotta be perfect...
27	* SelfDeprecation: Mario defeats a Toad guard in Peach's Throne Room by grabbing him and filling his head with [=SMG4=] Lore. This makes the Toad's [[YourHeadAsplode head explode]].
28	* ShoutOut: The True Obama Prism quotes a variation of [[VideoGame/{{Undertale}} Sans's]] monologue at Mario and Bowser just before engaging them.
29	-->'''True Obama Prism:''' It's a beautiful day outside... birds are singing, flowers are blooming... on days like this, kids like you... are gonna have a bad time.
30	* SpinAttack: Mario makes frequent use of grabbing Bowser by the tail and spinning him around in battle.
31	* ThereWasADoor: When Mario first approaches Peach in hopes of having March 10th legally declared "Mario Day", he knocks politely on the Star Door to her throne room… then immediately smashes through the wall next to the door. Made even sillier when, just a minute later, he leaves by ''phasing through the actual door''.

Context Recap / SMG4MarioStealsTheAmericanConstitution