[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/lps-episode17_4508.png]]
[[caption-width-right:300:"Gets more embarrassing every time." "[[IllPretendIDidntHearThat I'm going to pretend that's a compliment!]]"]]

-> Written by Evan Gore and Heather Lombard

After stopping at the curb to drop Blythe off at school, Roger plays air guitar and then air drums with the music on his car radio, drawing snickers from passing classmates, but says he'll be very busy at work. At school, Blythe discovers Roger standing next to her locker. It turns out Roger found someone to cover for him for the day, freeing it up so he can hang out with Blythe at school.

A few seconds after introducing himself to Blythe's friends, Roger gets his hand caught in a three-ring binder that snapped shut, requiring a visit to the school nurse. With the door open, Roger asks the nurse about medication for a skin rash on Blythe's butt, but Blythe drags Roger into class before he could finish.

At The Littlest Pet Shop, Mrs. Twombly brings a new pet into the day care room: Olive Shellstein, a tortoise. Ever since Olive arrived at the pet shop, she has stayed hidden in her shell, and despite Mrs. Twombly's attempts and the pets' warm welcome, she refuses to emerge. Russell picks her up to greet her, Zoe knocks on the shell, Vinnie uses it as a dance platform, Pepper tells her an insulting joke, and Sunil plays blaring music. Penny asks if they are perhaps too overwhelming, to which Minka hops onto Olive's shell and screams about not being overwhelming, scaring everyone else away.

Roger convinces Blythe's classmates to toss their textbooks out the window, prompting a visit to the principal's office. He ultimately lets Blythe go free as it was all Roger's doing. At the cafeteria, Blythe notices Josh Sharp, whom she has a crush on, but before she can do anything, Roger comes up to Josh and asks if Blythe is sick, forcing Blythe to cover her head with the lunch tray and scurry off.

Minka relentlessly tries to greet Olive, but Russell tells her to give it a rest. Minka refuses, insisting that no one would turn down an invitation to be a friend. She lapses into an ImagineSpot but somehow fails there too.

Roger interrupts Blythe's game of volleyball in the gym. The other kids laugh at him, but he takes it in stride. Roger spots the Biskit Twins sitting on the bleachers and calls them down, mistaking them for Blythe's friends. Roger further embarrasses Blythe by tangling himself on the volleyball net, causing the ball to slam against some lights and dislodging them from the ceiling. In English class, Roger steps up to the front of the class to recite his poem. By now, all of Blythe's classmates know about his behavior and start snickering the moment he stands up. Before he can recite his poem, the bell rings to indicate end of class, and the room empties out of students.

The school day ends, and Blythe and Roger return to The Littlest Pet Shop. She frantically tries to convince Roger that she'll stay there in hopes of getting him away, but he doesn't get the message and follows closely behind Blythe everywhere she goes anyway. Roger notices Olive hiding in her shell right away and, recalling Blythe's preschool years when he'd sing the "Howdy-Do" song to cheer her up, tries it with Olive. Blythe joins in and, as she's dancing with Roger in the store front, Josh drops by for a dog whistle. Josh points out he saw Blythe dance, and Blythe realizes Roger has just ruined her chances with Josh. Seeing that the song doesn't work, Roger returns Olive to the day care room. Blythe spends her time quietly maintaining the pet shop to calm down, but Roger continues to interfere.

Meanwhile, an exasperated Minka proclaims herself as Olive's friend and, using her shell as a soapbox, shouts at everyone else that no one else can be her friend. Blythe escapes from Roger for a moment and, hearing Minka's lack of understanding of alone-time, tells Minka that sometimes, people want time to themselves, using Roger as an example. Minka asks why she can't just tell Roger to leave her alone, but Blythe explains that she doesn't want to hurt Roger's feelings. Roger catches up to Blythe, and, taking Minka's advice, tells him to leave her alone for a while. Roger realizes that he's been a pest and sullenly leaves the pet shop to leave Blythe to herself.

Russell tells Minka that she can't force someone to be friends, which causes Minka to go berserk. After some bouncing and screeching, Minka finally runs out of energy and gives up. At this moment, Olive emerges from her shell and says a friendly greeting to Minka.

At the store front, Blythe visits Roger, who has been occupying himself building new shelves. She can't work up the courage to say sorry and returns to the counter. A man walks into the store, calling himself Ken and claiming Olive. Roger overhears him and comes out to the store front, revealing Ken to be Roger's friend from flight school. They share memories in front of Blythe, who feels ashamed for telling Roger off. Blythe returns to the day care room to see that Minka and Olive have bonded. Their joy together reminds Blythe of what she's done to Roger, and she retreats into the pet slide in the corner upset. When Ken steps in the day care room for Olive, Roger spots Blythe in the corner. Seeing Blythe crying makes Roger confess that he was overbearing and promises not to be like this in the future, pointing out that he spends so little time with Blythe that he gets too excited. To express a lack of hard feelings, Roger cheers Blythe up with a round of "Howdy-Do," which Blythe happily joins in on.

!! This episode contains examples of (YMMV entries go [[YMMV/LittlestPetShop2012S1E17HelicopterDad here]]):
* TwoDVisualsThreeDEffects: Roger's car is cel-shaded CG in any shot where it moves.
* AnAesop: This episode's message is to not be overbearing on someone else, as it just annoys people.
* AmazinglyEmbarrassingParents: Apparently, the longer Roger continuously stays around Blythe, the more embarrassing he becomes and the more awkwardly he behaves. Subverted with Jasper in that he seems to genuinely enjoy Roger's company.
* {{Backstory}}: Subverted. Roger was about to tell his to the class when the bell rings, signaling the end of class.
* BuffySpeak: Whittany refers to a parent as a "care-type person." Afterwards, Brittany uses that term too. Their conversation hints that their father Fisher is very distant from them.
* BumblingDad: Roger is particularly clumsy and oblivious in this episode.
* CallBack: Pepper gives another shot at insult comedy as seen in "[[Recap/LittlestPetShop2012S1E5PennyForYourLaughs Penny for Your Laughs]]." This time, she stops after one try.
** [[Recap/LittlestPetShop2012S1E8BlythesCrush Josh Sharp]] returns. Fate still conspires to destroy any chances she has with him.
* CaptainOblivious: Roger notices Blythe's reaction to Josh at the cafeteria and mistakes it for an illness.
* ChekhovsGun: Roger talks about how he used to sing "Howdy-Do" to Blythe to make her feel better when depressed. The song is used near the end of the episode to do just that.
* ContinuityNod: No one seems able to properly finish [[Recap/LittlestPetShop2012S1E9DUMBDUMBWAITER stacking cans of cat food into a pyramid]] without something idiotic happening to send the stack crashing down.
* ADayInTheLimelight: This would be Roger's only A-story until "[[Recap/LittlestPetShop2012S3E20TheSisterStory The Sister Story]]" two seasons later.
* DontExplainTheJoke: Roger tries making acronyms like Blythe. He linguistically trips over himself trying to explain it.
* HappyFlashback: Played for laughs. Olive's shell reminds Roger of a bicycle helmet he used to wear. We get a brief flashback of Roger happily riding a bicycle down the street wearing a tortoise-shell helmet, though he appears the same age as he is now. Cue passers-by snickering at him.
* InstantlyProvenWrong: During the fantasy sequence, after Minka makes it through the water, she loudly proclaims there are no crocodiles-- and immediately gets eaten by one.
* ItsAllAboutMe: Minka eventually believes that Olive might not be interested in making friends--except with her.
* LamePunReaction: After the school nurse gives Roger a smiley-face badge, Roger tells her she gave him a smile. Blythe groans.
* LettingTheAirOutOfTheBand: Sunil plays it intentionally on his bagpipes after [[ItMakesSenseInContext Minka gets eaten by a crocodile]].
* NoSenseOfPersonalSpace: Roger will go right up behind someone if he wants to tell them something.
* PunBasedTitle: The episode title refers to [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Helicopter_parent helicopter parenting]], which Roger does in this episode, and Roger's job as a helicopter pilot.
* TheQuietOne: Olive. Exaggerated in that she is also motionless for most of the episode.
* SanitySlippage: Minka becomes oddly possessive of Olive after repeated failures at friendship.
* ShoutOut: The ImagineSpot mimics the climactic scene from ''Film/{{Braveheart}}.''
** Olive speaks a lot like Cecil Turtle in the ''WesternAnimation/LooneyTunes'' short "Tortoise Beats Hare."
* TotallyRadical
--> '''Roger''': I am hip to the lingo!