It hurts to discover that not only did you just sell out your best friend, but you did so for less than a thousand dollars.
Production Code: 107
After Jake, Trixie, and Spud accidentally break a one-of-a-kind vase belonging to Trixie's mother, the trio finds themselves in desperate need of money in order to replace it. Perhaps the answer to their problems lies in Professor Rotwood, who's offering a $500 reward for proof of a dragon...
Tropes
- Bittersweet Ending: Trixie and Spud know Jake is a dragon and are okay with it, and in turn, Jake forgoes wiping their memories. But, it's strongly implied that Rotwood now has suspicions that Jake and the dragon are one and the same.
- Book Ends: The episode began with Professor Rotwood being arrested by two police officers when trying to get a photo of Jake fighting with Huntsgirl because they mistake him for a peeping tom, then at end of the episode the same police officers arrest him again when they demand to know why Rotwood seemingly had Jake locked up in the back of a truck.
- Call-Back: When Trixie learns that Fu Dog can really talk, she freaks out as she remembers him as the "creepy dog puppet" that Jake used in "The Talented Mr. Long".
- Cheap Gold Coins: Averted when the single piece of leprechaun gold Jake is given is enough to purchase the $600 vase all by itself (and considering the current exchange rate for a gold coin is about $2000, they likely overpaid for it).
- Chekhov's Gun: The paper dragon Rotwood gave to Spud and Trixie after they realized their mistake, and he refused to give them a refund. They later give to Jake so he wear it, in his human form, to make it look like that Rotwood gave a bogus story at a press conference.
- Do Well, But Not Perfect: Jake tries to get some cash from Rotwood by posing in his dragon form and having Haley shoot photos of him. However, Rotwood believes that the photos are forgeries because an amateur photographer like Jake shouldn't be able to take such good shots of a stealthy creature that tries to stay hidden, something even a professional photographer would have trouble doing.
- Does This Remind You of Anything?: One of the police officers asks why Rotwood has one of his students, a 13-year-old boy, locked up in the back of a truck.
- Epic Fail: The montage of jobs the trio do to raise money end with them having less than what they started out with.
- Foreshadowing: The end of the episode implies Professor Rotwood might suspect that Jake is the dragon. Cue season 2, in the episode, "The Rotwood Files" he finally discovers the truth about Jake.
- Instantly Proven Wrong:
- Happens to Trixie when she and Spud are trying to come up with ways to get the money. Getting tired of Spud's ideas, Trixie tells him that what they need isn't going to just drop down out of the sky. Cue Jake-as-a-dragon literally falling right in front of them from out of the sky.
- After seeing that the dragon he possesses has Super-Strength and is able to fly, Rotwoood notes into his recorder log that the tales of dragons breathing fire and other things has no real scientific evidence. A second later, Jake immediately launches a blast of fire over his head.Rotwood: (Into his recorder) Strike that last comment.
- Karmic Jackpot: At the end of the episode, the same leprechaun Jake saves from Huntsgirl twice gives Jake a gold coin from his pot of gold as a token of his gratitude, which is more than enough to buy a new vase for Trixie.
- Know-Nothing Know-It-All: According to Rotwood, he thinks dragon talons glow-in-the-dark, their scales smell like lavender, they're incapable of breathing fire, and they're averse to biting butts because they're allergic to them.
- Milholland Relationship Moment: Spud and Trixie are instantly accepting of learning Jake is actually a dragon. Their loyalty is such that Jake trusts them both with being his Secret Keepers rather than wiping their memories.
- My God, What Have I Done?: Spud and Trixie have this moment when they discover that the dragon they turned in for the reward money was Jake himself.Spud: I'm even more confused than usual. What does it mean? And how does my mom's lasagna fit in to all this?
Trixie: I'll tell you what it means. It means we just sold our best friend to Rotwood for cash! - Never Say "Die": A notable aversion. When she and Spud come across Jake unconscious in his dragon form, one of the first things Trixie wonders is if the dragon's dead.
- Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: Spud and Trixie unwittingly hand Jake over to Rotwood, not knowing "the dragon" is their friend.
- Running Gag: Spud bringing up his mom's lasagna.
- Shout-Out: Jake having Hayley take pictures of himself in dragon form so he can claim Rotwood’s reward money is similar to Spider-Man, which also takes place in New York City, as Peter Parker takes pictures of himself as Spider-Man for his job at the Daily Bugle.
- Small Role, Big Impact: Rose only appears in two scenes (and only as Huntsgirl), but before she quite literally walks out of the episode, her defeat of Jake ensures that Trixie and Spud find him in his dragon form. Overall, it's because of Rose that Trixie and Spud even learn their best friend is a dragon.
- Status Quo Is God: Averted. Jake decides not to wipe Trixie and Spud’s memories of finding out he’s a dragon.
- Too Dumb to Live: The leprechaun Jake saves from the Huntsman and Rose at the beginning of the episode. The leprechaun totally doesn't realize that the lady leprechaun he's hitting on is a robot, even when it starts sparking and repeating the word "malfunction".
- Too Much Information: "My third toe is longer than all my other toes". Trixie did not need to hear that.
- Unmanly Secret: According to Haley, this is the reason why Jake doesn’t allow anyone into his room unsupervised.Haley: He’s afraid they’ll find out about his teddy bear collection. And the fact that he sleeps with a night light. Every night. Since he was two.
- Verbal Backpedaling: Jake calls out to Trixie and Spud while he's a dragon, then realizes "I mean, er, I'm a big scary dragon! Roar!"
- Wham Episode: Trixie and Spud learn that Jake is a dragon, and Rotwood begins to suspect him as well.
- What You Are in the Dark: Jake could've gone through with giving his friends the memory-wiping potion, but after they share a heartfelt speech about how they're still his friends regardless of what he is, he trusts them enough to pour the potion into a potted plant and not give it a second thought.
- Your Costume Needs Work: When Jake tries to get some cash from Rotwood by selling photos of his dragon form, and later samples of his claws and scales, they are all dismissed. The photos because they were too good (most creatures caught on film look blurred) and the second two because they don't fit Rotwood's nutty theories.
