Toad Tower wants its taxes.
All I wanted was this town's respect, but just because these people treated me crummy doesn't mean I'm gonna do the same to them. I'm done with this. I don't care if they've broken the law; you can't treat people like this!
— Anne, turning on the tax collectors
Anne befriends toad soldiers to gain respect in Wartwood, but must choose between her new respect and her frog family.
Full Recap
TBA...
This episode has examples of:
- All of the Other Reindeer: Despite having lived in Wartwood for a month, Anne still gets no respect from the townsfolk, who call her "scarecrow" and mock her appearance. She joins the toad guards to get respect, but upon watching them treat the people so poorly as they take their possessions, she secretly gives some of them back, slowly earning their gratitude. Watching her defend the Plantars from the soldiers, they finally rise up and call her the town's savior.
- Battle in the Rain: It starts to rain dramatically as soon as Anne turns against the toads, and continues to rain throughout the ensuing fight.
- Chekhov's Gun: As the Plantars return home from the marketplace, they notice the new statue of Mayor Toadstool. It is later revealed as the hiding place for all the tax money that Toadstool was hoarding.
- Darker and Edgier: As evidenced by the exclusion of the upbeat theme song, this episode is far more serious than any other slice-of-life episode the show has given us. It serves as a good introduction of how serious the situation between the frogs and toads can be.
- Debut Queue: The toads make their debut in this episode.
- Everyone Has Standards: Anne could've easily savored repossessing the belongings of the townsfolk because of their constant disrespect, but instead felt uncomfortable and did what she could to make sure they kept a few things.
- Evil Debt Collector: Though the Toad Tower soldiers only collect taxes they honestly believe were unpaid, they're quite merciless to their subjects, never find it suspicious that everyone in the village says they paid, and are quick to resort to violence.
- Evil-Detecting Dog: Bessie honks like crazy when she is the first to see the toads arrive in town.
- Friend-or-Idol Decision: Anne has to choose between the respect she gets from befriending the guards, or the Plantar family. She chooses the latter.
- Forced to Watch: Played for Laughs. Anne knows that Hop Pop paid his taxes, because he made her watch. Cue a flashback showing Hop Pop explaining taxes to a bored-out-of-her-mind Anne.
- Foreign Queasine: Averted, much to Anne's shock. After a month in Wartwood, she not only doesn't mind the mostly-bug diet anymore, but she's even got favorite dishes.Anne: I've been here too long.
- Foreshadowing: When the toads enter the house of the first non-payer on the list - Wally - he insists that he always pays his taxes. It's easy, as Bog does, to dismiss this with "That's what they all say", but when Sprig sees the debt collectors leaving Wally's house, he too remarks that Wally always pays his taxes, hinting that something more sinister is going on.
- Going Native: Lampshaded by Anne when she realizes that she's getting used to the insect-heavy diet the frogs have.
- Gory Discretion Shot: G-rated version. Fens raises her club, and it cuts to Dramatic Thunder, with only Anne's howl of agony making it unambiguous what just happened. When we see Anne again, she's clutching her arm in pain, which she continues to do for the rest of the scene. At the end of the episode the arm is in a cast.
- He Knows Too Much: Once Sprig discovers Mayor Toadstool's treachery, Toadstool snarls that he'll never get to tell anyone and tries to grab him. Sprig's too fast, and manages to get away.
- Hidden in Plain Sight: Toadstool brags about hiding the tax money inside his new statue, right under the very noses of his constituents.
- Intimidating Revenue Service: The toad guards are there to collect from those who have not payed their taxes. Turns out the taxes were paid, but Toadstool took all of it for himself.
- Jerkass Realization: Anne sneaking back the townsfolk some of their stuff from the tax collectors acts as the prompt they needed to start showing her more respect.
- Karma Houdini: Even though Sprig called for Mayor Toadstool to be arrested, he doesn't face justice whatsoever, as the Toads are only paid by their boss to collect taxes and nothing else.
- Laser-Guided Karma: The townsfolk who were all rude to Anne end up losing stuff to the tax collectors. Anne choosing to give some of it back despite the way they treated her makes them change their opinion.
- Produce Pelting: The townspeople throw fruit and vegetables at Mayor Toadstool when his embezzlement is exposed.
- A Rare Sentence: Anne lampshades this when she admits that she's starting to like eating bugs.Anne: I'm going to get some of that beetle jerky I like...I can't believe I just said that.
- Stealing from the Till:
- The reason the toads haven't gotten their taxes is because Mayor Toadstool hoarded it all and hid it away inside his statue in the town square.
- Though the Toad Tower collectors take things to make up for supposedly unpaid taxes, they're not above taking some of it for themselves.
- Tears of Joy: Anne's eyes tear up as she finally gets the respect she craves from the townsfolks.
- Title-Only Opening: The theme song is truncated to only feature the show title.
- Theme Naming: The three toad tax collectors are called Bog, Fens and Mire, which are all words for wetlands where toads live.
- There Was a Door: Sprig exits the house through the window, despite Hop Pop's insistence on him using the door.
- Turn the Other Cheek: Despite being treated poorly by the townsfolk for a month, Anne, instead of taking pleasure from taking stuff with the tax collectors, not only feels sorry for them, but she secretly gives back to them at least one object for each one of them. Needless to say, they are touched by her kindness.
- The Unapologetic: The tax collectors don't apologize to Anne even after it's proven she was right about Hop Pop and the other frogs paying their taxes, openly stating they have no respect for her. Nor does Toadstool seem to regret stealing the town's taxes and allowing everyone to basically be robbed.
- Wham Episode: After a month of being ridiculed by the townsfolk, Anne finally gets their respect after defending them from the tax-collecting toads, becoming an honorary member of Wartwood.
