Upon discovering it's Sprig's birthday and being disappointed with Amphibian traditions, Anne goes all out at giving him the best Earth celebration ever.
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Full Recap
TBA...
Tropes:
- Bait-and-Switch:
- While celebrating Sprig's birthday at a Mexican restaurant, the birthday boy accidentally sets the place on fire with the Mariachi band bearing witness. Instead of getting mad or kicking out him and Anne, the Mariachi band decides to roll with it and take out electric guitars to continue their performance.
- As the clown balloon is flying out of control, a man is shown in his therapist's office thanking her for her support in conquering his fear. You would expect him to state that he had a fear of clowns but it's actually a fear of making direct eye contact with people — which still doesn't help him as he ends up locking eyes with the clown's terrifying visage as it floats past the window and triggers his phobia again.
- Birthday Episode: The plot deals with Anne going all out for Sprig's birthday, after being disappointed by the humble nature of the normal Amphibian celebration.
- Breather Episode: After fixing a Robot Buddy, being chased down by a Killer Robot before destroying it, and being hunted by the government, this episode finally takes a breather as Sprig gets to celebrate his birthday with Anne.
- Brick Joke: The episode starts with Anne reading Dante's Inferno. When they arrive at the balloonfield, Anne calls it "Paradiso", which is the name of the third part of The Divine Comedy, with Inferno being the first.
- Butt-Monkey: Once again Mr. Boonchuy is on the receiving end of a few comedic moments, such as getting knocked out by Sprig's crown, and getting forgotten about at the end.
- Call-Back:
- Mr. Boonchuy reads the purple Garfield book from "The New Normal" while waiting for his kids in the car.
- The two neighbors who were shown passing an HD television from "Thai Feud" return and are revealed to be in a romantic relationship.
- When Anne is getting down on herself for messing up Sprig's birthday by nearly killing them both on the ballon ride, Sprig gives her another "Friend Punch" this time with his tongue, to get her to snap out of her downer mood, just like he did the first time they hung out together.
Anne: Oh wow, been a while since that happened.- While not directly addressed, a great deal of Anne's behavior when determined to celebrate Sprig's birthday and make it his 'number one birthday' because she wants to be a good friend to him draws parallels between her and Sasha's own celebrations of Anne's 13th birthday seen in "Reunion", which sadly indicates that even if Anne's long since learned that Sasha's not a good friend, she's still being influenced by the times she spent together with her, good and bad, as she has no idea of what a good friend would do for another on their birthday to make it an enjoyable one besides what Sasha did for her, even despite the fact that Anne was uneasy about their celebration activities. That said, she's nowhere near as pushy as Sasha was getting convincing Sprig to have fun with his birthday activities.
- Creator Cameo: Matt Braly can be seen at a hot dog vendor during the hot air balloon's flight.
- Determinator: Anne is dead set on making her birthday plan for Sprig the best, though he tries to make it clear that he doesn't mind a simple birthday celebration.
- Give Me a Sign: A depressed office worker calls out to the heavens to give her a sign if she should pursue her true passion of stand up comedy. Cue the clown balloon.
- Ironic Echo: Anne's behavior toward Sprig's birthday is frighteningly similar to how Sasha manipulated her on her birthday. You'd really think she'd learn by now.
- Iconic Item: Discussed. Sprig calls his hat and goggles this because his parents gave them to him one birthday.
- Monster Clown: The birthday hot air balloon is a repurposed promotional vehicle for an It parody, and is appropriately horrifying. The operator claims they didn't want to waste the balloon.
- Shout-Out:
- In the start of the episode, Anne reads Dante's The Divine Comedy for research on portals. She gives it a B plus for story but an F minus for not being a way of getting back to Amphibia.
- The Monster Clown balloon bears a strong resemblance to Pennywise. The balloonist even says it was used as promotional material for the movie.
- Skewed Priorities: The guy from the balloon rental place sees Anne and Sprig flying off in an out-of-control balloon, screaming in horror... and says "Oh, I am definitely getting fired for this."
- Something We Forgot: After losing control of the balloon and crashing it on a crane in the city, Anne decides that they have no loose ends to clean up. Cut to Mr. Boonchuy, who is still waiting for Anne to come back to the van.
- Take That!: As part of their montage of birthday celebrations, Anne and Sprig check out the Hollywood sign... and are distinctly unimpressed.Anne: Meh. [walks off]
- Tempting Fate: The man in his therapist's office states that he finally got over his fear of making direct eye contact with people. Unfortunately, the clown balloon appears in the window, makes eye contact with him, and drives the poor guy into a panic.
- This Is Gonna Suck: The rising comedian shows shades of this when she decides to pursue her dream.Comedian Lady: Ay, have you heard the one about the lady who probably just made a really bad decision?
- Tragic Keepsake: Sprig reveals that his hat and goggles were a gift from his mom and dad on his birthday, which is why he's always wearing it, even if he can't remember them too well anymore.
- Wacky Marriage Proposal: The two neighbors who had their TV smashed in "Thai Feud" show up again, and are apparently also a couple. The pink-haired guy attempts to propose to his boyfriend with a skywritten message, and asks him to turn around and look at it. Right before he does, the clown balloon flies into the shot and covers up the word "marry". The boyfriend turns back and says in an annoyed tone, "No, Tyler, I will not clown-face you!"
- You Must Be This Tall to Ride: Sprig is denied entry to a rollercoaster as he's nowhere near tall enough. He and Anne pointing out it's his birthday, along with Sprig's Puppy-Dog Eyes, are enough to persuade the operator to make an exception. The resulting ride demonstrates why this trope exists, as Sprig repeatedly slips out from under the safety bar and Anne has to grab him to stop him falling out.
