"...And when you find King Andrias, kick him in the nads for us."
Full Recap
TBA...
Tropes:
- Absurdly Ineffective Barricade: The others escape with the Plantar family in a van, so Mr. X yells to the guard at the entrance to lower the draw barrier. He does so, which makes him and Mr. X convinced that their targets have been stopped. But the van simply plows through, breaking it in the process. The guard immediately lampshades it by questioning why they thought that would work.
- An Arm and a Leg: When the giant red mantis tries to swipe at Sprig through the tiny portal, large enough only to fit one of its arms through, Terri kills the power to turn it off, leaving its arm behind.
- Awesomeness by Analysis: Terri figured out that the portals are sound-based based on music notes for coordinates after the Plantars kept calling the Calamity Box a "music box". They manage to open a portal to Amphibia when asking one of the interdimensional travelers to hum the tune they heard, and tests it out on two keyboards.
- Badass in a Nice Suit: Anne once again shows she can rock a suit, as do the rest of the gang (minus Molly-Jo and Humphrey) when they disguise themselves as FBI agents.
- Bait-and-Switch:
- When Mr. Boonchuy challenges Anne to a mock battle in Spendco, Anne initially claims she's too old for this... then launches a surprise attack on him.
- Initially, it looks as though Terri and Dr. Jan taking a detour on their rescue mission of the Plantars to steal the base's cutting-edge generator will blow their element of surprise and doom the whole operation, but it turns out to help the rescue effort in the end. Mr. X, having predicted the Boonchuy's attempts to save their 'alien allies', had laid a trap for them that ensnares all but Jan and Terri, getting them locked up in the base's jail cells. When the duo cut the power by stealing the generator, it also opens the electronic cell doors, freeing them and providing them another opportunity to free the Plantars under cover of darkness.
- Big Eater: One of the things Terri asks for when buying the remaining components to finalize their makeshift portal setup is 8 gallons of yogurt-covered pretzels, it being pretty clear they're looking for a snack and not because they're needed for the machine to work.
- Bittersweet Ending: Anne and the others make it back to Amphibia, but not only is Anne separated from her parents again, she finds out Andrias has reduced vast swathes of land to waste, with ash falling from the sky, building his army. While Mr. and Mrs. Boonchuy let Anne go, they also prepare to tell off Mr. X for refusing to listen, and endangering their child as well as the frogs who rescued her. And, to top it all off, Hop Pop is forced to leave behind the avocado.
- Black Comedy: After Anne reveals that the Plantars are frogs, one of the temple ladies says (in Thai) that she loves frogs... fried in garlic.
- Bland-Name Product: The Boonchuys go shopping for supplies at Spendco, a nod to the wholesale store chain Costco.
- Blunt "Yes": Terri's response when Mrs. Boonchuy asks whether the portal really requires 8 gallons of yogurt-covered pretzels.
- Brick Joke:
- Mr. X asks his superior for "kombucha on tap" for his mission. During the escape from his base, Sprig throws an entire barrel of the stuff at X.Mr. X: Oh, you've got to be kidding me.
- Earlier in the episode, Terri requests that the Boonchuys buy them a tub of yogurt-covered pretzels. Near the climax when the FBI agents swarm their warehouse, one of them notices the tub and remarks on how good they are.
- Mr. X asks his superior for "kombucha on tap" for his mission. During the escape from his base, Sprig throws an entire barrel of the stuff at X.
- Call-Back: A giant praying mantis, similar to the one encountered way back in "Anne or Beast?", confirms to the Plantars and Anne that Terri opened a portal to Amphibia. Shame it's too small.
- Casual Danger Dialogue: When Mr. X threatens Polly with getting some painful tests run on her to make her more cooperative with his interrogation, her only reaction is to deadpan tell her would-be torturer that he's on her list of enemies now.
- Chekhov's Gun:
- Mr. X asks for thermal tracking equipment from his superior during the episode's cold open, which is how he's easily able to locate the Plantars again when they enter a shopping mall to buy components for Terri's portal machine, their cold body temperatures marking them out against the warm-blooded crowds.
- The plastic lightsaber toys Anne and Mr. Boonchuy stage a mock battle within the department store come in handy when it turns out that he bought the one he was using and gives it to her as an Emergency Weapon to deal with the FBI goons in Mr. X's base camp.
- Hop Pop's love of human avocados comes to the fore when they're surrounded by the FBI at the climax. Anne uses his last remaining avocado to lure the giant praying mantis on the other side of the portal through to them and sic it on the FBI to give them a chance to escape back to Amphibia.
- Chekhov's Gunman: The praying mantis that tried to attack Sprig through the portal appears again when they succeed in opening it fully, Anne luring it through to attack the FBI agents as a distraction.
- Chekhov's Skill: Anne and Mr. Boonchuy's brief play-fight in the shopping mall is a reminder that Anne very much has the sword-fighting skills she developed under Tritonio, even going slightly overboard using them against him, which comes in handy when she's fighting her way through a darkened hallway full of FBI goons and can easily defend herself with her hand-to-hand fighting skills and the same lightsaber toy.
- Company Cross References: A broken off-brand Woody doll can be seen under a car when Mr. X catches the Boonchuys and Plantars in the store parking lot.
- Consolation Prize: The FBI doesn't get the Plantars, but they do manage to incapacitate a giant praying mantis from another world. Mr. X still isn't happy since the mantis destroys the portal prototype and their lead on the Plantars.
- Conveniently Timed Distraction: Terri and Jan split off from the group to steal a generator, causing power to fail when the rest of the group is captured. Anne uses the opportunity to knock out the guards and get everyone out, including the Plantars.
- Continuity Cavalcade: The Villain Opening Scene has Mr. X presenting video evidence of the Plantars to his superior. This includes Sprig destroying a museum surveillance camera ("Fight at the Museum"), the Boonchuy-Plantar family highway chase ("Anne-Sterminator"), Hop Pop's commercial ("Hollywood Hop Pop"), and the fight against the Robot Santa ("Froggy Little Christmas"). And although they're harder to see, there are images of Polly and Hop Pop's antics at the mall ("Hopping Mall") along with Sprig as Frogman ("Spider-Sprig").
- Continuity Nod:
- Polly's list of enemies includes pretty much everyone who's gotten on her bad side in previous episodes, including Mr. Duckweed and Tritonio.
- Mr. X uses the three frogs Mr. and Mrs. Boonchuy tricked him with in his debut episode to lay a trap.
- "Could Have Avoided This!" Plot: As Mr. and Mrs. Boonchuy tell off Mr. X, they would have been happy to cooperate with the FBI if Mr. X had just listened and not mistaken the Plantars for being alien invaders, let alone endangering their daughter. They're telling him everything now, so he better shut up and sit down. His response is, "Oh, goody."
- Cruel to Be Kind: The Plantars and Anne prepare to go into the portal to Amphibia, only for Mr. X to order the FBI agents to seize them. While Anne and the others could escape easily, she doesn't want to trap the agents the way that she was trapped and waste the valuable portal time going back and forth. So she sics the giant praying mantis on them as a distraction.
- Didn't Think This Through: Anne didn't realize that she'd have to leave her parents after reuniting with them when she returns to Amphibia, which ends up depressing her.
- Door Dumb: At one point, freaked out by Anne knocking out his fellow agents, an FBI agent frantically tries to get a door to open so he can run away. After she knocks him out too, she points out that he was pushing on a pull door.
- Double Meaning: After Sprig nearly hits a depressed Anne with a water balloon, he asks if she's okay and she replies, "It didn't hit me". She's ostensibly talking about the water balloon, but the reason she's depressed in the first place is that it hadn't hit her that returning to Amphibia would mean leaving her parents behind.
- Dramatic Irony: Though she has no idea about it, Mrs. Boonchuy accidentally re-creates the iconic scene of Andrias stabbing Marcy In the Back, during a play-fight that occurs between the Boonchuys in the shopping mall as they enact a Star Wars-esque battle. Her plastic lightsaber is even yellow to drive the comparison home.
- Drives Like Crazy: Anne's mom shows off some impressive moves in the car while following Mr. X and the Plantars, which she claims is nothing compared to driving in rush hour in Bangkok. Mr. Boonchuy's Crush Blush apparent during her moves demonstrates that he likes this side of her.
- Enemies List: Polly is revealed to have one, consisting of pretty much everyone who ever crossed her. She adds one of the FBI agents to the list when he threatens to run a painful series of tests on her.
- "Eureka!" Moment: Terri said that the Plantars and Anne calling the Calamity Box a "music box," plus them mentioning they heard a song while in the portal, made them realize that soundwaves can unlock interdimensional portals because the musical notes serve as coordinates. They theorize that the ancient newts that designed the Calamity Box must have reached the same conclusion, millennia ago.
- Failed a Spot Check: Previous episodes had left it ambiguous as to whether the IT Gals were oblivious to Polly's true nature, despite having noticed her tail, or were simply enjoying their shared love of tech too much to care. This episode confirms it was the former.
- Gondor Calls for Aid: With the Plantars captured, Anne calls in some back-up to help free them, consisting of Ally, Jess, Molly Jo, Humphrey, and two of the temple ladies.
- Hammerspace: When Mr. X demands to know more about Polly's plans to "eliminate her enemies and take over the world", she pulls a list of her enemies' names and reading glasses out of her bow and behind her back, with said list being really long to boot.
- Heroic BSoD:
- After Mr. X captures Anne and the rescue team, Anne falls into despair, believing that she's let everyone down, and that she can't possibly stop Andrias.
- Anne and the Plantars are left staring in horror upon seeing the devastation caused by Andrias' war machine.
- Internal Reveal:
- Molly-Jo, Humphrey, the I.T. Gals, and two of the Temple ladies learn the truth about the Plantars. They also come to mount a rescue and help the Plantars bust out of the FBI facility.
- Anne and the Plantars discover that Andrias has devastated Amphibia's ecosystem in their absence, something the viewer has known to be happening since "Olivia & Yunan".
- Just a Kid: Mr. X taunts Anne with this trope as a way to scoff at her defying him. Anne herself becomes saddened by this thought, but when confronted by him again, she brushes this insult off.
- Know When to Fold 'Em: The rescue team doesn't bother running once Anne and the Plantars have made it into the portal. With that said, the Boonchuys have their reasons; Mr. Boonchuy says that he and his wife will cooperate, but Mr. X better listen to them. It's because Mr. X didn't want to ask Anne about what really happened that they had to let Anne return to Amphibia.
- Laser-Guided Karma: Mr. X predicts the Boonchuy's rescue attempt of the Plantars and leaves behind the three amphibians they left for him on his initial capture attempt at the theatre in the 'specimens' room, returning the favour from when they made him look like a fool in front of his colleagues.Mr. X: Payback stings, doesn't it?
- Literal-Minded: When Mr. X tells Sprig to "start from the beginning and tell me everything", Sprig proceeds to tell the story of his birth in detail.
- Living Battery: Anne's Calamity energy fuels the portal machine simply by her proximity to it, and Anne is able to intentionally supercharge the portal once she realizes what's happening. The IT Gals even describe her as a human battery.
- Mood Whiplash: Anne and the Plantars return to Amphibia... success! But it's under control of Andrias and everything for miles around is gloomy and lifeless... cue up that happy ending theme!
- Mundane Utility: Anne uses her Super Mode to split an avocado in the middle of the climactic escape.
- Needle in a Stack of Needles: Terri mentions this; getting the frequency and melody right for the machine is the only way they'll make it back to Amphibia. Their screens show that there are infinite dimensions, so one wrong coordinate could send them to a barren asteroid.
- Nerf Arm: Anne is able to use a plastic toy lightsaber to take out a bunch of FBI agents wielding taser truncheons.
- Papa Wolf: Mr. Boonchuy smacks Mr. X's hand when he tries giving them the pointer finger, and informs him that of course they'll cooperate. But he's not forgetting that Mr. X hunted down his daughter like a criminal. So Mr. X better listen about the real invasion.
- Pet the Dog: When arresting the Plantars at the shopping centre, Mr. X lets the Boonchuys walk free, despite them hosting what he believes to be dangerous hostile extraterrestrials and having humiliated him several times before. He does point out that there's nothing they can actually do at that point to stop them, but he would have been well within his rights to arrest them as collaborators with a hostile force. He only locks them up when they intrude into the restricted base he's interrogating the Plantars at, once they've clearly broken several laws and showcased they're not going to be warned off of helping the Plantars that easily.
- Polluted Wasteland: What Andrias is turning Amphibia into, which becomes quite apparent to Anne and the Plantars when they return.
- Portal Cut: When a giant praying mantis tries to attack them through the portal, the closing of said portal cuts off one of its arms.
- "Ray of Hope" Ending: Anne and the Plantars are finally back in Amphibia, but Andrias has turned it into a dark Eldritch Location. But one thing's for sure: the team is ready to face anything that gets in their way, and they won't stop until Anne defeats Andrias once and for all.
- Readings Are Off the Scale: The massive, cutting-edge generator the group steal from Mr. X's FBI base can barely provide enough power to make the portal to Amphibia slightly larger than before, with Terri noting that it was twice what they'd estimated they needed to provide in order to get a usable portal, sadly noting that even Earth's best technology simply can't create enough power to sustain inter-dimensional travel. When Anne's Super Mode turns out to be capable of powering the portal's energy demands, Terri's sensors are seen going haywire from the power they're outputting, and they're able to make it large enough to allow a car-sized praying mantis to pass through, visually demonstrating just how massive the energy they're channeling is. And all of that is with a partial connection to the blue Calamity Gem, implying a full connection would make Anne a Person of Mass Destruction.
- The Reveal: Dr. Frakes's portal projects were unstable because they were using the wrong type of parameters for the various tests. With the Plantars and Anne providing new info, Terri reveals that you need to use specific music notes to lock a target on another dimension.
- Running Gag:
- Hop Pop develops a love for Earth avocados and is eager to bring some home to expand his produce.
- Mr. Boonchuy continues to be destiny's plaything as the Plantars use his credit cards to purchase their going away gifts.
Mr. Boonchuy: Has anyone seen my wallet? - Sadistic Choice: The Boonchuys are not happy that Anne has chosen to go back to Amphibia. They would rather keep her safe on Earth. With that said, they realize Anne is the only one who stands a chance against Andrias and that staying on Earth means the FBI may lock her and the Plantars up forever. When Anne steps back to give her parents a farewell, they say that they love her, and come back alive!
- Shockwave Stomp: Anne does this when using her powers, sending the FBI agents flying while sparing her allies from the effect.
- Shout-Out:
- Polly is a fan of the Die Difficulty series and its lead actor Bryce Wallace.
- Other DVDs Polly has include Dragon Liver, Low Lander, and Bottom Gun.
- The shot of the Plantars crammed into the back of the Boonchuys' car along with all the supplies is accomplished by a parody of the classic Tetris theme.
- During the chase scene through the streets of L.A. a van with "Galaxy" written on the side can be seen that looks a lot like Greg Universe's van from Steven Universe.
- Anne fighting the scared FBI agents with her "lightsaber" in a dark corridor is a clear reference to Rogue One, complete with a similar soundtrack and lightsaber sound effects as she swings the toy around. The last agent even pulls a similar situation of begging his allies on the other side of the exit doorway to open it and let him out as she approaches, before she smacks him unconscious.
Anne: Uhh, it says 'pull', dude. - Significant Wardrobe Shift: Instead of the clothes she's been wearing since she came back to Earth, Anne returns to Amphibia sporting a clean St. James uniform, a new set of yellow sneakers and her chest-plate.
- Spanner in the Works: Thanks to Terri and Dr. Jan breaking away from the group to steal a government generator, the power for the facility is cut off, allowing the rescue team to escape their holding cells.
- Summon Bigger Fish: Anne lures a giant mantis through the portal to distract the FBI agents.
- Sure, Let's Go with That: When Mrs. Boonchuy asks Terri if the '8 gallons of yogurt-covered pretzels' are needed for the machine to work, they just stare blankly at her for a moment before saying "yes". After all, they can't work the machine if they're hungry.
- Surprisingly Realistic Outcome:
- While Mr. X has twice failed to capture the Plantars, in ways that make him look crazy and paranoid, he still has more than enough proof of their existence to convince his superiors that he really is onto something, and to provide (most of) the supplies he needs for a third attempt, which ultimately (albeit temporarily) succeeds.
- Mr. X believes that he is stopping a hostile threat by arresting a group of strangers and interrogating them with chemicals, and that he's the hero of the story. When the dust settles, Mr. and Mrs. Boonchuy tell him off for how irresponsible he was by threatening a minor and her friends, scaring them to death while not listening to the truth.
- This Is Gonna Suck: When the older Boonchuys prepare to tell Mr. X off for his actions, he's clearly well aware that he's not going to be happy with what's about to happen.
- Title-Only Opening: This is the sixth episode in the series to not feature the opening theme.
- Took a Level in Badass: Anne shows a greater level of control over her Super Mode in this episode; not only does she not collapse like before after using it, but she even manages to use it to slice Hop Pop's avocado so she can use it as bait.
- Underestimating Badassery: Mr. X spends a good portion of the episode belittling Anne as "just a child" while on the flip side he thinks the Plantars have some sort of evil invasion scheme. He learns at the end just how wrong he was when Anne releases some of her powers and utterly curb-stomps an entire squad of FBI agents. It's pretty justified though, as up to that point he believed Anne was a normal 13-year-old girl, akin to Elliot from E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial, and failed to realize that he's in a straight fantasy story, rather than a sci-fi one like he thought.
- Villain Opening Scene: The episode begins with Mr. X presenting proof of the Plantars' existence to the FBI.
- What the Hell Are You?: Mr. X's reaction to seeing Anne's powers for the first time.
- What the Hell, Hero?: When the dust is settled and the portal is destroyed, Mr. and Mrs. Boonchuy lay the Papa Wolf and Mama Bear smackdown on Mr. X for his misconceptions. They tell him that he needs to shut up and listen to them, rather than impressing his conclusions on the world, because as a representative of the law, he ought to have known better than threaten their daughter.
- Wide Eyes and Shrunken Irises: Inverted. When she activates her Super Mode against the FBI at the end, Anne loses this as her usual look due to the show's art style and gains wide glowing vibrant blue irises as part of the In-Universe Wham Shot to Mr. X, showing him that he's not in a sci-fi fantasy genre like he thought, and Anne is more than the Token Human ally of the Plantars like he believed.
- Wrong Genre Savvy: Mr. X is convinced that the Plantars are seeking to invade the Earth, when really they just want to go home and stop the actual invasion. He also views Anne as Just a Kid, frequently underestimating her to his detriment even before she uses her Super Mode, showing that the adventure he's in leans more towards fantasy than science fiction.
- You Are Better Than You Think You Are: After Anne falls into her Heroic BSoD, her parents remind her of how much she's accomplished, and that they believe in her.
- Your Princess Is in Another Castle!:
- Terri opens a portal to Amphibia! Just one problem... it's too small for any of them to fit, even Polly. They need to figure out how to make it bigger, so they don't waste their one chance to return home.
- The Plantars and Anne make it back to Amphibia. They find out that Andrias has turned it into a wasteland. Looks like stopping him will be harder than Anne thought.
- Mr. X is hit with one of these by the episode's climax. His original targets successfully escape back to their home world, but in so doing expose that they're inter-dimensional, not extraterrestrial lifeforms and the Boonchuys prepare to explain to him that there is an invasion coming to Earth, but not because of them.
