Around the World in 11 Minutes
Pal, Amigo, Kate, and Mei Lin take an (imagined) trip around the world.
Tropes:
- All for Nothing: The group accomplishes their mission of “traveling” around the world before the party starts, but it all ends up being for nothing as Nemo is revealed to have eaten the lamb chop himself.
- The Bet: Pal and Nemo make a bet that if the dogs and babies can travel around the world by the time the party starts, Nemo will give them a lamb chop. However, if they don’t make it in time, then Pal has to wear a shirt that says “I Love Cats” for the rest of his life.
- The Bus Came Back: When the group travels to Italy, Pepe makes his first reappearance since “Mei Lin Takes a Stand.”
- Cutting Back to Reality: Several times throughout the episode while the group is “traveling around the world,” it is shown that they are just playing with mundane objects around the yard.
- High-Altitude Battle: Pal and Nemo have their final face off on the wing of an airplane. Reality shows that they’re really just playing tug-of-war with a toy plane.
- Foreshadowing: At the end of the episode, the pets and babies are discussing where to go next, and Kate and Pal agree on the Moon. They, along with Mei Lin, will later visit the Solar System in "Carried Away."
- Puff of Logic: In the Cold Open, Arthur explains that the things we use every day come from all over the world, which Binky doubts. As Arthur lists off some stuff that's made outside the US (a mitt and baseball from China, cheese from Canada, and Binky's shirt from Malaysia), it poofs away. Binky gets the point and wants the episode to start already, but Arthur whispers to the viewers that Binky's pants are from Honduras, leading them to disappear off-screen.
- Shout-Out: Pal's line "Blow, winds, and crack your cheeks! Rage! Blow!" is taken almost verbatim from Shakespeare's King Lear.
- That Cloud Looks Like...: This episode is revealed to be one focused on the pets and babies when it starts off with Pal and Amigo laying on their backs and watching the clouds.Amigo: That cloud looks just like a poodle I once knew! Her name was Gisele.Pal: Really? I see a sausage.
- Travel Montage: One of these plays when the group is using a hot air balloon to traverse through multiple countries.
- Unusual Euphemism: Pal’s reaction when Nemo reveals the coveted lamb chop.Pal: Sweet spaniel lips!
- Whole-Plot Reference: One to the Jules Vern story, Around the World in Eighty Days.
- World Tour: The dogs and babies take an imaginary trip around the world as the rest of their family and friends are getting ready for a global-themed party.
Muffy and the Big Bad Blog
Muffy takes an interest in blogging, but when Francine tells her to spend less time on it, they enter a feud.
Tropes:
- Continuity Nod: Francine publishes “The Frensky Star” online, a newspaper she started in "Citizen Frensky."
- Feud Episode: Best frenemies, Muffy and Francine, are feuding again in this episode after Francine calls Muffy out on her blogging obsession and Muffy proceeds to post their private conversations online.
- Hopeless with Tech: Mr. Ratburn is revealed to be this as he has difficulty pronouncing “internet,” doesn’t even know how to turn on a computer, and, once he does finally get his computer set up, falls for several internet scams. He becomes much more knowledgeable by the end of the episode though.
- New Media Are Evil: After discovering the joys of blogging, Muffy becomes completely obsessed with writing blog posts. It gets so bad that she stops actually going out and doing things worth writing about and begins pushing away her friends.
- Phoneaholic Teenager: Muffy becomes the preteen version of this after she gets a mobile device that allows her to update her blog on the go.
- Shout-Out:
- The title of Muffy’s blog, “The Muffington Post,” is a play on The Huffington Post.
- At the end of the episode, Mr. Ratburn raves about his new “Boysenberry” device, a play on the Blackberry phone.
