- Original airdate (US): October 12th, 2011
Who knew Buster was such a Kidanova?
"Buster's Secret Admirer": Buster receives a box of chocolates and a card saying they're from his "secret admirer", and tries to figure out who that admirer is."Buster's Secret Admirer" contains the following tropes:
- Amazing Technicolor Wildlife: In his dream at the beginning of the episode, Buster is assaulted by blue-colored squirrels.
- Black Eyes of Evil: The squirrels that assault Buster in his dream at the beginning of the episode have black eyes. But of course, this is Truth in Television for squirrels (the black eyes part, not the evil part).
- Cardiovascular Love: The postcard Buster receives from his secret admirer has a heart symbol on the front. Played With with Buster's card for his mother at the end, which has a cardiologically accurate heart on the front!
- Catapult Nightmare: Buster's Nightmare Sequence in the Cold Open makes him wake up with a start.
- A Child Shall Lead Them: In D.W.'s Imagine Spot, James is portrayed as an actual tyrannical ruler of a kingdom, unlike in the real world where it's just a fantasy game he's playing.
- Continuity Nod:
- Muffy is shown playing with a World Girl doll in her bedroom.
- Binky again gorges himself on Pinchman's Chocolates.
- Buster makes a mention of Baxter Day.
- Dream Intro: Buster's dream starts out pretty sweet, with him simply plucking a flower while saying "she loves me, they love me, I love me." Then the flower states it dislikes being plucked by the petals, some squirrels throw heart-shaped strawberries at Buster, and a group of cupid pigs shoots arrows at him. Buster wakes up, asks the audience how it's weird that the nicest dreams can devolve into the worst nightmares, and notices an arrow like the ones the pigs shot in the dream has appeared in his bed.
- Edible Ammunition: The squirrels in Buster's dream in the Cold Open assault him by throwing lots and lots of strawberries at him.
- Entertainingly Wrong: Buster assumes that the card and chocolates he received from his "secret admirer" were from someone who has a crush on him, which is a logical assumption to make, but in the end, it turns out they were actually from his mother!
- Fog Feet: In one of his dreams, Buster imagines his secret admirer as a mysterious cloaked figure that floats a little bit above the ground.
- Fun with Acronyms: Buster soon realizes in a dream that the first letters of each line in his card's poem spell "fall", referring to his made-up holiday, Fall Day.
- Furry Reminder: The commander of the cupid pigs in Buster's dream in the Cold Open says "Bunny's in sight" when ordering the others to shoot at him.
- Homoerotic Subtext: Downplayed, as the subtext isn't exactly "erotic" given the ages of the characters involved, but at one point, Buster asks Arthur if he is his secret admirer, to which he of course responds, "No."
- Imagine Spot: After revealing to Arthur his theory of the "dream reciters", Buster has one where they sympathize with him because of the nightmare he had in the Cold Open and send him the card and post of chocolates to make him feel better.
- In the Hood: Buster imagines the "dream reciters" as people wearing red hoods that leave only their eyes visible.
- "Knock Knock" Joke: Buster gives one to Fern. "Knock knock?" "Who's there?" "I know." "I know who?" "I know that you're my secret admirer." Understandably, Fern doesn't find the joke funny.
- Nightmare Sequence: Buster has two: one in the Cold Open where he is attacked by squirrels and cupid pigs, and another during the episode proper where he follows his secret admirer to an alley where his friends and even Mr. Ratburn mock him for his obsession with finding out who his secret admirer is.
- Or Was It a Dream?: In the Cold Open, Buster wakes up from his nightmare when the cupid pigs start shooting suction cup arrows at him... and then he finds an arrow identical to the ones they used on his bed. Even after Buster finds out his secret admirer is his mother, he never realizes to ask her whether she placed the arrow on his bed...
- Out of the Frying Pan: In his first Nightmare Sequence, Buster manages to escape the strawberry-throwing squirrels, only to immediately have a squadron of cupid pigs fire a hail of suction cup arrows at him.
- Puppy Love: Subverted. Buster suspects that his secret admirer is a fellow student of Lakewood who's crushing on him, but it turns out it was Bitzi all along!
- The Reveal: In the end, it's revealed that Buster's "secret admirer" is not a fellow Lakewood student as he suspected, but rather his own mother.
- Roses Are Red, Violets Are Blue...: In a nightmare, Buster is mocked by his fellow students for obsessing over finding his secret admirer. Fern tells him "Roses are red, violets are blue. Rotten eggs stink and so do you!"
- Screwball Squirrel: A whole scurry of them assaults Buster with strawberries in his first nightmare.
- Shout-Out:
- The cupid pigs' attack on Buster in his Cold Open nightmare is a reference to a helicopter attack scene from Apocalypse Now, complete with Ride of the Valkyries playing in the background.
- When the dream reciters appear for the second time in Buster's dream, the BGM is directly borrowed from the final episode of the Animated Adaptation of Redwall.
- Significant Anagram: Buster discovers "secret admirer" could be an anagram of "dream reciters", a group of mysterious people who look into and recite a person's dreams at their gatherings, and thinks they're the ones who gave him the chocolates.
- We'll See About That: Buster's response to Arthur thinking all those chocolates have gotten to his brain when the former suggests Fern might be his secret admirer since she'd be too shy to let anyone know about her feelings for him.
- What Happened to the Mouse?: Even after Buster finds out his secret admirer's identity, it is never explained where the suction cup arrow he found on his bed in the Cold Open came from, implying his dream with the cupid pigs shooting at him may not have been a dream after all.
"The Last King of Lambland" contains the following tropes:
- Acquired Situational Narcissism: James lets the supposed magical powers of his new stuffed lamb go to his head and starts acting like a ruthless tyrant toward his classmates for a brief period.
- Aerith and Bob: The four named heads of the MacDoogal-Donald clan are named Kilgore, Edna, Oliver, James, and... Flurgan?
- Alliterative Name: The first head of the MacDoogal-Donald clan was named Flurgan the Fantastic, while one of his successors was named Edna the Easily Amused.
- Ambiguous Situation: Ultimately, it is left up in the air whether the legend of King James the Squinty having been a Benevolent Mage Ruler is true or not.
- Apple of Discord: James receiving a supposedly magical stuffed lamb from his uncle and starting to act like a tyrant as a result is enough to temporarily drive a wedge between him and his friends, D.W. and Emily.
- Benevolent Mage Ruler: King James the Squinty is said to have been a very generous, kind, and wise ruler who only used his magic powers to help his people, though it is ambiguous whether the "Mage" part was actually true.
- Beware the Quiet Ones: The normally quiet and shy James starts acting like a tyrant towards his classmates after receiving the stuffed lamb.
- A Boy and His X: A bunny and his supposedly magical stuffed lamb.
- The Caligula: The tyrannical king version of James in D.W.'s Imagine Spot seems to only care about his own desires and not those of his subjects, such as having all of his kingdom's crayons stolen just so he can look at them, or having all the madeleines in the kingdom stomped on because he personally does not like them.
- Continuity Nod:
- D.W. mentions the events of the episode "Hic or Treat", saying she still thinks Arthur's "Frankentist" costume is creepy.
- Inside the preschool, the Good Behavior of the Week Award featured in "My Fair Tommy" can be seen in the background with what appears to be a picture of D.W., implying that this story takes place during the same time period as that one.
- Cool and Unusual Punishment: In D.W.'s Imagine Spot, James sentences her to clean out every single unicorn stable in the land.
- Cool Crown:
- During his tyrant phase, James wears one made out of paper. In D.W.'s Imagine Spot, he wears a real, Gem-Encrusted one.
- The heads of the MacDoogal-Donald clan all wore these as well.
- A Day in the Limelight: This episode marks the first time that James has been in the spotlight, and we find out a bit about his family history.
- Does Not Like Spam: The tyrannical ruler version of James in D.W.'s Imagine Spot does not like madeleines because he finds them too sweet, which is why he orders his guards to stomp on every single one in the entire land.
- Drunk with Power: James slowly becomes less friendly towards his fellow students as he lets the supposed powers of his lamb plush get to him, going as far as to have his personal guards, the Tibble twins, steal Maryann's apple juice for him.D.W.: I've seen this before, Emily. Like when Mom and Dad leave Arthur in charge. He goes mad with power.
- Easily Forgiven: D.W. and Emily don't hesitate to have James back as their friend once he's given up his tyrannical ways.
- Evil Is Petty: In D.W.'s Imagine Spot of James being a real tyrannical king, he orders his guards to steal all the crayons in the land. Is this because he wants to use them to draw? No, he just likes looking at them. Then, when Emily comes to him begging for bread for the starving people of the kingdom, he at first says they should eat madeleines, then instantly changes his mind and orders his guards to stomp on all the madeleines in the land simply because he finds them too sweet for his liking. Finally, when D.W. attempts to stand up to his tyranny, he sentences her to clean out all the unicorn stables in the entire land.
- Evil Laugh: In D.W.'s Imagine Spot, James has a tendency to let out these. "Mwahahaha!"
- Fictional County: The MacDonald family's ancestors lived in the fictional Scottish town of Kilflurgan.
- Gem-Encrusted:
- The crowns of both Edna the Easily Amused and King James the Squinty, with Edna's having a single red gemstone on the front, and King James' having red and green ones going all around it.
- In D.W.'s Imagine Spot, present-day James wears a golden crown decorated with several emeralds.
- Generation Xerox: Myles says of King James the Squinty, the current day James's ancestor, that "he was very timid and couldn't see very well", which certainly sounds just like his descendant.
- Heel Realization: James finally realizes how much his tyrannical behavior is hurting his classmates when the Tibbles demand him to smash Liam's toy truck and Liam starts crying as a result. At this point, he gives the truck back to Liam, apologizes to him, and throws out his paper crown.
- He's Back!: James ultimately gives up his tyrannical ways and goes back to being the nice boy he used to be.D.W.: Welcome back, James.
- Hiccup Hijinks: Liam has the hiccups for the whole episode. What finally cures him is when James tries to offer him his stuffed lamb after getting past his tyrant phase, which scares the hiccups out of Liam due to seeing how it made James act like a tyrant.
- Imagine Spot: D.W. has one where James is a real tyrannical king who orders the Tibbles to steal all the crayons in the land just so he can look at them. When Emily (portrayed in the imagination sequence as a peasant woman) comes to King James begging for food for the people, he orders his guards to stomp on all the madeleines in the land because he finds them too sweet, and when D.W. attempts to stand up to him, he sentences her to clean out all the unicorn stables in the land.
- Insistent Terminology: According to James, his stuffed lamb is not a mouse or a "mouse-lamb" like the Tibbles call it, just a lamb.
- Killed Offscreen: Or rather, Died Offscreen. The animated tapestry in the Cold Open shows the explosion of Flurgan the Fantastic's haggis, but his resulting death is not shown on-screen.
- The Last Title: "The Last King of Lambland".
- The Magnificent: Played straight with the two of the ancient rulers of Kilflurgan, Flurgan the Fantastic and Oliver the Walloper, but inverted with the other three, who had unflattering titles: Kilgore the Dim, Edna the Easily Amused, and James the Squinty.
- Maybe Magic, Maybe Mundane: While Molly says the stuffed lamb's magic powers are just a legend, the fact remains that it did start raining right after Timmy insisted while holding the lamb that it can't make rain. Whether this is evidence of the legend actually being true or a Contrived Coincidence is unknown.
- Meaningful Name: All the ancient rulers of the MacDoogal-Donald clan had these. Kilgore the Dim, Edna the Easily Amused, Oliver the Walloper, and King James the Squinty, who did indeed have squinty eyes.
- Named in the Sequel: While Liam's name had already been said in the picture books, this episode marks the first time it's been used in the cartoon.
- Never Say "Die": According to Myles, the first head of the MacDoogal-Donald clan, Flurgan the Fantastic, "perished" when his haggis exploded at the Feast of Saint Ninian.
- Never Say That Again: After getting past his tyrant phase, James tells D.W. and Emily to never call him "Your Highness" again.Emily: So, is it going to rain today, Your Highness?
James: Don't call me that...ever. - One-Shot Character: Molly and James' uncle Myles only appears in this episode. Same with the members of the MacDoogal-Donald clan.
- One-Steve Limit: Averted. One of the ancient rulers of the MacDoogal-Donald clan was named Kilgore, which is also the name of another character in a later episode.
- Passing the Torch: Once his tyrant phase is over, James attempts to pass on his stuffed lamb to Liam so he can be "king" in his place, but having seen James' tyrannical behavior while he had it, he refuses. Thankfully, this also scares his episode-long case of hiccups out of him.
- The Password Is Always "Swordfish": The password D.W. needs for Tommy to let her into "King" James' room is "ridiculous".
- Posthumous Character: All the members of the MacDoogal-Donald clan shown in the Cold Open are naturally already long dead by the time the plot of the episode happens.
- The Reveal: This episode reveals that the MacDonald family are descendants of an ancient Scottish clan of monarchs.
- Royal Blood: It's revealed that the MacDonald family has this, being descended from an ancient Scottish royal family called the MacDoogal-Donalds.
- Shout-Out:
- The title of the episode is a reference to the phrase "The Last King of Scotland", a title that is most famously associated with Idi Amin, and which is also the title of the book written about him and its film adaptation.
- James starts behaving like a ruthless king after he receives a stuffed lamb from Scotland, a nod to the several Real Life Kings of Scotland who shared his name, such as James VI and I.
- In the Cold Open, Myles mentions the Feast of Saint Ninian
. - In D.W.'s Imagine Spot, James uses a variant of Marie-Antoinette's apocryphal phrase, "Let them eat madeleines" instead of "Let them eat cake!"
- When D.W. confronts King James in her Imagine Spot, she is wearing a feathered cap that resembles Robin Hood's.
- Speaks Fluent Animal: According to legend, King James the Squinty had this ability, and according to the same legend, the stuffed lamb that James receives gives its owner the same ability.
- Status Quo Is God: In the end, James gives up acting like a tyrant and is back to his normal self.
- Stealth Pun: James starts to act like a ruthless king after receiving a plush toy from Scotland. In Real Life, there have been several kings of Scotland named James.
- Stuff Blowing Up: Apparently, Flurgan the Fantastic's haggis somehow exploded at the Feast of Saint Ninian, which is what caused his death.
- Sucksessor: According to Myles, the rulers of Kilflurgan that came between Flurgan the Fantastic and King James the Squinty were all terrible, with ones like Kilgore the Dim, Edna the Easily Amused, and Oliver the Walloper.
- Suddenly Voiced: Liam, the overall-wearing bear boy at D.W.'s preschool, speaks for the first time in the series in this episode.
- Sweet Tooth: Inverted. The version of James in D.W.'s Imagine Spot does not like sweet things, which is all the motive he needs to order his guards to stomp on every single madeleine in the entire kingdom.
- Tempting Fate: Timmy takes James' stuffed lamb from him and, while holding it up, insists that it can't create rain like James claimed it can... and right after that, there is a clap of thunder followed by a downpour. This may or may not imply that despite what Molly says to James near the end of the episode, the lamb's magic powers actually are real.
- Weather Manipulation: The legend of King James the Squinty states that he had the ability to create rain, and James' stuffed lamb is said to give its owner the same ability. There's actually a scene in the episode that implies the latter part may be true, as Timmy, while holding the lamb, insists that it can't make rain, after which there is a clap of thunder followed by rain.
- The X of Y: "The Last King of Lambland".
