How the Cookie Crumbles
Elwood City is hosting the annual Strawberry Festival. Muffy is worried about winning the baking contest, without nepotism at hand since her dad was the judge last year. When her friends try to cheer her up, their concoction helps her win! But now Muffy won't give them credit, even though she doesn't know the recipe.
Tropes for this episode include:
- Artistic License: Muffy should never have even been allowed to enter the strawberry baking contest in the first place due to her father Ed being a judge note , which was the very reason stated by a bitter fellow competitor in said contest.
- Creative Sterility: Muffy's strawberry cookie recipe originally had but one strawberry. The only way she won in the first place was because her dad was the judge. The only reason she gets a better cookie recipe the next year is because her friends playfully pitched in with their ideas. And when Muffy's creativity isn't sterile, it later proves inefficient to even replicate her friends' recipe (and one of those ingredients is lots of bananas, courtesy of Binky).
- Easily Forgiven: Everyone forgives Muffy when she finally apologizes, admits that they helped with the cookies and makes them in their shape. With that said, they won't be letting her forget it and next year, they're handing in a recipe together.
- Imagine Spot: While watching Muffy take all the credit that duly belongs to them as well, her friends imagine how she'll become so famous that it will go as far as the moon.
- Jerkass Has a Point: Although she's meant to come across as the straw-naysayer, the woman who said Muffy won due to nepotism ends up assessing the girl's character quite well, since the next year Muffy screws her friends over.
- Laser-Guided Karma: When Muffy finds she doesn't recall her friends' cookie recipe, she finds herself having to recreate the recipe from scratch by herself. For the next few hours or so, Muffy finds herself wasting time and ingredients to recreate the recipe. All the while, she's forced to eat whatever horrible recipe she concocted, no doubt as terrible-tasting as her dishonesty.
- No Plans, No Prototype, No Backup: Muffy didn't write down the proportions that her friends used in the cookies. They know it, however, and give her the recipe when she appears to apologize.
- Plagiarism in Fiction: Muffy uses the recipe her friends made, without giving them credit after she wins. They're all furious, more so that they don't have proof. She eventually comes around and gives them credit.
- Running Gag: Binky keeps wanting to add banana to things.
- Skewed Priorities: Arthur and Francine are particularly hurt that Muffy cares more about cookies than friendship.
- What Happened to the Mouse?: Brain disappears from the episode after they confront Muffy, thereby not getting the resolution that the others have. It's even noted when he doesn't get the cookie that is shaped like him.
- What You Are in the Dark: Discussed. Muffy's friends all call her out for making a recipe and lying about who actually contributed to it. She says no one knows, but Binky bluntly says they all do and that they can't be friends anymore. Muffy's dad also says, "A lie is a lie, even if you get away with it."
Sue Ellen's Little Sister
Sue Ellen starts feeling left out of a local fair's festivities on seeing everyone have fun with their siblings. She asks her parents for a brother or sister, but they balk because they say having a baby would mean no more trips. So she tries to see if any of her friends or neighbors could be a sibling to her.
Tropes for this episode include:
- Big Sister Bully: Rubella is revealed to be this to Prunella, and to Sue Ellen when the latter hangs out with them. Prunella isn't much better when Rubella leaves them to get lunch with friends.
- Bratty Half-Pint: D.W. has a really huge field day of being bossy towards Sue Ellen, who wants a perfect sister.
- Continuity Nod: Arthur plays Fish Finder 6 with Improved Graphics, the same game D.W. tried to sell Francine at his garage sale in "Francine Redecorates".
- Early-Installment Weirdness: The episode shows James with another boy rabbit before the show reveals he is Molly's brother. It's never stated about who this rabbit boy was.
- Happily Adopted: A variant; Sue Ellen's parents decide to sponsor a boy in a distant village, paying for his meals and schooling. They promise that they'll go visit him, and they can write letters to each other.
- New Baby Episode: Sue Ellen's dad says that if they had a baby, then it would mean no traveling for a while and their life would change dramatically.
- "Shaggy Dog" Story: None of the kids in Elwood City are good enough as a brother or sister to Sue Ellen. She decides you can't control people, and that being alone sometimes is better.
- Siblings Wanted: Sue Ellen feels left out of the sibling activities and asks her parents for a sibling.
- Take a Third Option: Sue Ellen's parents realize that she's actually lonely and doesn't need a literal sibling. They sponsor a child in a distant village, who becomes her pen-pal, and they'll go visit him.
- Wanting Is Better Than Having: Throughout the story, Sue Ellen finds out that when you have a sibling, you often have to do things you don't want to do to get along. This applies even if you're the older one, since little kids often don't listen.
