Airdate: October 12, 1999
Both episodes written by: Joe Fallon
"D.W. Tale Spins"
- Art Shift: D.W.'s take on The Odyssey is in a thicker outline with simpler backgrounds.
- Continuity Nod: Thora tells D.W. that she was a sister of three older brothers.
- Karma Houdini: Out of the monsters O-D.W.-us dealt with, only Poseidon (Francine) and Charybdis (Arthur) never got any comeuppance for their actions. Though in Poseidon's case, his actions were justified towards O-D.W.-us as she stole something that belonged to him.
- Let's See YOU Do Better!: D.W.'s conflict in the episode is that she wants to be as smart or better than her brother Arthur. The opening has her pretending to be him, but that gets shot as Arthur taunts her that she can't be like him as she doesn't know math. The main plot has her arguing with Arthur that she can write a better story than the Veggiemorphs books, but she gets defeated as Arthur taunts her that "If you can't write a story, then you're wrong." Thankfully, D.W. gets better after Thora tells her that stories don't have to be written.
- Our Sirens Are Different: The Sirens in D.W's take of The Odyssey try to lure the heroine into crashing the ship after hearing them playing "Crazy Bus". Her crew had to tie her down to the mast and wear earmuffs until they passed them.
- Shout-Out: The Veggiemorphs books are quite clearly a take on Animorphs.
- Uncertain Doom: It's never stated what happened to the rest of O-D.W.-us' crew after being struck by lightning as only O-D.W.-us was seen still alive at the end.
- Universal-Adaptor Cast: The cast of D.W.'s take on The Odyssey has herself and her friends as the heroes, while her brother Arthur and his friends are the monsters.
"Prunella Gets it Twice"
- Birthday Episode: The episode is about Prunella's birthday.
- Comically Missing the Point: After Prunella gifts Francine a Polly Locket of her own, she offers her own photo to put in the doll's locket head. To this, Francine casually turns it down and says she'll put Nemo's photo in there instead. Prunella is a bit stunned by this ironic lack of appreciation. Thankfully, she doesn't push the issue any further than that.
- Explain, Explain... Oh, Crap!: After seeing everything Francine did to acquire a custome Polly Locket for her, Prunella is outraged at her past self for callously tossing aside the gift just because she already received a Polly Locket for her half-birthday. She rants about how so much effort went into it. ...before she remembers that the uncaring brat who disregarded this token of friendship is herself.
- Heel Realization: Towards the end of her dream, after witnessing how inconsiderate it was to toss aside the Polly Locket Francine got for her, Prunella comes to the conclusion that she ruined her own party by making Francine feel all her personal sacrifices came down to nothing.
- Identical Stranger: For some reason, the "Ghost of Lunch Tomorrow" in Prunella's dream looks identical to Binky save for wearing a black cloak.
- It's All About Me: Prunella is guilty of this twice over. First, when she sees the Polly Locket Francine got her, she's more worried she'll get other repeat presents or worse. Second, she initially thinks Francine's downtrodden attitude is what almost ruined her birthday party, never once wondering why she was too unhappy to help celebrate. Lastly, she writes off that perhaps Francine was acting out of jealousy of not being the center of attention. It's only after her dream that she understands that she couldn't be further from the truth: Francine was depressed over having disappointed Prunella in giving her a present she already had.
- Magic Realism: Despite the mostly grounded-in-reality nature of the series, this episode features real ghosts who appear in Prunella's dream.
- Oblivious Guilt Slinging: An indirect one. After Prunella wakes from her dream showing how inconsiderate she was towards Francine's present, she takes a second look at the Polly Locket she gave. Its sweater reads "You are Great". This disheartens Prunella, who now recognizes she tossed aside a present that came from the heart.
- Once More, with Clarity: Played with. The aftermath of Prunella receiving (and discarding) the second Polly Locket is shown, with Francine's depressed attitude bringing down the mood of the party. The entire episode is about exploring the context of why she was unhappy throughout the party. Prunella sees for herself that Francine made lots of sacrifices to buy the Polly Locket just to thank her for helping her get an A+ on the History Exam. She even went the extra mile to get a kindly message custom-sown onto the doll's sweater. But when it came time to give it to Prunella, the birthday girl instead unceremoniously mentions she already got this present and tosses it aside, not regarding how hurt Francine looks.
- Real After All: The ghosts that Prunella encounters in her dream are real. Somehow, one of them looks identical to Binky.
- Shout-Out: At one point, the Ghost of Presents Past narrates how one of Francine's hardships was carrying around her "little brother" Tiny Tim.
- Take a Third Option: At the start, Prunella had only two options for how to react to a gift someone else already got her. She could've accepted it and been stuck with something she already had or taken the option she did choose: discard it. After learning how heartless the latter option was, Prunella approaches Francine with the third option in question: keep the doll Francine gave, and have the first Polly Locket given to Francine, complete with a personalized "#1 Friend" on its sweater.
- Throw the Dog a Bone: The story ends with Prunella truly repaying Francine's hard work to buy the personalized Polly Locket by gifting her the Polly Locket she previously recieved.
- Unwitting Instigator of Doom: Rubella got Prunella the Polly Locket she always wanted on her half-birthday. Little did either sister know that this would set off the events where Prunella would unappreciatively write off the Polly Locket Francine would give her for her actual birthday.
