Rosalyn comes over for yet another babysitting session so Calvin's parents can have a nice evening out. Calvin's ongoing war with his arch-nemesis reaches it's highest (or lowest) point yet when Calvin tricks Rosalyn into going outside and locks her out.
Tropes
- Bratty Half-Pint: This arc features Calvin at his absolute worst. Not only does he hide his mom's nice shoes in an attempt to force them to not be able to go out, after they leave he tricks Rosalyn into going outside and then locks her out. He spends the rest of the night watching television, eating cookies, and mocking Rosalyn's situation. Nothing about his actions are accidental, nor does he ever even delve into one of his imagine spots that might justify his actions from his own perspective. Everything he does is cruel, dangerous, and short-sighted, for no other reason than he hates Rosalyn and wants to misbehave.
- Call-Back: Calvin and Hobbes wonder if Rosalyn remembers their last babysitting adventure, where they stole her science notes and threatened to flush them down the toilet. Rosalyn immediately puts the two to bed after they ponder this, seemingly indicating that, yes, she does remember.
- Didn't Think This Through:
- It's almost as if Calvin didn't realize that his parents would be home within a few hours, and whatever short-term fun he had without adult supervision wouldn't be worth it.
- Calvin's mother points out very sternly that his locking Rosalyn outside could very easily have gone wrong had any danger happened. If he'd been hurt or a fire had started, Rosalyn couldn't have helped him.
- Disproportionate Retribution: Calvin and Rosalyn inflict this on each other. First, Rosalyn puts Calvin to bed early because she overheard him laughing about their last babysitting adventure. Second, Calvin locks Rosalyn out of the house as revenge for the early bedtime.
- I Never Said It Was Poison: Calvin hides his mom's shoes in a closet so his parents can't go out and leave him with Rosalyn. When Rosalyn shows up, he tells her they don't need her services anymore because his mom can't find her shoes. Calvin shouldn't know about Mom not being able to find her shoes, which Calvin's dad quickly calls him on.
- Laser-Guided Karma: As if getting in trouble for locking Rosalyn out of the house wasn't bad enough, Calvin and Hobbes also get sick from gorging from Oreos.
- My God, What Have I Done?: By the end of the evening, Calvin comes to regret what he did and knows he crossed a line in locking Rosalyn out of the house. Of course, he doesn't start to show remorse until after his parents have come home and chewed him out, so it's up to the reader whether it feels hollow.
- No Good Deed Goes Unpunished: Rosalyn gets locked outside when she takes pity on Calvin's apparent fear about a noise outside and goes to check so that he'll feel better.
- Only Sane Man: Averted. Hobbes usually tries to reign in Calvin's worst impulses and caution him from doing things that are truly dangerous and destructive. However, he's having just as much fun as Calvin with locking Rosalyn outside and acting without adult supervision for the evening.
- Tranquil Fury: Calvin's mom doesn't yell or scream at Calvin after getting home, instead firmly and sternly telling him how mean and dangerous what he did was, indicating that her anger at him runs deeper than most of his other bouts of misbehaving.
