Momentarily without a mission, the Planeteers can't agree what to do. Then their latest assignment sees the return of Captain Pollution and all of them being trapped in a salt mine with Plunder and Sludge's toxic waste. Can some understanding come out of these negative circumstances?
This episode includes examples of the following tropes:
- Abusive Parents: During Wheeler's story, he reveals that his father is an alcoholic with a nasty habit of belittling his son. In fact, he's the reason that Wheeler pretty much ran away from home (his father drove him to the breaking point by calling him a worthless loser for not being able to fulfill his demand for another bottle).
- Canary in a Coal Mine: Linka tells the others that she used to care for the mine canaries in her old town. Her flashback shows a group of miners escaping from a mine after the air goes bad. One of them, Linka's father, carries the now dead canary and laments that she will be devastated. She is.
- Death by Origin Story: While trying to get his older teammates to stop bickering, Ma-Ti tells them what happened the night his parents died. The coalition they were trying to form to protect the rainforest was at odds over racial differences. Despite the threats of their opponents, they stayed to set an example while sending their son to stay with his grandfather for his own safety, telling him to follow his heart no matter what. The squabbling factions pulled together in the wake of their murders and Ma-Ti was left with a lesson on the importance of teamwork.
- The Dog Bites Back: Looten Plunder and Sly Sludge fire henchman Ooze and strand him in the desert. Ooze manages to walk back to civilization, suffering from heat-stroke and very angry. He testifies against Plunder and Sludge about their illegal dumping operation, getting them in a lot of trouble. Ooze clarified that he doesn't care about the environment, he just wanted revenge for what they did to him.
- Human Ladder: During one escape attempt, Kwame and Wheeler, the two tallest Planeteers, form a ladder. It doesn't work too well; Wheeler eventually stumbles and they both fall to the ground, knocking down a few barrels of toxic waste dumped in there by the villains. As a result, one of the barrels ends up cracking open, and poisonous fumes start leaking out.
- I Will Only Slow You Down: Wheeler insists the others should go on without him after he injures his ankle, snapping at them to leave him alone. Gi, of course, insists that No One Gets Left Behind.
- My Greatest Second Chance: After Wheeler injures his leg, Gi tells her own backstory as she insists on helping him walk, explaining that she lost a dolphin friend of hers to pollution after being forced to leave her when a company bought the shoreline. She closes by saying she's not letting history repeat itself.
- Noisy Shut-Up: At the beginning of the two-parter, the Planeteers, temporarily without a mission, are trying to decide what issues they should tackle now, but end up splitting into two sides – Gi and Linka versus Kwame and Wheeler. Ma-Ti tries to reconcile them all, but they don't seem to hear him. They don't even notice Gaia appearing right in front of them. She observes them for a few seconds, clearly displeased, and finally unleashes a few thunders to stop their bickering.Gaia: Time OUT!
- Origins Episode: Downplayed; while we only get a snippet from each of the Planeteers' pasts, it's still one of the biggest episodes for what the team's lives were like before they were recruited.
- Pop-Culture Pun Episode Title: The title refers to the slogan for the United Fund.
- Shout-Out:
- Wheeler mockingly calls one of the villains "the wizard of ooze".
- While fighting with Captain Planet, Captain Pollution tells his counterpart to "make [his] day."
- Take Care of the Kids: Ma-Ti's parents insisted that he stay with his grandfather because the upcoming confrontation with the clear-cutting advocates could be dangerous. Given that his parents begin crying once he's out of sight, it's clear that they knew they would probably die and were making sure their son had a home.
- Tragic Keepsake: During Ma-Ti's flashback, he recalls finding his father's necklace in the village's ruins after clear-cutting advocates torched the place. He kept it with him.
- Tragic One-Shot Character: Gi mentions a dolphin friend of hers called Tisa, whom she had to leave behind when Sternkill Industries bought the location her parents (marine biologists) had been staying in to study. Desperate to return, Gi saved up every cent she could get for a long time...only to find the area polluted and Tisa dying.
- We ARE Struggling Together: When they apparently don't have a mission, Gi, Linka, and Kwame get into an argument about what sort of environmental work they should do. Kwame wants to plant trees, which Gi and Linka insist will take too long to benefit things. Gi and Linka want to save animals and birds from an oil spill, which Kwame decries as missing the big picture. Ultimately, Gaia interrupts and tells them they do have a mission.
- Wounded Hero, Weaker Helper: The Planeteers have to work together to rescue Captain Planet after Captain Pollution runs him ragged trying to stop his schemes and then pounces.
