Now loading recap of Operation: C.L.U.E.S.
Cutlery's
Location
Uncovers
Elementary
Solution
Now loading tropes:
- Chekhov's Gag: Kani has over-the-top reactions to his daughters' "bickering" and keeps yelling at them to stop fighting over a toy, despite everything seeming just peachy on the surface. It turns out he was more aware of things than it seemed.
- Child-Like Voice: Mrs. Sanban shifts into this while ranting about how she never got a chance to play with the Rainbow Monkey she bought for her daughters. By the end of it, her voice becomes indistinguishable from Kuki's.
- The Cowl: Tommy keeps trying to play this up, despite not being very good at it and having to attend a normal dinner.
- Dinner with the Boss: One of the last straightforward uses of this as a plot, especially in Western Animation. It's also one of the few variations with a woman (a single mother at that) hosting.
- Disability Alibi: Lydia freely admits she would have killed the Posh Party Rainbow Monkey because she's old and mean, but couldn't due to her bad back, her arthritis, and... basically every old person issue known to man.
- Education Mama: Implied with Numbuh 3's grandparents, from how her mother monologues about never being able to enjoy a toy. She seems to want to avoid it, as while strict, she actually lets her daughters have fun.
- Everyone Is a Suspect: Parodied. Numbuh 2 accuses everyone, including Numbuh 3, of the crime. He quickly rescinds his accusation of the latter after she goes into demon mode.
- Foreshadowing:
- If you watch the episode closely, several shots of Mushi's place setting lack a fork, indicating her guilt. Some of her nonverbal cues also cast suspicion on her, such as a lack of reaction to the lights going out, and even smiling a few seconds before Kuki starts freaking out.
- Kani's overreaction over Numbuh 3 and Mushi's minor disagreeableness over the Posh Party Rainbow Monkey seems just that — an overreaction. In hindsight, he was more correct than everyone, both in- and out-of-universe, realized.
- Funny Background Event: Mr. Sanban taking Mushi away to be grounded.
- Good Cannot Comprehend Evil: After she learns that it was Mushi, Numbuh 3 blames herself for not sharing the Rainbow Monkey more. Mushi laughs at her naivety and reveals that she never cared about sharing; she wanted it all to herself.
- Grounded Forever: For “murdering” her sister’s rainbow monkey, Mushi is grounded for life.
- Hypocrite: Mushi calls Kuki out for hogging the Rainbow Monkey only to reveal that she wanted it all to herself.
- I Never Said It Was Poison: At the end, when everything is solved, Numbuh 3's mom suggests to Numbuh 2 that he can try to solve the mystery of the missing turkey, he says that it's not easy discovering who would eat a whole turkey with cranberry stuffing, then Mrs. Sanban mentions that his mother never said what kind of stuffing she used, revealing himself as the one who ate it.
- Ironic Name: Mrs. Sanban's first name is "Genki" like the trope Genki Girl. She's a no-nonsense businesswoman.
- In the Back: Posh Party Rainbow Monkey is "murdered" with a fork to the back.
- Jerkass Has a Point: While Mushi was selfish, saying that she wanted the Posh Party Rainbow Monkey to herself, she made a good point when she was revealed to be the culprit: Numbuh 3 kept hogging it and wouldn't let Mushi play with it for herself, driving the latter crazy.
- Lights Off, Somebody Dies: And that somebody, in this case, is a Rainbow Monkey.
- Like Father, Unlike Son: In this episode, we meet Mr. and Mrs. Sanban, which are straight-faced strict parents, in complete contrast to Numbuh 3 and her sister.
- Medium-Shift Gag: Numbah 2's interrogation of Mushi involves a flashback suddenly switching to a live-action "dramatization", with a big man wearing a shirt that says "MUSHI" and a pair of girlish pigtails portraying Mushi.
- Not Me This Time: Lydia says she would have absolutely been the one to skewer the Rainbow Monkey were it not for her age-related debilitations keeping her from getting close to it.
- Not So Stoic: The usually straight-faced Mr. and Mrs. Sanban. Although Mr. Sanban does show his temper whenever he's frustrated over his daughters' "bickering", he truly shows a more vulnerable side when (confronted by Numbuh 2) he instantly turns into a blubbering mess weeping that he just wants his daughters to get along. And Mrs. Sanban? When Numbuh 2 accuses that she could've possibly stabbed the rainbow monkey out of envy, she gradually goes from calmly expositing how she bought the doll for her daughters to giving a salty over the top spiel about how offended she is that nobody shared the doll with her.
- One Degree of Separation: The episode starts with Numbuh 2's mother making dinner to impress her boss... which turns out to be Numbuh 3's mother.
- O.O.C. Is Serious Business: Another clue to who's guilty. Mushi loves Rainbow Monkeys almost as much as Numbuh 3 does. So why isn't she freaking out as much her sister is?
- Screw Politeness, I'm a Senior!: Despite not being the episode's antagonist, Grandma Lydia is arguably worse here than she was in "T.A.P.I.O.C.A.", at best insulting everyone else and at worst beating them with her cane at the slightest provocation. Mrs. Gilligan also admits Lydia's only there because she couldn't get her to leave.
- Shout-Out: Numbuh 2 slapping a confession out of Tommy is taken straight from Chinatown.
- Single Tear: Mrs. Sanban when first mentioning how she never had any toys to play with growing up and would've done anything for such an opportunity.
- Skyward Scream: Upon discovering her Rainbow Monkey has been stabbed, Numbuh 3 lets out one so massive it reaches beyond the galaxy.
- The Tag: Lydia angrily digging around in the fridge for something to eat after Hoagie ate the turkey.
- Throw the Dog a Bone: After all the stress and nonsense she had to endure, Mrs. Gilligan gets a promotion and a new office.
- Villain Has a Point: When Mushi says she was hogging the Posh Party Rainbow Monkey, Numbuh 3 doesn't argue and is instead genuinely apologetic.
