Outer Space (North American version): Doc, in a bad mood due to a severe case of the hiccups, blows up at Sprocket, and the dog angrily storms out to the front porch and refuses to come back inside.
This episode contains examples of:
- An Aesop: Don't take your friends for granted; celebrate their talents.
- Antagonist in Mourning: Junior sets a trap for the Fraggles and is exuberant when he thinks he's caught one. But when he thinks he's killed one, it's a whole other story. In an effort to make amends, he tearfully gives Rags a funeral. After singing "The Joke Isn't Funny Anymore", he gives her a farewell salute on his bugle.Junior: I'm so sorry, little Fraggle. But I'll say farewell with the Gorgs' finest salute, the official and serene "Holy Gorg Toot to the Dead."
- Apology Gift: Mokey's friends are building a boat in Sweetwater Grotto. She offers to help after she's gathered radishes, but they awkwardly decline, believing her practical skills to be lacking. Later, when she tries to tell them her plan to get rid of the trap, they brush it off without even hearing it. Still later, while working on the boat, they're throwing barbs at her poetry, not realizing Mokey is within earshot. When she hears them call her "White Birds and Death" poem boring, Mokey runs off in tears. At the end of the episode, they praise the cleverness of her plan—and not only does Boober ask her to recite her poem again, but Red lets Mokey name the boat. She christens it "The White Bird."
- Attending Your Own Funeral: Mokey goes to hers to show Red and Gobo she hasn't died.
- The Bard: Mokey, who often writes poetry.
- Burying a Substitute: Junior almost does this unintentionally after digging a grave in the garden for the "dead Fraggle."
- Character Name and the Noun Phrase: The episode's title.
- Chekhov's Gun: Early on, Junior is showing Ma that the trap has a bell, set to ring when the trap goes off. Later, Junior, Red, and Gobo are gazing in shock at Rags, thinking it's Mokey's corpse. Mokey is calling out to Red and Gobo that she's alive, but they're too far away to hear her, and she can't get to them because Junior, after briefly picking up the trap and accidentally letting Red and Gobo into the garden, has put it back down. It occurs to Mokey that she can use the bell to alert her friends, but how to ring it without getting in the trap? Remembering the boat, she uses one of the oars to ring the bell. It doesn't get them to look in her direction, but it does alert Junior, who, relieved that he hasn't caught another Fraggle, takes the trap out of the garden's entrance. This not only lets Mokey in but gives Red and Gobo a chance to finally take a look in the box Junior has put Rags in to bury her.Junior: Wha? Another Fraggle? Huh. [He starts toward the entrance to the garden.]
Gobo: What's that?
Red: I don't know, but now's our chance to get to Mokey. [They start toward the box.]
Junior: Oooh! [He picks up the trap.] Ohhh, there are no Fraggles in there, thank goodness! I'm gonna put this old trap away. These funerals are emotionally exhausting!
[Mokey slips into the garden and hurries toward her friends.] - Comically Missing the Point: Ma does this when Junior tells her about the "Fraggle" he just caught in his trap.Junior: I just caught a Fraggle. It's... it's terrible.
Ma: No, no, Junior. I think catching Fraggles is terrible. You think catching Fraggles is wonderful. Go look in the mirror. You've forgotten which one of us you are again. - Companion Cube: Mokey becomes attached to Rags and is sorry to have to let her go.
- Company Cross References: In a blink-and-you'll-miss-it moment in the North American Traveling Matt segment, a little girl is seen carrying a Scooter doll.
- Death Is a Sad Thing: Junior is in tears when he thinks he's killed Mokey, deciding to give her a funeral.
- Didn't Think This Through: Mokey, hurt by her friends' bad-mouthing her plans and poetry, doesn't let them in on her plan—not stopping to think that this could easily lead them to believe that she got caught in the trap herself.
- Dramatic Irony: The audience knows Mokey's okay and that Junior "killed" a dummy, but Junior, Red, and Gobo don't know that.Gobo: It was Mokey. I'm sure it was Mokey.
Red: No, no, it wasn't her. [tearfully] She's my best friend.
Gobo: Her plan must have gone wrong. An accident.
Red: But... she's my best friend! You don't understand! She's my BEST FRIEND! - Dressing to Die: In Mokey's Fantasy Sequence, in which she considers sacrificing herself in the trap so that Junior will remove it, she's wearing a long white dress with a few sequins on it and has flowers in her hair.
- Due to the Dead: Lampshaded. Red and Gobo, seeing Junior digging the grave, plan to take Mokey back to the Rock to give her what they consider a proper funeral.Red: We can't let a Gorg bury her in the garden.
Gobo: You're right. She belongs with us, in the Rock. - Everything Has Rhythm: After creating Rags, Mokey dances with her while singing "Ragtime Queen."
- Failed a Spot Check: Junior, noticing that Rags isn't moving, thinks she's a real Fraggle and that she's died in the trap. Since Red and Gobo weren't in on Mokey's plan and can only see Rags from a distance, they also think it's Mokey and that she's dead.
- Faking the Dead: Mokey does this by throwing Rags into the trap, in order to trick Junior into removing it. What she hadn't counted on was Red and Gobo also thinking her dead.
- Five Stages of Grief: When Red and Gobo think Mokey is dead, Red goes through denial, and then she and Gobo go through anger at Junior.
- Gone Horribly Right: Mokey's plan to make Junior think he's caught a Fraggle works—so well that he, Red, and Gobo think Mokey has died in the trap. The latter two think this because Mokey didn't let them in on her plan, though.
- Gone Horribly Wrong: Red and Gobo think Mokey's plan has done this.
- Grief Song: "The Joke Isn't Funny Anymore." When Junior thinks he's killed Mokey, he remorsefully sings it to Rags.
- Group Hug: After Mokey finally gets into the garden and shows Red and Gobo that she's alive, they all share one.
- Hats Off to the Dead: For the funeral, Junior dons a black armband and a black top hat with a white plume. Midway through "The Joke Isn't Funny Anymore", he sorrowfully removes his hat.
- Heartfelt Apology: At the end, Mokey's friends apologize for mocking her plan and her poetry, and Mokey apologizes for the trouble her not letting them in on the plan caused.Gobo: The idea with Rags the doll was a great one, Mokey.
Wembley: I'll say!
Boober: Yeah.
Gobo: I'm sorry we made fun of your plan.
Mokey: Well, as a plan, it was okay. As a trick, it was terrible!
Red: Hey, hey, I've got an idea! Why don't we let Mokey name our new boat?
Gobo: Yeah, terrific!
Wembley: Yeah!
Gobo: And afterward, we can go exploring in it.
Red: Oh, boy!
Boober: Wait a minute, wait a minute. I have something to say. Mokey, I'm sorry we made fun of your poems. They're so beautifully tragic. Would you do the one again about white birds and death?
Mokey: Well, of course, little Boober.
Red: Oh, no.
Boober: Good. I'll take the part of the gravedigger. - Heroic Sacrifice: Mokey, while making notes in her diary on how to get rid of the trap, considers this, imagining herself as a sacrificial princess throwing herself into the trap so that Junior will remove it. She abandons this plan when she stops to think that the sacrifice part could be painful, deciding instead to construct a dummy.
- I Just Want to Have Friends: The real reason why Junior wants to catch Fraggles: he hopes to befriend them. When he thinks he's killed Mokey, he remorsefully sings "The Joke Isn't Funny Anymore" to Rags.
- Jerkass Realization:
- Doc goes through one when he gets irritable due to a case of the hiccups and snaps at Sprocket, who was trying to help cure them. He tries to apologize, but Sprocket is still mad and refuses to come back in the house, even though there's a storm outside and he's afraid of thunder. He forgives Doc by the end of the episode.
- Mokey's friends go through one after saying her poems are bad and her plans are worse, not realizing Mokey is within earshot. They apologize to her at the end of the episode, and she readily forgives them.
- Meaningful Name:Mokey: [singing to Rags] You're made of rags and scraps and tags...
- Mocking the Mourner: After Red and Gobo reunite with Mokey and realize the "dead Fraggle" is a dummy, Junior walks over, and Gobo shouts, "Hey, dummy Gorg, you captured a dummy Fraggle!" Junior, on hearing this, is about to pounce on them, but Gobo's words sink in, and the Fraggles get away while he's examining Rags more closely.
- My God, What Have I Done?:
- Junior, when he thinks he's killed a Fraggle.Junior: I want to give it a funeral.
Ma: That's very sweet of you, dear.
Junior: I'm not sweet. I killed it! - Mokey, when she realizes that her plan has backfired.Mokey: What have I done to my friends?
- Junior, when he thinks he's killed a Fraggle.
- No Listening Skills: A Compressed Vice example. When Mokey tries to tell her friends her plan to construct a dummy...Mokey: Never fear. Here's what we'll do. Now...
Red: We got to do something!
Mokey: Right. And this is what it'll be...
Gobo: Okay, Wembley, Boober, you check the pantry and count the radishes.
[Mokey taps on the ground with an oar to get their attention.]
Mokey: All of you seem to forget that it is my job to gather radishes in the Gorgs' garden.
Boober: Well, yeah...
Gobo: Sure...
Wembley: So what?
Mokey: So it is my job to get rid of the silly trap. And I have a wonderful idea!
Boober: It can't possibly work.
Red: You tell her, Boober.
Mokey: You haven't even heard it yet!
Red: Well, let's face it, Mokey. Your plans are worse than garlic gumdrops.
Mokey: You guys never like my plans, do you? [A Beat.] Oh, well, you probably wouldn't like this one either. It doesn't matter. It's all right. [Sadly walks off.] - Not Now, We're Too Busy Crying Over You: Junior puts the "dead Fraggle" in a box, planning to bury it. After he walks away, giving Red and Gobo a chance to look inside, they see Rags and start crying, thinking it's Mokey. Meanwhile, Mokey, who has finally managed to get into the garden, walks up behind them.Mokey: It's a dummy.
Gobo: [crying] It's a dummy.
Red: [crying] It's a dummy.
Mokey: Mmm-hmm.
Red and Gobo: [in unison] A dummy? [They turn around.] Mokey!
[The three share a group hug.] - Parting-Words Regret: Red and Gobo think Mokey is dead and regret the terrible things they said about her poetry. At the end of the episode, she finally manages to show them that she's alive.
- Reports of My Death Were Greatly Exaggerated: Junior thinks Rags is Mokey and that he's killed her in the trap. Since Red and Gobo weren't in on Mokey's plan and can only see Rags from a distance, they also think it's Mokey and that she's dead. Mokey is calling out to them that she's alive, but they're too far away to hear her, and she can't get to them because Junior, after briefly picking up the trap and accidentally letting Red and Gobo into the garden, has put it back down.
- Right Behind Me: Mokey's friends complain about her plans and poetry just as she enters from behind them, about to introduce Rags. Cue their My God, What Have I Done? reactions when they realize Mokey is standing there. They start to say something, but she runs off in tears.Mokey: [sniffling] They don't even like my poetry. Even Gobo. Oh, how dare they call my "White Birds and Death" poem boring! Well... it has to be long, to give the birds time to migrate.
- Separated by the Wall: The trap acts as this, with Red and Gobo out in the garden, tearfully watching a funeral for who they think is Mokey, and Mokey on the other side, calling out in vain that she's alive.
- She Had a Name: Red and Gobo get angry at Junior for thinking Fraggles don't have names.Junior: I wonder... do I need a tombstone? No. No, no, tombstones are for names. Fraggles don't have names.
Red: Her name was Mokey, and she had friends that loved her!
Gobo: And that's something you'll never have! - Tears of Remorse: Junior sheds them when he thinks he's killed Mokey.
- Wrong Assumption:
- Junior has baited the trap with a garlic gumdrop, which he assumes no Fraggle will be to resist the smell of. To Mokey, it's more like a stink.Mokey: [holding her nose] Blech! What's that terrible smell?
[She peers through the trap and out of the hole, then ducks out of sight as Ma walks over.]
Ma: Junior, what's that lovely fragrance?
Junior: Oh, it's a new invention, Ma. This trap is really tricky. I'm using bait! Yeah, how could a Fraggle resist the aroma of garlic gumdrops?
[The scene switches back to Mokey's viewpoint.]
Mokey: Blech! That won't be hard. - Red, Gobo, and Junior think Mokey has died in the trap.Junior: [staring at Rags] The Fraggle is dead.
[Red and Gobo gasp.]
Gobo: Our... our Mokey is dead!
- Junior has baited the trap with a garlic gumdrop, which he assumes no Fraggle will be to resist the smell of. To Mokey, it's more like a stink.
