♫ Why should you cry/While the soft light is shining on you/Safe in your sleepy cocoon ♫
Everyone except Wembley seems to have something important to do, and Wembley is feeling like his life has no meaning. But when Junior accidentally drops a tree creature's egg into the Great Hall's pond, Wembley takes it on himself to sit on it and take care of the baby tree creature inside. After it hatches, Wembley does his best to provide for it, but he doesn't know how to teach it to fly, and realizes that's something only fellow tree creatures know how to do. Going to the Gorgs' garden to watch how the other tree creatures fly so he can teach this one, he discovers two tree creatures that are the parents and are missing their baby. With help from his friends, Wembley manages to get the baby back to them.This episode contains examples of:
- Accidental Misnaming: The tree creature does this to Gobo, since it's just a baby and still learning to talk—though it knows how to say the word "Mama" and calls Wembley that.Wembley: This is my friend Gobo.
Tree Creature: Boo-Boo?
Wembley: No, not Boo-Boo. Gobo.
[The tree creature glomps Gobo.]
Tree Creature: Boo-Boo! Boo-Boo!
Wembley: Hey, he likes you!
Gobo: Uh, great. - Arbitrary Skepticism: Subverted. Even though they live in a world full of rock creatures and trumpet-nosed monsters, the other Fraggles don't believe there's a creature in the egg—until it hatches.
- Balloonacy: To return the baby tree creature to its home, Gobo takes some balloons from Doc's workshop. The Fraggles tie them to a basket that floats the tree creature out of the well's entrance and into the Gorgs' garden.
- The Bard: At the beginning of the episode, Mokey is reading her latest poem to some other Fraggles.
- Battle Couple: The tree creature's parents begin dive-bombing Junior after he announces he dropped their egg into the well leading to the Fraggles' pool.
- Birthday Episode: It's shown to be Sprocket's birthday.
- Bittersweet Ending: It's not an unhappy ending by any means, but Wembley looks rather sad after the tree creature flies away with its parents. On top of that, his friends leave him behind to brood. It's really hard to not feel sorry for him. Nevertheless, it's an important episode for his Character Development.
- Character Name and the Noun Phrase: The episode's title.
- Continuity Nod: Toward the end, Junior is wearing his colander helmet from "The Thirty-Minute Work Week."
- Cry into Chest: At one point, Boober breaks down sobbing on Mokey's shoulder because the tree creature is wrecking his kitchen.
- Cute Clumsy Creature: The tree creature breaks Wembley's ladder trying to climb it, accidentally knocks Red into the pond, and makes a wreck of Boober's kitchen.
- Death by Irony: This nearly happens to Red, thanks to the tree creature.Red: Wembley, if you don't get rid of that monster, I will. He's a menace! He knocked me into the pond right in the middle of my lecture on water safety. I could have drowned!
- Didn't Think This Through: Junior sees the tree creature's parents with the egg. When they fly off for a short time, he wants to get the egg to make an omelette for Pa. Not only does he not stop to think that the egg belongs to its parents, he decides to get it out of the nest by shaking the tree it's in, not pausing to think how fragile eggs tend to be. The egg winds up falling down the well.Junior: Come on, egg! Come on down! You're gonna be late for dinner.
- Dude, Not Funny!: Wembley's reaction when Gobo laughs on hearing the tree creature call Wembley "Mama".
- Egg McGuffin: Wembley takes it on himself to sit on the tree creature's egg.
- Flight: Wembley and the other Fraggles try to teach the baby tree creature this, in song: "Fly to the Sky (Learn to Fly)".
- Forgotten Birthday: Doc is so excited about the new book he's reading, which is supposed to heighten his observational skills, that he forgets Sprocket's birthday. And that's despite the workshop being filled with decorations, balloons and a "HAPPY BIRTHDAY SPROCKET" banner. Fortunately, Doc finally notices—albeit a day late—and apologizes.
- Forgot to Mind Their Head: Uncle Matt bumps his head on a bar of an airplane.
- The Freelance Shame Squad: Nearly all the other Fraggles ridicule Wembley for sitting on the egg and for believing that there's a creature in it. When that's exactly what happens, it becomes an in-universe case of The Cuckoolander Was Right.
- Great Big Book of Everything: Wembley is in a sad mood but can't quite put his finger on how he's feeling. Boober looks up Wembley's symptoms in one of his books.Boober: Maybe I can help you. I'll get my book of strange moods and weird feelings and see if I can find anything.
- I Am Not Your Father: Wembley tells the baby tree creature he's not its mama. The latter erupts into tears.Wembley: Oh, no, no, don't cry! It's not as bad as that. You see, you have a real ma, and a pa, too!
- Imprinting: The baby tree creature, on seeing Wembley right after hatching, starts calling him "Mama".
- Jerkass Ball: Nearly all the other Fraggles take this toward Wembley when he sits on the egg. Red is particularly mean.
- Novelization: Laura Phillips, who wrote the screenplay for the episode, adapted it into a children's book in 1985, also titled Wembley's Egg.
- Papa Wolf: Wembley assumes the role when—and even before—the egg hatches, refusing to allow the egg to be moved lest the creature inside die, taking care of the baby tree creature, and panicking when it goes missing.
- Parental Love Song: "(Sleep by the) Light of the Moon", sung by Wembley to the yet-unhatched tree creature.
- Platonic Declaration of Love: Wembley, after making the very difficult decision of returning the tree creature to its parents, declares his love for the creature as the two of them share a Big Damn Hug.Wembley: I'm taking good care of you, aren't I? And we love each other. And... and you give my life meaning... like in Boober's book.
- Rhetorical Question Blunder: Wembley does this when Gobo first sees the tree creature.Gobo: But what's it doing in my bed?
Wembley: Well, it couldn't sleep on the floor. - Skewed Priorities: Boober has these when the tree creature gets into his kitchen.Boober: [running in] Wembley, your monster is wrecking my kitchen!
Wembley: Oh, no! He might get hurt! [Runs off toward the kitchen.]
Boober: He might get hurt? [to Red] You should see what he did to my cauliflower pie! - Smorgasbord Test: Wembley offers the tree creature a radish, some mashed peas, and an artichoke soufflé, but it doesn't like any of them. He finally manages to get it fed when Mokey tells him that tree creatures eat seeds.
- Soft Water: The egg falls several feet from the tree into the Great Hall's pond without breaking. The tree creature also turns out to be fine.
- Staircase Tumble: At one point, the tree creature falls down the steps leading into Gobo and Wembley's room.
- Tempting Fate: Boober claims the meaning of life won't come falling down from the sky. Cue the egg.
- This Means War!: Junior says this to the tree creature's parents when they won't stop attacking him.
- Too Dumb to Live: Downplayed. When the tree creature's parents are looking for their egg, Junior tells them he dropped it in the well. They promptly begin dive-bombing him.
- Unable to Cry: At the beginning of the episode, Wembley wants to cry but can't. He comes close to tears, though, after his friends mock him for sitting on the egg.
- Verbal Backspace: Gobo and Wembley introduce Mokey to the baby tree creature (which is about the size of a Fraggle), explaining that it's starving and doesn't like soufflés.Mokey: Ohhh, the poor little...
[She stops and looks up at the tree creature.]
Mokey: ...big thing!
