Recap / Fraggle Rock S 3 E 15 The Battle Of Leaking Roof

Father and son time.

A storm is brewing, and Ma wants Pa to fix a hole in the roof. Pa is scared of heights—though he won't admit it—and has been putting it off all day. Ma offers to fix the roof herself, but Pa insists that's not a queen's job. Remembering that Junior isn't afraid of heights, Pa recruits his help, planning to stay on the ground and pass Junior the tools while the latter fixes the roof. Junior, however, not realizing Pa's fear, makes him climb up with him.

Meanwhile, Ma decides to make a soufflé as a surprise. While she is getting ingredients from the garden, she screams when she accidentally picks up Boober, who had been helping Mokey gather radishes. The Fraggles make it back to the Rock, but Boober panics when he realizes that his lucky cap has fallen into Ma's basket. Mokey reluctantly agrees to go get it.

In the meantime, Junior climbs down to help Ma, but the ladder falls and breaks, leaving Pa stranded. With help from Junior, he gets down and brags to Ma about it, but realizes he forgot to repair the roof.

Ma decides to do it herself when Pa claims he has an old war wound acting up and has just told Ma that Junior's the one afraid of heights. Climbing up on the roof and reaching into her basket for a hammer, she panics when she pulls out Mokey, who is still inside it. She calls for Pa, who calls for Junior, who doesn't come because he is busy trying to control Ma's soufflé, which is rising out of proportion because she accidentally put in too much leavening. Facing his fear of heights, Pa climbs up the ladder and helps Ma down—but the roof still hasn't been fixed. Seconds later, the soufflé explodes into the ceiling, patching the leak.

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This episode contains examples of:

• And Your Reward Is Edible: While Pa and Junior are on the roof, Ma is planning to make a soufflé for them as a surprise.
  Ma: [picking radishes] Ohhh, my hardworking boys are going to be so surprised when they see the fabulous soufflé I'm making for them. Radish-and-garlic soufflé, their favorite!
• Arduous Descent to Terra Firma: When the ladder falls and breaks, Junior thinks of several harebrained ideas to get Pa down, such as having him jump. He finally sets up another ladder, but the top of it doesn't reach the roof. Junior sets up a board as a bridge from the roof to the ladder, which Pa has to inch his way across in the dark.
• Big Storm Episode: A thunderstorm is brewing on the night Pa says he'll fix the roof.
• Blatant Lies:
  • When Ma reminds Pa that the roof needs fixing and there's a storm coming...
    Pa: But... you want me to go up on the r-roof? Tonight? W-with a storm coming?
    Ma: Pa, what is the matter? Are you afraid of going up on the roof?
    Pa: [quickly] Afraid? Me? Of going up on the roof? Don't make me laugh! [Forces a guffaw.]
    Ma: Well, if you're not afraid to go up on the roof, why are you so reluctant?
    Pa: I'm not real-luctant, I'm just part-luctant. I'll tell you what, I'll do it soon. Anon. Even sooner than that.
  • "I'm Not Scared of Anything At All," sung by Pa, has him jumping at every other verse.
• Broomstick Quarterstaff: Junior, in an attempt to control the now-gigantic soufflé, begins attacking it with a broom. When the soufflé knocks the broom out of his hand, he grabs a sword.
  Junior: Okay, you... you asked for it! [He picks up the sword and fearfully aims it at the soufflé.] Touché, soufflé!
• Calling Your Nausea:
  • Up on the roof, Pa says he feels sick.
  • After Boober and Mokey run back to the Rock...
    Boober: Yuck! That Gorg had me right in the palm of her big, hairy hand!
    Mokey: I know, I know!
    Boober: I think I'm gonna be sick!
• Chekhov's Gun: Ma's soufflé turns out to be what fixes the roof.
  Pa: [after the soufflé explodes into the hole in the ceiling] Well, there you go, my dear. I said I'd fix the roof, and it's fixed!
• A Day in the Limelight: This episode focuses on the Gorgs, with Mokey and Boober making only brief appearances.
• Dreadful Singer: Mokey, looking in Ma's basket for Boober's hat, thinks Pa's singing voice is awful.
  Mokey: I've got to get out of here before they start singing again!
• Eek, a Mouse!!: Ma has this reaction when she accidentally picks up Boober, and later on when she accidentally picks up Mokey.
• Enraged by Idiocy: Deconstructed. Junior, tired of Pa yelling at him when he does something stupid, makes him promise he won't this time.
  Pa: I don't know which is gonna be harder: fixing the roof or keeping my temper with Junior!
• Entertainingly Wrong: Boober, in an attempt to explain to Mokey that he'll be jinxed without his hat, recalls a postcard sent by Uncle Matt. While Matt was in a mall, someone accidentally knocked off his hat, which landed in front of a mirror. When he started to pick it up, he thought his reflection was "an extremely ugly creature" trying to grab it.
• Face Your Fears: When Ma is on the roof, calling for help, Pa faces his fear of heights to help her down.
  Pa: We're down! We're down!
  Ma: My hero!
  Pa: I did it, I did it! And you never even knew I was afraid of heights!
  [A Beat.]
  Ma: Oh, Pa! I had no idea you were afraid of heights.
• Failed a Spot Check: Subverted. When the ladder breaks and Junior is trying to think of a way to get Pa down, his hand is resting on another ladder, which he doesn't notice... until he tells Pa that he can't think of anything.
• Good Luck Charm: Boober's hat, which falls into Ma's basket when she picks him up. Without it, he believes he'll have nothing but bad luck.
  Mokey: Oh, now, Boober, that's irrational.
  [Boober stubs his toe and starts to panic.]
  Boober: Ooh! Ow! See? See? I stubbed my toe!
  Mokey: You did?
  Boober: Ow! Already the bad luck is starting!
• Help, I'm Stuck!: When Junior climbs down from the roof to help Ma, the ladder falls and breaks, leaving Pa stranded.
• Honesty Aesop: If you're afraid, admit it.
• Impossible Leavening: Ma accidentally adds too much leavening to the soufflé because she sneezes due to having caught a cold. This makes it grow to a ridiculous size and eventually explode into the ceiling.
• I Warned You: A panicking Boober says this to Mokey after Ma drops him.
  Boober: I told you we shouldn't come out here at night! Where's the hole?
• Lethal Chef: The soufflé that Ma makes ends up exploding into the ceiling.
• Must Make Amends: Subverted. After Mokey goes back for his lucky cap, Boober worries that it will be all his fault if she runs into bad luck trying to get it. He decides to go save her... as soon as he counts to five hundred.
• Oh, Crap!:
  • Pa, when Junior makes him climb up with him.
  • Boober, on realizing that his lucky cap is gone.
• Plank Gag: Pa tells Junior they're going to fix the roof as if it were a battle and that Junior can be the general. Junior, while excitedly singing "Yes Sir, No Sir", uses an oar as a "general stick" and accidentally knocks Pa down with it.
• Please, Don't Leave Me: When Ma screams on picking up Boober, Junior climbs down to save her, despite Pa begging him not to leave him alone on the roof.
  Ma: Save me!
  Junior: Don't worry, Mommy dear! The Prince, myself, will come and save you! [Starts toward the ladder.]
  Pa: Don't... don't leave me, Junior! Junior!
  Junior: [oblivious to Pa's distress] I will save my Ma!
  Pa: [frantic] No, no! JUNIOR!
• Poor Communication Kills: Ma offers to fix the roof if Pa doesn't want to, but Pa insists that's not a queen's job. If he had just told her about his fear of heights, she would have gone up to fix the roof in the first place, and Pa wouldn't have gotten stuck on top of it.
• Primal Fear: Pa's fear of heights.
• Rake Take: At one point, while trying to think how to get Pa down from the roof, Junior accidentally steps on a rake, which hits him in the nose.
• Rash Promise: Pa promises Ma he'll fix the roof, despite his fear of heights.
• Ridiculous Procrastinator: Pa, due to his fear of heights, has been putting off fixing the roof all day. To his horror, it's now dark out, and there's a big storm coming.
• Shout-Out: When Junior asks Pa to help him watch the soufflé while Ma is up on the roof, Pa retorts, "Real men don't watch soufflés!" This is a shout-out to Bruce Fernstein's books Real Men Don't Eat Quiche and Real Men Don't Cook Quiche.
• Sick Episode: Ma has caught a cold because the hole in the roof has made the castle so drafty.
• Sneeze of Doom: While making the soufflé, Ma sneezes due to having caught a cold. This causes her to add too much leavening, which makes it grow to a ridiculous size and eventually explode into the ceiling.
• Stay in the Kitchen: Defied with Ma, when Pa says this after Ma offers to fix the roof herself.
  Pa: What? Fix it yourself?
  Ma: Mmm-hmm.
  Pa: A queen, fixing a roof? Climbing ladders, using tools? No, no, no, no! Your place, my dear, is in the kitchen, baking things, not fixing leaks.
  Ma: Dear, if you talk that way, you'll be fixing a leak in your head.
• Title Drop:
  Pa: Junior, we're gonna fix the leaking roof as if it were a battle. The Battle of Leaking Roof!
• Unconventional Food Usage: Using a soufflé to patch a hole in the roof.
• What Happened to the Mouse?: The last we see of Boober is him standing just inside the garden's entrance and counting.
• The X of Y: The episode's title.
• Your Other Left: After the first ladder breaks, Junior sets up another one and tries to give Pa directions for getting down it in the dark.
  Junior: Okay, left.
  Pa: Left?
  Junior: Right.
  Pa: Right?
  Junior: No, no, left!
  Pa: You said right!
  Junior: I mean, right that it was left!
  Pa: Junior, make up your mind! You dunderheaded...
  Junior: [warningly] Pa...!
  Pa: Uh... sweet, lovable Gorg prince!
  Junior: That's better!

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