"I wonder if it was something I ate?"
Gobo finds the legendary Grapes of Generosity, which make whoever eats them with others extremely generous. He plans to share them with his friends but finds himself not wanting to after eating some. Gobo becomes unwilling to share anything, alienating Red, who wants to borrow his Rock-Climbing Trophy for an exhibit she's organizing on athletic excellence for the Annual Jock and Jockesses Picnic.After a conversation with Mokey reveals that whoever eats the grapes alone becomes selfish and weightless, Gobo starts to float in the air, so he weighs himself down by holding a boulder on his lap. Despite this, Wembley finds out and does his best to help him. When Gobo receives the news that Red was trying to climb to the top of the Great Hall and is stuck on a ledge, Gobo confesses what he did, floats up to Red, and gives her the trophy. His being generous gives him his weight back. The Fraggles end the episode by sharing the grapes—and their clothes.
This episode contains examples of:
- An Aesop: Generosity is better than selfishness.
- Big Eater: Gobo can't stop eating the grapes.
- Blatant Lies: Gobo's first excuse to Wembley of why he's sitting on his bed with a boulder on his lap is that he must be in a falling-rock zone, and the second is that he just enjoys sitting with boulders on his lap on occasion. Wembley doesn't buy it. Eventually he comes clean and Wembley helps him out.
- Clothing Switch: At the end of the episode, the Fraggle Five are all wearing each other's clothes.Wembley: [wearing Gobo's hat and vest] Could I give you the shirt off my back?
Red: [wearing Wembley's shirt] You already have, Wembley!
Wembley: Oh, yeah! [Everyone laughs.] - Continuity Nod: Red wears her whistle from "Wembley and the Great Race."
- Don't You Dare Pity Me!: Subverted. When Red is stuck on the ledge, she claims she doesn't need saving... but she does admit she could use a hand.
- Exactly What It Says on the Tin:[Gobo is eating grapes in his room. Wembley appears at the window.]
Wembley: Hey, Gobo! Woo-hoo!
Gobo: Huh? [He hastily hides the grapes behind his back.]
Wembley: [running in] Hey, Gobo, you want to go to the Messing-Around Cave with me?
Gobo: [quickly] Uh, no. No. Uh, why would I want to go to the Messing-Around Cave?
Wembley: To mess around. What else would you do in the Messing-Around Cave?
Gobo: Oh, uh, no. You go messing around by yourself, Wembley. Eh, I'm not in the mood.
Wembley: It's no fun to mess around alone, Gobo.
Gobo: Well, sure it is. Now, go on, have fun. Skedaddle.
Wembley: All right, I'll try. [Sadly leaves.] - Failed a Spot Check: When he hears Mokey coming, Gobo hides the grapes in his hat. She calls it unique, not realizing its shape is due to something inside it, and asks where he got it. He says he made it.Mokey: That is very attractive! I mean, it's unique! Remind me to get the pattern from you, okay?
- Fight for the Last Bite: An amusing variation closes the episode: the Fraggle Five can't agree on who gets the last Grape of Generosity, because no one wants it—perhaps afraid of what happened to Gobo.
- Flea Episode: Very minor example. Sprocket has fleas, and transfers them to Doc when the two are sitting in Doc's favorite chair together at the episode's end.
- Food End: The episode ends with Gobo and his friends eating the grapes.
- A Friend in Need: Wembley to Gobo. They even sing a duet called "A Friend Is a Friend," which plays this trope straight. Later, when Red gets stuck, Gobo reveals what he did and flies up to help her.
- Friendly Tickle Torture: Wembley briefly does this to Gobo during "A Friend Is a Friend."
- Friendship Song: "A Friend Is a Friend" is a somewhat goofy example considering the things Wembley does to Gobo while the two sing it, but an example nonetheless.
- Gravity Is a Harsh Mistress: Being generous reverses the No Gravity for You principle and gives a Fraggle his gravity back. After giving Red his rock-climbing trophy, Gobo barely has time to explain this to Red before he gets his gravity back. Fortunately, they're both holding onto the trophy, which saves him from falling.
- Greed: Besides weightlessness, what happens to someone who eats the grapes alone. By contrast, if he eats them with others, he becomes extremely generous.
- Help, I'm Stuck!: Red gets stuck on a ledge trying to climb to the top of the Great Hall.
- Hide the Evidence: Gobo hides the grapes behind his back, then in his hat, and then in the trophy.
- Hypocrite: Gobo's song "The Grapes of Generosity" is all about how the grapes are making him more generous, but while he sings, he just stuffs more down his throat without sharing any grapes with the two "cave pals" who are accompanying him.
- Impossibly Delicious Food: The titular grapes. Gobo intends at first to share them with his friends. After one taste, though, he keeps devouring the grapes and trying to hide them from the others.
- Licked by the Dog: Sprocket's licking Doc's face in the final scene is a sign that the two of them have made up.
- No Gravity for You: Gobo, after eating the grapes by himself.
- Piggyback Cute: A non-romantic example. Gobo carries Wembley on his back to weigh him down.
- Playing Sick: When Gobo claims to enjoy sitting on his bed with a boulder on his lap, Wembley asks him if he's feeling all right. Gobo starts to say he's fine, then changes his mind as an idea hits him. He tells Wembley he's not feeling well, asks him to get his guitar pick from the tunnel outside, and then, while Wembley's out of the room, gets into bed in hopes that the blankets will be heavy enough to weigh him down. It takes eight blankets to accomplish this. (And it turns out that the guitar pick really was in the tunnel.)Wembley: Uh, Gobo, do you feel okay?
Gobo: Well, of course! I feel wonderf... No!
Wembley: No.
Gobo: Nooo!
Wembley: No, no!
Gobo: I feel awful, Wembley! I don't know what's wrong with me. I'm... I'm coming down with something.
Wembley: Well, you should be in bed under nice warm blankets.
Gobo: Ah, Wembley, what a dumb, silly...
Wembley: Oh, dumb...!
Gobo: ...wonderful idea!
Wembley: What?
Gobo: I'll get in bed under nice heavy blankets.
Wembley: Yeah... well, good. Let me help you get that boulder off your lap.
Gobo: [quickly] But first...
Wembley: Huh?
Gobo: Uh, but first I need my guitar.
Wembley: Well, it's, uh... [points] ...it's right there.
Gobo: Huh? [Short Beat] Pick!
Wembley: Huh?
Gobo: Guitar pick! Yeah, I dropped it... uh... in the tunnel right outside the cave door. Uh, would you get it for me while I get into bed?
Wembley: [shrugs] Sure, Gobo. If you say so.
[Wembley runs out the door. As soon as he's gone, Gobo drops the boulder and manages to cover himself with a blanket while floating above his pillow.] - The Precarious Ledge: Red gets stuck on one trying to climb to the top of the Great Hall.
- Promise Me You Won't X:Gobo: Okay, Wembley, I'll explain, but you have to promise not to laugh.
Wembley: I won't laugh, Gobo. I wouldn't laugh at you, I promise.
Gobo: I found some Grapes of Generosity, and I ate 'em without sharing, so now I'm weightless.
[Wembley laughs.]
Gobo: STOP LAUGHING!
Wembley: Who's laughing? I'm not laughing! [Laughs some more.] - Tempting Fate: Gobo, who had climbed up on a shelf to hide the grapes from Mokey, laughs off her remark about becoming weightless from eating the grapes alone. As soon as Mokey's gone, he lets go of the shelf and finds himself floating in mid-air.
- This Is My Chair: Doc and Sprocket both want to sit in Doc's favorite chair, and are unwilling to share with each other. They finally compromise by sitting in the chair together with Sprocket on Doc's lap.
- Torment by Annoyance: After Doc kicks Sprocket out of his chair, Sprocket howls continuously, thereby ensuring Doc won't enjoy sitting in the chair.
- Verbal Backspace: Large Marvin and Rumple check Gobo's room for him but don't see him because he's hanging upside down from the ceiling.Rumple: Ah, he's not here. Maybe he's already at the picnic.
Large Marvin: Oh, good. Let's go to the picnic and eat... uh, I mean, uh... see. See! - Visual Pun: While Gobo's in bed, Rumple and Large Marvin enter to tell him that Red has challenged him to a rock-climbing competition and that if he doesn't show up, he'll lose by default. This does it for Gobo, who decides to accept the challenge. He starts toward the Great Hall, carrying the boulder... but on the way, he overhears Red announcing that she'll give Gobo until the count of ten to show up. Trying to get there in time, Gobo lets go of the boulder, then floats helplessly up to the ceiling of the tunnel leading to the Great Hall.Red: That does it! Gobo Fraggle obviously doesn't want to hand over the trophy. He's hiding somewhere in disgrace.
Rumple: That's not true!
[Cut to Gobo.]
Gobo: [to himself] Rumple is right. I'm not hiding in disgrace. I'm floating on dis ceiling! - The X of Y: The episode title.
