Bait-and-Switch: MePhone4 describes the episode's special guest as "a terrifying pointy-headed authority figure who could end [his] show for good", whose approval he craves, and who he always feared would come, making it seem like Steve Cobs has returned. Then it's revealed that he was actually referring to television critic Ballpoint Pen. Lampshaded by Nickel.
Nickel: Oh. Thought it might've been someone else.
Bait-and-Switch Silhouette: A silhouette of Steve Cobs appears as MePhone4 fearfully describes their special guest in a way that makes it sound like he's talking about him. Then the dark, dramatic background lights up and it's revealed that the silhouette was actually Ballpoint Pen the TV critic.
Brick Joke: When the characters are preparing to take a group picture at the start the episode, Nickel refuses to join them, telling them to just edit him in later. In The Stinger, the picture is used as an In Memoriam following the characters' deaths and resurrections twice in the episode, with a picture of Nickel poorly edited into it.invoked
Double-Meaning Title: While the title definitely refers to the contestants getting body-swapped for the challenge, it can also refer to being built as a replica for Bow, but having neither Bow's mind nor her memories.
Flashback-Montage Realization: Nickel's realisation that Clover's luck caused the episode's deadly accident and subsequent "Freaky Friday" Flip in so she would lose her Plague of Good Fortune is accompanied by grayscale flashbacks to Clover wishing she wasn't lucky, then to the accident (with an added shot revealing that one of her butterfly friends caused the accident by landing on the under-construction bridge and causing it to fall), then to MePhone4 causing the flip by messing up the resurrection.
Foreshadowing: While the episode's teaser was left intentionally vague, there were instances where Paintbrush was shown lying motionless on the floor and Yin looking angrier than Yang when it's usually the other way around. The actual episode brings context to those scenes.
"Freaky Friday" Flip: After a promo photoshoot goes wrong when MePhone4 literally drops a bridge on the contestantsnote minus Bow and Nickel, who gets pushed out of harm's way and refuses to participate respectively, he hastily recovers them all at once to not look bad in front of his harshest critic Ballpoint Pen and accidentally causes the cast to regenerate into the wrong bodies. The two-way switches are as follows:
Clover and Test Tube, which the former is absolutely ecstatic about since her "cursed" luck didn't carry over to her new body, so much so that Clover doesn't want to switch back.
Although their problems are minimal compared to the rest, Balloon and Goo have trouble moving, as one gains limbs for the first time while the other loses all his. Once the challenge commences, which is to race to the golden center of the bridge, the two are so painfully slow that it justifies the two-week upload gap between the first and second parts of the episode.
Silver Spoon tries exploiting Candle's abilities in her body but fails miserably due to not understanding her "Inner-flame".
Paintbrush is definitely the most vocal about switching with the Floor. Alongside the same moving problems as Goo and Balloon, Paintbrush has a "Best Reality Show Star" award at stake that could come crashing down if Ballpoint Pen finds Floory's performance dissatisfactory, since the former is not aware of the change.
An interesting case would be Yin-Yang, who are already Sharing a Body but have their halves flipped so the white side is chaos and the black side is order (which actually aligns with the real yin-yang symbol).
Hypocritical Humor: When Ballpoint Pen laughs at his own joke about burnout culture, Silver Spoon says that his laugh sounds ridiculous before laughing his own Noblewoman's Laugh.
The Inspector Is Coming: The show is visited by television critic Ballpoint Pen, who is going to review the episode live as it airs, and whose review could make or break the show's chances to get nominated for Best Reality Show at the Groscers. Things are complicated when the characters are all killed at once and the visit forces MePhone4 to rush their resurrection, causing a mass "Freaky Friday" Flip. At the end of the episode, after telling MePhone4 that he should create something he actually believes in instead of just trying to make him happy, Ballpoint Pen gives him the ominous "review" of "You can't do this forever." before disappearing into thin air.
Last-Second Word Swap: When Test-Tube-in-Clover's-body's luck causes Cabby's file on Bow to catch on fire before Test Tube can read it to Bow, Bow is upset and yells that it was her "only chance at... at learning fun facts", as she tries to hide the fact that she's having doubts about what she is and is looking for answers.
Look Behind You: MePhone4 uses this so he can finish recovering the contestants he accidentally killed without Ballpoint Pen noticing.
Ballpoint Pen: Did everyone else quit? MePhone4: Oh, of course not! Everyone's... riiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiight... [recovery finishes loading] over there! [points, presses the recovery button while Ballpoint Pen looks] Phew... Sorry, I meant, here!
Multi-Part Episode: This episode is the season's two-parter after Season 1's "Journey Through Memory Lane" and Season 2's "Kick the Bucket".
"Not So Different" Remark: Test Tube notes in "Out of Body Experience" that it was hypocritical of her to get mad at Cabby for expecting everyone to act exactly the way her notes said they would when Test Tube herself expected Bowbot to act exactly the way she programmed her.
Odd Name Out: Clover's butterfly friends are named Cordelia, Catalina, Cassandra, and Jake.
Bowbot: [...] at the end of the day, MePhone can put you all back in your own bodies. But me? ...I'll be stuck here. In a body that isn't mine. Because I'm. Not. Bow.
Rhetorical Question Blunder: Nickel decides that he doesn't want to be part of the group photo the other contestants are taking and wanders off. When he returns after they've all been crushed by MePhone4's bridge, he notices the drop in mood and asks who died. A stunned MePhone4 replies, "Everyone, Nickel. Everyone died."
Stating the Simple Solution: Silver-Spoon-in-Candle's-body goes to lengths to extinguish her flame so he can use her levitation abilities to reach the middle of the bridge and win the challenge, only for nothing to happen when he finally succeeds. Candle-in-Silver-Spoon's-body then points out that he could've just walked to the middle, like she did while he was busy trying to put out the flame.
Stealth Hi/Bye: At the end of the episode, Ballpoint Pen somehow manages to disappear while MePhone4 reads the short, one-sentence review he gave him, leaving the latter mystified.
The Stinger: The end of the episode has the group picture the characters took earlier in the episode being used as an in-universe In Memoriam after they're killed and resurrected twice throughout the episode. With Nickel (poorly) edited in, like he suggested earlier.
Stumbling in the New Form: This is experienced by several contestants after their "Freaky Friday" Flip, with the most striking example being the Floor and Paintbrush having to adjust to a body with/without limbs.
Suddenly Shouting: Silver Spoon after Paintbrush fishes for a Groscer nomination as Best Reality Show Star:
Silver Spoon:[laughs] In a begging mood, are we? THAT AWARD WILL BE MINE!
Voices Are Mental: Apparently the contestants who switched bodies also switched voices to keep track of who's who. MePhone4, Bowbot, and Nickel realise the voice change and hence the switch, but not Ballpoint Pen, who came on to critique the show.
