Storyboarded by Sofia Alexander & Ryan Pequin
With a second companion in the form of Atticus now in tow, Tulip continues onward to the front of the train. Though she is no longer rushing through each train car, now stopping here and there to help each one's residents, she has returned to being deeply concerned about figuring out the logic behind her number and how it changes. As the trio enters a new train car filled with crystalline foliage and wildlife, Atticus suggests that Tulip take a break from the issue, to which she reluctantly agrees.
Reaching the end of the train car, the group discovers that the exit is too high for any of them to reach. As they puzzle on how they could possibly get to it, a crystalline man shows up to explain — through a game of charades, due to his inability to talk — that the Steward had stolen the staircase that used to be there, but that they can create a new one by singing an emotional song to a magical stone. Hours later, Tulip has failed to find a song that works, and so decides to spend the next few hours building a ladder instead; while the ladder does get her to the door, the door is unfortunately locked, meaning she has to find a song regardless.
The crystalline man explains to an angry Tulip that what's required isn't just an emotional song, but one that has personal significance to the singer. Tulip is skeptical, but goes through the list of things that she enjoys until the stone resonates to a memory about road trips with her family. Tulip is horrified and demands that the stone let her pick something less embarrassing, but with the instrumental rising, has no choice but to follow through and start singing "Word Up!"
by Cameo. Just as she begins enjoying herself, a large golem appears with a new staircase and the key to unlock the door. Tulip's number rolls down to 89, and the adventure continues...
Tropes:
- Age-Inappropriate Art: "Word Up!" is fairly tame overall, but the opening two lines ("Yo, pretty ladies around the world/Got a weird thing to show you so tell all the boys and girls") are a rather blatant Double Entendre, making Tulip's embarrassment at having to sing it that much funnier.Tulip: But it isn't emotional at all—it's just some song my family used to sing on road trips. It's about... dancing or something.
Sad One: Gross. - All There in the Script: The credits name the crystalline man as Greige.
- An Aesop: If it makes you happy, it makes you happy. Love what you love, sincerely, instead of what you think other people love.
- Dungeon Bypass: Tulip tries to fashion a ladder from parts around the Crystal Car so she can get to the door, but it fails because the door is locked.
- I Do Not Like Green Eggs and Ham: Tulip starts out horrifically embarrassed at having to sing "Word Up!", but by the end is enjoying herself, mostly because she realizes no one is mocking her (and One-One is sincerely enthused).
- Noodle Incident: Tulip, One-One and Atticus' begin the episode finishing adventures in the Italy car, including confronting a "mean grandmother" and having to deal with literal pasta-related problems.
- Orphaned Punchline: Atticus spends the time Tulip is building a ladder regaling Greige and One-One with a very long ballad from home about two brothers, which he claims cannot be abridged. Due to the montage format of the scene, only a few lines of the story are given, making it largely a mystery what the story is about.
- Road Apples: A bird poops on Tulip, but since it's made of crystal she just tosses it off without issue.
- Shout-Out: The movie Tulip describes is clearly Titanic (1997) on a zeppelin, which makes the song she sings equivalent to Céline Dion's "My Heart Will Go On".
- Silicon-Based Life: The lifeforms in the Crystal Car are, obviously, crystalline in nature.
- Songs in the Key of Lock: To exit the Crystal Car, Tulip has to sing a song to a stone that means something to her. She's mortified when it turns out to be "Word Up!" by Cameo, since she sung it with her parents on road trips.
- Suspiciously Apropos Music: Played with; "Word Up!" has some lyrics that are rather relevant to Tulip's situation* , but she stops singing before she can get to them. Humorously, the mountain monster unlocking the door for her also ties into the lyrics it preempted* .
- Take a Third Option: Defied. Tulip's initial attempts to find the song that will build a stair to the car door are rebuffed so she just builds a ladder. Unfortunately, the door is not just out of reach, but also locked.
- This Is Gonna Suck: Tulip bemoans her luck when the crystal responds to her thinking of "Word Up!", because she doesn't want to embarrass herself singing it. Unfortunately for her, the environment kicks in with backup music and she has no choice but to get into it.
- Year Inside, Hour Outside: Discussed; Tulip mentions she's been on the train so long, going to coding camp is "probably" out of the question, but she doesn't know how time works there.
- You Were Trying Too Hard: Tulip tries every emotional song she can think of, covering a variety of themes, only for all of them to fail. Turns out, all she needed to do was think of a song that was emotional for her.
