Written by: Michael Cusack
Directed by: Roberto Fino
Directed by: Roberto Fino
Dapto's residents depend on Kevin aka Koala Man to remember putting the bins out the night before garbage collection. When he uncharacteristically neglects his duties, a tall poppy rises from the Earth to wreak havoc and eat garbage.
Tropes:
- Agony of the Feet: The Tall Poppy is defeated after he accidentally steps on large version of Liam's SwordStorm figurine which causes him to fall over.
- Autobots, Rock Out!: Kevin has been trying to come up with a rock theme song for his superhero persona. During the fight with the Tall Poppy, the Poppy's vines accidentally plays Kevin's theme song on his laptop and plays during the fight.
- Botanical Abomination: The Tall Poppy is a plant monster that feeds on rubbish and grows bigger the more it eats.
- Bragging Theme Tune: Koala Man's finalized theme song is played during the credits.
- Chekhov's Gun:
- Early in the episode, Koala Man subdues Darren by splashing a vial of eucalyptus oil into his eyes resulting in him being admonished for that. When the Tall Poppy has Koala Man captured, he's able to free himself by splashing eucalyptus oil into his eyes.
- Double subverted. Kevin accidentally steps on Liam's SwordStorm figurine and warns him to stop leaving his sharp figurines on the floor. When Koala Man is fighting the Tall Poppy, Liam thinks he can help by having Vicky build a larger version of one of his SwordStorm figurine, but because Vicky points out she isn't a mechanic and didn't put an engine in it, the figurine isn't able to move. After Koala Man blinds the Tall Poppy with eucalyptus oil, the Tall Poppy accidentally steps on the large figurine which hurts his foot and he falls over.Koala Man: Liam. Thank Christ for your dumb, stupid toys!
Liam: That's all I ever wanted to hear, Dad.
- Comically Missing the Point:
- After everyone blames Kevin for making them forget to pull out their trash bins, Big Greg tells everyone to say "Fuck you, Kevin!" to Kevin and everyone does it, including Alison. When Vicky reminds Alison that Kevin is her dad, Alison realizes what she's saying and then rephrases to "Fuck you, Dad".
- When Koala Man and Spider arrive at the dump to drop off some trash that people threw on his yard and they see several mutilated dead garbage men at the site, Spider is shocked by what he saw... because he didn't know they could dump dead bodies at the dump.
- Crowd Chant: After Kevin makes everyone forget to put their trash bins out for Bin Day, Big Greg makes everyone chant "Fuck you, Kevin". Alison joins in but Vicky reminds her that's her father, so Alison rephrases to "Fuck you, Dad".
- Does Not Like Guns: Kevin turns down a pistol from his friend Spider.Spider: You need something to take your heroing to the next level... a gun. (shoves it in Kevin's face)
Kevin: Uh no thanks Spider, I'm alright.
Spider: Could be like a new koala gadget though! The safety's jammed, so she's always ready to go.
Kevin: Yeah that actually makes me want it less mate. - Establishing Character Moment: When we first see Koala Man, he sees Damo and Darren loitering and harassing the town's shopkeeper from above a tree. When Koala Man jumps off the tree to land, he ends up hurting his ankle. Darren reveals to the audience that the people of Dapto doesn't consider Koala Man a real superhero and nobody likes him. When Darren throws a newspaper at him, Koala Man dodges and throws eucalyptus oil in his eyes, which stings Darren's eyes. The shopkeeper ends up admonishing Koala Man for his action and say he went too far and we should just leave.
- For Want Of A Nail: The whole town of Dapto are so dependent on Kevin being the first person to put his trash bins out to the curbs to let others know Bin Day is tomorrow that when Kevin "forgets" to put his bins out, everyone in Dapto forgets to put their bins out, resulting in the garbage men picking up no trash which they need to feed the Tall Poppy. And when the Tall Poppy doesn't get his trash, he climbs out from his hole at the dump site and goes into the town to eat more trash and later people. It turns out that Kevin didn't forget to put his bins out and the Kookaburra put his bins back because he knew something like this would happen and wanted to make Koala Man suffer.
- Glad I Thought of It: Just before the townspeople could finish off the Tall Poppy, Koala Man tries to get them to spare him because like he's just trying to clean up Dapto like him and cutting him down would mean they're cutting themselves down, but they ignore him because they hate him and also because of their Tall Poppy Syndrome. Then Big Greg came up with the idea to spare the Tall Poppy because he's just trying to get on in the world, making everyone cheer and Koala Man pointing he just said that a moment ago.
- A Handful for an Eye: When dealing with Damo and Darren, Koala Man deals with Darren by splashing eucalyptus oil into his eyes, which hurts Darren's eyes and he gets scolded by the shopkeeper to doing that. When dealing with the Tall Poppy, Koala Man beats him by splashing eucalyptus oil into his eyes which causes him to accidentally step on a large figurine Liam asked Vicky to make which hurts his foot and he falls over.
- Monster in the Ice: The Tall Poppy was first discovered in Antarctica in 1821 when explorers discovered him encased in ice. They realize he's a threat to humanity so they sent him to Dapto to ensure no one can know of his existence.
- Properly Paranoid: When Kevin is blamed for not bringing out his trash bins to the curb to let everyone know it's Bin Day, he could have sworn he pulled them out but believes he may have forgotten because he spent last night trying to come up with a theme song for Koala Man. His Koala Man mask believes someone must have put his bin back and he has a secret enemy. By the end of the episode, it's revealed that someone did put his bins back to ruin him and it was the Kookaburra.
- Skewed Priorities: Even though Alison is being held the Tall Poppy, she's far more concerned about getting the perfect selfie and tells the Tall Poppy to stop moving so much so she can take her selfie.
- Source Music: While the Tall Poppy fights Koala Man, he accidentally plays Koala Man's music, which is on a laptop, and they fight while his music plays in the background and comes to end once the Tall Poppy is defeated.
- Spoof Aesop: Vicky realizes that she shouldn't try to fix her problems, but instead bury it deep down until it surfaces as a problem too big to ignore.
- Surprisingly Realistic Outcome: Liam asks his mother to build a mech out of junk to fight the Tall Poppy. She is able to do so but, when he tries to pilot it, reveals that she doesn't know anything about mechanics and the mech is therefore incapable of movement.
- Tall Poppy Syndrome: Discussed and played straight. Kevin thinks the media is against him because of tall poppy syndrome and he explains it to Liam. Later when Koala Man tries to convince the townspeople to spare the Tall Poppy, they get mad at him because they accuse him of trying to be better than them.
- Three-Point Landing: Parodied. Koala Man tries to make the famous dramatic entrance to stop a crime, but winds up botching it and twisting his ankle.
- Trash of the Titans: Big Greg tells everyone in Dapto to dump their trash onto Kevin's property because they blame Kevin for making them miss Bin Day by forgetting to put his bins out. Having all that trash on his property ends up making his family a target for the Tall Poppy who's craving trash.
- What the Hell, Hero?: The shopkeeper admonish Koala Man for throwing eucalyptus oil into Darren's eyes, saying that he went too far and points out eucalyptus is poisonous.
