Roger informs Blythe that Mona Autumn, a critic for Tres Blasé magazine, will make a critique of Blythe's pet backpack she designed over the summer, unaware that Mona has a knack for verbally destroying anyone she dislikes. Blythe knows, however, and the news fills her with dread. Meanwhile, the day camp gets a temporary new member: Wiggles McSunbask, an alligator who, after emerging from his pet carrier, immediately trips all of the regulars with his tail and walks away.
Ignoring Wiggles for the moment, Zoe and Minka find themselves embedded inside a pile of rejected designs of Blythe's—finding out Mona will be coming that afternoon, she frantically comes up with designs but keeps coming up short for Mona's expected expectations, not satisfied with the backpack she came up with during the summer. A worried Roger peeks in and offers Blythe some fresh air to clear her head.
The moment Blythe steps out, however, Wiggles re-emerges from his corner and starts wrecking everything in sight. Russell grumbles about Wiggles's behavior, so Penny Ling tries to politely introduce herself. She finds him tearing up a teddy bear, however, and with a roar, Wiggles scares Penny into retreating back with the other pets. Undeterred, Pepper and Vinnie take their turns but are left cowering far away as well. Russell, realizing that getting through to Wiggles is too difficult for any one of them to do, proposes doing so together as a team. When they're huddled together, however, Wiggles draws a circle around them, declaring they never step out from that circle or he will assault them. The seven regulars stand shivering in the circle as Wiggles walks off free to do as he wishes.
Roger attempts to calm Blythe down by telling her to imagine Mona in a moose costume. However, Blythe remains a nervous mess by the time she reaches the waiting room. Despite some words of advice from Cairo, Mona's sphinx cat, Mona rejects Blythe's backpack designs in short order, advises her to pick a career choice other than fashion, and asks her to leave. Blythe, discouraged, walks off.
Back at the Littlest Pet Shop, the pets are all struggling to fit within the circle. Minka accidentally leaps off the line and catches Wiggles's attention, but before he can do anything to her, Blythe walks by forcing Wiggles to halt his attack. The pets plead and beg at Blythe for help, but she is too down to notice them and heads straight to the dumbwaiter. Blythe tosses her sketchbook in the wastebasket, but when Roger finds out Blythe did not show Mona the pet backpack design and that Mona called her submissions unoriginal, he correctly assumes that Blythe made designs to specifically please Mona. He tells Blythe that if Blythe herself is not satisfied with what she makes, then neither would Mona and not to give up on something after one setback, taking the sketchbook out of the wastebasket and giving it back to her. Feeling refreshed, Blythe heads back down the dumbwaiter with the backpack—now too excited to pay attention to the pets and heads right out.
Without Blythe's help and spotting Wiggles asleep, Russell gathers the pets to build a wall of cardboard boxes and wooden boards surrounding Wiggles. Russell wakes Wiggles up and declares that this is his new territory. Wiggles proceeds to knock down the wall with no effort—and the pets standing atop the wall with it. In the process, Wiggles gets the idea of forcing the regulars to build him a fort. As they build it, Penny accidentally breaks a food bowl. Wiggles berates her, making her cry. At this point, Zoe has had enough of Wiggles and yells at him, telling him she won't put up with him anymore and that she is prepared to take any punishment from him. When asked what he'll do about that, Wiggles's eyes wells up and he starts to cry too. Zoe, not convinced his sadness is genuine, continues to berate him, but Wiggles says that no one has ever stood up to him before and doesn't know how to react when that happens. Pointing out that his scary appearance has given him difficulty making friends and that acting mean has been his only way to feel good, Russell and Sunil step up and offer him their friendship.
Blythe storms up to Mona's waiting room and waits without an appointment, hoping for someone to be late so she can snatch their spot. She makes this known to the secretary, who puts on a helmet and prepares for the worst. When Blythe catches Mona emerging from the door, she chases Mona, carrying Cairo, to an elevator and throws the backpack she designed into it. Blythe heads to a flight of stairs to catch Mona emerging from the elevator, now delighted to see Cairo has accepted the backpack. Mona whispers in Blythe's ear that she only acts mean to ward off sycophants and not only likes the backpack, but requests one for herself to use. A delighted Blythe returns to the Littlest Pet Shop to see the pets working together with Wiggles to build a fort and to give Roger a hug for his encouragement.
This episode contains examples of (YMMV entries go here):
- Artistic Licence – Geography: Roger calls Mona's cat Cairo an "Egyptian sphynx cat" (her name is even a city in Egypt). However, sphynx cats actually come from Canada.
- Barbaric Bully: Wiggles, to a T. That being said, he does exhibit realistic bullying behavior by not letting Blythe, an authority figure who can stop him, know what he's really up to. As the pets solve the conflict by themselves, Blythe never learns Wiggles was ever mean.
- Bowel-Breaking Bricks: Vinnie's tail suddenly falls off in this manner after Wiggles threatens him. See Continuity Nod below.
- Break the Cutie: Wiggles makes Penny cry. This is the last straw for Zoe.
- Call-Back: This episode builds on what Blythe did at Fashion University North in "Missing Blythe."
- Caustic Critic: Mona's reputation—if she likes someone's work, they gain huge influence, but if she doesn't, she will chew them out. Her entire staff is afraid of her. It's all just an act—it weeds out the would-be designers who are not truly passionate about their work.Secretary: If Miss Autumn comes out here and finds you waiting without an appointment, she'll go nuclear! And we'll all be destroyed!
- Continuity Nod: Vinnie loses his tail, which he previously did in "Frenemies."
- Trapped in the circle, Minka gets more nervous than anyone else—this is her claustrophobia kicking in like in "DUMB DUMBWAITER."
- Abusive words cause Penny Ling to cry again. This time, however, the zoom-in comes from Wiggles a few moments later.
- Crocodile Tears: Wiggles does not like this phrase as he is an alligator.
- Does Not Know His Own Strength: Penny Ling gives Russell and Vinnie a literal bear hug and obliviously almost chokes them both.
- Fluffy the Terrible: Wiggles McSunbask. His pet carrier rumbles violently and is full of dents and scratch marks, and his owner is deathly scared of him.
- Freudian Excuse: This being a Lighter and Softer type of show, Wiggles has one that allows him to warm up to the other pets and be their friend.
- Hurricane Kick: Wiggles performs one with his tail to knock down the wall.
- Idiosyncratic Wipes: In addition to the usual pawprint wipe, there is a mustard-dripping wipe used after Roger chomps down on the hot dog.
- Ironic Echo: Zoe's utterances of "He / she eats and sleeps just like everyone else" is used to help calm Blythe down, but when she tries it on herself upon meeting Wiggles, it has no effect. (That being said, Wiggles IS shown eating at one point in the episode and sleeping at another.)
- Blythe has previously stated, "No time right now!" when she's in a hurry. This time, she says it when she isn't in any rush and the pets genuinely need her help.
- Mess on a Plate: Roger buys a hot dog from a stand and tops it with so much stuff in a completely disorganized manner (to onlookers) that it winds up like this. He is unable to eat it without it splatting everywhere in every direction.
- Motor Mouth: Mona speaks really rapidly, though this is likely because of her packed schedule requiring her to wrap things up as soon as possible. She slows down to a normal pace during her second encounter with Blythe.
- Ocular Gushers: A one-two punch with Penny, then Wiggles.
- Oh, Crap!: When Blythe realizes Mona will be there before Blythe can be ready.
- "The Reason You Suck" Speech: Zoe calls out Wiggles for making Penny cry.
- Running Gag: Wiggles threatens another pet with a roar, causing his or her fur to remain stiffly pointed back.
- School Bullying Is Harmless: Type 3.
- Security Blanket: Pepper clutches onto her tail like one when she is afraid for her life.
- Self-Referential Humor: Blythe talks about a father on TV "with the extraordinarily large head who tells corny jokes," referring to Roger.
- Sentai: Crossed with TRON in the Imagine Spot.
- Shout-Out: Wiggles calls his weapon (his teeth, in this case) his little friends.
- Mona's remark that second chances are for thrift stores may be a reference to Macklemore's "Thrift Shop," a song that argues one can be the pinnacle of fashion shopping at them.
- Sleep Walking: A variation, at least—Minka eats bananas in her sleep.
- Snapback: The ending of the previous episode introduced MinLing, a triceratops, to the cast (it was a Gainax Ending). This episode progresses as if it never happened.
- Squee/Book Ends: In the Cold Open, when Blythe finds out Mona Autumn and Cairo was on Roger's flight, then again towards the end of Act 3 when Mona accepts the backpack.
- Team Mom: This time, Zoe reassures Blythe that Mona, while influential, is still bound by the limitations of normal people. By Act 2, this role shifts to Roger, who gives surprisingly sound advice for Blythe after Mona rejects her.Roger: But did you like those designs?Blythe: Meh.Roger: Well there's your problem right there. You were so worried about Mona's temper that you bent over backwards to please her, but you didn't stay true to yourself.Blythe: Yeah, but it turns out what I heard about Mona's temper is true. She's impossible to please!Roger: Then you might as well go down swinging, showing her what you like best about your designs! What you put the most of yourself into.Blythe: …My pet pack!Roger: Most importantly, honey, you can't just give up the first time someone tells you no.Blythe: Dad, you're the best! (runs off)Roger: That's what I keep trying to tell you.
- This Is My Side: Wiggles draws a circle around where the seven regulars are standing huddled together and declares it their space while the rest of the room belongs to him.
- Vocal Dissonance: Wiggles has a quiet, raspy voice, in contrast to his deafening roars and bullying personality.
- Writer's Block: Blythe has problems coming up with a new pet backpack design because she's so concerned with getting Mona's approval.
