Recap / Littlest Pet Shop 2012 S 3 E 2 War Of The Weirds

"There was this pet I talked to who said he was abducted once, and they made him eat all of his vegetables!"

Written by Roger Eschbacher

As Mrs. Twombly drives the pets back from the veterinarian, she hears Fisher Biskit's advertisement for the Largest Ever Pet Shop with a thinly-veiled personal attack on the Littlest Pet Shop. Hungry for retaliation, Mrs. Twombly decides to do some advertisement of her own. At that moment, Vinnie spots what appears to be a flying saucer having landed on a buildingtop. He lets Sunil know, and they both freak out in the shuttle, having convinced each other that they're witnessing an alien invasion. When they show the other pets, the idea starts spreading amongst them, though Russell has his doubts and Minka, having had previous experience with extraterrestrials, bears no fear of them. Mrs. Twombly pulls over to the Littlest Pet Shop and complains about Fisher to Blythe when the pets leap out of the shuttle and scramble into the day camp, causing the two of them to spin around on the sidewalk. Mrs. Twombly is then inspired to get a sign twirler to draw attention to the place.

As soon as the pets reach the safety of the day camp room, Vinnie and Sunil immediately take to building a fortress as Russell tries to create a universally-understood language to communicate with them. Penny Ling envelops herself in pillows so the aliens cannot tip her over like she suspects they'll do, Zoe readies herself in hopes of being admired by the aliens, and Pepper worries that her jokes cannot translate over. Minka, meanwhile, remains perfectly calm and even pulls out her portrait of the martian she met. She fails to convince anybody though, as they all hide.

Mrs. Twombly grabs Madison over and assigns her to do sign-twirling. After explaining how it works twice, she pulls minimal effort with the arrow pointing the wrong way. Mrs. Twombly turns the arrow over, sighs, and considers Madison's routine good enough.

Blythe attempts to leave from the dumbwaiter to find Penny's pillow stack in the way. Squeezing through, she learns from the pets that they all believe there is an alien invasion underway. When she hears from Zoe that they saw a spaceship, Blythe contacts Roger and asks if aliens are real. Roger nervously explains that, as an airplane pilot, he sees a lot of unusual objects in the sky and cannot confirm or deny the existence of extraterrestrial spacecraft. His answer leaves Blythe unable to come up with something to calm the pets down, and Vinnie puts a Tinfoil Hat on Blythe's head.

In her office, Mrs. Twombly writes the sign-twirling off as a loss and sees a commercial on her television for the Largest Ever Pet Shop. This refuels her rage, but her screaming is interrupted by Madison walking into the office and asking for her pay.

Blythe immediately puts the tinfoil hat down but is quickly warned by Vinnie not to take her tinfoil hat off. He then tells her of a story about how aliens force pets to eat all of their vegetables. Blythe gives the matter some further thought and concludes that the pets did see something, so she asks where they saw it so she can go over and confirm it for herself. She asks all the pets to hop on her scooter, but Minka is the only one who accepts, the others being too scared to go.

Mrs. Twombly tries offering free samples at the front of the store with Madison behind the table. A man walks up and tries one but nearly gags from its flavor. When he asks what's in them, Madison lists meat byproducts as Mrs. Twombly explains it's pet kibble and not the cookies he thought they were.

Blythe and Minka eventually convince the other pets to get on the scooter, Penny being the last one and only after Blythe reassures her that Blythe will not let anyone tip her over. As they head out, Sunil and Vinnie believe they're going to die and brace themselves for the worst.

Mrs. Twombly, having packed up her samples stand, goes about cleaning the Littlest Pet Shop as usual when she feels like she's being watched. She looks around and discovers across the street a billboard displaying Fisher's face, displayed as if he is staring down at the Littlest Pet Shop.

Blythe races across Downtown City, and before long, Vinnie and Sunil panic at what they believe is a giant tripod. Blythe goes closer and passes the steam obscuring it to reveal it's just a water tower. Russell hears some mechanical sounds and fearfully wonders what it could be, causing the other pets to come up with their own ideas. Blythe drives towards the source of the noise and reveals it's simply a garbage truck doing its daily run. Immediately after, Zoe sees something wiggling in the distance, which Vinnie thinks are "alien snake men" but are revealed to be merely dancing balloons. Blythe gets annoyed at the common everyday objects the pets think are alien-related and sternly tells them to calm down and not let their imaginations get the best of them.

Blythe reaches the location where the pets saw the spaceship, which turns out to be the Largest Ever Pet Shop. The spaceship seems to have left from the buildingtop, and the pets figure the spaceship has moved to invade another city, Vinnie suspecting Uptown City and Sunil guessing Midtown City. Seeing Blythe stopped at the front of the store, the Biskit Twins step out to taunt Blythe. When Blythe asks them about something on the buildingtop, Whittany tells her that Fisher already sold it off, and the two head back into the store. With that over with, Blythe tells the pets that the spaceship was simply an "advertising inflatable," a large balloon used to draw attention to a store.

Blythe heads back to the Littlest Pet Shop to see the inflatable flying saucer on the roof of the building. Mrs. Twombly points out that she bought it online from a "Bisher Fiskit," only to realize who this was. Her fears are realized when the balloon opens up to reveal a Fisher balloon playing a voice clip telling people to visit the Largest Ever Pet Shop. Mrs. Twombly becomes so enraged by what she sees that she emits a scream loud enough to disrupt an actual planned alien invasion of Earth. The leader of the fleet deems the planet too dangerous and orders his subordinates to retreat.

*cue happy credits music*

This episode contains examples of (YMMV entries go here):

• 2D Visuals, 3D Effects: The city passing by as characters zoom down the streets. Used frequently in this episode.
• Accidental Truth: The weird alien overlord getup seen in "Stand Up Stinker" turns out to be very close to what an actual alien overlord looks like.
• Alien Invasion: Suspected by the pets. Confirmed at the end.
• Aliens Steal Cattle: Penny's cow-tipping thoughts evoke this concept.
• Are You Pondering What I'm Pondering?
  Sunil: Is it possible that you are thinking what I am possibly thinking?
  Vinnie: It is, if you're thinking we'll be abducted by aliens and have our brains replaced with tomatoes!
• Badass Unintentional: Mrs. Twombly forces a retreat of a fleet of spaceships all by herself without her knowing.
• The Bad Guy Wins: Fisher gets the last laugh on Mrs. Twombly, albeit accidentally.
• Bad Liar: The other pets are not pleased at Sunil's unapologetic behavior.
  Sunil: We were only hoping to provide some healthy playtime by initiating a wave of invasion paranoia.
• Being Watched: Mrs. Twombly feels this way after putting away the free samples. Turns out it's a billboard with Fisher's face.
• Beleaguered Assistant: Madison.
• Big Eater: Penny Ling eats all seven cookies meant to be distributed among the pets.
• Big "NEVER!": Mrs. Twombly screams one after hearing the Fisher balloon's message to visit the Largest Ever Pet Shop.
• Bizarre Taste in Food: Madison likes eating pet kibble.
• Brick Joke: In the Cold Open, Vinnie and Sunil play the "Whoever Spots a Trash Can First Gets to Punch His Friend in the Arm Game." In Act 3, Vinnie proposes "Whoever Spots an Alien First Gets to Punch the Other Guy in the Arm."
• Call-Back: Minka is not afraid of the supposed incoming aliens at all, as she previously met an "alien overlord" whom she befriended in "Stand Up Stinker" (actually Sunil, Zoe, and Penny in disguise).
• Captain Obvious: Pepper compares the vet's hands to icebergs. Minka then adds that they're cold.
• Continuity Nod: This is not the first episode where a fortress was built inside the day camp room. Or the second.
  • Mrs. Twombly has re-hired Madison. She seems to have gotten over her hypochondria but has remained a ditz.
  • Madison dresses up as the Statue of Liberty, as Penny did in "Shanghai Hi-Jinks" and Vinnie did in "The Expo Factor - Part 2."
  • Mrs. Twombly integrates her knowledge of kung-fu into her planned sign-twirling routine.
  • A long shot of Mrs. Twombly's office reveals her collection of doorknobs and doorknob painting. A commercial for the Iguana Legal Firm is also showing on the TV.
  • Mrs. Twombly reacts to the Largest Ever Pet Shop's TV commercial with a similar level of contempt as Fisher reacts to the Littlest Pet Shop's TV commercial in "Sleeper."
• Do Not Adjust Your Set: Fisher bought advertising space on every radio station at the same time, forcing everyone listening to the radio at the time to hear his commercial.
• The End... Or Is It?: The episode ends with a "The End?"
• "Eureka!" Moment: The pets sending Mrs. Twombly spinning in their rush to get back in the pet shop gives her the idea to hire a sign spinner.
• Excessive Steam Syndrome: Steam seems to be rising out of Downtown City's sewers everywhere in Act 3, which causes the pets to mistake things around the city for alien weaponry.
• False Reassurance: Minka assures the other pets that she can handle the aliens after dealing with aliens previously, but the other pets know the truth, so this doesn't help to quell their fears.
• Foreshadowing: That the flying saucer is Fisher's is hinted right at the Cold Open, when Fisher's commercial promises "a galaxy of choices and out-of-this-world savings."
• The Ghost: Despite the B-Plot almost completely centered around Fisher, we don't actually see him in person.
• The Greys: The aliens as depicted in the panda-tipping and vegetable-eating visualizations.
• Hammerspace: Vinnie pulls from behind his back a tinfoil hat sized for Blythe's head.
• Idiosyncratic Wipes: A flying saucer flies across the screen in Act 1.
  • Kibble bits fall down in Act 3.
• Idiot Ball: Someone under the username bisherfiskit sells Mrs. Twombly the UFO. She doesn't realise she's been had until she says the name out loud.
• It Has Been an Honor: Sunil's planned last words to Vinnie as Blythe heads for the spaceship.
• Lost in Translation: Pepper fears her jokes cannot translate well to the alien language. Truth in Television with her apprehension, as her jokes are reliant on wordplay, the most difficult thing to translate.
• Make Me Wanna Shout: Mrs. Twombly's second Skyward Scream (see below) is so loud that it inadvertently damages an invading fleet of flying saucers in outer space.
• Mistaken for Aliens: Various things around the town in Act 3, when their paranoia really consumes the pets.
• Noodle Incident: It is never explained why the word "tip-top" causes Minka to go berserk. Presumably, this was to keep Minka under control at the vet's office.
• Real After All: It turns out an actual alien invasion was about to take place in the last scene, but Mrs. Twombly’s Big "NEVER!" causes them to retreat.
• Recurring Extra: The spokesman for the Iguana Legal Firm is standing on the sidewalk in one shot of Blythe driving by on her scooter.
• Sesquipedalian Loquaciousness: Sunil slips into this for his last words to Vinnie, though Vinnie admits he didn't understand what Sunil said.
• Shout-Out: The title of this episode is based on The War of the Worlds (most likely the radio broadcast). In addition, a water tower is mistaken for a tripod from that story.
  • When trying to create a language, Russell utters "Klaatu barada necktie," a variant of the phrase in The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951) and Army of Darkness, "Klaatu Barada Nikto." Russell's variant was previously used verbatim in an episode of The Adventures of Jimmy Neutron, Boy Genius as well.
    • In addition, Russell's attempt to create a universal language mirrors the efforts made towards the languages Esperanto and Ido.
  • Roger cites weather balloons, unusual lightning, and light phenomena as things he may have mistaken for spaceships. These are all common identifications for suspected UFOs.
• Skyward Scream: Mrs. Twombly does one after watching the Largest Ever Pet Shop's commercial on TV. She does one again upon seeing the flying saucer balloon pop open, which doubles as Make Me Wanna Shout (see above).
• Small Town Rivalry: Sunil's remarks about Midtown City hint at a rivalry between it and Downtown City.
• Starfish Aliens: Alien snake men.
• Take That!: In-universe. All of the advertising for the Largest Ever Pet Shop in this episode have at least one transparent attack against the Littlest Pet Shop.
• Tinfoil Hat: Worn by all of the pets in Act 2. Vinnie has a larger one ready for Blythe.
• Trigger Phrase: "Tip-top" is a trigger word for Minka.
• Visible Boom Mic: In the second shot of the Largest Ever Pet Shop's TV commercial.
• Wouldn't Hit a Girl: When Sunil suggests he and Vinnie play the "whoever spots an alien first gets to punch their friend in the arm" game, Minka wants to join in, but Sunil tells her it's a male-bonding ritual and excludes Minka. Disappointed, Minka punches both of them in the arms.

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