Helen hands Jake a sandwich and leaves Martha in charge of him while she goes to help Mariella. Skits enters and knocks over the trash bin, so she tells him off. Then, she spots Jake putting the halves of the sandwich on the phone, so she goes to lick off the peanut butter, only for Skits to knock over Helen's breakfast. When Helen enters, she believes Martha was the one to make all the messes and sends her outside as punishment.
Feeling unappreciated, she runs away, but doesn't mind. In fact, she sings an upbeat song about how she's ready for anything. Feeling hungry, she tries finding some trash to eat but can't find any food. Thus, she tries to get a job, but upon trying to become a waitress, she is turned down due to a no-dog policy. She starts singing again, this time to complain, when an ad comes on a nearby TV for telephone sales. She goes to the spokesman, who hires her.
Back at the Lorraine house, Helen explains Martha's absence to a visiting T.D. He suggests that Martha ran away due to being yelled at, and Helen is worried about her. T.D., however, is sure Martha is fine and decides to start a search. While Martha talks on the phone to customers, Helen and T.D. search for her, and then Martha's boss is so impressed by her work that he promotes her to manager.
While Helen and T.D. continue searching, Martha makes a rousing speech to her employees. Her boss then gives her a bigger office and asks where she lives. Martha says that she's homeless, so he promises to "take care of" the situation. While Helen sadly wonders where Martha is, her boss gives her an apartment to live in. At this point, Martha is starting to miss the Lorraines and considers calling them, but then thinks they don't remember her.
That evening, Helen is starting to give up hope and believes Martha hates her, but T.D. is more hopeful. The next morning, Martha climbs into a limo and Helen decides to calls the pound. The limo drives past the Lorraine house, where the Lorraines and T.D. are celebrating because the pound staff has apparently found Martha. However, Martha sees them through the window and thinks that it's her absence that made them happy. She drives to work, and then the person Helen is talking to reveals that they actually found a chihuahua, making Helen cry.
Martha is sad at work and calls a random number... which happens to be the Lorraines' number, and Helen answers, still crying. They both talk about how they've lost their best friends, then Martha tries to sell Helen something. Upon hearing that Helen's mother will be home from the flower shop at two, Martha wonders if this is Mariella. Then, the two realise that they're talking to each other. Martha hangs up, causing Helen to conclude that Martha hates her... but then Martha enters the house. They hug, and Martha decides to resign.
This episode provides examples of
- Contrived Coincidence:
- T.D. manages to just guess that Martha is living in a high-rise apartment, with no way of knowing that it's actually true.
- Martha manages to coincidentally call the Lorraines.
- Dogs Hate Squirrels: One of the things Martha does while singing her running-away song is chase a squirrel.
- Dramatic Irony:
- Helen thinks Martha knocked over the garbage, put peanut butter on the phone, and knocked over her breakfast, when actually, it was Skits who did the first and last ones and Jake who did the peanut butter one.
- Martha thinks the Lorraines don't remember her, when we've just seen Helen looking for her.
- Martha believes the Lorraines and T.D. are happy about her not being there, when they are actually celebrating her apparently being found.
- It takes Martha and Helen a while to find out they're talking to each other on the phone.
- Easily Condemned: Once Helen sees all the mess in the kitchen caused by Skits and Jake, she is quick to accuse Martha of causing it and cruelly kicks her out of the house. This is what makes Martha decide to run away.
- Extreme Omnivore: Martha's boss (a human) samples her dog biscuits.
- Happy Dance: T.D. dances gleefully when Helen says that Martha has been found.
- Hope Spot: At one point, it seems that the pound staff have tracked down Martha... but it turns out they found a chihuahua instead.
- Kick the Dog: Literally. Helen blames Martha for all the messes caused by Skits and Jake and hurts her feelings, which causes her to run away.
- Lost Pet Grievance: Downplayed. The Lorraines (especially Helen because she feels responsible for the whole ordeal) are sad when Martha is gone, but she didn't die; she just ran away.
- Melancholy Musical Number: After being rejected as a waitress due to her species, Martha sings a sad song, at one point even declaring that the whole town stinks.
- My God, What Have I Done?: While all the Lorraines are sad that Martha is gone, Helen is the saddest because she was the one who drove her to run away, and believes that Martha hates her.
- No Animals Allowed: Martha can't get a job at a restaurant because the restaurant doesn't allow dogs.
- Not What It Looks Like:
- The reason Helen believes Martha made the messes was because the real perps, Skits and Jake, were not present when she saw the messes.
- Martha looks through the Lorraines' living room window to see how they're doing, and sees them (and T.D.) celebrating, making her believe they're happy without her. They're actually happy that she's (apparently) been found by the pound.
- O.O.C. Is Serious Business: Helen notes that it's uncharacteristic of Martha to not eat breakfast, so this concerns her.
- Speak in Unison: When Martha says, "You mean you...?", both of them finish, "...miss me?!" at once.
- Tears of Joy: Two men are moved to tears when Martha gives her speech to her employees.
- Tropey, Come Home: In case the title wasn't a clue, Martha runs away in this episode.
