We open on a scientist explaining that, incredible as it may seem, this cartoon is about a talking dog, and that it features words about speaking. We then see Helen making alphabet soup in front of a hungry Martha, when Truman comes for a visit. He reveals that there is a cat burglar at large, then they try to have lunch (with Truman explaining that he went over to escape the "screaming babies" at his mother's home daycare) but Helen accidentally gives herself Martha's dog food and Martha alphabet soup. She swaps back, while Truman teases Helen for allegedly being scared of the burglar, then TD shows up. Helen wants to go out to play with him, but Mariella wants her to finish her lunch first, so Helen hurriedly feeds her lunch to Martha.
That night, Mariella is talking on the phone, when Martha asks her if it's time for dinner yet. Mariella barely registers that Martha talked and tells her to wait until later, so Martha goes into the kitchen and tells Danny, who is feeding Jake, that she's hungry, but Danny also brushes her off. She enters Helen's room and asks her if it's time for dinner, and she (who is painting) tells her to wait until she is done. Then, the Lorraines realise that it's unusual for a dog to speak and are shocked. They ask her how she learned to speak, but she doesn't want to explain until after dinner.
After dinner, she answers the Lorraines' questions: she's always understood English, dogs do dream, and it must have been the alphabet soup that taught her to speak. The scientist guy then explains to the viewers that the letters from the soup entered her brain somehow, but not to try it at home.
Over the next few days, Martha eats more soup and talks to her friend Rinty, plays a joke on Ronald Boxwood, learns to use the phone, embarrasses Mariella in front of Grandma Lucille, gives away a spoiler, bothers Helen at nighttime, and bothers the Lorraines when they're trying to read, until they yell at her to be quiet. Then, Helen says, "Sometimes, I wish you never learned to speak", which hurts Martha's feelings.
At school, Helen complains about Martha talking too much, offending Mrs. Clusky, who thinks she's talking about her. Then, Martha stops talking or eating her soup, worrying Helen. The parents then worry too and wonder if Martha is sick, but the vet hangs up on them. Then, the Lorraines go to the movies, except for Jake (who is put in daycare) and Martha (who stays at home).
The burglar enters the house, and Martha tries to call the police, but has forgotten how to speak. She growls and barks at the burglar, but he thinks she's a guard dog and feeds her... alphabet soup. The Lorraines arrive home to find the police outside their house and the burglar being arrested. A policewoman reveals that a "lady" named Martha called, and the Lorraines praise Martha and Helen apologises for her comment.
This episode provides examples of
- Argument of Contradictions: When Helen denies being scared of the cat burglar, Truman says, "Are too!", and they shout back, "Am not!" "Are too!".
- Artistic License – Biology: Lampshaded when the scientist describes the letters entering Martha's brain as "very mysterious" and states that it only works in cartoons.
- Be Careful What You Wish For: Helen ends up angrily wishing Martha never learned to talk, driving Martha into stop talking and stop eating the soup, instead sadly keeping her distance. And while Helen at first continued to complain about Martha’s endless talking, she and her family end up concerned for her when the behaviour continues.
- Big "SHUT UP!":
- When the Lorraines bombard Martha with questions, she yells, "Quiet!".
- When Martha talks to the Lorraines while they're reading, they (except Jake), yell, "Martha, be quiet!".
- Blatant Burglar: The burglar wears a domino mask and black clothes.
- Brought Down to Normal: After spending a few days without soup, Martha forgets how to talk.
- Cue the Flying Pigs: The scientist says that your friends may tell you that a talking dog is as likely as a worm lifting a piano. Then, one does lift a piano (though ineptly).
- Death Glare: When Mrs. Clusky thinks Helen believes she talks too much (when Helen was actually talking about Martha), she frowns at Helen.
- Delayed Reaction: The Lorraines initially think nothing of it when Martha first talks, but then after a while, they become shocked.
- Don't Try This at Home: The scientist tells the viewers not to try feeding soup to their dogs.
- Eating Pet Food: Helen accidentally eats dog food and doesn't even realise until Truman points it out, whereupon she spits it out in disgust.
- Establishing Character Moment: Martha is first seen staring longingly at Helen's alphabet soup, cementing her nature as a Big Eater.
- Everyone Hates Fruit Cakes: Zigzagged. Grandma Lucille apparently sent Mariella a fruit cake, which she said "wasn't fit for a dog", but Martha thought it was delicious.
- Fun with Alphabet Soup: The scientist tries to spell a word in his alphabet soup, but all he gets is "GRZNKNGG".
- Giant Food: Discussed. Martha apparently once dreamt of being chased by a giant meatloaf.
- Ice-Cream Koan: Apparently, Martha's mother used to give her puppies the motto "You're dogs, not cats".
- Irony: Truman berates Helen for being scared of burglars, but when TD knocks on the door, Truman yells, "Ahh! The burglar!" and hides under the table.
- Lost Voice Plot: Downplayed; Martha forgets how to speak at a pivotal moment when she tries to call the police.
- Medium Awareness: The scientist is aware that this is a cartoon, and states that feeding soup to dogs to make them talk only works in cartoons.
- Mistaken Age: The vet thinks Danny is a kid over the phone.
- Mistaken for Prank Call:
- When Danny tells the vet over the phone that his dog won't say a word, she assumes it's a kid making a joke.
- When Martha tries to phone the police but can only growl and bark, the operator says, "What is this— some kind of joke?!".
- My God, What Have I Done?: Helen feels guilty about wishing Martha never learned to speak, and Martha feels guilty about annoying the Lorraines.
- Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: A near case of this: Helen’s wish ends up causing Martha to give up on talking and on eating the soup to make the Lorrianes happy, resulting in her not being able to alert the police when a burglar breaks in. It’s only when the burglar feeds Martha the soup that she’s able to communicate what is going on to the cops.
- O.O.C. Is Serious Business: The Lorraines worry about Martha and fear she may be sick when she, who normally loves to talk, is being quiet.
- Silence of Sadness: Justified. Martha stops talking when she's sad, but the reason she's sad is because the Lorraines told her she talked too much.
- Speak in Unison:
- When the Lorraines realise that Martha's talking is out of the ordinary, Danny says, "Did you hear...?", then Mariella says, "Did she...?", then Helen says, "Did Martha just...?", then they say, "Speak?!" in unison.
- The Lorraines (with the exception of Jake) yell at Martha to be quiet in unison.
- Upon learning that Martha called the police, Danny and Mariella say, "Good dog!" in unison.
- Super-Strength: A worm is seen lifting a piano.
- Thief Bag: The burglar carries a large burlap sack.
- Unexpected Kindness: When the burglar mistakes Martha for a guard dog, he says, "You know what I do to guard dogs?", to which Martha looks nervous, but then he says, "I give 'em something to eat", and feeds her soup (likely to keep her quiet and distracted).
- Your Tomcat Is Pregnant: While she didn't get pregnant, Martha does recall being mistaken for a male dog once.
