Martha and Skits are in the living room, watching Courageous Collie Carlo. She says she wants to meet Carlo, and by coincidence, an ad comes on offering a chance to meet his actor, who is visiting Wagstaff City. While she rushes to tell Helen, the Courageous Collie Carlo staff are busy. A woman wants to bring Carlo's actor (whose, name, as it turns out, is actually "Carlo" in reality too) flowers, but his agent explains that he's afraid of them after a bouquet made him sneeze, causing him to knock over some water, which two men carrying a vat of glue slipped on, causing them to drop the glue and him to land in it, then one of the men bumped a fan, which blew the flowers onto him.
Back in the Lorraine house, Martha is very excited to meet Carlo, but unfortunately Mariella is bringing some flowers she has to deliver with her. On the car ride, Martha geeks out about the show, but Mariella reminds her that Carlo is an actor and thus may be different from his character, yet Martha is of the opinion that "no one could pretend to be that brave".
In the line for looking at Carlo, Helen tells Martha not to frighten him with enthusiasm, but Martha claims that Carlo fears nothing. Then, the line crowds around Martha, impressed by the fact that she can talk. She redirects them back to Carlo by pointing out that she lives in the area and thus can be visited anytime. Martha finally gets to meet Carlo and tries to apologise to him for stealing the attention by having the Lorraine ladies give him flowers, but this scares him. He runs away, causing the agent and Martha to give chase, Helen to chase after Martha, and Mariella to chase after Helen.
When they reach the agent, Martha apologises, but the agent tells the trio it's not their fault. Helen asks why Carlo was afraid of the flowers, but the agent just replies, "It's a long story". Martha then sees two kids declaring they don't like Carlo now that they know he's a "scaredy-cat", offending her. Mariella goes to deliver the flowers and Helen goes home, while Martha leaves to "take care" of something.
Martha tracks down Carlo into the woods, where he reveals (through barks) that he's embarrassed and worried about his reputation. Martha decides to repair Carlo's reputation by having him do something brave, so she has Truman dress as a bear and pretend to be scared away by Carlo. They do this (with Helen pretending to be in danger from Truman) but everyone knows that Truman is just a kid in a bear costume. Not only that, but they think that Carlo was being mean by chasing a kid, which makes them hate him further.
Just then, a real bear (named Bobo) escapes from the zoo and shows up, then starts to chase Truman. Carlo remembers an episode of his show where he distracted a bear with a cage and a bucket of fish, but Martha points out that they lack both. She suggests distracting him with something else, so Carlos uses a picnic basket... but Bobo goes after him instead. Martha shows up and yells at Bobo, who reveals that he was just "playing", then they fix Carlo's reputation by having him pretend to chase Bobo away. Carlo leaves, and Martha reveals that she still has a little crush on him despite him not being a real hero.
This episode provides examples of
- Actor/Role Confusion:
- Martha initially expects Carlo the real dog to be the same as Carlo the character.
- Implied when two kids become grumpy at the idea of Carlo being scared of flowers, indicating they expected him to be as fearless as his character. One of them even says, "What kind of hero is afraid of flowers!?" even though he's only playing a hero.
- Absurd Phobia: Justified. Carlo is afraid of flowers, yes, but that was because of an embarrassing accident that happened after one made him sneeze.
- Alliterative List: Martha describes herself as "enthusiastic and eager and excited".
- Artistic License – Biology: While it's a close call, and Truman clearly would have been in danger had Bobo intended to kill him, he's able to keep ahead of Bobo. In reality, a bear can easily outrun an adult human, let alone a child.
- Astonishingly Appropriate Interruption: Martha mentions Carlo "hiding behind a...", then sees him behind a tree and finishes, "Tree!".
- Bears Are Bad News: Discussed, then later subverted. Martha tries to make Carlo look brave by having Truman dress as a bear and pretend to be scared off by Carlo. It doesn't work, but then Bobo, a real bear, shows up and starts chasing Truman, then Carlo, around. However, when Martha talks to Bobo, he reveals that he only wanted to play.
- Contrived Coincidence: A bear just happens to escape from the zoo right when Carlo needs to prove himself.
- Covered in Gunge:
- Vinny from Courageous Collie Carlo is shown covered from head to toe in honey after being in a vat of the stuff.
- Carlo in the flashback ends up in the vat of glue and drenched in it.
- Damsel in Distress: Discussed when Helen pretends she's being chased by a bear.
- The Danza: In-Universe — this episode reveals that the actor who plays Courageous Collie Carlo is actually named Carlo.
- Delayed Reaction: Truman's first response to Bobo showing up and growling is to say, "Shh, we're trying to think!". It isn't until a few seconds later that he realises he's next to a bear.
- Distressed Dude: Bobo the grizzly bear ends up chasing Truman, then Carlo, around.
- Dramatic Irony: We see Mariella with her flowers and hear Martha mention that Carlo isn't afraid of anything after it's been established that he's in fact afraid of flowers.
- "Everybody Laughs" Ending: The episode of Courageous Collie Carlo that Martha and Skits watch ends on everyone laughing at Vinny's joke.
- Fake Danger Gambit: Martha, Helen, and Truman try to help Courageous Collie Carlo get back his fans after they tease him for being afraid of flowers. In their scenario, Helen pretends to be scared of Truman in a bear costume so Carlo can rescue her. No one falls for the act though and only hate Carlo further. When a real bear shows up, Martha tells off the bear for chasing her friends, but decides to have him pretend to be chased away by Carlo so everyone can see him as a hero again.
- Flashback: One scene takes place in the past, explaining the incident that made Carlo scared of flowers.
- Heroic Dog: Zigzagged. Martha expects Carlo to be a brave hero like he plays on TV, but he's actually a normal, somewhat sensitive, dog. Then, he tries to be a hero for real by saving Truman from Bobo the bear... only for Bobo to start chasing him instead. Then, Martha, another dog, steps in and stops Bobo by yelling at him... but he reveals that he only wanted to play, meaning that Truman and Carlo were never in any real danger.
- Hurricane of Euphemisms: Martha calls herself "enthusiastic", "eager", and "excited".
- Innocently Insensitive: Martha tries to apologise to Carlo with flowers, not knowing that he's scared of them.
- I Taste Delicious: On Courageous Collie Carlo, Vinny licks himself after being coated in honey.
- Picky Eater: Apparently, Carlo likes his kibble "crunchy, but not too crunchy".
- Plot Allergy: Carlo sneezing because of a flower knocked some water over, leading to the accident that means he's now afraid of flowers.
- Pun: On Courageous Collie Carlo, after Carlo saves Vinny from a vat of honey, the fireman says, "Carlo, you're the sweetest". Vinny licks himself and says, "No, I am."
- Shout-Out: Martha says, "I thought bears liked picnic baskets", which references Yogi Bear, a cartoon about two bears who steal picnic baskets.
- Show Within a Show: This episode features the Courageous Collie Carlo show.
- You Can Talk?: Upon hearing Martha speak, a little girl says, "Hey, everybody — the dog talks!".
