Helen reads Jake a story titled Blue Mangoes, in which a bird named Gangoose McGee tries to convince another bird, Nicholas Mellow to try some blue, bad-smelling mangoes. The book is about to end with Nick taking a spoonful of blue mango flesh and saying something, but it's never revealed what he said, since the last page is torn out and no one can find it.
The next day outside the cafe, Helen tells Alice, T.D., and Truman about the book. Alice thinks that it ends with Nick eating the mango, but she's not entirely sure, while T.D. thinks they should make blue mango-flavoured ice cream despite the smell. The dogs agree, but the girls are grossed out, then they talk about their favourite ice cream flavours. Alice asks Truman what his is, but he claims to have no preference, confusing his friends.
On the sidewalk, Truman's friends wonder if his lack of preference means he dislikes ice cream. Truman replies that he doesn't dislike ice cream; he just hasn't tried it before but is convinced he wouldn't like it. Alice asks him how he can know if he's never tried, so he makes an analogy involving hammers dropped on feet and then goes inside for dinner. This makes Alice angry, and she yells at him that he's "prejudiced".
Later, Alice is visiting Helen, but she's preoccupied with Truman's preconceived notion of ice cream. She storms off and phones Truman, asking if it was a joke. He proves that it's not by asking his parents and them confirming that he doesn't eat ice cream, so she asks why he won't try some. He responds that he just doesn't think he'd enjoy it, then leaves to finish his dinner.
On the beach, Alice plays fetch with Helen's dogs, while Helen and T.D. play cards. Alice wonders if Truman thinks he won't like ice cream because something "weird" happened to him, like a bug coming out of his ice cream when he was a baby. Then, at school, Alice gives her report on Italy, but adds in a jab at Truman by saying that you wouldn't know how great gelato tastes if you're "prejudiced" against ice cream.
At the cafe, Helen and T.D. tell Alice to let the situation go, but she refuses. Truman approaches, but Alice refuses to let him sit at the table, saying that it's only for people who've tried something before deciding they dislike it. Then, she growls and walks off, then Truman walks off too.
T.D., Helen, and Truman then try to trick Alice by having her see Truman eat mashed potatoes on a cone, but it fails when she tries to eat some, then he drops it and it doesn't melt, making Alice suspicious so she and Martha taste it. Then, Helen, T.D., and Truman go inside to watch TV and Helen suggests that maybe Alice is right. She suggests that Truman eat a tiny bite, so that he can still say he tried it even if it's disgusting. However, Truman refuses since he feels it'd be "giving into peer pressure".
Upon seeing Jake with the Blue Mangoes book, Helen and T.D. invite Alice over, having made a fake last page of the book, in which Nicholas refuses to eat the mango in order to be true to himself. However, this fails too since the chalk they used came off on her hands. She says that she's stopped caring about Truman and ice cream, but he doesn't know what he's missing. Then, Truman, now that he's no longer being pressured, eats some ice cream and, while he doesn't dislike it, he doesn't like it either; he's just neutral.
Then, Alice and Truman re-enact Blue Mangoes, with Truman as Nick and Alice as Gangoose.
This episode provides examples of
- Accessory-Wearing Cartoon Animal: Nicholas Mellow wears only a bow tie, while Gangoose McGee wears only a necktie.
- Aerith and Bob: A strange example in Blue Mangoes. Each bird has one normal name and one weird name: Nicholas Mellow (normal first name, weird last name) and Gangoose McGee (weird first name, normal last name).
- An Aesop: In-Universe, Helen and T.D. give the Blue Mangoes story a moral about how friends don't have to like the same things.
- Age-Stereotypical Food: Alice says that it isn't natural for a kid to dislike ice cream.
- Agony of the Feet: Discussed when Truman says that forming an impression on something without trying it is okay, since he's never dropped a hammer on his foot but is sure he'd dislike it.
- Artistic License – Space: In Blue Mangoes, the mangoes come from the moon, even though there are no plants on the mood in reality.
- Breath-Holding Brat: In Blue Mangoes, Gangoose McGee holds his breath to get Nick to try a blue mango.
- Does Not Like Spam: Zigzagged. It seems that Truman doesn't like ice cream, but then it's revealed that he's never tried it because he's convinced he'd hate it. Eventually, he tries some and is just neutral on it.
- Early Personality Signs: Alice imagines Truman still being afraid of bugs as a baby.
- Eat Dirt, Cheap: Discussed in Blue Mangoes, when Nicholas Mellow would prefer a bag of rocks to the mangoes.
- "Eureka!" Moment: Seeing Jake "reading" Blue Mangoes inspires Helen to make a fake last page of the book.
- Extreme Omnivore: Subverted. Jake says, "Num num num num" when Helen notices the last page of Blue Mangoes is torn out, but when Helen asks if he ate it, he responds in the negative.
- Facepalm: Helen facepalms due to not being able to find the last page of the book.
- Feud Episode: At one point, Alice refers to Truman as Helen and T.D.'s friend, but not her own, implying she doesn't see him as a friend anymore.
- Foreshadowing}: Alice says that she bets Blue Mangoes ends with Nick eating the mango. This foreshadows the fact that she thinks it's ridiculous deciding you dislike something without trying it.
- I Do Not Like Green Eggs and Ham: Downplayed. As it turns out, Truman doesn't hate ice cream like he thought he would, but he doesn't like it either; he thinks it's just okay.
- Imagine Spot:
- When Alice is wondering if something "weird" happened to Truman, she briefly imagines him as a baby screaming because a bug came out of his ice cream.
- T.D. briefly imagines Alice still insisting Truman eat ice cream when they're both old.
- In-Series Nickname: Nicholas Mellow is also referred to as Nick.
- Mirthless Laughter: Helen chuckles awkwardly when Truman asks what the matter is with Alice.
- Non Sequitur: T.D. says, "Boing!" twice for no reason.Helen: "Did you just say boing?!"
- Palette-Swapped Alien Food: The mangoes in Blue Mangoes are blue because they're from the moon.
- Poe's Law: At one point, Alice wonders if Truman was joking about ice cream.
- Pun: After reading the fake book, Alice says that "something smells fishy, and it's not the blue mangoes".
- Resort to Pouting: Discussed in Blue Mangoes, when Gangoose McGee threatens to pout if Nicholas Mellow doesn't try a blue mango.
- Same Clothes, Different Year:
- In Alice's imagination, Truman still wears his normal clothes even as a baby.
- Downplayed in T.D.'s imagination, where Alice and Truman are old, and he's mostly wearing the same clothes but with a tie and a dress shirt instead of a T-shirt, and she's still wearing green and brown, but with long pants instead of shorts and a sweater instead of a t-shirt.
- Scratchy-Voiced Senior: T.D. imagines Alice as having a very croaky voice when she's old.
- Serious Business: Alice makes a huge deal over the fact that Truman refuses to eat ice cream, even referring to his preconceived notion as "prejudice".
- Shout-Out: Blue Mangoes is a parody of Green Eggs and Ham, with its weird art style, rhyming narration, and plot of one creature insisting that another eat some weird food.
- Speak in Unison: When Truman meets his friends at the cafe, they say, "Hi, Truman!" in unison.
- Strange Minds Think Alike: Despite having opposing views, both Alice and Truman manage to end up saying, "It's not the ice cream; it's the principle of the thing."
- The Unreveal: It's not revealed whether Nicholas Mellow eats the blue mangoes or not, since the last page is torn out.
- Would Rather Suffer: In Blue Mangoes, Nick says that he'd prefer a bag of rocks to the mangoes.
