Mrs. Demson, the local grumpy old woman, comes to pay the Lorraines a visit. When they ask her why she came, she explains that her lawn furniture was clawed to pieces, and while she didn't see the animal who did it, she thinks it was Martha.
Helen decides that they should go and look at the furniture to see what species of animal did the clawing. Nelson is seen scratching one of Mrs. Demson's chairs, revealing him to be the real perp, and on their way to the house, the Lorraines leave to get Mrs. Demson a handkerchief, aspirin, and water. This leaves Martha and Mrs. Demson alone with each other, but as they cross the road, a man nearly runs them over and swerves into Mrs. Demson's lawn, breaking more furniture.
Martha tells the Lorraines about it, then Mrs. Demson comes back with a bone for Martha and reveals that the driver refuses to admit he drove through a red light. Seeing as she has no witnesses except Martha, she wants Martha to testify against her.
In court, Martha is interrogated and concludes that she thinks the driver (named Patrick Pennygrabber) is guilty. When Pennygrabber is asked to interrogate Martha, he just throws a ball. When she fetches it, he decides it's a mistrial since she didn't stay put. The judge, however, doesn't stand to this.
Pennygrabber then calls an old man and asks him if dogs can talk. He replies that they can't, showing a diagram of a dog's brain that claims that all they can do is eat, sleep, play, and obey. When Pennygrabber asks how Martha is able to talk, the old man thinks that Martha is so badly-trained, she doesn't realise she can't speak and is therefore untrustworthy. Instead of defending Martha or pointing out the bad logic, Mrs. Demson simply rests her case because the man, named Dr. Grim, has written a book on how to keep dogs off one's lawn.
Pennygrabber then interrogates Martha again, but because Dr. Grim "proved" that dogs can't talk, he pretends not to understand her. He holds up three cards (two green and one red) and asks her to find the odd one out, but she thinks they're identical. He uses this to say that she is red/green colourblind and thus couldn't tell if the traffic light was red or green.
Mrs. Demson snappishly asks Martha why she never revealed that she was colourblind, then claims that Martha "took advantage of [her] kindness". Then, she says that Martha should pay for her lawn furniture instead of Pennygrabber. Pennygrabber agrees, sparking an argument in the audience, and Martha breaks the silence by asking to say something. Mrs. Demson and Pennygrabber object, but the judge allows Martha to speak, so she explains what happened, saying that she knows what colour the light was due to the positioning of the lights. She then adds that it was Nelson who clawed the furniture, since she saw him run away. Thus, Pennygrabber is made to pay for Mrs. Demson's furniture, but Mrs. Demson is given community service washing dogs.
This episode provides examples of
- Accidental Misnaming: Downplayed. Mrs. Demson knows that the Lorraines' talking dog is named Martha, but she thinks she has a surname of "Mutt", when actually her name is "just Martha"; i.e. no surname.
- Achievements in Ignorance: Discussed when Dr. Grim thinks that Martha can talk because she's too badly-trained to realise she shouldn't be able to.
- Alliterative Name:
- According to the judge, the bad driver is named Patrick Pennygrabber.
- Mrs. Demson calls Martha "Martha Mutt".
- Bait-and-Switch: When Martha asks, "What's a mistrial?", it seems as though someone is going to explain, since that's usually what happens on this show when someone doesn't know a word. Instead, Mrs. Demson yells, "No more vocabulary!".
- Batman Gambit: Pennygrabber tricks Martha into leaving her place by throwing a ball.
- Character Tics: Apparently, Mrs. Demson has a distinctive knock.
- Cats Hate Water: A cat looks annoyed when Mrs. Demson accidentally drenches it with water.
- Color Blind Confusion: Pennygrabber shows Martha three cards; two green and one red. Martha, however, is unable to tell the three cards apart, due to her being colorblind, but towards the end of the episode, she reveals that she is able to tell that the top of a traffic light is always red, and the bottom of the traffic light is always green.
- Courtroom Episode: In this episode, Martha represents Mrs. Demson as the star witness in her trial against Pennygrabber when the latter destroyed Mrs. Demson's lawn furniture.
- Death Glare: Pennygrabber glares at Mrs. Demson for dancing when he has to pay for her furniture.
- Dogs Are Dumb: Discussed by Dr. Grim, who thinks that dogs can only do four things: eat, sleep, play, and obey.
- Greed: As befits a man named Patrick Pennygrabber, he's keen on Mrs. Demson's idea of Martha paying for the lawn furniture instead of him.
- Happy Dance: Mrs. Demson dances when Pennygrabber is made to pay for her furniture.
- Insane Troll Logic:
- Mrs. Demson thinks Martha clawed her lawn furniture to pieces just because the latter is a dog, even though dogs aren't the only animal with claws and Martha isn't the only local dog.
- When a man runs a red light and nearly runs Martha and Mrs. Demson over, swerving into Mrs. Demson's yard and damaging a few of her belongings, Mrs. Demson thinks it's somehow Martha's fault.
- Dr. Grim thinks that Martha can only speak because she doesn't realise she shouldn't be able to, and that she therefore must be lying or wrong. Martha even points out that this makes no sense.
- Make the Dog Testify: Downplayed. Martha testifies against Mrs. Demson, and she is a dog, but she can talk.
- Meaningful Name: Patrick's last name is Pennygrabber, and he seems to be greedy judging by the fact that he's onboard with Martha paying for the furniture instead of him.
- No Animals Allowed: According to the signs in Mrs. Demson's yard, she doesn't allow dogs, horses, birds, or snakes on her property.
- Ow, My Body Part!: After sneezing, Mrs. Demson yells, "Ow, my cyanic nerve!". Later, she says, "Oh, my head aches from all that sneezing!".
- Silly Brain Diagram: The dog expert Mr. Grim uses a diagram of a dog's brain to argue that Martha testifying is impossible, because dogs don't have room in their brains for anything except eating, sleeping, playing, and maybe obedience, with no room left over for speech. When Martha points out the obvious — namely, that she's talking right now — Grim says that's only because she's too badly trained to realize she shouldn't be able to.
- Speak in Unison: When Martha asks to say something, Mrs. Demson and Patrick Pennygrabber say, "Objection!" in unison.
- Species Surname: Discussed. Mrs. Demson thinks that Martha's name is "Martha Mutt".
- Stock Animal Diet:
- At the beginning, a squirrel prepares to eat an acorn.
- Mrs. Demson gives Martha a bone.
- You Can Talk?: The judge does a double-take when he first hears Martha speak.
