Cora is still scared to walk the tightrope, and when she plucks up the courage, she falls off. Meanwhile, Kit and Helen are confused that "Cora" smells of sawdust and popcorn. Meanwhile, the circus act continues, but the circus guy wants Cora (who he thinks is named Jessamine) to join in. Then, he gets a phone call saying that the other missing circus dog, Gina, has been found driving away in a giant shoe, and the caller has (much like Pete in the last episode) mistaken Ham for a woman. Now, both Kit and the circus guy are convinced their respective dogs have been stolen. Ham, meanwhile, is a bit worried this whole thing will end in disaster, but brushes it aside.
That evening, Kit, Helen, Danny, and Jessamine (who they still think is Cora) arrive at the theatre, which Jessamine runs into. When Kit and Helen look for her, they find her doing circus tricks. Then, Eric smells Jessamine and almost catches them, but they hide her behind their backs and stall when he asks what's behind them. When he leaves, Jessamine continues to do tricks.
Ham, Martha, and Gina (who they also think is Cora) arrive at the theatre, and Martha tries to translate Gina's barks, but can only make out "circo", which is Italian for "circus". Ham is afraid of getting Kit in trouble, but Martha encourages him to be bold, reminding him that he just needs to let Kit say hello to "Cora" and then he can bring her back to the Lorraine house.
They enter, but then hear Eric, so the dogs hide in a room, but this turns out to be Eric's dressing room. Then, he hears howling, but Martha stops him from entering by pretending she's just a woman. He walks off (despite finding it odd that a "person" is in his dressing room), and then the circus guy pulls over, having seen the "giant shoe". He assumes that the "dog-napper" is trying to steal his act.
Just as Kit is about to head onstage, Ham shows her Martha and Gina. Kit is fooled that Gina is Cora, but tells him to "Stop messing around. Put Cora back in my dressing room." Meanwhile, the circus guy tries to enter the theatre with his remaining dogs (and Cora) but is stopped because of the no-dog rule. Cora, meanwhile, hears Kit and scratches at the door.
Martha hears the scratching, so Ham hides the dogs in the dressing room and checks it out. Meanwhile, Martha and Gina see Jessamine in the dressing room and Gina and Jessamine do tricks together. Ham sees Cora outside, assumes she escaped, and takes her back in, but the circus guy sees and assumes he's stealing Jessamine.
Kit sees Ham with Cora and is surprised, since she told him to put her in her dressing room. Ham says he did, and Kit groans and stuffs Cora into the dressing room, leaving Martha confused at the "three Coras". Then, she gets more confused when the rest of the circus dogs jump through the window.
The play starts, but Kit is again late, since she and Ham are arguing over whether he took Cora out. When Ham mentions taking Cora out of the "shoe", Kit realises that he must be the "woman" in the white "dress". Then, the circus guy busts in and calls Ham a thief. One of his dogs, Rosita, scratches at the dressing room door, and the circus guy opens it to find Martha, the remaining five circus dogs, and Cora.
Then, the circus dogs go onstage and start doing their tricks on Eric. This makes the circus guy mad, since he thinks Eric is stealing his act. Meanwhile, Ham reveals his ambition to make vocabulary calendars, which impresses Kit, since she's apparently always wanted to date a man with such a job since childhood and has made a vocab list. Thus, they agree to make their calendar together on a date. Then, the circus guy comes onstage and advertises his circus. Eric leaves in a rage, so when they do the show, Ham fills in for him and Danny (who they got to come by ordering a pizza) fills in for Ham.
This episode provides examples of
- Accidental Truth: Kit tries to lie that she and Helen have "nothing" behind them... which then turns out to be true, as Jessamine has wondered off.
- Astonishingly Appropriate Interruption: We keep cutting to Kit, the circus guy, and Martha speaking, and their sentences fit together.Kit: "I just can't stop thinking about it. I mean, what kind of person takes a poor dog and steals her when her owner's away?"Circus Guy: "I ask you: what kind of person takes a poor defenceless dog, and stuffs her in a giant shoe!?"Kit: "Just wait 'til I find out just who this—-"Circus Guy: "Stubborn-shouldered—-"Kit: "That no-good—-"Circus Guy: "Low-down—"Kit: "Sneaky—"Circus Guy: "Dog-napping—-"Martha: (pointing out a literal cow) "Cow!"
- Bad People Abuse Animals: Discussed when everyone mistakes Ham for a bad-news dog-napper.
- Car Ride Games: Martha and Ham entertain themselves in the boot car by counting the cows.
- Delayed Reaction: When Martha pretends she's just a woman, not a dog, Eric walks off like it's normal... but then realises it's still odd for a "person" to be in his dressing room.
- Determined Expression: Martha sports a determined frown when telling Ham to be bold.
- Dramatic Irony:
- The circus guy thinks Cora is just pretending to be scared.Circus Guy: "Like she's never been on a high wire before!"
- Kit and Helen have no clue why "Cora" (actually Jessamine) smells of sawdust and popcorn and can do tricks now.
- Ham and Martha also have no clue why "Cora" (actually Gina) is barking in Italian.
- The circus guy thinks Cora is just pretending to be scared.
- Dude Looks Like a Lady: Ham is again mistaken for a woman due to his toga.
- Facepalm: Ham facepalms when he realises the room the dogs are hiding in is Eric's dressing room.
- Has a Type: Kit has always wanted a boyfriend who makes word-a-day calendars.
- Immediate Self-Contradiction: Ham repeatedly tells himself he's bold, but when he hears Eric, he says, "Not bold! Not bold!".
- Loud Gulp: Cora gulps when scared to walk the tightrope.
- No Animals Allowed: Eric not allowing pets in the theatre returns as a plot device.
- Mistaken For Identity: Kit, Helen, and Danny think Jessamine is Cora, Ham and Martha think Gina is Cora, and the circus guy thinks Cora is Jessamine.
- Mistaken for Thief: Due to Ham driving off with Cora, Kit thinks that he stole her when really he was just trying to return her, and the circus guy thinks that he stole Gina due to Ham accidentally picking up Gina instead of Cora.
- Ow, My Body Part!: Eric yells, "Ow, my sweet patella!" note when the circus dogs pile on top of him.
- Screw This, I'm Outta Here: Eric storms off after the circus dogs play tricks with him.
- Sequel Episode: This episode continues the story from "Cora! Cora! Cora!".
- Sleepyhead: Gina keeps falling asleep. Despite this, though, she's still able to do tricks.
- Throw It In!: In-Universe; Eric tries to compensate for Kit's/Cleopatra's lateness by saying ad-libs.
