Kids Are Cruel, especially in the workplace.
Life of O'BrianAirdates: December 19, 2014 note , March 2, 2015 note , April 19, 2015 note
When O'Brian won’t let Olive access the tubes, she has to solve the mystery of what she did to upset him.
Tropes:
- And Here He Comes Now: Once the mystery is solved as to what Olive did to make O'Brian upset, she remarks to Oscar that she can apologize, then help out Otto with the laser chickens. Cue an exhausted Otto stumbling towards the duo while covered in feathers and dirt and leaning on Olive's desk for support while spitting out some feathers caught in his mouth.
- Attack of the 50-Foot Whatever: Laser chickens
are odd creatures that reach the height of tall trees and can shoot lasers from their combs that can destroy humans. And they're aliens. - Automatic Door Malfunction: Invoked by O'Brian when he accepts Olive's apology about her throwing a basketball that accidentally hit him on the head, but refuses to accept her apology about "the other thing" she did. As a result, she gets mad and begins to march back to the bullpen, but finds that he locked the automatic doors as a way to troll her. He ends up opening them again when she sarcastically thanks him and tells him he's making her day.
- Backhanded Apology: Olive apologizes to O'Brian and decides to make up for what she did by handing him a laser chicken egg and claiming that the egg is about to hatch. When O'Brian begs for her to take it back, however, she makes a deal with him: she'll take the egg back if he doesn't tube-block anyone else ever again. He admits defeat on the spot.
- The Bus Came Back: After having nonspeaking cameos in the series premiere, "My Better Half", and "Blob on the Job", O'Brian returns with a major speaking role.
- Clueless Boss: Ms. O never hears about the bullying going on with O'Brian and the other agents. Justified, as Olive was explicitly told that telling Ms. O about the issue would lead to disastrous consequences from O'Brian.
- Compromising Call: Played for Laughs when Olive receives a phone call from someone whom she believes is Otto.[Olive's phone rings]Olive: Otto, I'm trying to get to you!Mysterious voice: This isn't Otto. I have information. Meet me in the Ballroom. [hangs up]Olive: Who was that? [phone rings]Mysterious voice: By the way, it's Octavia. [hangs up]
- Continuity Nod: Otto is once again forced to go solo on a case while his partner is out of commission, albeit he isn't rescuing his partner this time.
- Disproportionate Retribution: Owen was trapped inside of the tubes for three days, while Octavia got trapped inside of Headquarters for a week. Why? Because they both made O'Brian mad in some way or another.
- Does This Remind You of Anything?: The episode is essentially one long metaphor for bullying and human trafficking. Olive is stuck inside Headquarters while her partner ends up at their destination: a park with angry, attacking laser chickens. She ends up becoming a victim of O'Brian, a tube operator, as he consistently prevents her from leaving. Numerous other agents, such as Octavia and Owen, have attempted to stand up to O'Brian in some manner, only for him to prevent them from leaving Headquarters for long periods of time. Once Olive figures out why O'Brian is mad at her, she stands up to him by forcing him to take a laser chicken egg and promise that he doesn't "tube-block" anyone ever again. He complies, and she sends him on a "vacation" through the tubes, which is met with applause from a crowd of agents, including Otto and Oscar.
- Dragged by the Collar: Oscar pulls Olive out of the tube lobby twice — once by her arm and once by her shoulders. The second time around, she manages to throw him off.
- Dumpster Dive: Played with, as it's implied that Otto was chased into a dumpster rather than having him intentionally jump in it.
- The Gadfly: O'Brian intentionally blocks Olive from exiting the tube lobby at one point by sealing the doors shut, which only serves to make her more upset.
- Gilligan Cut: Olive remarks that Owen always helps her out. Transition to the next scene where Owen states that he can't help Olive out.
- Fighting Back Is Wrong: The last person to stand up to O'Brian by telling Ms. O about what he was doing was an agent named Orbot. It's implied that O'Brian did something horrific to him, but it's never explained what.
- Freeze-Frame Bonus: The very beginning of the episode has two agents-in-training carrying a painting of a pie-shaped tornado, which causes Olive to shudder briefly.
- A blink-and-you'll-miss-it shot also has O'Brian intentionally breaking the tubes when Olive attempts to go through Tube Travel.
- Hero of Another Story: It's not shown how Otto beat the laser chicken, nor does he want to talk about it. However, he manages to retrieve an egg during the battle, which gives Olive an idea on how to stand up to O'Brian.
- Hidden Depths: It's heavily implied that Olive is quite the Odd Squad historian, and because of it, she knows a lot about laser chickens.Olive: You try traveling through time and space looking for a homeland while being chased by Morlocks! [looks away as Otto glances at her in surprise] I might know a bit about them...
- She also has the ability to operate the tubes with ease as well as operate the Security cameras, despite working in Investigation as an agent and not in Maintenance or Security.
- Innocently Insensitive: The central conflict in the episode revolves around Olive as she and Oscar figure out what she did to make O'Brian upset, since he refuses to tell her directly. As it turns out, she accidentally ate his raspberry yogurt instead of her own strawberry yogurt...and also didn't check on him after he got hit in the head by a basketball she threw.
- Instantly Proven Wrong: Olive explains that the laser chicken egg isn't set to hatch yet...right before the egg begins to hatch. This leads to a Mass "Oh, Crap!" from Otto, Oscar and Olive as they — and the crowd of background agents — flee in a panic just before the baby laser chicken begins shooting lasers.Olive: Okay, maybe I don't know as much as I thought! RUN!!
- Ironic Echo Cut: Olive expresses worry to Oscar about how Otto is out in the park alone. Cut to Otto, who emerges from the tubes and is immediately attacked by laser chickens.
- The Leader: While it's heavily implied that Olive serves as the Number Two out of the Main 4 (with Ms. O being the obvious leader), this episode has Ms. O delegate leadership duties of the mission at hand to Olive, who is the levelheaded type. However, it ends up backfiring when Otto arrives at the scene but Olive doesn't, leading him to beat the laser chickens on his own. Furthermore, Olive is also quick to boss O'Brian around when Laser-Guided Karma strikes and he is forced by her to go on a long "break" (this is justified, since as far as hierarchy goes, Olive is O'Brian's superior).
- Meaningful Look: When Ms. O assures Otto that as long as he follows Olive's lead he'll be fine, Olive shoots him a look and nods.
- Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: Olive's failure to tell O'Brian that she was the one who threw the basketball that hit him in the head just leads him to add one more thing to the list of things Olive did to him. While he does accept her apology about the incident, he doesn't accept her apology about the other thing she did.
- Percussive Therapy: Played with. A Running Gag throughout the episode is Oscar slamming his hand on the lab table for dramatic effect, with Olive jumping in surprise every time.
- Pop-Culture Pun Episode Title: The title is a reference to Monty Python's 1979 film Life of Brian.
- Put on a Bus to Hell: Olive sends O'Brian on a lengthy "break" as consequence for his actions, and he isn't seen again for the rest of the series.
- Right Behind Me: O'Brian is having a conversation on the phone with someone about Olive right before she walks in with a box in her hands. However, she doesn't respond to the criticism.
- Snarking Thanks: Olive is Little Miss Snarker by nature, but this episode has one of her more notable moments of snark:Olive: [pats tube lobby doors twice] Why won't these doors open?! [shoots a Death Glare at O'Brian] Are you doing this too?O'Brian: Maaaaybe?Olive: [angrily sarcastic] Thanks! Thanks so much! You're making my day!
- Tap on the Head: A stray basketball thrown by Olive manages to hit O'Brian in the head, causing him to become temporarily knocked out.
- Tempting Fate: Discussed by Olive and Otto at the beginning of the episode, regarding the day being slow with no cases. Despite Olive's objections, Otto manages to tempt fate anyway and summon Ms. O.
- This Is Gonna Suck: Oscar pulls out a detective hat from Hammerspace and wears it, explaining that he's always wanted to solve mysteries like a "real" detective. Olive's response? A strained "oh no" before she walks off.
- Verbal Backspace: While Olive is explaining to Owen that she'll take the fall for him if she "happens" to look at his computer, this exchange happens:Owen: Will you look at my computer?Olive: Yes.Owen: Then I can't go on break.Olive: I mean, uh...no.Owen: Oh, okay. Going on break!
- Watch Out for That Tree!: At one point after asking Olive what time she arrived at Headquarters at, Oscar wheels his chair backwards and ends up colliding with two carts behind him. Olive's reaction is nothing short of "I'm Surrounded by Idiots."
Yeah, he turned invisible. But how'd he get that way...?
Whatever Happened to Agent Oz?Airdates: December 19, 2014 note , March 2, 2015 note , April 19, 2015 note
Olive tells Otto the story of what happened to Octavia's partner, Oz.
Tropes:
- Beehive Hairdo: The black hole manages to make Ms. O's hair like this, loosening the tight bun she usually wears.
- Bland-Name Product: The magazine that Olive is reading, Shmumbers Illustrated, is a parody of Sports Illustrated.
- Comically Missing the Point: Olive tells Otto that Octavia and Oz battled a villain who goes by the name of Jellybean Joe. Otto latches on eagerly...to the fact that there's a villain with the name of a candy in his name.
- Continuity Nod: Octavia still has her fancy chair from "Best Seats in the House".
- A Burly Bears player and Delivery Debbie are seen on the cover and back of Olive's magazine, respectively.
- Conversation Cut: Employed at one point during the story.Olive: [about to slam fist on table] Ms. O was-[cut to Ms. O's office]Ms. O: [slams fist on desk] The angriest I've ever been in my life!
- Dangerous Workplace: It's been established that Odd Squad is a pretty dangerous place and agents who go out on the field are liable to get into life-or-death situations, but this episode is arguably the tipping point, as it deconstructs what could potentially happen to agents while on cases or battling villains.
- Distinction Without a Difference:Olive: Otto, it's not polite to stare.Otto: I'm not staring, I'm just looking at someone for a really long time.Olive: Fine. It's not polite to look at someone for a really long time.
- Eat the Camera: Inverted, as the camera zooms in on the black hole and zooms out from Otto's mouth as he performs a Jaw Drop.
- Failure Montage: Octavia and Oz repeatedly try and fail to catch baseballs, resulting in Oz nearly outright quitting.
- Had the Silly Thing in Reverse: This is how Oz turned invisible — he had the Invisible-inator the wrong way 'round and accidentally fired it.
- Invisibility with Drawbacks: Averted. Oz uses his Invisibility to his advantage, and is regarded as of the best agents in Odd Squad because of it.
- "Jar of Jellybeans" Contest: This is Jellybean Joe's primary schtick. Octavia and Oz must guess how many jellybeans are in his jar, and they must do it within a time limit lest whatever is inside the jack-in-the-box Joe also has is released. After they end up failing, they receive help from Estimation Eddie, who teaches them about estimation. This helps them be prepared for the next time they meet Joe, and they manage to guess correctly.
- Most Writers Are Adults: Despite the organization being comprised solely of kids under the age of 13, they still get bills. And they are just as upset to receive them as adults are.
- The Reveal: Octavia is revealed to have an invisible partner named Oz.
- Running Gag: Otto continuously interrupts the story with guesses as to what happened to Oz, and nearly every time, Olive shuts him down and continues on.Olive: If you let me finish...
- There's also a repeating gag of Oz taking out different gadgets, with the belief that one of them is the Handcuff-inator. This is what leads to his accident.
- Series Continuity Error: Despite Olive previously remarking that Odd Squad agents don't arrest people, Oz is shown consistently wanting to arrest Jellybean Joe throughout the episode.
- Third-Person Flashback: Neither Olive nor Otto are seen or mentioned during the story; the only main characters that appear are Ms. O and Oscar.
- Unrealistic Black Hole: Oz manages to make one on accident. It sucks papers and other debris into its pull, and threatens to suck Octavia and Oz in as well, but Ms. O (who's sitting in a chair) stays mostly put. Oscar isn't affected by its pull either, and is able to turn it off with a small gadget.
- Villain Respect: Jellybean Joe is so impressed by Octavia and Oz's estimation skills that he willingly lets himself be taken in.
- Visible Invisibility: Oz is only seen when he picks up a tissue and blows his nose into it. While Olive is able to easily spot him, Otto does not until the end of the episode.
- Would You Like to Hear How They Died?: A non-villainous, downplayed example — Oz doesn't die, but has an accident while on the job, and Olive tells Otto exactly how it happened.
