There's some new competition in the office.
Blob on the JobAirdates: November 28, 2014 note , January 22, 2015 note , January 24, 2015 note
When a blob gets loose in Odd Squad headquarters, Olive and Otto compete against rival agents Oren and Olaf to catch it first.
Tropes:
- Artistic License – Physics: Olive is able to somehow fit her entire body into a drawer of a filing cabinet.
- Assumed Win: Ms. O declares Oren and Olaf the winners of the competition, with Otto beginning to protest before Olive stops him and says it's not worth it. As a result, the Director sends the winning partner pair to Blobsylvania...before revealing that she knows Olive and Otto were really the ones who caught the entire blob, declaring them the winners instead.
- Bait-and-Switch Sentiment: Olive does one of these when finding the last quart of the blob.Olive: Otto, you're a genius! I know where the blob is.Otto: Well, where is it?Olive: It's right... [she points to Otto's chest] ...here.Otto: You're right! All we have to do is look inside our hearts!Olive: [soft chuckle] No! It's on your suit!
- Big "NO!": Oscar gives one upon seeing that the blob escaped.
- Blob Monster: The titular blob, which doesn't have eyes, a nose, a mouth or any limbs, but can sense the presence of others. And spews snot at people.
- Breaking the Fourth Wall: Olive and Otto do this twice each during their hunt for the blob.
- Eleventy Zillion: Oren remarks that he and Olaf solved a "gazillion" cases that morning. Olive is quick to point out that isn't a real number. She later uses "gazillion" to describe how many blobs are in Blobsylvania.
- Failed a Spot Check: Olive and Otto fail to notice the rumbling noise of the Cold Open client's house, nor see her house skyrocket into the air. It's made even more painfully obvious when Oren points out that they came back from another failed case, only for Olive to retort that they solved it.
- Flashback Cut: One is used to show how the blob escaped its container.
- Hidden Depths: Olaf may be a person that surpasses even Otto's level of being a Cloudcuckoolander, but he can also have intelligent moments, as shown when he explains that there's one more quart of blob left to catch. It manages to leave everyone, especially Olive and Otto, in Stunned Silence.
- Insane Troll Logic: Oren believes that "gazillion" is a real number, just because Olaf says it is.
- It's a Long Story: Parodied and lampshaded when Oscar states this verbatim and recites how the blob escaped via Flashback Cut, only for said flashback to last not even ten seconds.Oscar: Huh. I guess that story wasn't...so long.
- Malicious Misnaming: Oren refers to Otto as "Oo-too" when they come face-to-face for the first time. Otto corrects him.
- No Good Deed Goes Unpunished: While Oren and Olaf did manage to catch some of the blob, they are still sent to Blobsylvania due to the fact that they stole the completed blob - which was rightfully Olive and Otto's - and passed it off as catching the blob to be their own doing.
- Pass the Popcorn: Both Olive and Otto munch on popcorn as they watch Oren and Olaf count blobs in Blobsylvania.
- Piggyback Cute: Subverted for both pairs of partners. In the case of Oren and Olaf, it isn't portrayed as romantic. However, while Otto giving Olive a piggyback ride may seem like Ship Tease, she rides him for comedic effect rather than for romantic reasons, to the point where Otto could be a human Sapient Steed (right down to Olive giving repeated "hyah's" and slapping him on the shoulder).
- Red Alert: This episode introduces Code Ruby, which is used to indicate that a blob has escaped.
- Remember the New Guy?: Oren and Olaf have never been seen or mentioned prior to this episode, but Olive and Otto fully recognize them as rivals.
- Sarcastic Clapping: Oren does this in order to distract Olive and Otto and have Olaf steal their captured blob. It actually ends up working, but it backfires on both Oren and Olaf spectacularly.
- Sitcom Arch-Nemesis: Both Oren and Olaf serve as these to Olive and Otto. They antagonize and bully them, but aren't out-and-out villainous.
- So Much for Stealth: Subverted. While the blob does stop moving and look up as though sensing Olive and Otto, the latter still manages to capture it before it can react.
- Stock Sound Effect: Surprisingly averted in the case of Ms. O's airhorn, which doesn't make a typical airhorn noise and actually sounds like she's using it.
- Synchronous Episodes: It was revealed on Odd Squad's Facebook page that this episode is the sister episode of "Switch Your Partner Round and Round", which has the same story but pits Olive and Otto against each other along with their respective partners, in a What If? situation.
- Tempting Fate: As Olive and Otto are leaving the Cold Open client's house, Olive remarks that fixing the issue was "easier than I thought." Not a second later, the client's house begins taking off like a rocket into the sky.
- This Is Gonna Suck: The first thing Olive utters out upon seeing Oren and Olaf in the tube lobby is a despaired "Oh no..."
- Too Important to Walk: Oren riding Olaf, as well as Olive riding Otto, could potentially be seen this way.
- Überwald: Blobsylvania, which, as the name suggests, is full of blobs.
- We ARE Struggling Together: Olive and Otto, and Oren and Olaf, all want to capture the blob. However, it quickly turns into competition, with both pairs of partners competing to see who caught the biggest amount of blob. Oren and Olaf end up "disqualified" when they steal the completed blob, which was in the possession of Olive and Otto.
- Worth It: Otto remarks that getting blob snot on him is disgusting, but worth it just to rub the victory in Oren's and Olaf's faces.
When resolutions go bad. And we don't mean breaking them.
Party of 5, 4, 3, 2, 1Airdates: November 28, 2014 note , January 22, 2015 note , January 31, 2015 note
When people in town can no longer count down, Olive and Otto must uncover who is causing the problem and why, so Ms. O can count down the new year.
Tropes:
- Added Alliterative Appeal: The "countdown crook".
- Also, Mayor Mackelmore.
- Atlantis: Olive has "discovering the lost city of Atlantis" as one of her resolutions.
- Bad News Good News: The "There Is No Good News" variant is used after Dr. O examines Olive.Dr. O: You want the good news or bad news?Otto: Bad news.Dr. O: The bad news is there's no good news.Olive and Otto: [in unison] WHAT?!Dr. O: Olive is definitely the countdown crook.
- Bread, Eggs, Breaded Eggs: Ms. O mentions that if people are not able to count down, there will be no rockets blasting off, no races starting, and definitely no rocket races.
- Continuity Nod: Song #66 on DJ K-berg's Top 100 Songs countdown is "Probably", sung by Soundcheck.
- Ear Ache: Averted. Despite Olive yelling directly into the Cold Open client's ear, she doesn't react in the slightest.
- Hidden Depths: It's shown that Olive is a very handy mechanic when it comes to toy cars (the organization's preferred vehicular transportation), and has years of experience fixing such cars under her belt.
- Holiday Episode: The episode takes place on New Year's Eve.
- I'm a Doctor, Not a Placeholder: Dr. O says this while responding to Ms. O regarding Olive's cure, which would become her Catchphrase later on.Ms. O: We don't have two weeks! I have to be on stage tonight!Dr. O: I'm a doctor, Ms. O, not a party planner![Ms. O clears her throat meaningfully]
- Karma Houdini: Olive never faces any repercussions for preventing the town from counting down. Justified, as it wasn't intentional on her part.
- Kids Driving Cars: Parodied, as the "car" Olive drives is an actual toy car that doesn't go very fast and eventually needs repairs after being driven a long distance. Once the repairs are made, she ends up backing the car up before driving forward.
- Knew It All Along: DJ K-berg remarks that she knew Olive was the countdown crook, before she quickly backtracks and says she didn't.
- Long List: Olive's 100 resolutions are on one that manages to reach the floor.
- Medium Awareness: Olive remarks that she's going to speed through her resolutions with the BGM and the numbers in the background. She even breaks the fourth wall more than once during the Montage.
- My God, What Have I Done?: Olive quotes this trope nearly verbatim when Otto informs her that she is the "countdown crook".
- New Year's Resolution: The episode revolves around Olive attempting to get all of her New Year's resolutions crossed off before midnight. However, she ends up causing the entire town to be prevented from counting down in the process.
- One-Man Band: Gerard. He only knows one tune, but he's talented at playing it.
- Orifice Invasion: Gerard, a One-Man Band, lives in a woman's ear and plays the same tune over and over, which causes the woman to repeat it. He's not only an ear worm, he creates an ear worm!
- Shown Their Work: Commandeering? It's a real practice
done by police and military forces. - Stereotype Flip: When the toy car Olive is driving breaks down, she ends up fixing the car herself with Otto handing her tools, as opposed to the other way around. In Real Life, there aren't many female mechanics, as the field is dominated by men.
- They Don't Make Them Like They Used To: Olive says this in response to her kiddie car needing repairs.
- Ultimate Authority Mayor: Mayor Mackelmore is a very dim bulb who is presented as little more than a Yes-Man to Ms. O. However, this may be a case of Early-Installment Weirdness — later episodes, such as "A Case of the Sing-Alongs", show that he does do mayoral duties, and becomes at very real risk of getting overthrown from his position.
- When the Clock Strikes Twelve: Olive states that she has to get the rest of her resolutions completed by midnight. Similarly, she and Otto must also find and apprehend the "countdown crook" before midnight so Ms. O can count down the new year.
