Recap / Odd Squad S 2 E 18 Orchids Almost Half Hour Talent Show The Perfect Score

Orchid just adores the spotlight. Who knew?

Orchid's Almost Half Hour Talent Show

Airdates: March 23, 2017 / July 17, 2017 ^note PBS Kids premiere; was released early on March 23 in conjunction with the season finale of OddTube before airing officially on July 17, December 9, 2016 ^note TVO Kids premiere

All the agents, especially Olympia, want to be a part of Orchid's talent show.

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Tropes:

• A Day in the Limelight: While the episode focus is on Orchid and her talent show, Olympia shares the spotlight with her, as the plot also focuses on her trying to get into the show.
• AutoTune: Otis's part in the duet uses this — which is quite confusing, considering that "The Cherry-on-Top-inator" had Otis (and by extension, his actor) singing perfectly without the use of it. Furthermore, the use of the software for Isaac Kragten's voice in this episode is quite ironic, considering the show had quite the sharp Take That! to AutoTune in a previous episode.
  • It's also used for Olympia as well during the lyric "La-la-la-something isn't really a plan". Just like with Isaac Kragten, Anna Cathcart has been known to have a very prominent singing voice, as seen in "The Cherry-on-Top-inator", and the software is employed just for that lyric (the rest of the song has Anna using her natural singing voice).
• Bad Impressionists: Averted. Coach O can do incredibly accurate impressions, and is shown that he can outright mimic agents' voices. He even manages to do impressions of Orchid, Ms. O and Dr. O (all of whom are female) with ease.
• Biting-the-Hand Humor: Orchid tells Olympia that no one likes shows that are longer than 20 minutes. Not only is this a jab at a majority of PBS Kids shows, but it also serves as a jab at shows on other networks that have 30-minute timeslots.
• Borrowed Catchphrase: Coach O imitates Ms. O saying her "Well, what are you waiting for? Go!" catchphrase as part of his act, which manages to elicit a laugh from the Director herself as well as Orchid.
• Breaking the Fourth Wall: When Olympia suggests that Orchid make the talent show longer, she suggests 30 minutes as a duration. Orchid tells her that no one likes shows that are longer than 20 minutes.
• The Coats Are Off: Played with, as Orchid doesn't have her coat off to look badass; rather, she has it off due to getting ready to get changed for the talent show.
  • It's also played with in the case of Oona, who takes off her coat to perform a disappearing trick for her act.
• Cold Open: Averted; the episode opens with Olympia and Otis walking into headquarters and doesn't feature one. The season itself appears to be retiring the tradition of having one per episode, as was the case in Season 1 (the third season would forgo them entirely).
• Comical Overreacting: The talent show itself has an abundance of it, with both Orchid and Ms. O having overreactions to various acts, such as Orchid crying upon seeing an agent hula-hooping.
• Compressed Vice: Orchid appears with more Pride in this episode regarding herself and her talent show than in any of her previous appearances, coming off as incredibly vain. While she has always been bossy and demanding (something that goes hand-in-hand with her Pride here), she doesn't necessarily have an "It's All About Me" personality, and this episode is the only one that features her having such a personality.
• Continuity Nod: When Olympia begins to suffer from stage fright, all she can say is "Meep" — the sound that Agent Olo made while as a dustball, as revealed in the OddTube episode "Meet Agent Olo".
  • Otis and Olympia have a new Secret Handshake, which is an improvement over their original one.
  • Ogg's room from "Olympia's Day" makes a return, only this time around, it has a desk and a bunch of photos of him on the walls.
  • Odd Squad having a talent show was mentioned back in "6:00 to 6:05" by Oren and was stated to be an annual event. This talent show, however, is hosted by Orchid and is permitted by Ms. O, and is screened to Odd Squad precincts worldwide.
• Didn't Think This Through: Olympia wants to be in Orchid's talent show and goes to incredible lengths to secure a spot, but by the time she actually gets onto the stage, it becomes apparent that she doesn't have any idea on what to do while onstage, and as a result, develops stage fright.
• Disapproving Look: Orchid shoots Olympia one of these when she tells the agent that she can't be in the talent show, only for Olympia to give a Big "WHY?!" in response.
  • She later gives another one to Olympia when she tells her that they've been talking for longer than 1 minute.
• Does This Remind You of Anything?: Orchid and Ms. O exchange cheek pinches with each other during Coach O's act. While it may have been meant as a gesture between friends, it can have more of a invoked Ho Yay interpretation taken out of context. ^note The gesture itself was most likely Played for Laughs as a silly gag, but the out-of-context interpretation still remains either way.
• Dragged by the Collar: When Olympia comes across a tube operator playing on an improvised drum kit, she tells him that "I'm gonna make you a star" before rushing off and dragging him by the arm. She comes back a second later and attempts to grab the makeshift drum kit.
• Dubstep: The duet with Olympia and Otis takes a sharp turn into this genre at the climax, with them incorporating their Secret Handshake and some neat dance moves in time with the beat.
• Everything's Better with Sparkles: Orchid wears a sparkly silver jacket and pants when hosting the talent show. She also wears a sparkly golden tie.
• Fantastic Fireworks: Olympia cues some up at the end of her and Otis's dual act. When he asks her how she did so, she replies with, "I just got lucky!"
• HA HA HA—No: Subverted when Olympia asks Oona if she can magically disappear on command, only for the Scientist to start laughing...then say, in dead earnest, "Of course."
• Handshake Substitute: Orchid and Ms. O share a fist bump during Coach O's act.
• Hell-Bent for Leather: One of the coat options Orchid is presented with is a leather jacket with spikes on the shoulders and an image of her face surrounded by birds and a rainbow. However, she turns it down for being too boring.
• Hidden Depths: Otis doesn't like talent shows. This is in contrast to Olympia, who immediately expresses interest in being in the talent show when Orchid tells the partner pair that it will be shown to every single precinct in the world.
  • The Noisemaker is revealed to be a good juggler, and can juggle 20 balls at once (fitting, considering his jester-like appearance).
  • Oona can perform a disappearing trick that's more than just mere illusion — she actually disappears and doesn't return.
  • A majority of agents are seen expressing their unique talents on the stage.
• Idiot Ball: Olympia juggles it briefly when Orchid explains how each act she has planned will take up a minute of the show each, making the show 20 minutes long, only for the other agent to not follow at all.
• Impossibly Awesome Magic Trick: As part of her act, Oona attempts to make herself disappear by simply raising her lab coat and dropping it. However, Oona manages to pull it off in such a way that she ends up legitimately disappearing, and doesn't re-appear at all for the rest of the episode, even when an agent drags the lab coat off of the stage.
• Insane Troll Logic: It's never really explained how hosting a silly talent show counts as Orchid getting her work done. (Although then again, this is Odd Squad...)
• Insistent Terminology: When Orchid tells the Noisemaker to take his Flute of Doom with him, he angrily corrects her by saying it's a recorder, then beginning to play it before Orchid stops him.
• Instantly Proven Wrong: Just as Orchid tells Olympia that she's in the talent show after having brought Coach O and Ocean to balance things out, Ms. O arrives and tells her that the Big O wishes to be on the show, at which point Orchid immediately kicks her off of the lineup.
  • When Orchid asks Otis what Olympia is doing onstage, he assures her that his partner will think of something. As it turns out, all she does is give a tiny "meep", and he realizes that she can't think of anything.
• Invisible Subtle Difference: As Ogg gets new pictures taken, Otis attempts to find which picture of him is different from the rest of them. However, all of the photos look identical, and he is unable to figure out which one it is.
• "I Want" Song: The duet that Otis and Olympia sing (which is unnamed) could be considered this, as it's a song meant to help Olympia get over her Performance Anxiety and have her act for the talent show be spectacular. The song itself actually ends up being part of the act, and just like a majority of other songs this season, invoked it's amazing, even with its copious amounts of AutoTune.
• Leaning on the Fourth Wall: The title of the episode itself does this, as most episodes in the Two Shorts format clock in at around 11 minutes (longer ones clock in at around 22 minutes, with the remaining 8 used for interstitials, promos, etcetera).
• Let's Duet: Otis and Olympia perform a song-and-dance routine for their talent show act, and duet in the first half of it.
• Mood Whiplash: The Flashback Cut that shows Orchid telling the Noisemaker to get lost goes from him begrudgingly complying to him excitedly asking her to be in a talent show if she ever hosts one, which she happily says yes to.
• Never Say "Die": Surprisingly averted — Otis responds that he's "totally dyin'" being in the talent show. Even if it's not spoken in the context of death, it's still quite surprising for a PBS Kids show.
• No Name Given: None of the agents who act in the talent show (apart from the main characters) are given names, and aren't even listed in the credits. Orchid refers to a tube operator drummer as "this guy", while she refers to an agent performing cartwheels as "the amazing cartwheel girl".
• No Title: Olympia's and Otis's duet isn't given a proper name.
• Performance Anxiety: Olympia gets onstage at the talent show, and immediately freezes up. It doesn't help matters that the agents behind the talent show are all watching her. The only thing she's able to do is give a small, pleading "Meep", at which point Otis — who doesn't like talent shows — decides to get out on stage and perform a song-and-dance number.
• Punctuated! For! Emphasis!: When Olympia gets wind that Orchid's talent show will be viewed by every single Odd Squad precinct in the world, she turns around and tells Otis that she needs to be in the show while pausing after every single word to show how much she means business.
• Rapid-Fire "No!": Olympia gives one when Otis asks her what she's performing at the talent show.
• Secret Handshake: Olympia and Otis have a new one that seems to be an improved version of their previous one, and is more fluid to boot. They manage to find a way to work it into their dual performance in the talent show.
• The Show Must Go On: Olympia speaks this verbatim when making her way to the stage, with a despaired tone that screams "This Is Gonna Suck."
• Simple, yet Opulent: Orchid has both of her eyebrows colored gold for hosting the talent show, and her tie is gold as well.
• Studio Audience: Orchid has an "applause button" that creates the sound of an audience clapping. When Ms. O presents it to her and she tests it, she deems it "too quiet" as the Director agrees.
• Talent Show: As indicated by the title. The plot revolves around Olympia specifically, who wants a spot in Orchid's talent show, only to be turned down repeatedly because the max capacity of acts have been reached. When she manages to rearrange the acts and gets a spot on the stage, she realizes that she doesn't have anything planned for a performance, leading Otis to help her improvise something.
• Uncomfortable Elevator Moment: Once Coach O gets on the elevator with Ocean and Olympia, he asks the latter if he can be in the show, to which she reluctantly agrees, having already brought Ocean on to be in the show. Then he starts doing push-ups, leading to a very awkward moment between the trio.
• Waistcoat of Style: Orchid wears one as part of her talent show host outfit.

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Olympia, ever The Perfectionist, seeks Oona's assistance in fooling her partner. Does it pay off?

The Perfect Score

Airdates: July 17, 2017 ^note  PBS Kids premiere, December 9, 2016 ^note  TVO Kids premiere

It's villain report card day at Odd Squad.

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Tropes:

• Accidental Misnaming: The credits list Rivka's name in this episode as "Rivkah".
• Acting Unnatural: Oona acts completely unnatural when interacting with Otis, and while he does have his suspicions, he ultimately never manages to find out what happened...that is, until he gets face-swapped with Orchid.
• Aesop Enforcer: Tommy Twosie gives Olympia a long-winded hint about where Freeze Ray Ray is just so the mathematical Aesop can be brought up once more, only for the location of Ray to be revealed: the park that Tommy initially mentioned.
• An Ice Person: The aptly-named Freeze Ray Ray has the ability to trap agents in thick ice blocks and freeze them.
• As You Know: Subverted. While the audience is unaware of what Olympia is referring to at the beginning of the episode, so is Otis.
• Attack Reflector: Olympia uses her mirror suit to send Freeze Ray Ray's attack right back at him, trapping him inside of an ice block instead of her.
• Beware the Nice Ones: When Tommy begins explaining to Olympia how he moved to 22 Main Street and got a new roommate so he could have "more me", Olympia angrily tells him to reveal who wrote the bad villain report card, which manages to scare him as he outright reveals that his villainous roommate wrote it, without mentioning the No-Tattletale Code.
• The B Grade: The episode revolves around Olympia getting a 1 out of 10 on one of her villain report cards, with her becoming obsessed in finding out who gave her the low score. It's eventually revealed that the trope was invoked by Freeze Ray Ray, who purposefully gave Olympia the low score to lure her into a trap. Luckily, he doesn't manage to get away with it.
• Blatant Lies: Olympia decides to go on a walk after receiving the bad villain report card. However, Otis stops her and grows suspicious, asking her if she's going to confront the villain behind the bad report card. Olympia assures him that she won't do anything like that. Cut to her popping up behind Oona, scaring her, then asking her to disguise herself as the agent in order to fool Otis while she tracks down the villain.
• The Bus Came Back: Halvsie Harriet, who hasn't been seen since Season 1's "The Great Grinaldi", returns in this episode as one of the villains Olympia confronts about her bad report card. (Apparently, she also moved houses.)
  • Tommy Twosie also returns in this episode after having not been seen since Season 1's "Mystic Egg Pizza". However, unlike Halvsie Harriet, he's put back on the bus and isn't seen again for the duration of the series.
• Call-Back: Olympia asks Oona to use her Face-Replace-inator gadget (which is now improved so the voice matches up with the chosen face) in order to disguise herself as the Investigation agent.
• Cheerful Child: Par for the course with Olympia — however, the beginning of the episode has one of her most adorable moments.
• Continuity Nod: Ms. O states that she has to leave Olympia and Otis to wash her baby panda. Pandas were previously established to be Olympia's favorite animal in the OddTube episode "Pandas".
  • The No-Tattletale Code once again makes a reappearance, as numerous villains are unable to tell Olympia who gave her the bad report card because of it.
  • This isn't the first time that someone has become trapped in a giant ice block. Nor is it the second.
  • Olympia uses her mirror suit once again, after having previously used it in The Movie.
• Cross-Referenced Titles: With "The Perfect Lunch".
• Deconstructed Character Archetype: Olympia deconstructs The Perfectionist archetype. She is an agent who strives to be the best employee Odd Squad has ever seen, and is an incredible Workaholic far exceeding that of her idols and predecessors, Olive and Otto. When she receives a 1 out of 10 on her villain report card, she becomes obsessed with tracking down who gave her the low score, and believes that she is a terrible agent, not bothering to listen to her partner's reassurance that she isn't. It isn't until she confronts Freeze Ray Ray and she explains to him how his plan of luring her to the park by giving her a low score isn't a good plan that she begins to realize that she's a skilled agent who doesn't have to be perfect at everything, and that it doesn't matter what anyone else says.
• Do I Really Sound Like That?: One of Freeze Ray Ray's "criticisms" of Olympia is that she sounds like a spaceship. She has no idea what that means, but takes offense to it either way when confronting Tommy Twosie (who also believes that she sounds like a spaceship).
• Dragged by the Collar: Shortly after giving Ocean her own face, Oona drags him away by the arm, and he ends up dropping the bag he was holding as a result.
• Dreadful Musician: Olympia appears to be this to both Rivka and Baby Genius, as her singing ends up making the latter cry, and he even ends up crying when she shows them the CD with that exact song on it. Doubles as Irony since Anna Cathcart — and by extension, Olympia — has quite the incredible singing voice. (Hell, she put on a stellar performance just last episode!) Then again, maybe Baby Genius just doesn't like music.
• Evil Brit: Freeze Ray Ray speaks with a British accent despite the show taking place in Toronto.
• Evil Has a Bad Sense of Humor: Averted with Freeze Ray Ray, who remarks "that was cold" upon his attack bouncing off of Olympia and hitting him, freezing him in an ice block.
• Finishing Each Other's Sentences: Olympia does this to Ms. O while she explains the villain report cards to Otis.
  Ms. O: Every year, the Squad asks villains to rate the agents on a scale of 1 to 10. 1 means you're horrible at fighting oddness. 10 out of 10 means you're-
  Olympia: [wistful] You're perfect at it...
  Ms. O: Thanks for finishing my sentence.
• Flaw Exploitation: Freeze Ray Ray exploits Olympia's perfectionist tendencies by giving her The B Grade in order to lure her to him.
• Friendly Enemy: It's revealed that Odd Squad agents ask villains to rate them on a scale of 1-10 based on how well they beat the villains.
• The Glasses Come Off: When Oona uses the Face-Replace-inator on herself to give her Olympia's face, the agent's glasses aren't seen. Despite the fact that Anna Cathcart (who plays Oona-with-Olympia's-face) wears glasses in real life, however, it doesn't seem to present any problem.
• Hands Go Down: Oona (with Olympia's face) does this by force to Ocean (with Oona's face).
  Otis: Anyway, while you were gone, this case got way more complicated. I'm gonna need Ocean too.
  Ocean: [raising his hand] You're lookin' at 'em, dude.
  Oona: [tugs his hand down] No you're not. You're looking at a beautiful young lady...who is in way over her head.
• Holding the Floor: Not only does Olympia pull an effective Shut Up, Hannibal! on Freeze Ray Ray that culminates into her having an "Eureka!" Moment about being The Perfectionist, but it's revealed that she did so in order to stall long enough to charge up her mirror suit.
• I Call It "Vera": Played as a gag per Rule of Funny when Olympia tells Halvsie Harriet (who initially thought Olympia was mentioning her) that she didn't call her, she called her watch, which happens to be named Harriet.
• Man of Wealth and Taste: Freeze Ray Ray dresses and acts the part, with a Classy Cane, a Dastardly Dapper Derby, white High-Class Gloves, a British accent, and an overall aesthetic that is entirely greyscale — fitting for his powers of being An Ice Person.
• Mirrors Reflect Everything: Olympia's mirror suit, being reflective (y'know, as a mirror is), allows Freeze Ray Ray's attack to bounce off of her and hit him instead.
• Musicalis Interruptus: Rivka abruptly ends Olympia's singing before the agent can get past the very first lyric.
• Now That's Using Your Teeth!: Olympia has Freeze Ray Ray sign a new villain report card. However, since he's stuck in an ice block and can't use his hands to write, he uses his teeth to grip the pencil instead.
• Power Glows: Freeze Ray Ray's glove glows as he gets ready to freeze Olympia in an ice block.
• Purely Aesthetic Glasses: Invoked by Oona, who tells Otis that "Olympia" only wore her glasses to look smarter.
• Repetitive Name: Freeze Ray Ray.
• Riddle for the Ages: What songs were on the album that Olympia gave Baby Genius? How did she find the time to make an album of her songs?
• Roommate Drama: Tommy Twosie and Freeze Ray Ray are apparently living together in the same house as roommates. Tommy notes that Ray is a horrible roommate, and even gives Olympia a hint as to where he is so she can catch him and talk to him.
• The Scream: Olympia gives an ear-piercing scream that manages to make Otis drop his own report cards and wince when she finds a 1 out of 10 on one of her villain report cards.
• Ship Tease: While it can initially be viewed as invoked Les Yay due to the fact that "Ocean" and "Oona" initially appear to be Oona and Olympia respectively, Oona calling Ocean a "beautiful young lady" is one of the more confusing, but at the same time blatant, teases to the Oona x Ocean ship.
• Shut Up, Hannibal!: Olympia delivers an amazing one to Freeze Ray Ray where she recounts what she had to go through just to reach him, which leads into her "Eureka!" Moment.
  Olympia: The only reason that your plan worked so well is because I'm such a good agent. [realizes] I'm a good agent! And it doesn't matter what you or any other villain says! Or even a regular person like a baker, or a crossing guard. Not that I have anything against bakers or crossing guards. Except sometimes crossing guards make you wait so long, but there's nobody even coming! I mean it makes you think, like is this just a power play, or do they see something you've not seen... [continues to ramble]
  Freeze Ray Ray: What are you talking about?
  Olympia: I don't really know anymore.
• Snowball Lie: Oona gives herself Olympia's face in order to deceive Otis, but when he asks for his other co-workers, things quickly spiral out of control. By the time the real Olympia gets back, she is unable to tell who is who with all of the face-swapping that's been done.
• Stealth Hi/Bye: Surprisingly, it's Olympia that manages to do this, as she disappears while Oona is attempting to ask her why she's solving cases without her partner.
• Stink Snub: Invoked by Freeze Ray Ray, who writes on his villain report card that Olympia reeks of the smell of pencils in order to lure her into a trap. However, it may not be a false claim after all — Halvsie Harriet also believes that the agent smells like pencils.
  Olympia: Well, well, well. If it isn't Halvsie Harriet. So I smell like pencils, do I?
  Halvsie Harriet: Yes. Why are you here?
• String Theory: Oona — the one who let the issue of face-swapping spiral out of control to begin with — is revealed to have created a chart to help the real Olympia follow along as to who's who. The agent is unable to comprehend it.
  Orchid: [with Otis's face] Start readin', Sherman.
• Surfer Dude: A female variant — Ocean is one of these by default, but since he's basically Olivia Presti wearing the outfit of someone working in Creature Control (confusingly enough), it comes off as Oona speaking surfer lingo.
• Surprisingly Creepy Moment: For a Genki Girl who is constantly giving genuine smiles, Olympia's excited look towards Otis at the beginning of the episode is incredibly creepy. Bonus points for the fact that she doesn't even blink the entire time.
• That Poor Cat: A yowling cat is heard as Olympia walks through the Odd Squad Warehouse.
• That Reminds Me of a Song: Olympia's offering to Baby Genius is a song that she performs herself. However, she barely gets past the first lyric before Rivka interrupts her.
  • Oona ends up singing at the end of the episode when she tells Olympia that "everything's not cool".
• Thinking Out Loud: While this is a frequent Once an Episode staple in delivering the mathematical Aesop, this episode has Halvsie Harriet asking Olympia (who is speaking aloud) if she's speaking to her or if she's talking to the watch. When the villainess realizes the agent is speaking to the watch, she goes back inside, but later opens her door when Olympia refers to her watch as "Harriet".
• Tricked-Out Gloves: Freeze Ray Ray has the ability to put any agent on ice and freeze them using his left glove.
• Verbal Backspace: Oona-with-Olympia's-face does this when Otis asks her why she has a lab coat on.
  Oona: [to herself] Ugh, I forgot to change! [out loud] I mean, just wanted to...ch- change.
• Villains Out Shopping: A bit of an inversion, as Tommy asks Olympia to pick up some milk for him at the grocery store before she leaves.
• Viral Transformation: Played with. While Oona uses the Face-Replace-inator on herself and a host of other agents to give them other agents' faces, the limitations of live-action (where it would be hard to use special effects to make, say, Olympia's face stay on Oona's) make it look more akin to something like Humanshifting rather than simply giving other agents different faces. Because of this, Oona is shown interacting with Otis as Olympia in a lab coat and without her glasses, while Otis is shown is Ms. O in an Investigation agent's uniform, and so on.
• Wild Take: Olympia has one when she sees Otis with his face turned into that of Ms. O's. It's enough to render her near-speechless, as all she can do is merely point at her partner.
• You Remind Me of X: A variant; Freeze Ray Ray notes that Olympia's voice reminds him of a spaceship.
  Olympia: What does that even mean?

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