Airdate: July 7, 2020 note
The Mobile Unit is called to Odd Squad's Top-Secret Security Facility where an unknown villain has broken in to get to the mega-computer. But when Lady Bread, Wheelie Dan, and the Utensiler's younger sister all claim to be the villain responsible, the team must recreate the break-in to discover the true culprit.
Tropes:
- Amusing Injuries: Wheelie Dan gets some via Slapstick, as he repeatedly slips and falls on the marbles littering the second hallway, causing Ono and the Main 4 to all cringe.
- Bad Liar: Lady Bread and Wheelie Dan aren't very convincing in telling the Main 4 that they broke into the facility. Lady Bread is perhaps the worst offender out of the duo.Lady Bread: [attempting to pick the lock with her Fingerless Hands] This is how...the professionals do it!Opal: I don't think she's doing as well as she thinks she's doing.
- Batman Gambit: The Shadow manipulates three villains to distract and lie to the Mobile Unit by threatening them with her sheer power, and has enough confidence in them that they won't turn their backs on her (and they don't — with how powerful she is, she could destroy them as she sees fit if they disobey her), to such an extent that she lingers around at the mega-computer for a long while after she performs her theft. She knows that the Mobile Unit would want to know the culprit and that they would find out who it was eventually, but also knows that Odd Squad agents aren't the ones to shoot first and ask questions later, meaning that they would be taken aback by her sudden appearance (wearing an Invisibility Cloak to disguise herself initially) and be too shocked to attack. The Shadow still commits the crime successfully and makes a quick exit, and everything goes according to plan for her.
- Big "WHAT?!": The Main 4 all give these when Ono tells them that a villain broke into the facility.
- The Bus Came Back: Lady Bread returns after having last been seen in "Who Let the Doug Out?".
- The Utensiler is also mentioned, having last appeared in "Villains Always Win".
- Call-Back: Opal recalls how The Shadow took control of the Mobile Unit's van just a couple episodes ago.
- Continuity Nod: The Utensiler expresses confidence at getting through the Laser Hallway, and Omar makes an Aside Comment to Opal that he thinks she's going to dance through them. Otto and Otis did that exact thing in The Movie.
- Deadpan Snarker: Due to her Brutal Honesty, Orla tends to snark a lot, but this episode has her snarking at Dan as she watches him make his way through marbles scattered onto the floor, calling him ridiculous.
- The Dentist Episode: Downplayed. Ono says that the villain broke in while she was at the dentist, but all we're shown are X-rays of her teeth, which Opal compliments her on, telling her that her teeth look good.
- The Dog Was the Mastermind: After seeing how she is able to get through all three doors in the facility, the Mobile Unit, and Ono, all become convinced that the Utensiler's younger sister was the one who broke in, as she states that she tried to download all of the secrets on the mega-computer, but Ono came back before she was able to, so she snuck out. However, Omar realizes that no alarms were set off when the Utensiler's younger sister — who leaves via the doors as soon as she proves that she's the culprit — went through each door, like they should have, and starts to say that the real culprit never left the place before The Shadow, the real culprit, finishes his sentence for him.
- Dramatic Drop: When Ono says that The Shadow took a file on Opal, Omar drops the folder he's holding in pure shock as Orla and Oswald steer their gazes towards a very concerned Opal.
- Dynamic Entry: Inverted — The Shadow makes an exit by going straight through the roof of the facility and out of Devils Tower.
- Epic Fail: Lady Bread and Wheelie Dan are unable to open the first and second doors leading to the mega-computer, respectively — the latter even more so, as he suffers many Amusing Injuries just trying to get to the door, to such an extent where the agents feel pity for him and ask if they want him to stop the timer used to see if he can get to the door in 60 seconds.
- Fingerless Hands: Lady Bread not only has these, but she also has bread loaves for feet, with no toes (something that Ono expresses slight disgust over). This proves to be a detriment for her, as she is unable to open the first door.
- The Utensiler's younger sister also has fingerless hands, although hers are apparently smaller than her sister's.
- Get Out!: Wheelie Dan shoos Lady Bread out of the vault upon his arrival. The Utensiler's younger sister later does it with Dan.
- I Can't Believe I'm Saying This: Omar says this when he realizes that the Utensiler may not be the culprit after all.Opal: Come on, Omar. Let's go play your game. Case closed.Omar: I can't believe I'm saying this, but I don't think it's closed.
- Insane Troll Logic: Oswald confronts Wheelie Dan and asks him how he and the other agents know that he's not lying like Lady Bread did. Dan snaps back by saying that he has wheels, which Omar takes note of, saying that he doesn't see how that matters.
- Invisibility Cloak: The Shadow wears one of these, allowing her to go undetected by Ono and the Main 4 until the last minute.
- Improvised Lockpick: Wheelie Dan unlocks the first door by using what appears to be two paper clips hidden in his upper arm pads as lockpicks.
- The Utensiler's younger sister also uses lockpicks in her utensil-storing hands, which also look like two paper clips.
- Laser Hallway: The third and final hallway leading to the mega-computer is filled with lasers, some of which move back and forth. The Utensiler's younger sister deflects them with ease, and in 10 seconds.
- Literal-Minded: When the Mobile Unit gets to Devils Tower, Orla remarks how it doesn't look as devilish as she imagined.
- Mirrors Reflect Everything: The Utensiler's younger sister deflects the lasers in the final hallway using mirrors attached to her utensil hands.
- Mistaken for Thief: Subverted. Ono believes that since the villain was in the computer room for 2 minutes, they had no time to steal anything of value (i.e., the mega-computer itself), hence why she put on her report that the villain didn't steal anything from the mega-computer. She could not be more wrong — in those two minutes, The Shadow, who is the real culprit, presumably extracted data on every Odd Squad villain and made her escape before Ono came back. It's not directly stated whether she went through the doors leading to the mega-computer (which would cause Ono's alarm to go off), or if she phased through the doors using her Invisibility Cloak, but regardless, she is revealed to not have escaped at all, lingering in the room with the mega-computer up until she exposes herself to Ono and the Main 4.
- It's played straight with Lady Bread, Wheelie Dan, and The Utensiler's younger sister, however — they claim to be the culprits, but when trying to get to the next door, all of them (save the sister) fail spectacularly. It's eventually revealed that The Shadow intentionally invoked the trope.
- Mystery Episode: The episode revolves around the Main 4 helping Ono, a local Security agent, figure out who broke into Odd Squad's Security facility and got to the mega-computer.
- No Name Given: The Utensiler's younger sister doesn't have a name, only being referred to as just that: "The Utensiler's Younger Sister".
- Race Against the Clock: As the title suggests, each villain that tries to get to the mega-computer has exactly 60 seconds to do so, and must avoid the traps that each hallway has in order to get to it. Lady Bread, Wheelie Dan, and The Utensiler's sister all try to get to the vault, and while Lady Bread and Wheelie Dan fail spectacularly, The Utensiler's sister succeeds in getting there within the time limit.
- Rapid-Fire "No!": Ono does this just after The Shadow leaves.
- Rollerblade Good: Wheelie Dan travels on roller blades. Not only that, but he has wheels all over his body, as part of his costume. He can ride just fine on the roller blades on his feet, but give him marbles on a surface and he repeatedly slips and falls.
- Shout-Out: Wheelie Dan's name is a reference to the music group Steely Dan.
- Skewed Priorities: It's par for the course when it comes to Omar — he repeatedly tries to get the rest of the Main 4, and Ono, to play the board game he bought at a nearby gift shop, only for the the others to rightfully brush him off. It gets to such an extent where he grips the Idiot Ball near-consistently throughout the episode, only dropping it near the end when he realizes that the case isn't closed.
- Stealth Hi/Bye: The Utensiler's younger sister does this right after Wheelie Dan admits to not being the culprit.
- Technology Marches On: An in-universe example. Ono's smartwatch seems to be more advanced than any of the smartwatches we've seen worn by other agents — it can be used as a screen, to activate booby traps, and to open doors. It also comes equipped with an alarm to let Ono know when each door is opened.
- Tricked-Out Shoes: The Shadow wears sneakers with bright orange soles, which also grant her the power of Flight.
- Wham Episode: Following her Evil Plan to destroy the van (and by extension, the Mobile Unit) in "Slow Your Roll" failing, this episode has The Shadow working on her second, and final, plan: form a Villain Team-Up of her and every Odd Squad villain in existence in order to stop the Mobile Unit themselves (and Odd Squad) for good. She does so by breaking into a top-secret facility, stealing information on all of the villains (and Opal), and taking off to her Supervillain Lair, all without being detected. The following episode, "Villain Networking", shows her expanding on her plan, gathering all of the villains together and trying to get them to team up with her.
- Wham Line: Two in this episode.
- When The Shadow reveals herself.
Opal: Are you saying...Omar: The real villain that did this?The Shadow: [revealing herself] Never left.- When Ono checks the mega-computer after The Shadow escapes.
Ono: She took a list containing the names of all the villains around the world.[Opal and Omar exchange worried looks as Ono continues typing]Ono: She also took one agent profile.[Orla and Oswald exchange worried looks]Ono: Agent Opal.[Omar drops the folder in shock] - Wham Shot: The Shadow disabling her Invisibility Cloak and turning around to reveal that she was the culprit all along.
- Worldbuilding: It's revealed that there is a top-secret Odd Squad Security facility in Devils Tower, which is maintained and protected by Ono, a Security agent. The facility contains a mega-computer, which not only holds info on various villains, but it's implied that it holds information on agents, as well as other various Odd Squad secrets.
- World Tour: This episode has the Mobile Unit going to Devils Tower, a national monument situated in Wyoming.
- You Have GOT to Be Kidding Me!: Omar says "Are you kidding me right now?" in response to Orla saying that she's not convinced that the Utensiler's younger sister broke into the facility. Orla in turn responds with, "Have I ever kidded?"
A Legion of Doom shall be born on this day...that is, if The Shadow can get everyone to work together.
Villain NetworkingAirdate: July 7, 2020 note
The Shadow hosts a meeting of villains worldwide in order to convince them to join her Villain Network. But when she shows them their decline in villainy on a line graph, it catapults the villains into a game of blame. She must come up with a line graph that will convince them all to join, or her master plan will fail.
Tropes:
- Ambiguous Time Period: Played with. This episode keeps continuity from the Odd Squad Agent's Handbook about the Mobile Unit forming in August. However, it's not explicitly stated when this episode in particular takes place, although it's implied that it takes place sometime in late December 2019, or early 2020.
- Arson, Murder, and Jaywalking: When The Shadow asks the villains what Odd Squad has that the villains don't, Shelly Catessan says "ties", Dr. Dry says "gadgets", and Monsieur Papier-Mache says "good breath".
- Beauty Is Never Tarnished: Brutus ends up with spaghetti and tape on him when attempting to get to the stage with The Shadow. However, The Shadow herself doesn't have so much as a scratch on her.
- Big "NO!": Freeze Ray Ray gives one when Shelly Catessan zaps Dr. Dry and turns him into a sandwich.
- Blame Game: Each group of villains blames another group for their decline in villainy, then said other group blames another group, and so on.
- Cat Fight: Heavily downplayed. Sister Sally and Jamie Jam acting antagonistic towards each other is reminiscent of a catfight, but they aren't Fanservice characters, nor is the scene itself played for Fanservice (natch, since this is a kids' show).
- Chaotic Evil: "Screw the Rules, I'm Evil" is in full effect when Sister Sally destroys the Villain Rulebook that Brutus holds when he reminds her and Jamie Jam of the rules for villains.
- Conflict Ball: Jamie Jam initially starts the Blame Game by telling The Shadow not to blame the food villains for the lack of oddness and blames the weather villains, who blame Crazy Eights and the number villains. However, The Shadow never calls out one specific group of villains for the oddness decline — she calls out all of the villains. Nonetheless, the strife between all four villain groups carries throughout the episode.
- Continuity Cavalcade: This episode brings back quite a few villains from previous seasons, such as Lady Sunshine and Equal Evan. It even brings back some villains seen in previous episodes from this season, such as one of the Sister Sallies and Monsieur Papier-Mache.
- Continuity Nod: Brutus brings up the Odd-o-meter, a tool previously used by Orla in "The Void" to test for oddness.
- While it wasn't a universal rulebook for villains, "By the Book" had Gooey Randall and Goopy Gus show Otto their own villain rulebook.
- Just like in "Odd Beginnings", Sister Sally goes to high-five someone, only to get stuck. She and Freeze Ray Ray break free much easier than her and her sister do, though.
- Early-Bird Cameo: Shelly Catessan, a villainess who turns people into sandwiches, makes her debut in this episode, although she wouldn't be prominently featured until "The Sandwich Project".
- The Villain Network's logo was briefly seen on the flash drive The Shadow had inserted in the mega-computer in the previous episode. This episode reveals the logo in full.
- Confetti Betty also makes a cameo appearance in this episode, although she isn't introduced until "Teach a Man to Ice Fish".
- Energy Weapon: Some of the villains fight like this, with laser beams shooting back and forth as Brutus and The Shadow hide.
- Even Evil Has Standards: The Shadow has no issue with bossing other villains around and being a Bratty Half-Pint, but she does have the decency to throw in a "please and thank you" into her orders. note
- "Everybody Laughs" Ending: Downplayed — only The Shadow performs her trademark Evil Laugh at the end of the episode, and none of the other villains do their own evil laughs along with her.
- Fantastic Fireworks: Some shoot out of pillars placed on The Shadow's stage, igniting and going off when she does her Evil Laugh.
- Gasp!: One ripples across the villain groups as The Shadow tells them that oddness is going down.
- Hoist by His Own Petard: The Shadow wants the villains to team up so they can destroy Odd Squad by using the organization's own modus operandi: teamwork.
- Irony: Dr. Dry, who wears a stethoscope, is someone who specializes in dryness. Dry mouth and dry skin are two health conditions related to dryness that doctors treat rather than create.
- It Kind of Looks Like a Face: Inverted. The logo of the Villain Network is meant to resemble two people with masks facing each other, but the villains believe it looks like a vase (they're not wrong — it does look like a vase initially, since it's an optical illusion). The Shadow has to go up to the logo and point out the faces just so they understand.
- Joker Immunity: Played with. "Odd Beginnings: Part 2" ultimately left the two Sister Sallies' fates unknown after Orla's headquarters collapsed (so it's unknown if they died in the accident or not). This episode has one Sister Sally return, although she's without her sister, so whether the second Sister Sally is alive or not is up for interpretation.
- Leaning on the Fourth Wall: Directly after The Shadow tells the villains to join up with her since they're bad at causing oddness, she begins her Evil Laugh and music plays in the background. Jamie Jam stands up and tells her to "stop the music". The BGM then abruptly cuts off.
- Legion of Doom: The Shadow's second, and ultimate, plan is to form a Villain Network with every villain worldwide teaming up with her so she can beat the Odd Squad Mobile Unit. However, conflict arises among the villains when she points out how their villainy has been on a decline in recent months, and the entire episode is spent trying to get them to work together. While The Shadow wants to target the Mobile Unit specifically (since that's where her main foe, Opal, is), the other villains want to target Odd Squad as an entire organization, which she agrees with.
- Letting the Air out of the Band: The BGM that accompanies The Shadow doing her Evil Laugh is abruptly cut off when Brutus interrupts her.
- It veers into Running Gag territory throughout the episode, with The Shadow encouraging villains to join her Villain Network, doing her Evil Laugh accompanied by Fantastic Fireworks, and some other villain interrupting her.
- Locked Out of the Loop: None of the currently-existing villains know who The Shadow is, due to her being new to villainy, as Brutus points out.
- Overcrank: Used when Brutus and The Shadow attempt to get to their stage while avoiding attacks from villains.
- Pungeon Master: Jamie Jam, natch.Jamie Jam: Stop the music! [music stops] Firstly, that's not my jam.
- Rules Lawyer: Brutus becomes this in order to stop the villains from leaving.
- Screw This, I'm Outta Here: Every villain sans The Shadow and Brutus attempt to do this, but Brutus repeatedly defies it.
- Series Continuity Error: Equal Evan and Jamie Jam were both seen at Todd's Home for Villains™ in "Odds and Ends", which was implied to be a place where villains can perform Heel-Face Turns. This episode has them being full-time villains again, for no determined reason.
- Sequel Episode: To "Odd in 60 Seconds", as it's implied that this episode picks up from where that one left off, and that it's some time later after The Shadow has gathered all of the villains. However, there's no To Be Continued or Previously on…, as would be the case for multi-part episodes.
- Shout-Out: Lady Sunshine's pose while holding up a ball of sunshine for the villains' picnic is strikingly similar to the "torch lady"
◊ in the logo of Columbia Pictures. - Supreme Chef: Shelly Catessan, true to her Punny Name (on "delicatessen"), is an exceptionally good sandwich maker. However, she doesn't make sandwiches with the usual edible ingredients — she makes sandwiches by turning objects into them.
- Understatement: Once The Shadow hides along with Brutus, he fills her in on what's happening.The Shadow: What's going on here?!Brutus: The villains are having a little trouble getting along...[a laser beam hits a bowl behind them as it clatters to the floor]The Shadow: A little?!
- Villain Episode: This episode focuses solely on the villains, as The Shadow attempts to recruit all of them for her Villain Network. None of the Main 4, nor the Big O, make any appearance, making this the only Season 3 episode where the Main 4 are absent outside of mentions.
- Villains Out Shopping: The villains that The Shadow gathers all play a game of dodgeball at one point, per the Villain Rulebook. However, it quickly turns into a brawl with all of the villains' powers when Sister Sally throws a dodgeball at Jamie Jam after Brutus blows a whistle and calls for a water break.
- Villain Team-Up: It's revealed that each of the four groups of villains worked together with another singular group of villains (the weather villains with the assorted villains, etc.) to cause oddness in July.
