It may be their 100th case, but not everyone is happy.
The Sandwich ProjectAirdate: July 10, 2020 note
When the members of the Mobile Unit get zapped into sandwiches by the villain Shelly Catessan, the Big O comes to the rescue. As she combs through video footage taken by Omar to celebrate their 100th case, the Big O must use clues she sees in the videos to figure out the order in which the agents were zapped so she can return them to their agent forms.
Tropes:
- AutoTune: Orik's video of the Main 4 celebrating in Pittsburgh at the end of the episode has quite the overabundance of this — every line of dialogue leans heavily on the software.
- Big "WHAT?!": Dr. O gives this when the Big O stops her from using the Sandwich Ray on the Main 4 and says that the sandwiches are in the wrong order.
- Call-Back: This episode marks Shelly Catessan's formal debut after she was shown in "Villain Networking".
- Captain's Log: Opal records an entry in her Captain's Blog regarding a Villain Network flyer being posted on a telephone pole and Shelly Catessan revealed to be wearing a badge from the Network. She theorizes how someone is forming all of the villains into a supergroup, and how said someone may be the smartest person Odd Squad has ever been up against.
- Chain-Link Fence: Shelly Catessan gets chased into one of these by Orla and Omar (although it's not a chain-link one), but due to it being at an elevated height, she doesn't climb over it and gets cornered as a result.
- Character Focus: This episode focuses on Omar as he tries to get the Mobile Unit to loosen up about their 100th case, but fails to do so due to the high stakes of the situation.
- To a lesser extent, it also focuses on the Big O as she tries to turn the Main 4 back to normal, making this her first focus episode in Season 3.
- Chekhov's Gun: Omar's videos are the only leads that the Big O and the agents have as to who got zapped first.
- The Cloudcuckoolander Was Right: Even if he did have Skewed Priorities, Omar celebrating the Mobile Unit's 100th case is a very big milestone, and he was in the right to treat it as a big deal and have a grand celebration for it.
- Continuity Nod: This isn't the first time someone has warned others to not eat agents turned into foods.
- The Audio/Visual department's logo was first seen in "Odd Beginnings: Part 1". This episode introduces the department itself, and an agent in the department named Orik.
- Disapproving Look: Opal, Oswald and Orla all shoot Omar these as he takes a selfie with them. Orla in particular combines hers with a scathing Death Glare.
- Do You Trust Me?: A variant — Orik insists that Omar was zapped last since he was filming all day long, including after Opal was presumably zapped into a sandwich. The Big O counters by saying that he needs to trust her in switching the orders of the two Mobile Unit agents. As it turns out, doing that restores everyone back to normal.
- Dwindling Party: Each of the Main 4 get turned into sandwiches by Shelly Catessan firing her Sandwich Ray at them at various points in Omar's videos.
- Easter Egg: The Villain Network logo returns again, although this time it's less of an Easter egg and more of a Running Gag, being a flyer posted on a nearby light pole that Opal spots.
- "Eureka!" Moment: The Big O manages to find the correct order of the Main 4 after carefully studying the footage, and stops Dr. O from turning the agents back to normal in the incorrect ascending order.
- Foreign Queasine: The Big O expresses confusion and dislike of the sandwiches that the Main 4 have been turned into, which are all stuffed with French fries. The doctor she's recruited to help in returning them back to normal explains that putting French fries into sandwiches is a common delicacy in Pittsburgh.
- Gondor Calls for Aid: Implied to be the case with the Big O, who is situated in the Mobile Unit van with a team of agents presumably from the Pennsylvania precinct taking notes, but it's never explained how she got wind of the fates of the Main 4.
- Idiot Ball: It's par for the course with Omar, but this episode has him come off as more incompetent than in past episodes, to the point where it borders on him being Too Dumb to Live.
- Inescapable Net: While this seems to be the case with Shelly Catessan, it comes off as looking more like a very weak trap, as the net only covers half of her body and doesn't restrain her in any way. This is made especially evident when she still manages to attack Opal, who activated the Net-inator gadget and trapped her, despite her current state.
- In Medias Res: The episode opens up with the Main 4 getting ready to fight Shelly Catessan, but it's soon revealed that the real story starts at the middle after the agents have been turned into sandwiches, and that Omar's video footage shows how they got turned into sandwiches, and when.
- Jerkass Ball: Opal, Orla and Oswald all share the ball throughout the episode, as they berate Omar for recording their 100th case and find it ridiculous compared to their task at hand since no one will watch it. Opal, being the last surviving agent of Shelly's attacks, eventually has a change of heart at the climax and decides to grab Omar's helmet and film the rest of the case in his stead after he is turned into a sandwich by the villainess, and by the end of the episode, she apologizes to him, and the Main 4 have a proper 100th-case celebration.
- Literal-Minded: The Big O calls an Odd Squad Doctor over to ask her what she's looking at. Instead of bringing her up to speed on the situation, she tells her what kind of sandwiches the Main 4 are.
- Malicious Misnaming: Shelly Catessan refers to Omar as "camera boy" at one point while getting ready to attack him.
- Milestone Celebration: There are both in-universe and meta celebrations.
- This episode is the 100th episode of the show (going by single, 11-minute episodes), making it the second show by Fred Rogers Productions to reach 100 episodes, the first being Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood. In celebration, a majority of the cast from Seasons 1 and 2 (including Millie Davis) — as well as Tim McKeon, Adam Peltzman and Mark De Angelis — were rounded up to give their congratulations to the current cast and a thank-you to the fans in two reunion videos released following the episode's premiere.
- In-universe, the plot revolves around Omar celebrating the Mobile Unit's 100th case by recording video of it, but none of the other Main 4 are interested and disregard it as silly. However, while fighting Shelly Catessan, each one of them gets turned into a sandwich by her, leading the Big O and a team of agents to try and find out which sandwich is which agent. On top of that, the episode takes place in Pittsburgh, which is the home of Fred Rogers Productions (and Fred Rogers himself).
- No Name Given: A bit of a variant — the Dr. O and Security agent that have speaking roles in the episode aren't listed with a city or state like other characters (such as North Carolina Ms. O). They're simply listed as "Sandwich Dr. O" and "Sandwich Security Agent", respectively.
- P.O.V. Cam: The scenes of the Main 4 are shot from Omar's point of view via the camera situated on his helmet.
- Reluctant Gift: Omar shows Opal the cake that he got at the bakery when he was with Oswald, and she scolds him by saying that he needs to focus on the case. Omar tells her that he can focus on both at the same time, causing her to grab on to it and order him to hand it over. He refuses to, and the two partners have a brief tug-of-war with the dessert before Omar accidentally loosens his grip on it and it lands square on Opal's face, causing her suit and her face, as well as her hands, to become covered in cake. Seeing his partner upset, Omar realizes what he's done and feels regret over his actions, throwing his helmet with the camera on it in a nearby trashcan and refusing to film any longer.
- Reunion Show: Played with. The show isn't off the air, but numerous cast members, including those of the Main 7 (barring Millie Davis), have departed from the show due to being too old to continue playing their roles. This episode brought with it two reunion videos that brought back the core cast (barring Sean Michael Kyer), as well as other actors like Peyton Kennedy and Jaiden Cannatelli (Ohlm), to give their congratulations to the current cast. The reunion videos aren't in-universe, however.
- Running Gag: Shelly Catessan telling the Big O how to turn the agents back has her emphasizing "aaand" quite a lot.
- Orik continuously says that he's "got something here" when he finds another clue or pulls up another video, something that he lampshades at one point.
- The Villain Network logo and Opal's Captain's Blog both make a reappearance.
- Ship Tease: At the end of the episode, the Big O explains how Opal kept filming because Omar means "the world" to her. Naturally, this moment didn't evade fans' detection for how romantic the line "I think the world of you/you mean the world to me" is, and it's one of the very few times the show has gotten close to being explicitly romantic.Big O: I'm saying Opal picked up the camera after you were turned into a sandwich and kept filming.Opal: Yeah, but only because-Big O: Because you knew how much it meant to you. And because Opal thinks the world of you.Opal: [sighs] You're right, Omar. Solving a hundred cases is a big deal. I'm lucky to be part of this team.
- Stink Snub: Omar does this to himself as he tells the Big O that he's confused, and not just because he smells like a salami sandwich with fries.
- Surveillance as the Plot Demands: Played straight with Orik's video at the end of the episode. While it's implied that Omar filmed the Main 4's fun adventures in Pittsburgh, it's not explained how they found the time for fun while trying to defeat and apprehend Shelly Catessan, especially since it's implied that they didn't have time to see the sights. It also contradicts Opal's, Oswald's and Orla's serious demeanors throughout the episode, chastising Omar for having fun instead of staying on task.
- Worldbuilding: This episode introduces the Audio/Visual department for the first time — specifically, it introduces an agent named Orik, who is part of the department.
- Your Approval Fills Me with Shame: When Orla taunts Shelly by backing her into a fence and telling her that it's the end of the line for her, the villainess tells her that she admires her spunk and her tough exterior and allows her to choose what sandwich she wants to be turned into, although it'll still have fries in it. Naturally, Orla refuses to go down without a fight, and Shelly makes the choice for her as she turns her into a deluxe double-egger sandwich.
We gotta say, Orla makes a good Mr. Miyagi.
Wax On, Wax OddAirdate: July 10, 2020 note
The Mobile Unit faces a series of challenges that Orla knew was coming from overhearing a sorcerer’s conversation 450 years ago. Through flashbacks, Orla shows the rest of the team the times she prepared each of them — unbeknownst to them — for the upcoming challenges.
Tropes:
- Ambiguous Time Period: Played with — this episode takes place on September 15th, a Friday, but what year it's supposed to take place is unknown. It also causes a Continuity Snarl, since "Villain Networking" was implied to have taken place in early 2020 at most, and August is when the Mobile Unit was formed — meaning that this episode would have had to take place a month after the latter event, which Retcons previous mentions of the group being together for a few months.
- The Anticipator: Orla is this, due to the fact that she wrote down the day that oddness was supposed to arrive in her day planner, and unwittingly trained the rest of the Main 4 to defeat the various oddities that do arrive. It manages to surprise the rest of the Main 4, but Orla keeps her relatively unsurprised demeanor, and it's revealed that she planned for this day 450 years ago. Aside from that, it's implied that she might have also planned for Opal, Omar, Oswald and her to come together as a unified team, but it's not expanded on.
- Artistic License: Stretching pizza dough by moving your fingers back and forth in a "crowd wave"-like motion isn't really efficient — you're better off using a roller, or your entire hands, so the dough doesn't stretch back into place. While it may be justified since Orla is training Opal, it's still horribly inefficient either way.
- Artistic License – Biology: Eggs, including dragon eggs, aren't normally bouncy. This is made prevalent when the egg Oswald is sitting on begins to hatch, and its texture changes from rubbery to hardened. At most, his bouncing should have cracked the egg.
- Attack of the 50-Foot Whatever: One of the threats seen in the episode is a purple snake monster that towers over the Main 4.
- Beast Man: While it's hard to draw the line between whether it's a Funny Animal or a beast man due to its confusing design, the evil snow rabbit moreso falls under this trope, as it doesn't look very much like a regular rabbit and doesn't speak English.
- Big "NO!": Opal, Omar and Oswald all give this to Orla in the form of a question when she orders them not to close the portal.
- Big "WHAT?!": Oswald has this reaction to Orla telling him that he needs to fight off a large dragon that emerges from another portal.
- Bottle Episode: The entire episode takes place in a rather desolate area that is unnamed, barring any Flashbacks.
- Character Focus: On Orla.
- Continuity Nod: Omar tells Orla about one of his snow globe souvenirs, which he got in the Sahara Desert.
- This isn't the first time someone has sat on a dragon egg to keep it warm — Oprah previously did it in "There Might Be Dragons" for the opposite reason: to avoid hatching the dragon inside. In Oswald's case he does it for a lot longer than Oprah did, and is unaware that what he's sitting on is an egg.
- Desperate Object Catch: As Omar is admiring a snow globe souvenir of his, Orla comes up to him and scares him badly enough to cause him to fumble with the object and nearly drop it.
- Disproportionate Reward: As a reward for helping her clean the van, Orla gives Oswald a dragon egg (although it's initially viewed as an exercise ball at first).
- Exact Eavesdropping: Orla does this when listening to the sorcerer and the Gorgon discuss their odd plan with each other while at a nearby table in a restaurant, in a Flashback from 450 years ago.
- Failed a Spot Check: Omar asks Orla if she's sure that the evil snow rabbit, who is bipedal and stands taller than any of the agents, isn't just a regular rabbit.
- Flashback B-Plot: Numerous flashbacks are shown throughout the episode as Orla reminds the rest of the Main 4 what she did with them at various points in the past, which turns out to be her secretly training them without them knowing.
- Freeze-Frame Ending: The episode ends on Orla rushing and leaping towards the fourth portal, giving a hearty "Huzzah!" as she does so.
- Friendship Moment: Orla states that she didn't want to defeat the oddities herself and wanted the rest of the Main 4 to be involved so they can all share the experience together.
- Here We Go Again!: At the end of the episode, Orla tells Opal, Omar and Oswald that she will fight off the rest of the oddness, and the episode ends on a freeze-frame of her lunging towards a robot hand and two octopus tentacles that emerge from another portal.
- Hold My Glasses: Orla tells Opal to hold her planner before she lunges at the fourth portal to appear.
- I Remember It Like It Was Yesterday: Orla says this to Opal when reminding her of their training, and then tacks on "because it was yesterday".
- It Has Only Just Begun: When Opal tells Orla that she and the others feel bad that Orla didn't get to do anything, Orla responds that what she, Omar and Oswald just fought was only the beginning of the oddness, and that she'll handle the rest of it.
- Jerkass Ball: Orla holds it at one point when taking out Omar's souvenirs and tossing them to him for him to catch. Even though she is secretly training him, it makes her seem more like a jerk than anything else, especially since it was implied in previous episodes that Omar views his souvenirs as Companion Cubes and gets upset if something happens to them. Not only that, but Orla vows to return to the cubbies and repeat what she's done over and over again, for eight days straight, much to Omar's chagrin.
- Mama Bear: The dragon that emerges from the portal antagonizes the Main 4 and looks ready to attack them, up until its baby hatches from the egg Oswald was sitting on. Once parent and child are reunited, they go through the portal they came from on their own accords.
- Mr. Exposition: Opal invokes this by quietly asking Omar and Opal if Orla told them why they're in a desolate area of the world, then immediately forces Orla into this role by asking her why the Main 4 are gathered.
- Musical Assassin: Opal plays the keyboard the same way she was instructed to make pizza in order to hypnotize and drive off the snake, becoming skilled at the art within seconds.Opal: Now, who's got a request?
- Offscreen Teleportation: Apparently, Orla has the ability to produce pianos that are taller than her person from Hammerspace — one suddenly appears when Opal asks her how making a pizza helps to defeat a giant snake. It also magically disappears in a cloud of dust when Orla says that her partner can take requests for songs later.
- Schedule Fanatic: Orla has a day planner on her person, where she marks what she did and when, using pictures, although since she isn't usually efficient and timely, it's likely that the day planner was introduced for the sole purpose of pushing the episode's Aesop of calendar dates.
- Series Continuity Error: Orla's training exercise with Opal involves instructing her on how to make pizza. A previous Training Video, "Know Your Team", had Oswald state that Orla doesn't like pizza.
- Shout-Out: There are quite a few references to The Karate Kid, including the famous car-washing training sequence (which Oswald also references by him deducing that he's going to use karate moves to defeat the dragon).
- Snakes Are Sinister: The first threat that the Main 4 face is a giant purple snake monster. Opal, Oswald and Omar go to use their Snake-Monster-inator gadgets on it, but are stopped by Orla, who instructs Opal to defeat it by playing music.
- Super-Reflexes: While not necessarily a superpower of his, Omar has been shown to be very fast and agile in past episodes, and this episode reveals that he also has sharp and fast reflexes, allowing him to catch the snow rabbit's snowballs with ease before they can hit his teammates.
- Talking Is a Free Action: There is quite a lot of it in the episode, which Oswald lampshades at one point. It even gets to such an extent that Opal, Oswald and Omar telling Orla to hurry as she gives the episode's Aesop is a Running Gag.Oswald: Why are we talking about calendars?!
- Tempting Fate: In the Flashback with Orla sitting in a restaurant 450 years ago, she remarks how she can finally wind down now that there are no villains to stop. As it turns out, two villains happen to be sitting at an adjacent table, discussing what oddness they're going to commit.
- The Tell: Orla knows exactly what to say to get Opal to help her with making pizza.Opal: Hey Orla. You making pizza?Orla: Yes. Would you like to learn?Opal: Nah, I'm good.Orla: Wise choice. This is much too difficult.Opal: Challenge accepted!
- They Wasted a Perfectly Good Sandwich: Omar is seen making a castle out of mashed potatoes when Orla comes across him and compliments him on it. However, it's not revealed whether he ate the castle or not (although, knowing his Big Eater tendencies, he likely did).
- Tremor Trampoline: Downplayed. As the evil snow rabbit stomps its feet, it manages to make the Main 4 stumble and lose their footing (including Oswald, sitting on an exercise ball)
- Villain Teleportation: Played with. It's not established if the sorcerer and the gorgon that Orla overhear have the ability to create portals, but it is implied, as all of the threats the Main 4 face come through portals.
- Wax On, Wax Off: This episode references the Trope Namer, but has a twist — while the famous car-washing scene is featured (with her training Oswald in this way), Orla trains Opal and Omar through making pizza and catching souvenirs, respectively.
- You Have GOT to Be Kidding Me!: When Orla declares that she will throw things at Omar for him to catch every day of the current week, Omar, holding his souvenirs with his arms and hands, has this to say:Omar: Are you kidding me?
"I hope you enjoy this 100th case solved, and, uh, here's to hopefully 100 more?"
— Mark De Angelis
, on "The Sandwich Project"
, on "The Sandwich Project"