Recap / Odd Squad S 3 E 27 The Problem With Pentagurps Three Portals Down

Dodge this. Dodge all of this.

The Problem with Pentagurps

Airdate: October 26, 2021 ^note CBBC premiere, December 31, 2021 ^note PBS Kids premiere; airing as part of PBS Kids Family Night

The Odd Squad Mail Department is overrun with Pentagurps, so the Mobile Unit comes in to help before it is shut down.

NOTE: For simplicity's sake, Odelllllllllllllllll is referred to as simply "Odel", where applicable. Please keep this in mind when reading and editing.

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Tropes:

• Adorably Precocious Child: All the agents in the Odd Squad office. All of them. They're meant to represent adults who work in those types of offices, and the B-plot as a whole is meant to represent the hijinks that come with delivering a package to a company that's meant for an employee of the company.
• Artistic License: While this episode perfectly replicates the fact that a signature by a package's recipient is sometimes required for delivery, Odel never actually signs for the item — presumably because Orla and Omar are not actually in the Mail Department and aren't certified couriers, instead delivering a package on the postmaster's behalf at his request.
  • Similarly, Odd Squad's tendency to not reveal the last names of agents proves to be a detriment — if Odell and Odel had two different last names, then the mix-up between whom the package was originally delivered to would be nonexistent. Usually, it's how mail couriers can differentiate between two packages going to two people with the same first name, along with their addresses (although since this is a company building, the point of differentiating by last name, not address, is made even more blatantly clear).
• Bait-and-Switch: The episode opens with Omar holding machine parts and remarking that "this is harder than I thought". It looks like he's attempting to build something complex at first, but then it's revealed that he and Oswald are only playing Go Fish, with machine parts in place of cards.
• Call-Back: The existence of a Mail Department of Odd Squad was first revealed in "Odd Beginnings: Part 1", and the beginning of "Raising the Bar" had the Mobile Unit receiving mail from an agent presumably in the Mail Department. This episode has the department as the primary focus, and also introduces Oyster as the aforementioned agent.
  • This episode shares quite a few similarities to "The Trouble with Centigurps", although it's not to the point where it's a Recycled Premise or full-on Sequel Episode.
• Chekhov's Gun: Oyster repeatedly talking about his tennis match turns out to be what's needed to help Osmerelda and Oswald capture the Pentagurps in the end.
  • Oyster talking about how the tube for junk mail will clog if too much stuff is put in there also counts.
• Continuity Nod: Odel (with seventeen L's) isn't the only agent to have a long name — the Odd Squadcast previously introduced an agent which had the shortened name of "Ooooooo", with her full name comprised of twenty-five O's.
• Cross-Referenced Titles: To "The Trouble with Centigurps".
• Dreadful Musician: The Security agent at the Odd Squad office likes playing the guitar, but doesn't have the ability to make whatever he plays on it sound good.
• Epic Fail: Not only do Osmerelda and Oswald fail to catch even one Pentagurp after a while of attempting to do so, but when they later end up with 19 Pentagurps, they manage to somehow lose 17 of them despite having not dropped the containment unit and the unit itself being in perfect condition.
• Explosive Breeder: Similar to the Centigurps, Pentagurps have the ability to reproduce quickly — only instead of going from one to one-hundred, the Pentagurps multiply by five.
• Faster Than They Look: Although the scenes with him hitting the Pentagurps are shown in slow-motion, it's implied that Oyster, for being the Mail Department's postmaster, is incredibly fast for being able to hit the Pentagurps that are flying all over the place. It helps that they're basically blue furry tennis balls to him.
• Headphones Equal Isolation: Odel, the true recipient of the package, was unable to hear Orla and Omar due to having headphones on.
• Gilligan Cut: When realizing that they need to catch 30 more Pentagurps, Osmerelda states that Orla and Omar will be back soon to assist her and Oswald. Transition to the two agents in question, still stuck at the Odd Squad office and still unable to deliver the package.
• Gossipy Hens: Played for laughs per Rule of Funny when the Security agent at the Odd Squad office calls up Odell and receives some gossip about an agent named O'Brenda. The conversation doesn't last very long, but the Security agent forgets to ask her about the package that was supposedly sent to her.
• "I Am" Song: "Life in the Mail Room", sung by the Mobile Unit as they describe how great working at the Mail Department is. Notable in that it's the first song sung by all members of the main cast of a season instead of one or two, as was the case with past seasons' songs. And it has some pretty awesome dancing to go with it, to boot!
• Instant Home Delivery: Subverted. Orla and Omar go into an Odd Squad-branded office expecting to drop off a package and return to the Mail Department's main headquarters, but the package is one where a signature confirmation is required, and so they are forced to wait and hand-deliver the package to the recipient, Odel, themselves. When they do manage to complete the delivery, the order turns out to be incorrect, as the recipient wanted multiple pliers and not a Multiply-inator gadget.
• Ironic Name: Lampshaded by Oyster, who says that despite his name, he doesn't like eating oysters.
• Lock-and-Load Montage: Oyster gearing up to help Osmerelda and Oswald combat the Pentagurps has him taking out and brandishing a fresh tennis racket as a weapon.
• Locked Out of the Loop: Orla and Omar aren't present for the whole ordeal with Oswald and Osmerelda attempting to catch all the Pentagurps, and so Oswald catches them up to speed.
  Oswald: Pentagurp, tube, world, multiply.
  Orla and Omar: Understood.
• The Merch: An in-universe example occurs with Oona branching out into making and selling gadget polish. Supposedly, she's been turned into a brand name, as Osmerelda remarks that she only buys that brand of gadget polish. Fliers advertising the polish are registered as junk mail to the Mail Department agents.
• Mundane Solution: Odel ends up receiving the wrong order in the mail, stating that she wanted multiple pliers and not a Multiply-inator gadget. Omar fires the gadget at the plier that Odel holds up in order to create one-hundred pairs of pliers.
• One-Steve Limit: Averted. Don't mix up the Odell in this episode, a Maintenance agent, with the Odell from "Odd Outbreak", who is an Odd Squad Doctor in the Medical department.
• Parental Bonus: When the Little O asks the Mobile Unit if they have any questions about their mission, Osmerelda asks how a photon accelerates to light speed so quickly. One would think that it's a one-off joke, but Little O surprisingly and aptly responds by explaining that a photon doesn't accelerate to light speed because it's already traveling at that speed when created. Although the exchange fits in perfectly with the show's focus on science in addition to math, photons are far too advanced for the target demographic to learn. However, many parents who are good at science would definitely understand.
• Plot Hole: The way that Oswald and Osmerelda stop the final Pentagurp from escaping outside is with some backwards thinking — multiply it while it's in the tube, and create a clog where items can't get out (something that Osmerelda brings up as she mentions that the goal is to have less Pentagurps remaining, not more). The tube doesn't somehow break, nor is it ever shown how they got all the Pentagurps back into the containment unit when it was incredibly hard to catch them to begin with, and the episode ends on a musical number about the Mail Department.
• Right on the Tick: Pentagurps multiply by five every hour. After discovering this, Oyster decided to set an alarm on his watch that will go off every hour so he and the others know when the Pentagurps are going to multiply.
• Running Gag: One Mail Department worker keeps attempting to build a large stack of packages and letters, but fails because of the Pentagurps zooming around.
• Shout-Out: The Mail Department's motto, which Oyster recites, is a simplified version of the unofficial motto for the United States Postal Service.
• Spy-Tux Reveal: Oyster has his tennis outfit on underneath his Mail Department uniform. He also happens to have a tennis racket at the ready.
• Super-Speed: One of the things that sets the Pentagurps apart from their Centigurp counterparts is their high speed as well as their ability to fly. They're so fast that they managed to destroy the entire front of a mail truck despite their small size.
• Take Cover!: Oyster shouts this twice before he and the agents head for a spot under a shelf to hide from the Pentagurps.
• Tempting Fate: Osmerelda believes that catching the Pentagurps using the very containment unit which they escaped from will be easy. One time card later and she's quickly proven wrong.
• That Reminds Me of a Song: The Mobile Unit thanks Oyster for helping out with the Pentagurp invasion by singing a song about how great the Mail Department is.
• Tranquil Fury: Orla ends up becoming infuriated enough with the entire ordeal of delivering a package to an "Odellllllllllllllll" (yes, as it's spelled) that all she can say upon being told that the online order inside the package is incorrect is, "My rage runneth over." It's quite surprising considering that she's definitely not without her moments of full-on rage.
• Two Lines, No Waiting: Once again, this episode has separate A and B-plots. The A-plot surrounds Oswald and Osmerelda attempting to capture the flying Pentagurps in the Mail Department's main HQ, while the B-plot has Orla and Omar delivering a package to an office nearby at the request of Oyster, the Mail Department's postmaster.
• Unsatisfiable Customer: Just barely averted for Orla — she gets close to snapping at the Security agent at the Odd Squad office in regards to the package that she and Omar are set to deliver, but surprisingly settles for Tranquil Fury. The closest she gets is her nearly yelling at Odell to take her package and "end this horrible nightmare."
• Unstoppable Mailman: Oyster takes his work in the Mail Department very seriously and vows to deliver all mail irregardless of the current weather conditions. While he attempts to help Oswald and Osmerelda catch Pentagurps, he has Orla and Omar deliver a package to an Odd Squad office nearby.
  Oyster: As we say in the Mail Department, "Neither rain nor sleet nor flock of birds who are migrating south for the winter will stop us from delivering the mail!"
• Worldbuilding: This episode reveals the Mail Department's main Headquarters, located in Nebraska, and showcases what agents of the department do.
  • The episode also reveals that somewhere in Omaha, there's an Odd Squad office staffed with agents of all different departments. What they actually do, though, is unknown.
  • Somewhere in the world of Odd Squad, there exists an online retailer (perhaps a mockup of Amazon) where Odd Squad agents can purchase gadgets and have them shipped to wherever they want.
• World Tour: The Mobile Unit visits Omaha, Nebraska in this episode.
• You Have GOT to Be Kidding Me!: The expressions on Orla's and Omar's faces when Odell tells them that she can't sign for the package they're delivering absolutely screams this trope.

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This is the story of a girl, who painted a picture and rocked the whole world...

Three Portals Down

Airdate: October 27, 2021 ^note CBBC premiere December 31, 2021 ^note  PBS Kids premiere; airing as part of PBS Kids Family Night

With Oswald and Osmerelda feeling under the weather, Orla and Omar work with two backup agents to battle oddness on Shmumber Farms.

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Tropes:

• The Alcoholic: How does Oprah feed her juice addiction while up in space? She has juice boxes directly delivered to her by Shmumber Farms themselves, who has an agent go up into space to hand-deliver the juice boxes to their boss.
• Big Eater: All the odd creatures that have escaped from their respective dimensions begin eating Humber Shmumber's crops instead.
• Bitch in Sheep's Clothing: Over and Oppo may be nice agents on the outside, but their niceness is merely a facade for their true identities as Starscreams.
• Bizarre Seasons: A person who is "under the weather" is forced to go through all four seasons in order to get better, which means dealing with the crazy, unpredictable weather that comes with it.
• Call-Back: Two agents challenging a partner pair with the challenge somehow involving switching jobs? Yup, been there, done that.
• Continuity Nod: Slappy the Sun — or rather, two of him — show up at the end of the episode as a part of Osmerelda's and Oswald's illness (although it could just be a reused animation render of a sun).
  • Olalla is shown wearing the same spacesuit that Otto and Otis wore in Odd Squad: The Movie, despite the fact that she's female. ^note The spacesuits' golden boxers are what signifies them as being made for boys. The girls' version of the spacesuits has them wearing golden briefs on the outside of the suit, with Olive's suit being the only sole exception (she wears what appears to be golden short shorts instead).
• Crazy-Prepared: In the event that an agent is unable to work for Odd Squad for any reason, the Odd Squad Backup Unit — OSBU for short — is called in as a temporary replacement. It's not made clear if this is something that Oprah implemented prior to her leaving for space, or if it's something new that Orpita implemented — although considering "The B Team", it's likely an original idea from Oprah that was later revised by Orpita.
• Dance Party Ending: Downplayed. The episode ends on Dr. O playing a set of steel pans and Osmerelda and Oswald dancing along, but no one else joins them.
• Descended Creator: Eric Toth, the writer for the episode (and writer of many past Season 3 episodes), plays Gerrard.
• Didn't Think This Through: Oppo and Over want to drive the Mobile Units out of their jobs for the sole purpose of seizing control of the van. Too bad they forgot to factor in that they get carsick easily.
• The Ditz: The doctor that treats Oswald and Osmerelda doesn't even realize that he's a doctor. When he's reminded that he is, it goes in one ear and out the other.
  Dr. O: Listen, I'm no doctor-
  Oswald: Yes you are.
  Dr. O: Riiiight! I always forget that.
• Easily Forgiven: Both Over and Oppo apologize for trying to get Orla and Omar fired from Odd Squad and compliment them, and they take both in stride.
• The Eeyore: One of the symptoms of catching the "under the weather" illness is consistently being pessimistic and depressed. Oswald and Osmerelda go from moody, to being happy when their raincloud clears and they mistakenly believe they're cured, then back to being pessimistic again as they're forced to go through all four seasons and various kinds of weather. Eventually Dr. O advises that they make the most of the weather and he invites the agents to join him in a newly-raked leaf pile, which cures them of their blahs.
• Gotta Catch Them All: Orla, Omar, Over and Oppo must find all the portal pieces that the odd creatures scattered throughout the farm so that the creatures can get back to their respective dimensions.
• Gracefully Demoted: Played with. Over proposes that if she and Oppo win, they become part of the Mobile Unit while Orla and Omar become Investigation agents. However, in the Odd Squad hierarchy, Mobile Unit is one of the lowest departments while Investigation is ranked higher — thus, if Over and Oppo became Mobile Unit agents, they'd be demoting themselves while Orla and Omar would get promoted in spite of their loss. Of course, the promotion and demotion never comes to pass (not to mention that Orpita wouldn't go through with it anyway).
• Grey Rain of Depression: Oswald and Osmerelda's Personal Raincloud is the first sign of their illness, and as a result, they become depressed.
• Hawaiian-Shirted Tourist: Osmerelda and Oswald are shown wearing shirts of this kind, although Osmerelda's looks much closer to a Hawaiian shirt.
• Hidden Depths: Orla and Omar are quite the artists, with Orla creating a complex painting of lilypads in a pond and a bust of herself and Omar creating an abstract art piece.
• I Can't Believe I'm Saying This: Omar recites the trope name verbatim when reacting to Gerrard's gift shop.
  Omar: I can't believe I'm saying this, but I am good without a souvenir.
• Idiot Ball: Oswald is shown attempting to read a newspaper while sitting under a shared Personal Raincloud, and even after he vents his frustration to his partner, he continues to try and read it. Osmerelda, on the other hand, is more intelligent and gets the idea to use her side of the raincloud to water a houseplant.
• Immediate Self-Contradiction: Subverted when Omar tells Gerrard that he and Orla don't have $1 million, then confirms what he said to Orla, who tells him that no, they do not have $1 million.
• Inventor of the Mundane: Shmumber Farms has centuries of history behind it, but Humber Shmumbers, who is alive in the 21st century, somehow got the idea to combine fruit together and make unique flavor combinations recently.
• It's Quiet… Too Quiet: Upon arriving at Shmumber Farms, Omar remarks that "it's really quiet here...too quiet." A second later, he and the others are nearly hit by lasers from the odd creatures roaming about the farm.
  Orla: It is no longer quiet.
• Jumped at the Call: Orla is challenged to a battle with two agents who seek to get her out of a job so they can take control of her co-owned vehicle. Her response is to immediately accept the challenge, much to the shock of Omar.
  Orla: Where there is a challenge, a challenge must be met.
• Left the Background Music On: As Humber Shmumbers describes how he came up with the idea of juice flavor combos, a violin is heard playing as BGM. When it gets to be too loud, Humber turns to an agent named Olalla, who is shown playing the violin, and asks her to play a little quieter.
• Literal Metaphor: The term "under the weather" is used as the name of an odd illness. When Omar explains that Oswald and Osmerelda are under the weather, the scene transitions to them sitting under a shared Personal Raincloud.
• Mood Whiplash: Oppo and Over go from agreeing with what Omar is saying to issuing a battle challenge against them on a complete dime.
• The Nose Knows: Humber Shmumber takes out a couple portal pieces and explains that the odd creatures scattered them throughout the farm grounds. Orla deduces that the pieces, when connected, lead to the 18th Dimension. She then stops, takes a deep sniff, and corrects herself by saying that they lead to the 19th Dimension. Omar is then shown giving a small sniff of his own but being unable to smell anything of importance.
• Personal Raincloud: Both Oswald and Osmerelda get a shared one while they're recovering from an illness known only as being "under the weather".
• Pronouncing My Name for You: Gerrard insists that his name be pronounced without the second "R". This leads to an Overly Long Gag of Orla and Omar attempting to say his name as it's spelled and him attempting to correct them. And then he tells them to pronounce it in a French accent as "Bees-twar"...
• Recycled Premise: This episode takes quite a few elements from "Portalandia" — from the numerous numbered dimensions (none of which are the 17th Dimension featured in that episode), to the odd creatures that escape from them (one of them being the butterfly who shoots Eye Beams), to Orla being involved in some way.
• Recycled Set: The farm seen in Endlings, another Sinking Ship Entertainment show, is used as the setting for Shmumber Farms. The same setting was also used in "Jeremy".
• Rivals Team Up: Oppo, Over, Omar and Orla team up at the climax to suck the butterfly back into its respective dimension.
• Shout-Out: The episode's title is a reference to 3 Doors Down.
• Shown Their Work: A monarch butterfly, a goldfish, and a squirrel are shown as the odd creatures that have escaped and are eating Shmumber Farms' crops. In real life, all three of those animals are capable of eating fruit to some degree.
• Sick Episode: Oswald and Osmerelda are out sick for the episode, so Orla and Omar head out to solve oddness instead.
• Stealth Hi/Bye: The episode opens with Orpita suddenly popping up right behind Orla and Omar.
  • Over and Oppo debut in this manner, also popping up suddenly behind Orla and Omar.
  • Humber Shmumber suddenly appears onscreen shortly after the agents take over from the rampaging odd creatures.
• The Starscream: Oppo and Over are interesting examples of this trope. They don't necessarily want to be in the Mobile Unit to reap in the fame and power that the department's agents receive, but rather, they want to be in the Mobile Unit so they can have their van — getting rid of the Mobile Unit's current agents, the owners of the vehicle, is more of a bonus for them than anything else.
• Surprisingly Realistic Outcome: Upon leaving Orla, Omar and the two Backup Unit agents, Orpita has to stop and ask where the exit of the van is — which makes sense, considering she rarely visits the Mobile Unit in the van and often uses Stealth Hi/Bye to make her entrances and exits from wherever she is.
• Team Spirit: Humber Shmumbers suggests that the four agents team up to find the missing piece and open up the butterfly portal by telling a long-winded story about how he combined apple juice and peach juice together and found that it tasted good. All of them take the idea to heart.
• True Art Is Incomprehensible: Orla and Omar meet Gerrard and realize that what he considers as "art" is basically just sticking googly eyes onto random items, and they're so unnerved by it that Omar declares the gift shop to be the one place where he doesn't want to buy a souvenir. When they attempt to retrieve the portal piece from him, they make complex art pieces which he frowns upon before Orla decides to stick googly eyes onto the bust of her that she sculpted, to which he wistfully remarks that it's beautiful and thanks her. It gets to such a point where he charges Orla and Omar $1 million for the portal piece they need, which just has a single large googly eye on it.
• Underestimating Badassery: Orla severely underestimates Oppo's and Over's skills, both in finding the scattered portal pieces and in mathematics.
• Unfortunate Names: You know the writers are running out of names beginning with O when they have to resort to using commonplace words as names — case in point being Agent Over, although her name is rather meaningful considering what her true motive is.
• White Hair, Black Heart: Inverted. Humber Shmumber has white hair, but is in no way evil.
• Worldbuilding: The Odd Squad Backup Unit, a duo of Investigation agents who serve as handy replacements for agents who are out of work, is introduced.
  • Where Oprah gets her juice boxes is revealed — the fruit, and subsequently the juice boxes, are delivered to her by Shmumber Farms.
  • If the credits are any indication, the Mobile Unit has their own doctor, although they don't work in the outpatient setting of the van and instead is always available for the agents to see when they fall ill.
• World Tour: Surprisingly averted. It's never revealed where exactly Shmumber Farms is located.
• Worthless Yellow Rocks: Upon finding out that Omar and Orla have successfully constructed and closed the second portal, Oppo casually tosses away a briefcase full of $1 million in Jackalope Dollars currency, as he and Over were going to use the money to buy the portal piece from Gerrard. To top it off, Omar reacts to the feat with a shocked expression.
• Written-In Absence: Subverted. Oswald and Osmerelda visiting a doctor for their "under the weather" illness appears to be one of these at first, but then the episode begins to repeatedly cut to them in the doctor's office as they attempt to get better, and eventually rejoin their teammates at the end of the episode.

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