In a dirt war, Randall accuses Spinelli of throwing a rock at him, which is against the rules. Spinelli profusely denies the allegations; however, she won't tell the truth. King Bob decides to only way to settle this is with a trial.
Tropes:
- An Aesop: The truth will set you free.
- Apologetic Attacker: Gretchen apologizes to Spinelli for being her prosecutor and demanding a guilty charge. She's relieved when Spinelli has an alibi to prove her innocence and presses Randall for the truth.
- Asshole Victim: Subverted; Randall hit himself with the rock and accused Spinelli.
- Cat Up a Tree: Spinelli gave up the chance to clobber Randall with a dirt clod to rescue a cat.
- Clear My Name: T.J. and the boys serve as Spinelli's defense at the trial. They manage to prove her innocent.
- Courtroom Episode
- Disproportionate Retribution: Randall frames Spinelli for hitting him with a rock because she helped get Miss Finster's cat out of a tree and received an "I owe you one" from her.
- Early-Installment Weirdness: King Bob knows Gretchen's name in this episode. In later seasons, he doesn't and always addresses her as "Smart Girl".
- Embarrassing Alibi: Spinelli is falsely accused of throwing a rock at Randall, but refuses to reveal what she was doing when Randall was hit because it would ruin her tough reputation. As it turns out, she was rescuing Miss Finster's cat from a tree.
- Everyone Has Standards:
- As much as the other kids hate Randall, they agree he doesn't deserve to get hit in the head with a rock and want justice. But when Spinelli and the rest of the main six are able to prove that Randall had lied about it to get her in trouble, the other kids turn on him and give him a swirly.
- Spinelli says that she thinks Randall is a worm, but she doesn't hate him enough to hit him with a rock. Her alibi confirms that she was telling the truth.
- Spinelli called a time out, even though she likes dirt clod wars, upon seeing that some kids were hurt. Then Randall hits her; King Bob agrees with Spinelli that Randall is a worm for doing that.
- Miss Finster genuinely thanks Spinelli for saving her cat, even though Spinelli didn't have to do so.
- Gretchen might be Spinelli's friend, but she informs her she has to do her job to the best of her ability. She is shown to be very happy when she is proven not guilty.
- Explain, Explain... Oh, Crap!: Ashley A. is baffled when Spinelli can prove that she didn't throw the rock at Randall, since she was with Miss Finster at the time. Because then who did throw the rock? Cue all the kids looking at Randall, who's forced to admit the truth about what really happened.
- Foreshadowing: Mikey's account features Spinelli calling a timeout to help some kids who were hurt, establishing that she has a strong sense of honor and integrity. It's revealed that she halted her dirt clod assault on Randall to rescue a cat.
- Green-Eyed Monster: Randall envies that Spinelli got Miss Finster's thanks for one task while he's spent his elementary school career being Finster's snitch.
- He Who Fights Monsters: Invoked; T.J. tells her that if she gets punished for something she didn't do, it makes her as bad as her accusers.
- Honor Before Reason: Spinelli would rather be punished for something she didn't do than ruin her bad reputation. T.J. guilts her into telling the truth when he makes her take the stand.
- Irony: The kids at first suggest telling Miss Finster that Spinelli hit Randall with a rock. If they had done it, Miss Finster would have provided Spinelli's alibi immediately since Spinelli was rescuing Finster's cat at the time.
- Jerkass Has a Point: King Bob, upon hearing that Randall purposely hit Spinelli during a timeout, agrees with her that the kid is a worm.
- Kangaroo Court: Subverted. King Bob wants a swirly to happen, but he agrees the trial has to be fair. While Gretchen has to play the part of the prosecutor, and she apologizes to Spinelli before going hard on her, King Bob hears testimony from everyone called to the stand and allows Gretchen to turn on Randall when Spinelli proves her innocence.
- Laser-Guided Karma: Once it's revealed Randall hit himself with the rock to frame Spinelli, King Bob orders that Randall be given the swirly instead and the episode ends with the kids chasing him to do so.
- No Good Deed Goes Unpunished: Spinelli choosing to save a cat over nailing Randall with a dirt clod gets her in trouble because Randall frames her.
- Nothing Is Scarier: We're not told what the swirly is in this episode.
- Once More, with Clarity: Randall and Mikey's accounts are skewed thanks to Randall trying to frame Spinelli, and Mikey not actually having seen the confrontation. Spinelli provides the full context for the confrontation, and Randall's real account explains how he hit himself with the rock.
- Pet the Dog: Miss Finster, a Stern Teacher and recess referee, thanks Spinelli for rescuing her cat from a tree.
- "Rashomon"-Style:
- Randall's first account paints him as a war hero and Spinelli gloating before tossing the rock at him.
- Mikey's account has the same war atmosphere, and he didn't see Randall getting hit by the rock though he heard him scream.
- Spinelli's account is the only one that takes place on the recess grounds. It's also the only one with the complete truth. Randall's real account also takes place in the recess world.
- Reasonable Authority Figure:
- King Bob refuses to let the other kids give Spinelli a swirly without giving her a fair trial first.
- Gretchen takes the first opportunity to become this when Spinelli can prove her innocence. She turns on Randall and asks him for the truth.
- Shaming the Mob: Subverted; the mob is briefly pacified to allow for Spinelli to have a trial. Then they call for the swirly on Randall when King Bob sentences him.
- Shout-Out: The episode is this to A Few Good Men.
- Surprisingly Realistic Outcome: The episode ends with Spinelli proving her innocence, and Randall being forced to confess that he framed her. Here is the thing: Randall commits perjury in an established court of recess law, which was during King Bob's lunch hour. Since the kids are angry that he framed Spinelli and wasted their time, King Bob sentences him to the swirly.
- Tap on the Head: Zigzagged. On the one hand, rock-throwing during a dirt war is banned because someone can get a bad injury, and it seems Randall is barely conscious when accusing Spinelli. Then we see what actually happened; Randall tossed a super-tiny rock in the air and ran around until it hit him. He was faking his loud scream since he actually grunted at the impact.
- War Is Hell:Mikey: When will you ever learn?! War is not a game! War is not a game!
Other Kids: Really? I thought it was a game. A really fun game. - Would Rather Suffer: After T.J. makes Spinelli confess that she has an alibi —that she was rescuing a cat — the other kids laugh at her. Spinelli then mutters that she'd have rather gotten the swirly than admitted to that.
- Wounded Gazelle Gambit: Randall hits himself with a rock during a dirt war and blames Spinelli for it.
- You Can't Handle the Parody: Obviously, Randall says this upon being confronted for perjury: "The truth? You can't handle the truth!"
