A mysterious stranger has moved into the long-abandoned Nutwood Court, and Rupert’s suspicious of the odd sounds coming from his basement, like cries for help. He and Bill investigate and find a baby Yeti named Yum being held prisoner, but how can they help him when nobody believes them?
First appearance of Constable Growler and of Pong Ping’s lift to China. Also forms with the previous and following episode one of the few times overall but several times for Bill where Rupert’s adventuring companion is the same multiple episodes in a row.
This episode provides examples of:
- Bigfoot, Sasquatch, and Yeti: They’re a real, sapient species in this world who understand speech better than they can speak it. Sir Jasper is a big game hunter who’s captured one as the ultimate trophy.
- Cassandra Truth: Constable Growler initially refuses to take Rupert’s claims about Sir Jasper seriously, believing that Rupert’s either imagining things or playing a joke on him.
- Cat Scare: While spying on Nutwood Court in the woods at night, Rupert and Bill get spooked by a squirrel.
- Convenient Decoy Cat: Sir Jasper insists the sounds Rupert heard in the basement were just a cat. He was smart enough to place a real cat down there when Constable Growler asks for his consent to take a look.
- Creepy Basement: Used as a makeshift prison.
- Face Palm: Rupert does this when he and Bill are supposed to be Throwing the Distraction... and Bill hits the guard in the head with the rock!
- Fiction Is Not Fair: In-between his lectures on the importance of doing “everything by the book” and warning Rupert it’s a crime to trespass on private property, Constable Growler should have arrested Sir Jasper and his henchmen for kidnapping when they forced Rupert into his house and refused to let him leave — catching a kid in the act of trespassing doesn’t give you the right to hold him anywhere against his will!
- Let's Split Up, Gang!: While running from their enemies through the woods after dark, Rupert reasons he, Bill, and Yum are too easy to spot and can’t travel very fast together, so he decides it’s best to hide them in a shed while he goes to get help.
- Locked in a Room: Yum until Rupert and Bill break into the room he’s being held in after hearing him call for help.
- Screw the Rules, I'm Doing What's Right!: Rupert and Bill continue to investigate even after Constable Growler warns them to leave Sir Jasper alone and break Yum out of his dungeon as soon as they find him.
- Spare a Messenger: Sir Jasper catches Rupert walking through the grounds of Nutwood Court (unaware anyone moved in), brings him inside, and threatens him (as if he has full rights to punish the kid himself however he wants), saying he’s only letting him go so he can warn all his friends to stay away from the mansion from now on.
- Throwing the Distraction: Bill and Rupert try to get past Sir Jasper’s thug this way. Bill doesn’t seem to understand the concept very well...
- Wrong Genre Savvy: The major theme of the episode is 10-year-old Rupert wishing Constable Growler could just search until he finds what Sir Jasper’s up to and stop him right then, without understanding things like legal procedures and warrants. Sorry, kid, the good guys can’t just storm the castle and save the day anymore.
