Recap / Sanders Sides S 1 E 13 Growing Up

It has just been Thomas' birthday, and Thomas starts wondering if he's doing what people his age are expected to be doing. When examining their daily behavior, Logan, Roman and Anxiety realize that Dad is holding Thomas back in the process of becoming a proper adult. So, they decide to make Thomas radically stop listening to Dad, forget everything he brings to the table and make changes in his life to be a serious mature person. But the suggestions they give to Thomas only make him feel sad and depressed, so they realize that maybe there's something wrong in their suggestions.

Release date: May 1, 2017

WARNING: Untagged spoilers ahead. Read at your own risk.

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Tropes

• Birthday Episode: The story takes place right after Thomas' birthday, and it's his birthday what starts all of Thomas' doubts about his future that set the story off.
• Bizarre Taste in Food: Under the influence of Dad, until Logan and Roman managed to rein him in, Thomas used to eat all kinds of bizarre mixtures of things, like ramen noodles, chocolate syrup, M&M's, marshmallows, sprinkles... among other stuff, all mixed together in a single bowl. And he found it delicious.
• Blank White Void: This is how the Mind Palace looks when nothing is particularly imagined or when Thomas or the Side that summons it blanks for a second while trying to get there. Instead of a room with a particular shape, Thomas and the Sides appear in a bright white infinity.
  Logan: It's a little too... basic.
  Dad: Yeah...
  Anxiety: [covering his face with a voice of pain] MY EYES!
  Roman: Sorry, I seem to have drawn a blank for a second.
• Does Not Like Spam: Thomas gets unsettled when Roman mentions that he must eat healthy food like... carrots.
  Anxiety: Is no one going to aknowledge that he just dabbed?
• Montage: When first Dad, then Logan and the others make their suggestions to Thomas, several videos appear of Thomas in his daily life.
• Noodle Implements: The game of Patton-cake requires tuna fish, two tennis rackets, dipping someone's fingers in candle wax, and Anxiety sulking in a corner.
• Punch-Clock Villain: Anxiety remarks that if Thomas follows the adult lifestyle Logan wants him to follow, it would give him more work to do, and he doesn't like working hard.
• Running Gag: Once again, Dad uses the term "adultery" to name the process of becoming an adult, and once again Thomas tries to correct him in frustration with no luck.
• Setting Update: At the end of the episode, Thomas and the Sides are transported to a new setting, where each Sides' spot is entirely decorated fitting him. It was intended for it to be a permanent change, but one episode later, the change would be rolled back due to technical issues.
• The Reveal: This is the episode where Morality, or Dad, reveals that his real name is Patton.