Episode 34
- Troublemaker - Tales of Penny the Manager
Penny's hard at work juggling all of Jagged Stone's requests and responsibilities when Bob Roth pushes past her, having gotten another "big idea" into his head: he wants to exploit Jagged Stone's single status by having him appear on Rockstar Wants a Wife, a reality dating show. Jagged Stone refuses, and the two start throwing things at each other in their mutual outrage. Penny slips in and suggests an alternative, which Jagged likes so much that he kisses her on the cheek, much to Bob's disgust.
Marinette's having a stressful time of her own, pleading with her babysitting charge Manon to return the hat she's been working on. The hat's due tomorrow, and she's still got homework she needs to finish. Peeking out from one of her pigtails, Pollen notes that she looks stressed; Marinette explains that she accidentally double-booked her schedule again. Ever since she became Marigold, she's been struggling to keep all her responsibilities straight... and then Penny Rolling calls, proposing that Marinette's family be involved in a TV show.
Specifically, Fill My Shoes, a show hosted by Alec where a guest celebrity tries their hand at another person's job. In this case, Jagged Stone will be stepping into the role of a baker at Tom and Sabine's bakery. Sabine offers the crew some hot croissants; Bob snatches one up and turns away without so much as acknowledging her, leaving Sabine noting how rude they're being. Marinette defends them by claiming the crew's just busy and that they should focus on how much this will promote their bakery... but Sabine holds firm, asserting that it's rude to turn down hot food from your hostess.
As Jagged Stone shows off an "edible guitar," Sabine remarks that working with him actually seems pretty fun. Penny agrees that there's never a dull moment, gushing about how he is incredibly creative, always thinks of his fans, always pays his child support on time... oh, never mind that part. In fact, here's an NDA for you to sign.
Both Adrien and Chloé are watching Fill My Shoes since it's featuring the Marinette's family's bakery, but while Adrien gushes over Marinette's uniform, Chloé's seething with jealousy. She wanted to see Marinette embarrass herself, but even when she accidentally douses Jagged Stone with flour, he just laughs it off, joking about how he looks like a ghost, now. As they cut to a commercial break, Chloé complains to Tikki, who gloatingly points out that Chloé was responsible for introducing Marinette to Jagged Stone in the first place. Chloé wails in agony, begging the Kwami not to remind her of that.
Penny and Jagged Stone go upstairs to clean up but accidentally wind up in Marinette's bedroom. Since there's still a sink there, Penny's able to get the flour wiped off... but Jagged Stone is more interested in checking out his favorite young designer's handiwork, remarking on how some of them would suit his manager. Alec and his crew then barge in and resume filming live, and Jagged Stone points out all the pictures of Chat Noir, asking Marinette if she's got a crush on the superhero. Adrien cheers even as Marinette frantically denies it; Hawk Moth gasps as well... before remarking that wait, he already knew that.
Marinette furiously orders everyone out of her room. Jagged Stone cheerfully offers to sign her poster, not realizing just how upset she is, while Alec models one of her hats. She yells at the crew to stop filming, angrily asking what's wrong with them. Chloé is LIVING for this drama, merrily munching on popcorn as Marinette begs Penny to do something. Penny tries to take control but finds herself being yelled at for cutting the feed. Overwhelmed, she screams for everyone to "SHUT THE $#%& UP!", forcing them all out. When Bob asks what they should do now, she hisses, "TRY TO SURVIVE FOR FIVE MINUTES," before slamming the door and slumping down.
Hawk Moth's relieved: this means he doesn't have to akumatize Marinette. Given her clear connection to Chat Noir, he's privately terrified that targeting her would spur the Black Cat hero to hunt him down and break through his door.
Meanwhile, Marinette's freaking out: not only did the crew film her collection of Chat Noir photos, her half-finished dress and several of her month-old designs also wound up on camera. Though Pollen tries reassuring her, she's convinced that her career has been ruined... and what about Chat Noir? If he saw the show, he'll realize that she's in love with him!
Cut to Adrien wondering whether he should go see her immediately, or if it's too soon. As he asks Plagg if he should order red roses, the Kwami sighs disgustedly.
Downstairs, Tom and Sabine put their feet down, calling out the film crew for invading their privacy. They'd agreed to their bakery being filmed, not their home, and the crew's now upset their daughter. Bob tries to bulldoze over their complaints, declaring that the ratings are blowing up and they're not stopping now, only to find himself faced with Sabine's full fury.
Then the security doors slam shut. Bob worries that the bakery is haunted, but the real problem promptly reveals herself as Troublemaker pops up behind Jagged Stone, making him scream in horror. As Troublemaker declares that there's no more Penny around to solve his problems, Pollen laments how Jagged's manager was so busy trying to help everyone that she got targeted by Hawk Moth. Marinette declares her intent to save her and transforms while Adrien is eager to head over and help, and Chloé's... less enthusiastic about the idea.
When Chat Noir arrives, he greets Nadja outside, declaring that it'll be a piece of cake to get inside. Marigold calls him up to the roof; noting how quickly she got there, Chat Noir concludes that she must have been watching the show as well, making her internally cringe at the confirmation that he must have seen her room. Scarlet Lady, meanwhile, is taking her time cooing over couture, admiring outfits in store windows and gushing about how good they'd look on her.
Entering Marinette's bedroom from above, Chat Noir points out all the photographs, excitedly asking Marigold what she thinks they all mean even as Troublemaker attacks. Marigold yells at him to pay attention—Troublemaker's a tricky opponent, capable of going intangible. Though Marigold figures out that the akuma's in her pen, which she clicks to phase in and out, they can't do much about her without Scarlet Lady... who's busy ordering a bunch of Scarlet Lady ice cream pops from a vendor.
Sneaking up behind Marigold, Troublemaker goes for the comb but is fended off by Chat Noir. He warns Marigold that her Miraculous is the easiest to remove, joking that she should glue it down. Marigold declares that he's a genius; quickly gluing the Comb to her hair tie, she lets Troublemaker tackle her to the ground, stinging her with Venom as the akuma's tries to steal the Miraculous. The two heroes then call Scarlet Lady, only to hear her yo-yo ringing right above them—she's been chilling on the roof ever since she arrived.
After being cured, Penny realizes that she was taking on too many responsibilities at once and got stretched too thin. Scarlet Lady advises her to buy herself a diamond phone case, claiming that will help her feel better. Penny's not too sure about that while Marigold muses about being stretched too thin. Chat Noir wonders where Marinette is; Scarlet Lady laughs that she's likely hiding in some hole, dying from embarrassment, while Marigold glowers at her, furiously thinking that the only reason she's not ripping the Ladybug heroine's earrings off is because of all the reporters around.
Back inside the bakery, Penny hesitantly approaches the others. Jagged Stone runs up and embraces her, apologizing for not noticing how overworked she was and swearing that he'll do a better job looking out for her from now on. (He also admits that he thought the mohawk was hot, but Penny refuses to shave her head for him.)
Marinette talks to her parents, telling them that she needs them to start asking her before volunteering her to babysit and that she can't keep dropping everything to help out in the bakery anymore. While she's still more than willing to help, she needs advance notice; things have gotten much busier for her lately, between her work as class representative and Jagged Stone promoting her designs. Tom and Sabine readily agree, leaving Marinette in shock at how easy it was.
Meanwhile, Plagg teases Adrien about not sticking around at the bakery. Adrien admits that he doesn't want to overwhelm Marinette; plus, after thinking about it more, he realized that if he were in her shoes, he wouldn't want his crush to have been exposed in such a way. He'd prefer for her to confess the way she wants to. Plagg remarks on how presumptuous he's being, causing Adrien to correct himself to if Marinette's in love with him. Then he notices that he's getting a call from Alya.
The next day, Marinette tries sneaking into school without running into anyone, but Adrien appears, casually greeting her before asking about the photos. Marinette declares that it's not what he thinks, denying that she's actually in love with Chat Noir before pointing out that it would be far too dangerous for her to be dating a superhero while villains like Hawk Moth are still at large. While she chokes on blood trying to insist that Chat Noir is just a friend, Adrien clenches his fist and fumes about how he has to defeat Hawk Moth as soon as possible.
Chloé butts in, sneering about how gutsy it is for Marinette to show her face. If all of Paris had seen that she had "the world's biggest crush on the world's biggest loser," she wouldn't have left her room at all. Alya declares that the only loser around is Chloé herself, who turns to see the rest of the class decked out in cat-themed attire as Alya reveals that Chat Noir is dead even with Scarlet Lady in popularity polls.
Pulling Marinette aside, Alya explains that she convinced most of the others that Marinette's crush is just a celebrity crush and that everyone else is covering for her by showing their support for Chat Noir. Both Marinette and Adrien are overcome with emotion as Alya declares that Chat Noir doesn't get the recognition he rightly deserves, leaving Nino wondering why Adrien is so overwhelmed.
(Alya also notes that Adrien isn't wearing anything cat-themed to show his solidarity, though she quickly forgives him when he explains that it's solely because of his father.)
This episode contains examples of:
- Adaptational Nice Guy: Downplayed with Jagged Stone. Unlike the original episode, in which he simply asserts how much he needs Penny to manage everything for him, Jagged Stone actually acknowledges and apologizes for overworking her, promising to look out for her like she looks out for him. It's also made explicit that he keeps up with child support while the original series never touched on that topic.
- An Aesop: Being helpful and responsible is all well and good, but don't take on too much at once, and don't be afraid to ask for help.
- Big "NO!":
- Chloé belts one out when Tikki teases her about how she inadvertently helped Marinette meet Jagged Stone in the first place, leading to Marinette becoming one of his favorite designers.
- Marigold has an internalized one when Chat Noir casually reveals that he was watching Fill My Shoes.
- Call-Back: Chat Noir mentions the last time he was at Marinette's room.
- Call-Forward: Penny offhandedly mentions Jagged paying child support, referencing the canon episode "Truth", which reveals that Jagged is Luka and Juleka Couffaine's father.
- Cheshire Cat Grin: Marigold sports one when Troublemaker falls into her trap, noting, "Looks like you're stuck," before attacking the akuma with Venom.
- Description Cut: After the inside of her room got filmed on live TV, Marinette has a private meltdown, worrying that if Chat Noir saw all the photos she has of him, he'll know she's in love with him. Cue Adrien with hearts and sparkles surrounding him as he realizes Marinette reciprocates his feelings (even if it's only for his superhero identity).
- Didn't Think This Through: Marigold puts glue on her Miraculous so that Troublemaker will get stuck when she tries to remove it. This results in Troublemaker's hand being stuck to the Bee heroine's head, presumably until Scarlet Lady does the Miraculous Cure.
- Easily Forgiven: Alya scolds Adrien for not wearing his Chat Noir merchandise in solidarity with the rest of the class to help Marinette. She quickly forgives him when he reminds her that his dad is Gabriel Agreste.
- "Eureka!" Moment: Chat Noir's half-joking suggestion that Marigold should glue the Bee comb into place inspires her plan to catch Troublemaker.
- Foil: Jagged Stone's Innocent Insensitivity towards both Penny and Marinette provides a sharp contrast with Bob Roth and Alec. While Jagged Stone is sincerely unaware of how much Penny is struggling to keep everything running as smoothly as possible, Bob is shown to take things completely for granted, such as when he snatches one of Sabrine's offered pastries without so much as a thank you. Bob and Alec also simply do not CARE about violating Marinette's boundaries; both only want to keep the show going, with Bob declaring that the ratings are far too high for them to stop now.
- Got Volunteered: Implied; Marinette at the beginning of the episode struggles to keep a rowdy Manon from playing with one of her commissions, and she later tells her parents that she needs them to ask her before volunteering her for babysitting duties.
- In Spite of a Nail:
- Like in canon, Marinette's bedroom ends up on live TV, and Jagged Stone embarrasses her when he comments on how she has more photos of her crush (who is secretly also Adrien here) than she does of the rockstar and teases her about it. She also subsequently has a meltdown while her Kwami tries to calm her down.
- Even though Scarlet Lady isn't present to summon Lucky Charm, Marinette (as Marigold) still gets the idea of trapping Troublemaker by putting glue on her Miraculous.
- Internal Reveal: Played With; when Jagged Stone points out the pictures of Chat Noir in Marinette's room and suggests she's got a crush, Hawk Moth gasps dramatically... before remembering that he was already aware of that.
- Mama Bear / Papa Wolf: Sabine and Tom furiously refuse to keep the show going after they invaded Marinette's privacy. And when Bob Roth tries to force them, Sabine gets pissed.Sabine (grabbing a cooking spatula): YOU WANT TO START SOMETHING, M. BOB?! I DEMAND YOU APOLOGIZE!Caption: There may not be a ghost, but there’s about to be a CORPSE in the bakery M. Bob!
- Mythology Gag: Marinette dresses up for the "Fill My Shoes" TV show in a maid uniform similar to the one that she wears in canon for "Animaestro."
- Pass the Popcorn: Chloé munches on a bucket of popcorn while watching Marinette try to get the film crew to stop invading her privacy.
- Pet the Dog: Played for Laughs; Scarlet Lady's advice to Penny about using Retail Therapy seems sincere on her end but is woefully out of touch.
- Plot Parallel: Penny's struggles to keep everything rolling along smoothly as Jagged Stone's manager parallel Marinette's problems with taking on too many responsibilities at once. Her Self-Care Epiphany triggers one for Marinette as well.
- Pragmatic Villainy: Downplayed; while Hawk Moth is willing to akumatize Marinette, he doesn't actually want to, expressing relief when Penny pops up as an alternative. This reluctance stems entirely from Hawk Moth recognizing that targeting Marinette is one of Chat Noir's Berserk Buttons; he fears that akumatizing her would result in Chat Noir tracking him down and breaking down his door.
- Precision F-Strike: Penny Rolling yells, "Everybody, shut the $#%& up!" after getting overwhelmed when forced to deal with the fallout of Marinette's room ending up on live TV.
- Rage Breaking Point: Like in canon, Penny reaches hers here. Hawk Moth is quite relieved about this, since it gives him an alternative to akumatizing Marinette over her Freak Out, which he knows would hit Chat Noir's Berserk Button.
- Reality Show: Rockstar Wants a Wife, which Jagged Stone wants nothing to do with, and Fill My Shoes, where participants try their hand at another person's job.
- Reasonable Authority Figure: Seeing Penny learn a lesson about being "stretched too thin" makes Marinette decide to apply it to her own double life. She asks her parents for notice before they volunteer her for babysitting or ask her to help in the bakery. To her great surprise, they quickly agree with a casual, "Sure, no problem."
- Retail Therapy: Scarlet Lady declares that this always helps her feel better, advising Penny to treat herself to a diamond-studded phone case.
- Rich in Dollars, Poor in Sense: Scarlet Lady's idea of self-care is buying a diamond-studded phone case.
- Saying Too Much: While gushing about how much she enjoys working with Jagged Stone, Penny accidentally lets slip that he always pays his child support on time.
- Self-Care Epiphany: Penny comes to realize that she was letting herself get stretched too thin and resolves to take better care of herself. This also spurs a similar realization for Marinette, who tells her parents that she needs more advance notice for things like babysitting and helping in the bakery.
- Skewed Priorities:
- Once again, Bob Roth and Alec prioritize ratings and publicity over morals, having no qualms whatsoever about broadcasting the inside of Marinette's room live on air. Bob even tells Tom and Sabine outright that he refuses to stop the show.
- Scarlet Lady is in no rush to get to the akuma, taking her time admiring outfits in store windows and buying popsicles that look like her.
- Even with the fight going on, Chat Noir can't help but gush about Marinette having so many photos of him. He even asks Marigold what she thinks it all means with a blush on his face and sparkles surrounding him.
- Stealth Hi/Bye:
- Troublemaker introduces herself by popping up right behind Jagged Stone, freaking him out.
- Adrien pulls this on Marinette at school the next day, showing up right behind an open locker.
- Throw the Dog a Bone: Adrien learns that Marinette actually reciprocates his feelings (for his superhero identity, at least), though she later attempts to deny it and claims it's too dangerous to date any of the heroes while Hawk Moth is around. Additionally, the rest of the class wear various Chat Noir and cat-themed merchandise to show their support for him, and Alya reveals that he's now tied with Scarlet Lady in the popularity pools.
- The Unapologetic: When Tom and Sabine confront the film crew about invading their daughter's privacy and leaving her on the verge of tears, Bob Roth completely blows them off, refusing to acknowledge any fault and declaring his intent to keep the show going.
- Unwitting Instigator of Doom: Jagged Stone never intended to embarrass Marinette; him entering her bedroom is entirely accidental, and it's clear that he's not thinking about how he and Penny are invading Marinette's privacy as he gushes over the teenager's designs. Nor could he have foreseen that Penny would get akumatized after reaching her Rage Breaking Point due to having to deal with the fallout.
