Episode 42
- The Mime - Tales of Fred the Performer
Marinette and Pollen are up on the rooftop garden. While Pollen tends the flowers with a miniature watering can, Marinette notes that there's only a little she knows for certain about Chat Noir, like how he's allergic to feathers. Thanks to glamour effects, she can't be absolutely sure that he's normally blond-haired and green-eyed (though she notes that Scarlet Lady is definitely obsessed with her hair). She can eliminate anyone who's been akumatized as potential suspects—
Alya comes banging up the stairs and bursts onto the rooftop, loudly asking just whom Marinette's talking to. Pollen ducks behind Marinette just in time while she hastily points out Jacques the pigeon, who proudly poses for Alya. Marinette remarks that she hadn't expected Alya to arrive so soon; she'd thought her best friend would come with Mylène in order to pick up their dresses together—but never mind any of that! Alya's got something to show her!
Specifically, she's got a video of Chat Noir and Marigold checking on and being thanked by people in the wake of an akuma attack while Scarlet Lady evades reporters, complaining that one of them works for a cheap magazine. Marinette doesn't quite understand its significance; for her, it's just par for the course, but Alya insists that this is vital evidence for the exposé she's planning to release.
Marinette notes that she thought Alya was working on exposing Hawk Moth, not Scarlet Lady. Alya declares that she can multitask. After all, not only does she run the Ladyblog, she also runs the school blog, a fashion blog for Marinette, a blog about Markov... in fact, she's got to duck downstairs and borrow her computer to make a post really quick.
Pollen asks to see the video, but right as Marinette swipes to restart it, a sudden breeze distracts her, and her finger slips too far, accidentally deleting it instead. Both can only stare in mute horror at the screen while Sabine calls up to them, letting Marinette know that her other guests have arrived. Mylène has shown up with her father, who'd given his hat to Marinette for some repairs. Marinette informs him that not only has she repaired it, she also added the hidden pocket he asked for. He picks it up before heading out to perform in The Extraordinary Adventures of The Mime and slips a photo of his daughter into the new pocket.
Before he leaves, however, his boss Sarah calls, demanding to know just where he is. While he tries to explain that he was picking up his hat, she shouts that she needs him here. As she hangs up, his coworker Chris asks what his latest excuse is; she relays it, complaining that while Fred's a skilled actor, he's always making excuses for various minor mishaps and misfortunes, which Chris readily provides a list of: chronic lateness, sleeping during rehearsals, and parts of his costume mysteriously going missing.
The director notes that if Fred doesn't show up, she's going to need Chris to cover for him again. Chris chuckles to himself, self-satisfied; she notes that she can still hear him.
Alya has to duck out and head home; she promised her mother that she'd finish some chores before heading out to see the show. Marinette hides her friend's phone behind her back while warning her that she hadn't closed her bag properly. Alya thanks her and heads out... and Mylène leans in behind Marinette, dragging out her name. With no choice, Marinette swiftly brings her up to speed and breaks down into tears—if she can't recover that video, Alya won't just kill her, she'll stop being her friend. And without her, everyone else will stop being friends with her as well, because none of them were that close to her before Alya arrived and made Chloé back off. As she continues catastrophizing, Mylène helps her calm down, suggesting that they go ask Alix if Max has taught her how to recover lost videos.
Meanwhile, Chris gives Fred a call, claiming that their meeting spot changed from the Eiffel Tower to the Louvre Pyramid. While Fred protests that he's almost reached the tower, Chris insists that he has to meet them there and hangs up. Alya also calls Marinette, asking if she'd left her phone there; Marinette claims it's on the kitchen counter and agrees to bring it back to her when they meet up at the show.
When Fred doesn't show up in time, Sarah makes her decision: Fred is out, and Chris is in. She then calls Fred and berates him; he tries to explain that he's at the new meeting spot, but she cuts him off, declaring that she's sick and tired of his flakiness. At least Chris is reliable—and Hawk Moth smugly predicts that today's going to be a good day as he sends out his black butterfly.
Mylène and Marinette have barely arrived at the Louvre before spotting the freshly akumatized Mime, who immediately shreds a set of banners advertising the show. Mylène calls out to her father in dismay while Marinette sneaks off to transform.
Chat Noir swiftly arrives on the scene (but not before flirting with Marigold as a civilian); as Marigold meets up with him, Mylène pleads with them to save her father, explaining how something must have happened with his acting troupe to upset him so much. The duo reassures her, and Marigold asks her to go hide in a nearby alleyway for the next ten minutes or so.
The two perch on his extending baton while discussing their strategy. Chat Noir notes that the Mime isn't the flashiest akuma around, and Scar isn't likely to show up unless there's some major disturbance. Fortunately, they can get all the help they need, and Marigold suggests that he focus on protecting the troupe bus while she picks out the perfect accessory for their friend. Chat Noir then launches himself towards said bus, much to Marigold's distress since she's still in his arms.
One pit stop later, Marigold returns to the alley and finds Mylène still waiting there, offering her the chance to help save her father. Mylène admits that the akumas have always terrified her ever since Stoneheart... but her dad's way more important than being scared! Marigold the proudly presents her with the Dog Miraculous of Adoration, introducing her to Barkk. Mylène cringes when the Kwami pops out, but Barkk insists that there's no 'fraidy cats here—both of them are big, strong guard dogs, and she'll be with her the whole time.
Chat Noir's busily fending off the Mime atop the troupe bus when Ultimutt arrives, backing him up while Marigold alerts Sarah and the rest to what's going on. Chris reacts in shock to seeing his akumatized coworker. Ultimutt them meekly apologizes when she accidentally causes the akuma to fall completely off the bus.
Though the Mime sabotaged the brakes, Chat Noir wedges his extended baton between two lampposts in order to stop it from crashing into anything or anyone. Ultimutt then challenges the akuma to a mime-off, using it as a front so that he isn't prepared when she actually throws her ball after winding up, tagging his hat with it.
Chat Noir then ensures that Scarlet Lady will show up by Cataclysming the Eiffel Tower. Spotting this from the hotel's rooftop pool, Chloé irritably calls for Tikki. As she arrives, berating the others for ruining her relaxation time, Ultimutt summons the Mime's hat to her hand through Fetch while Marigold tags him with Venom. One Miraculous Cure later, Ultimutt returns Fred's hat while Alya snaps photos, gushing over the brand-new heroine.
Chris rushes over, admitting his deception and apologizing for getting his coworker akumatized. Fred gently clasps his hands, signaling that all is forgiven, much to Alya's surprise. Meanwhile, Chat Noir suggests he and Marigold could attend the show themselves. Marigold asks if he's saying he already has tickets. Realizing that she's trying to figure out whom he is behind the mask, he declares that if she's doing what he thinks she's doing, then he's going to do the same. The race is officially on.
As Marigold, Chat Noir, and Ultimutt pound it together, Scarlet Lady asks Marigold where she got the poodle. Marigold replies, "The same place I get every hero to pick up your slack. From the distant land of None-Ya Business."
After finding a safe place to detransform, Mylène returns the Dog Miraculous to Marigold while Barkk cheers about what a good dog she made. The two exchange compliments while Marigold chuckles; she doesn't know about Mylène being a good dog, but her skills as an actress certainly helped. Confused, Mylène asks how the Bee heroine knows she's an actress; Marigold swiftly changes the subject.
While waiting for the show to begin, Mylène suggests that they should hit the water park sometime. As Marinette agrees, Alya notices Adrien and waves him over. Marinette regards him consideringly while Alya studies her with a knowing smirk on her face.
Afterwards, Marinette apologizes to Alya, explaining what happened to the video and how she tried to salvage the situation before the akuma interrupted. Alya reassures her that all her videos are automatically uploaded to her cloud; she didn't actually delete anything that couldn't be recovered. She's only upset that Marinette didn't reveal what happened sooner and worried herself sick over nothing. Sighing with relief, Marinette coyly suggests that means she might not need her surprise after all.
Said surprise turns out to be a rendezvous with Marigold, who's ready to give that interview she promised Alya so long ago. Alya gushes about how Marinette is the greatest, and kicks things off by asking about the superheroine's newly unlocked power.
This episode contains examples of:
- All for Nothing: All of Marinette's attempts to salvage Alya's video that she accidentally deleted are for naught; fortunately, it doesn't matter since Alya's phone automatically uploads her videos to the cloud just in case.
- Apologetic Attacker: Played With. Ultimutt apologizes as the Mime falls off the bus, but it appears that she was holding onto his arm until he tried to attack her, meaning it was mainly his own fault.
- Can't Get Away with Nuthin': After stealing Alya's phone, Marinette is immediately caught by Mylène.
- Color Failure: Marinette and Pollen both suffer one after Alya's video accidentally gets deleted.
- "Could Have Avoided This!" Plot: Once Marinette confesses what happened, Alya explains how all her videos are automatically uploaded to her cloud, remarking that she's only upset that she wasn't informed sooner because of how distressed Marinette was.
- Cowardly Lion: Mylène admits that akumas scare her, but she still steps up and volunteers to become a temporary hero when her father is akumatized.
- Daddy's Girl: Mylène adores her father, which is a major factor in her agreeing to become a Miraculous wielder when Fred is akumatized.
- Didn't Think This Through:
- Marinette decides to steal Alya's phone while in full view of Mylène. Unsurprisingly, she's immediately caught.
- Even though Paris has been dealing with Hawk Moth terrorizing their city for several months, Chris repeatedly sabotages Fred so that he can take his place on stage without considering how that might make his coworker vulnerable to akumatization.
- Distant Reaction Shot: When the heroes note that they'll need Scarlet Lady to defeat the akuma, Chat Noir declares he knows how to get the Ladybug heroine's attention as he prepares to do a Cataclysm. The next panel shows Chloé sunbathing on a lounge chair on the hotel rooftop before noticing the Eiffel Tower being destroyed and complaining about her relaxation time being interrupted.
- Dramatically Missing the Point: After watching Alya's video, Marinette fails to realize it shows Chat Noir and Marigold acting like the trues heroes of Paris in contrast to Nominal Hero Scarlet Lady. Granted, this has previously been explained as being due to Marinette having gotten used to Scarlet Lady's selfish antics.
- Easily Forgiven: Lampshaded; Alya's taken aback by how swiftly Fred forgives Chris for lying, sabotaging him, and getting him akumatized.
- Flirting Under Fire: When Marigold shows up to stop the Mime from attacking Adrien's car, she and Adrien look at each other and remember the other has a high chance of being the person they love...Adrien and Marigold: Hey~♥
- For Want Of A Nail: The episode's B plot wouldn't have happened if a sudden gust of wind hadn't caused Marinette to accidentally click on the delete button for the video.
- Friendless Background: Thanks to Chloé, Marinette grew up believing that none of her classmates were actually her friends since nobody ever stood up and defended her against the Rich Bitch. Mylène gets a heartbroken expression upon hearing Marinette's fears that she'll lose everyone over the accident and steps in to reassure her.
- Good Parents: Even akumatized, Fred doesn't do anything to Mylène when she confronts him, patting her head before leaving.
- I Never Said It Was Poison: Marigold tells Barkk that being a good actress gave Mylène a good sense of timing, only for Mylène to ask how the Bee heroine knows she's an actress.
- In Spite of a Nail: Even though the heroes have an alternative way of getting the Mime's hat, the Eiffel Tower is still destroyed.
- Imagine Spot: After accidentally deleting the video, Marinette immediately pictures an enlarged Alya with jagged teeth chasing after her.
- Incoming Ham: Alya bangs her way onto the roof and eagerly demands to know whom Marinette's talking to at the top of her lungs.
- Long List: Alya reminds Marinette that aside from the Ladyblog, she also runs the school blog, Marinette's fashion blog, a blog about Markov, and likely more blogs she didn't get to mention.
- My God, What Have I Done?: Chris is shocked to learn that he inadvertently got Fred akumatized. Once Fred is cured, he immediately confesses and apologizes to him.
- Plot Parallel: Marinette laments that before Alya arrived, nobody was willing to help her deal with Chloé's bullying. Mylène, one of the classmates who suffered Bystander Syndrome during that time, quietly resolves to help her with her current crisis and find a way to retrieve the video. This parallels how Mylène has been frightened of akumas ever since the Stoneheart incident but finds the resolve to stand up against her own akumatized father, underscoring her growth from the girl who was so cowed by Chloé for all those years.
- Saying Too Much: While praising Mylène, Marigold accidentally reveals that she knew the former is an actress, which doesn't go unnoticed by Mylène.
- Seamless Spontaneous Lie: When Alya barges onto the balcony as asks whom Marinette was talking to, the latter immediately point to a nearby pigeon, introducing him to Alya as Jacques. Seeing the bird apparently make a bow in response, Alya buys the lie.
- Stating the Simple Solution: As Marinette is spiraling over accidentally erasing Alya's new video for the Ladyblog, Mylène suggests that they just ask Alix if Max showed her how to recover deleted videos.
- Storm in a Teacup: Ultimately, all of Marinette's panicking and desperate attempts to figure out how to restore the lost recording amount to this, as Alya can simply retrieve the footage off of her cloud.
