Episode 48
- Frightningale - Tales of Clara the Pop Star
In the privacy of her bedroom, Marinette muses that while she thinks Adrien is Chat Noir, she's not absolutely certain, wondering whether she's only interested in dating him due to his alter ego. As she readily admits, it's not as though she lied about liking him—she's had feelings for him ever since he stood up for her against Chloé on the day they met! But she's still second-guessing her motivations, and Pollen proves to be of little help as she's desperately trying to follow Tikki's advice and not spill all the beans about who's who.
Adrien, meanwhile, still can't believe that he's actually dating Marigold, whom he's 95% certain is Marinette's alter ego. Plagg tries teasing him about this, only for Adrien to give his Kwami a dirty look for suggesting that the only reason he likes Marigold is due to his confidence that she's Marinette. As far as he's concerned, her being Marinette would just be a bonus.
Sadly, his good mood doesn't last as Nathalie comes knocking on his door. Clara Nightingale, an incredibly popular pop star, has come to Paris to film her latest music video, a special tribute to Marigold and Chat Noir, and Gabriel has already agreed to Adrien playing the latter, much to Adrien's dismay. Gabriel immediately shuts down his son's protests; he's been designing for Clara ever since her debut, and she's a huge fan of Adrien's. Plus, it'll serve as a nice PR boost for the stores he's just opened in Korea and China. As he admonishes Adrien about how Chat Noir is the "Hero of Paris" whom everybody adores, wondering how his son could object to having such an honor foisted upon him, Adrien notes that it sure seems like his dad wants to.
Meanwhile, Alya and the girl squad have snagged Marinette from her room and dragged her out to the public auditions for Marigold and other extras. To her surprise, they run into Master Fu, whom she hastily introduces as "Grandpa Chan," a family friend. He explains to her that he keeps up with everything related to the Miraculous, including music videos that could give away somebody's identity if they aren't careful. Fortunately, all of her friends intend to try out as "extras," though Alya notes that she's surprised Lila isn't going for the big role. Sabrina gushes over how Lila would make a fantastic Marigold, and Lila responds by complimenting her friend right back, noting that she'd make a great Marigold herself. As the rest of the girl squad teases Lila for how much she not-so-secretly loves them, Marinette notices that Kagami's also there, having gotten dragged into attending by Aurore.
Adrien, meanwhile, is putting on the (fake) Chat Noir costume... and realizes he can't wear it—he might end up getting outed as Chat Noir! He resolves to act as lame as possible in order to get replaced. However, when he sees Marinette in the crowd, he decides to have a bit of fun first, much to Plagg's chagrin. In the line outside, Marinette wonders if Adrien doesn't care about his secret identity... and soon decides he's clearly not even trying to hide it as he throws a kiss at her.
A montage of Hopeless Auditionees follows, as various people vie for the role of Marigold, only to stumble through their sets. One little girl shows up with her kitty while Sabrina's father tries out as well, to his daughter's great embarrassment. But no need to worry—Clara finds her Marigold by fake-tripping while handing out treats to everyone in line, latching onto Marinette when the teen rushes to assist the pop star. Despite her reluctance, Marinette finds herself pressured into accepting the role, not just by her friends, but by Adrien himself. While the girls praise her for ensuring they all get to be extras, Adrien muses to Plagg that her reaction only makes sense if she's Marigold—and he's banking on her figuring out how to weasel out of the role so he can follow her lead.
Chloé suddenly shows up, wearing a fake Scarlet Lady costume, dismissing everyone else... only to learn in shock that Scarlet Lady isn't going to appear in the music video. She demands to know why Clara Nightingale would make a video about the heroes of Paris and exclude the Hero of Paris.
"Finally... my time has come!"
Lila steps forward and pulls out her cellphone to recite a Continuity Cavalcade of akumas attacks where Scarlet Lady demonstrated she is a Nominal Heroine—such as those where she arrived late or left civilians in danger—before capping it by reminding people Scarlet Lady was going to let Alya drown. Chloé quickly starts arguing with Lila as Clara wonders if Lila is there to debate or just to let her hatred of Scarlet Lady loose.
Chloé tries to push her point, but everyone disagrees with her, with Alya and Kagami pointing out that Scarlet Lady is barely even necessary since Marigold and Chat Noir do all the work. When Clara agrees with them, Chloé leaves in a rage.
Marinette puts on the Marigold costume, afraid of being recognized as the heroine, but she decides to hide the mask. As she comes out, she finds Adrien, who starts to flirt with her; she answers in kind—and Clara, seeing this, decides they are a perfect fit for the roles.
Meanwhile, Chloé's up to her usual tricks. Her father doesn't want to stop the shoot, but she threatens to bring in the big guns: calling her mother and complaining about how he's letting her and Scarlet Lady be humiliated. It works, but not for the reasons she thinks: as André reflects to himself, Audrey would just be enraged that he let their daughter interrupt her while she's busy, and that would just cause Chloé to spiral.
Much to the Adrinette duo's chagrin, their costume masks are found, meaning that the shoot can go on. But the mayor then shows up, claiming that Clara never submitted a specific permit required to shoot the video. Moreover, the place where she's meant to do so will be closed for months due to renovations, so Clara now doesn't have permission to shoot anywhere in France, including Paris. However, Sabrina, angry that her former friend is once again using her connections to ruin things for everyone else, gets ready to play Chloé's game.
Sabrina quickly points out that, if all that's needed is a signature, then Clara should be able to send her request on a fax. Mayor Bourgeois then claims that the office is closed on weekends as the mayor... only for Sabrina to ask how his office managed to notice the absence of a single permit today if that was the case? Did the mayor just want an excuse to shut down the video shoot? Or, more likely, did he invent said excuse to placate Chloé? Because Clara's fans would love to learn about it.
Unfortunately, it's too late—Hawkmoth manages to akumatize the singer into Frightningale, who quickly proceeds to use her new powers on the crowd, beginning with Chloé and the mayor: if people don't sing, dance, or rhyme, they'll be frozen in no time! Chloé becomes the first victim, turning into a statue when she mocks the akuma, and others also get hit and transformed: Aurore is pulled away by Mireille after Kagami takes a hit for her, and Juleka attempts to protect Rose, only for Rose to also get hit, forcing her to start singing so she can keep moving.
Lila and Sabrina save Adrien and Marinette, respectively, from being struck by Frightningale's power, telling them to stay put while they look for everyone else. Meanwhile, Alya takes the hit for Master Fu, but, unlike the others, manages to get through by keeping up with her rhymes, telling Fu to leave while she attempts to protect other people. Fu decides it's time to bring the temporary heroes out once more and locates Marinette to tell her to use Bee Balm.
Marigold's power quickly removes the effects of Frightningale's attack, freeing Chloé (who quickly hides so she can transform into Scarlet Lady) and the girl squad, and Fu sends out the Kwami to deliver their Miraculous to Alya, Kagami, Juleka, Mylène, and Rose, who soon become their heroine selves. As Koki Marina watches Chat Noir and Marigold fight the akuma, Ryuuko, Purple Tigress, Ultimutt, and Pigella join her, and the superheroines brainstorm a way to help their leaders. When Koki Marina asks if the others have heard of Kitty Section, they respond in the affirmative.
Meanwhile, Scarlet Lady watches the fight from afar, happily letting the "sidekicks" deal with the akuma far away from her... unaware that Lila and Sabrina (passing nearby with microphones for Koki Marina's plan) are recording her inaction with annoyed expressions.
Koki Marina's plan, as it turns out, is to start an impromptu concert as a band, using improvised instruments to sing a song about the Miraculous to distract Frightningale from her fight with Chat Noir and Marigold. It works like a charm: the akuma simply can't help but gush about the band while the heroes regroup to plan for another attack.
Hawkmoth contacts Frightningale in an attempt to whip her into shape, but the akuma ignores him... only for Purple Tigress to prove the villain right by using Clout, momentarily knocking Frightningale out. The temporary heroines quickly move, planning to use Gift to hold her while they search for the akumatized object, but Scarlet Lady once more proves her uselessness by interrupting the plan and standing too close to Frightningale, who attacks her. Koki Marina saves the Ladybug heroine in the nick of time using Shellter—not that Scarlet Lady thanks her.
Chat Noir and Marigold observe things from nearby as the heroines fight Frightningale—they are holding out so far, but most of them have already used their powers, meaning that they are on a timer: the only way to win is to carry out a sneak attack. Fu then shows up with the answer (shocking the two of them): the last two Miraculous. Chat Noir and Marigold quickly decide on their wielders... and realize that there's no chance of them separating the two candidates to ensure they don't learn about the other's secret identity.
So, they don't: as Lila and Sabrina observe the fight, lamenting that what they did didn't prevent the akuma (and, in Lila's case, somewhat pushed it forward), Chat Noir and Marigold show up behind them, ready to offer the Mouse Miraculous of Multiplication (for Sabrina) and Rooster Miraculous of Pretension (for Lila). Sabrina quickly accepts while Lila wonders if Chat Noir just insulted her by calling her pretentious. Nonetheless, as both girls meet their respective Kwami, they quickly make good with them and transform.
Frightningale demands to know where Chat Noir is, only for him to reveal himself alongside the new Rooster heroine, Fenice, who uses Sublimation to give herself the ability to always speak in rhyme. This drives the akuma up the wall: an ability like that isn't fair since it doesn't come naturally. Meanwhile, Marigold and the Mouse heroine, Comousiner, get ready to implement their plan, and Comousiner uses Multitude so they can set their mouse trap for Frightningale.
The plan is a success: Fenice gets hit, but as she keeps rhyming, Frightningale decides she has better things to do than deal with the Rooster heroine and leaves to find Chat Noir and Scarlet Lady (the latter still under Koki Marina's Shellter, with Koki breathing in and out to not give in to the temptation of pummeling the crap out of the Ladybug heroine), only for the akuma to get tripped and tied up by the Comiciner, allowing the heroes to finally win.
When Clara is finally deakumatized, she's glad to meet all the heroes that helped save her from Hawkmoth. At Marigold's behest, Pigella uses Gift on the singer, giving her a new great idea for the music video.
Chat Noir pulls Fenice aside, and Lila takes off the thumb ring before returning it to Chat Noir. Before the Cat hero can take off, Lila asks Orikko if she'd be able to replace Scarlet Lady with the Rooster Miraculous's power, but the Kwami shoots it down—he cannot give a power if another Kwami already grants it since each of them is a "concept" and a "concept" cannot exist twice at once. Lila is not deterred as she tries to keep coming up with alternative ways of doing it, at least before Chat Noir cuts them off.
Meanwhile, Sabrina returns her Miraculous, remarking it was great to be a sidekick. Marigold corrects her, though: she was a hero and a partner! Mullo shows up and agrees, telling Sabrina that mice are good at cooperation, which is why his power is to "divide and conquer." Sabrina makes a joke about the power's Ironic Name, and Mullo boops her nose in response.
Adrien and Marinette then return the Miraculous to Master Fu, hiding on opposing sides of a truck in order to safeguard their identities—while both are all but certain they know who their partner is now, the Guardian isn't aware of what they know, and they intend to keep things that way. Fu remarks that he's been taking too many risks lately, much like them... in fact, if he didn't know any better, he'd think they were doing it deliberately, causing Marinette to cringe.
Watching the finished music video together, several of Marinette's friends gush about how much they love the new direction Clara took: everybody got to play a part! That said, however, Alya remarks that it's still a shame that the plans for the video changed as she thought Marinette and Adrien made really good dupes of the actual heroes. Adrien teasingly calls Marinette their "everyday Marigold," prompting her to wonder whether she should call him "mon minou." Alya just observes that they're a bit of a weird couple.
Elsewhere, Audrey is screaming at a woman for failing to find the sunglasses that she's wearing, declaring that everyone's being fired for their incompetence. A young girl joins her, claiming that she had to fire her bag packer because they were putting "last season's shoes" in her suitcase, causing Audrey to scoff that that's for the best—she doesn't want the girl embarrassing her by showing up in unsuitable attire. The girl reassures Audry: "Don't worry, Mother. I wouldn't dream of bringing shame to the name Audrey Bourgeois."
This episode has examples of the following:
- Adaptational Early Appearance: In canon, it wasn't until the Season 5 episode "Penalteam" that Sabrina became a heroine and Orikko was used. Zoé also appears in the comic episode's final scene.
- Adaptational Explanation: Here, the mayor was lying when he said Clara was missing a permit and thus couldn't shoot her video anywhere in France, hence why she was later able to film her music video anyway.
- Adaptational Heroism: Lila joins the ranks of the Miraculous Heroes when Chat Noir offers her the Rooster Miraculous.
- Adaptational Superpower Change: Sabrina gets the Mouse Miraculous instead of the Dog (which went to Mylène) to become Comousiner while Lila receives the Rooster Miraculous to become Fenice instead of getting akumatized or stealing the Butterfly.
- Amazingly Embarrassing Parents: Sabrina is mortified when she sees her father auditioning for the Marigold role.
- Armor-Piercing Question: Sabrina hits the mayor with one when she asks how his office just happened to notice the absence of a single permit when they're supposedly closed for the weekend.
- Batman Gambit: Marigold predicts Frightningale's reaction to being faced with someone unaffected by the akuma's powers and has Comousiner set up a trap to render the akuma defenseless.
- Battle Aura: Lila sprouts one when she gets ready to unleash her "The Reason Scarlet Lady Sucks" speech on Chloé.
- Bilingual Bonus: Fenice, Lila's superheroine name, is the Italian word for "Phoenix".
- Brick Joke:
- Aurore and Kagami danced together at Chloé's party in "Despair Bear." In this episode, Aurore invites Kagami to the audition, still visibly smitten with the Japanese fencer.
- Back in "The Pharaoh," Plagg dissed the bell Chat Noir wears on his neck while Adrien defended it. In this chapter, the Kwami's dislike of the bell returns, with him claiming it's tacky as Adrien acts offended.
- …But He Sounds Handsome: A variant. When Koki Marina asks the other girls if they know Kitty Section, Pigella (Rose), Purple Tigress (Juleka), and Ultimutt (Mylène) mention their love for the bass guitarist (Juleka), the vocalist and lead guitarist (Rose and Luka), and the drummer (Ivan), respectively.
- Call-Back:
- Marinette mentions how she began to fall for Adrien on the day they met.
- When ranting about why Scarlet Lady is a horrible heroine, Lila mentions several akumatizations during which the Ladybug heroine acted unprofessionally: Marinette's uncle, "Princess Fragrance," M. Haprèle, Wayhem, Max, "Timebreaker," "Troublemaker," and Mme. Tsurugi. She also reminds people that Scarlet Lady was going to let Alya drown.
- Calling Your Attacks: Koki Marina's plan hinges on this: Purple Tigress incorporates her power's name into her lyrics in order to use it against Frightningale while the akuma's guard is lowered.
- Comically Missing the Point:
- Rose thinks Adrien is just getting into character when he starts blowing kisses like Chat Noir does while dressed as the superhero for the music video shoot. The truth, of course, is that he's doing it to mess with Marinette, whom he correctly believes knows his secret identity.
- Clara Nightingale likewise makes this assumption when she sees Marinette and Adrien interacting like their superhero identities do.
- Complaining About Rescues They Don't Like: Scarlet Lady yells at Koki Marina for "stealing her moment" when the latter uses Shellter to protect the Ladybug heroine from Frightningale's attack. Koki Marina fires back with a sarcastic "And you're welcome."
- Continuity Cavalcade: Lampshaded when Lila lists off all of Scarlet Lady's numerous failures as a "hero":Lila: Point One: Scarlet Lady habitually arrives last minute to akumas, leaving Paris vulnerable. (See Marinette's uncle, "Princess Fragrance," M. Haprèle, and Wayhem.)
Chloé: Wha—?! Why do you have these prepared?!
Lila: Point Two: She constantly leaves civilians in danger, sometimes while doing something completely unrelated. (See Max, "Timebreaker," "Troublemaker," and Mme. Tsurugi).
Chloé: Grrr—!
Lila: Point Three: She was going to let Alya drown! She barely qualifies as a hero at all! Why would anyone immmortalize her in a music video?!
Chloé: H-How dare you?!
Clara: [thinking to herself] What an amazing debater! Or maybe a very passionate hater. - *Cough* Snark *Cough*: Chat Noir gives a sarcastic cough when Lila declares she and Orikko will be "the best super hero team ever!"
- Curse Cut Short: When Lila asks if she could replace Scarlet Lady with Orikko's power, Orikko says he can't grant the same powers as another Kwami, adding, "Tikki would beat my as—"
- Deadpan Snarker: When Lila asks if she has to take orders from Scarlet Lady, Chat Noir states that "Literally no one does."
- Deliberate Under-Performance: Adrien, worried that he'll jeopardize his secret identity by playing Chat Noir in the music video, initially planned on acting as lame as possible so he'd get recast. He changes his mind when he sees Marinette in the line for auditions, deciding he can have some fun first.
- Didn't Think This Through: Played With in that Adrien thinks he's avoiding this when he pressures Marinette to accept being cast as Marigold in the music video since he expects her to figure out some way of weaseling out of it, which would enable him to follow her lead. Of course, he's banking heavily on the assumption that he'll be able to replicate her actions despite having his Control Freak of a father to contend with.
- Diving Save: Lila and Sabrina manage to push Adrien and Marinette (respectively) away from Frightningale's attacks.
- Dramatic Irony:
- Master Fu subtly chides Marinette for showing up to the auditions when getting cast as Marigold could give away her secret identity, unaware that Adrien has been drafted as Chat Noir against his will - and that Chloé came in disguised as Scarlet Lady and nobody recognized her.
- Rose praises Adrien for acting so in character as Chat Noir. Clara Nightingale also comments how Marinette and Adrien are the perfect for the roles of Marigold and Chat Noir, respectively, because they interact just like the real heroes do.
- When Chloé shows up to the auditions in a perfect, non-magical replica of her uniform, somebody gripes that she doesn't even look like Scarlet Lady.
- Marinette frets to Pollen about how she's certain her costume will ensure she gets recognized as Marigold, blissfully unaware that Chloé wasn't recognized while parading around in an exact replica of her own alter ego's attire.Pollen: [visibly sweatdropping] Hm, you think so? You'd be surprised.
- Dramatically Missing the Point:
- Despite Clara Nightingale explicitly stating that the auditions are for Marigold and extras, Chloé still shows up expecting to be cast as Scarlet Lady in the music video.
- When Koki Marina protects Scarlet Lady from Frightningale's surprise attack, Scarlet Lady accuses the Turtle heroine of "stealing her moment" without acknowledging how Koki Marina just saved her butt.
- When offered the Rooster Miraculous with the power of Pretension, Lila thinks Chat Noir just called her pretentious and acts offended. She still accepts the gig, though.Caption: I-it has two meanings, Lila, I swear!
- Entertainingly Wrong: Similar to Rose, Clara Nightingale sees the costumed Adrien and Marinette interacting like the real Chat Noir and Marigold and thinks the two are just getting into character.
- Everyone Has Standards: When Lila saves Adrien from Frightningale, she tells him that she doesn't care that they don't like each other; she doesn't want anyone to get hit by an akuma.
- Failed a Spot Check:
- Scarlet Lady is so pleased that the heroes and the temps are keeping Frightningale busy that she doesn't realize Sabrina is recording her lazing about.
- Frightningale gets distracted by the temporary heroines' impromptu concert and fails to notice Chat Noir and Marigold tiptoeing away right behind her.
- In The Stinger, Audrey fires several of her employees for failing to find her sunglasses... which she's wearing... on her face.
- Foil:
- Pollen remains as supportive of her queen as ever, though she struggles to maintain Tikki's rules about keeping everyone's secret identities secret. Plagg, by contrast, has no problem teasing Adrien about the Marigold/Marinette matter, pissing off his partner in the process.
- Both Adrien and Marinette are naturally worried that dressing up as their alter egos will expose their secret identities, though Adrien is still willing to take the opportunity to tease his girlfriend. Chloé, by contrast, brazenly shows up to the audition in full costume, though not transformed.
- Lila and Sabrina each defend Clara's shoot in their own ways, undercutting and undermining the authority of Scarlet Lady and the mayor in the process. Each also winds up protecting one of the real heroes of Paris without realizing it despite having wildly different relationships with Adrien and Marinette, respectively; Lila and Adrien are far from fond of each other due to her checkered past while Sabrina has managed to befriend her former victim.
- Foreshadowing: André doesn't want to bother Audrey with Chloé's dramatics because she's busy with Gabriel's upcoming fashion show.
- Glamour: It's all but stated outright that the Miraculous emit some kind of magical protection to help obfuscate their wielder's identity, enabling Chloé to show up in a full nonmagical costume and not be instantly recognized.
- Got Volunteered:
- Gabriel makes clear that Adrien's got no choice but to play Chat Noir in Clara's new video, which Gabriel sees as a good PR boost for his latest store openings in Korea and China.
- Marinette finds herself in a similar situation once Clara latches onto her to play her Marigold.
- Heroic Sacrifice: Kagami and Juleka attempt to jump in to protect Aurore and Rose, respectively, getting petrified in the process. Unfortunately, Rose still gets hit by the akuma's power, forcing her to start singing if she wants to avoid becoming a statue as well.
- Hopeless Auditionees: Several of these naturally attempt to be chosen as the music video's Marigold, including Officer Roger.
- Hypocrite: It's painfully obvious that Gabriel wants nothing to do with anything that celebrates his adversaries, but he still forces Adrien to do as he demands and play Chat Noir in Clara Nightingale's music video.
- In Spite of a Nail: Even though Lila and Sabrina step up to call out both Chloé and the mayor for their attempts to illegally shut down Clara's video shoot, the latter still gets akumatized.
- Insane Troll Logic: Adrien's plan follows this: if Marinette is cast as Marigold but manages to get out of it, then he can follow her example!
- Ironic Name: Sabrina asks why Mullo's power "to divide and conquer" is called, "Multitude."
- It's All My Fault:
- Downplayed for Sabrina, who laments that Clara got akumatized despite Sabrina's attempts to prevent the mayor from shutting down the music video shoot.
- Lila doesn't outright state this, though she concedes that her riling up Chloé with her rant against Scarlet Lady didn't help and likely contributed to Chloé trying to prevent Clara Nightingale's music video from going forward and by extension the singer's akumatization.
- Laser-Guided Karma: Chloé, after causing yet another akumanote , becomes its first victim.
- Let's Get Dangerous!: When the mayor makes up a bureaucratic reason to prevent Clara's music video from going forward, Sabrina steps up.Sabrina: Oh, that's how you want to play, Bourgeois? Let's play.
- Loophole Abuse:
- Fenice uses her Sublimation power so she can do Rhymes on a Dime in case she gets hit, causing Frightningale to complain about Fenice getting around the rules.
- Lila later tries to see if she can somehow duplicate Scarlet Lady's powers despite the rule that Orikko can't grant a power that already belongs to another Kwami. She's interrupted by Chat Noir before she succeeds, though.
- Mathematician's Answer: When Marinette asks Pollen what she thinks about her current conundrum re: Adrien, Pollen just replies, "Life is full of surprises, My Queen!"
- Mundane Utility: Ryuuko uses her Thunder Dragon power to charge the amplifiers and microphones used by the temp heroines' girl band.
- Mythology Gag: Pollen's "advice" to Marinette is almost identical to what Tikki told Marinette in the canon episode.
- Never Filled Out Official Paperwork: Mayor André falsely claims that Clara failed to obtain a necessary permit for her shoot, and tries to shut the whole production down. While this is exposed as a blatant lie, the damage is still done.
- Nice Job Breaking It, Hero:
- Chloé/Scarlet Lady, as is her wont, ruins stuff twice: first, as Chloé, she causes the akuma by strongarming her father to make up a rule to stop the music video shoot, and then, as Scarlet Lady, she ruins the temporary heroines' plan to hold the akuma in place with Gift by blocking them and monologuing, allowing Frightningale to recover and attack.
- Lila later lampshades that she likely contributed to Clara Nightingale's akumatization when she got Chloé all worked up after going on a rant against Scarlet Lady.
- Not So Above It All: Though Adrien initially wanted to immediately get replaced so that he won't risk revealing his secret identity by playing his superhero alter ego, he decides to put it off so he can use his role to tease Marinette.
- Not-So-Innocent Whistle: Marigold and Chat Noir seem to be doing as they're sneaking away from Frightningale while the akuma is distracted by the temporary heroines' impromptu concert.
- Oblivious Guilt Slinging:
- Marinette begs Pollen for some advice on the Adrien/Chat Noir conundrum, not knowing how conflicted she's making her Kwami feels due to both Pollen's loyalty to her Queen and Tikki's insistence that the heroes' secret identities remain secrets.
- After Marinette is cast as Marigold, all her friends congratulate her and gush about how they'll all get to play extras in the music video alongside her thanks to her securing the part. They're all oblivious to how Marinette doesn't want to play Marigold.
- Pragmatic Villainy: As much as he dislikes the heroes of Paris constantly foiling his plans, Gabriel has his son participate in a music video featuring Chat Noir and Marigold because it'll be good for his business.
- Pulling the Thread: Sabrina quickly destroys the mayor's claims against Clara by pointing out that, if the office in charge of the matter closes on weekends, how could they have noticed the absence of a permit just now?
- Pushover Parents: Played With when André attempts to reason with Chloé but folds when she threatens to get her mother involved. His thoughts make it clear that he doesn't believe Audrey would actually care about their daughter's complaints, which would just upset Chloé even more.
- "The Reason You Suck" Speech: Lila finally unleashes months of hatred of Scarlet Lady by stating out loud what a horrible "hero" she is.
- Rhymes on a Dime:
- Clara speaks in rhymes even when she's not singing and even does it while thinking. Marinette wonders how she manages to do it.
- Enforced by Frightningale, Clara's akumatized form: once zapped by her, rhyming, singing, or dancing, are the only ways to avoid being turned into a statue.
- Alya mentions having taken classes on freestyle rhyming, which helps her hold off the Taken for Granite effect of Frightningale's power.
- Fenice just uses Sublimation to give herself this ability, ensuring that, if she gets hit by Frightningale, she won't suffer the same fate as the akuma's other victims.
- Right for the Wrong Reasons: Clara Nightingale proclaims Adrien and Marinette are the perfect candidates to play Chat Noir and Marigold in her music video, citing Marinette's kindness and how the two are able to mimic the superhero duo's interactions. She doesn't realize that they are the two heroes in question, though.
- Running Gag: Once again, a new Miraculous Holder gets too involved with their Kwami.
- Scary Shiny Glasses: Sabrina's glasses go completely opaque in this fashion when André starts spouting legalese to halt the music video shoot.
- Screw the Rules, I Have Connections!: Once again, Chloé expects her father to abuse his power on her behalf. However, André is much less keen about doing so this time around and only complies when she threatens to call in Audrey if he doesn't do what she demands (and even then, it's more because he fears how Chloé will react once Audrey makes it clear she doesn't care about whatever Chloé's going through).
- Screw the Rules, I Make Them!: André attempts to stop the shoot by lying that there's a permit that Clara hasn't filled out.
- Screw This, I'm Outta Here: When Fenice proves to be impossible to fight off or paralyze, Frightningale decides to leave the fight in order to find Chat Noir and Scarlet Lady.
- Secret Test of Character: Clara intentionally trips while handing out goodies to everyone waiting in line for tryouts in order to see who will rush to her aid.
- Ship Tease:
- Sabrina and Lila compliment each other at length, with Sabrina blushing as Lila praises her.
- Aurore invites Kagami to the audition and is still smitten with her. Kagami, meanwhile, states she thinks Aurore is cute.
- Shout-Out: Mayor Bourgeois claims that Clara never submitted permit A38 as stipulated by circular B65.
- Simple Solution Won't Work: Lila initially thinks that with the ability to create any new power using the Rooster, the heroes won't need Scarlet Lady anymore. Orikko sets the record straight, explaining that she can't grant a superpower that another Kwami already grants. Lila then tries to get around this by invoking Loophole Abuse and wording the description of the power a certain way, though she doesn't have much luck with that either.
- Single Tear: Rose can be seen with one in the corner of her eye as Juleka is frozen by Frightningale's power.
- Skewed Priorities:
- Frightningale gets distracted by the impromptu concert the temporary heroines put on, allowing Chat Noir and Marigold to sneak away while her back is turned.
- Played for Laughs. When Chat Noir mentions that the Rooster Miraculous has the power of Pretension, Lila asks if he's calling her pretentious.
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Spiritual Sequel: To "Party Crasher":- Both akumas have a musical theme, and their powers incapacitate their targets.
- The fight happens in the middle of a large crowd.
- Fu sends the Kwamis to the temporary heroes with the Miraculous.
- In "Party Crasher," only the guys were able to join the fight. Here, it's the girls that help the heroes.
- Two new heroes join the roster: in "Party Crasher," it was Kim (as Roi Singe) and Ivan (as Minotaurox), while here, it's Lila (as Fenice) and Sabrina (as Comousiner).
- Chloé's role in "Party Crasher" is pretty much non-existent, but she's the one who kickstarts the main plot in "Frightningale."
- In both episodes, Chloé gets easily caught by the akuma and needs to be rescued by the heroes: Viperion had to use Second Chance in "Party Crasher" when the titular akuma captured Scarlet Lady while in "Frightningale," Marigold uses Bee Balm after Chloé is turned into a statue.
- The Stinger: Audrey and Zoé Bourgeois show up at the end of the chapter, preparing to travel to Paris.
- Taken for Granite: Anyone tagged by Frightningale's strings who doesn't comply with her demands to "sing, dance, or rhyme" or maintain a suitable tempo gets turned into a hot pink metal statue.
- Taking the Bullet: Kagami shields Aurore and Mireille from Frightningale's initial assault. Juleka attempts to do the same for Rose, though unfortunately, Rose gets tagged anyway and has tears in her eyes as she shakily sings, "I Love Unicorns," to avoid being frozen herself. Alya also does this for Master Fu.
- Terrible Interviewees Montage: The people auditioning for Marigold's role aren't doing much of a good job or just don't fit in.
- This Is Gonna Suck:
- Plagg has this reaction when Adrien notices Marinette is in line for auditions and decides to capitalize on this opportunity to tease her over her secret identity.
- Chat Noir and Marigold's reaction when they realize they won't be able to split off Lila and Sabrina to give them their Miraculous separately.
- We Need a Distraction: The temporary heroines start an improptu concert to distract Frightningale from her fight, giving them an opening to knock her out while Chat Noir and Marigold regroup.
- What the Hell, Hero?: Master Fu scolds both Adrien and Marinette for almost giving away their secret identities by playing their alter egos in Clara Nightingale's music video.
- You Are Better Than You Think You Are: Lila tells Sabrina that she has the skills and beauty to act in the music video as Marigold, making Sabrina blush. Later on, when Sabrina returns the Miraculous of Multiplication and says it was great to be a sidekick, Marigold corrects her, saying she was a partner.
- Your Costume Needs Work: When Chloé arrives at the tryouts, one of the onlookers remarks "Ugh, she doesn't even look like Scarlet Lady."
