Original air date: 11/13/2021
Production code: 108b
Molly tries to prevent Libby from embarrassing herself in the school talent show without ruining her friend's newfound confidence.
Tropes:
- A Day in the Limelight: While Molly and Scratch are still the focus, this episode revolves largely around Libby.
- An Aesop: If someone is untalented at something (or just unready for it), it's better to be truthful and let them down gently, rather than enable them and get them into a predicament where they embarrass or endanger themselves.
- All Part of the Show: When Libby decided to perform a spoken-word slam poetry (and succeeded), Scratch tried to ruin it (and, as a result, Molly, in turn, tried to stop him). Because Scratch is Invisible to Normals, the audience (and judges) thought that Molly's struggles is a part of Libby's show number.
- Bait-and-Switch: Molly thinks that she can invoke That Syncing Feeling trope by autotuning Libby's voice, and you expect this plot to play out. But Libby's singing is so bad that it's destroyed the phone and Molly's back at square one.
- Brutal Honesty: Scratch repeatedly invokes it by name, saying that sooner or later the truth's going to have to come out, either through Molly or on stage. Subverted in that, although Molly blurts out that Libby is a terrible singer, she's not bothered by that and knows it's true — she's anxious and upset because Molly couldn't admit it until right before she was due to perform.
- Chekhov's Skill: Libby's mom mentions that as much as she and Libby love Slam Poetry Saturday at the bookstore, she had to cancel it so she couldn't miss the talent show. After Molly confesses how she really feels about Libby's singing, Libby manages to salvage her act by doing a spoken-word slam poetry version of the song she was going to perform.
- Distant Reaction Shot: While Libby is singing horribly for Molly, her pet turtle hides in its shell, a squirrel covers its ears with acorns, and three birds hatch from their eggs but duck back inside.
- Dreadful Musician: Libby tries singing for the talent show, but she's not very good at it.
- Epic Fail: Libby's singing is so bad that when Molly tries to fix it with autotune, it overloads the program and causes Molly's phone to display "HELP ME" before going up in flames.
- Exact Words: When Molly tries to assure Libby that she liked her singing, Molly says "I've never heard anything like it!" Scratch quips "Yeah, that's true."
- For Want Of A Nail: If Libby hadn't been looking back at Molly when signing up, she would have put her name under the tech list like intended rather than as a performer, and the entire episode's events would have been avoided.
- Good Angel, Bad Angel: Scratch appears as both shoulder devil and angel for Molly, both encouraging her to give up.
- Hollywood Tone-Deaf: Libby actually isn't terrible; she has bad intonation and pronunciation, but that's something a few vocal lessons could fix. Molly treats it as the worst singing that she's heard, and her phone refuses to fix it.
- Human Mail: Molly puts Libby in a box and throws it in a mail truck in a last-ditch effort to stop her from performing. Unfortunately, Scratch delivers the package back to Molly.
- Immediate Self-Contradiction: When Scratch talks to Molly at the end, she says that she will always tell Libby the truth no matter what kind of truth or how harsh it might be. Then Libby asks Molly who's she's talking to and Molly nervously pushes Scratch away to hide him and says "Nobody!".
- Jerkass Has a Point: While he's mostly in it for the schadenfreude, Scratch has a point in that Molly refusing to be honest with how she feels about Libby's singing is just going to cause trouble.
- Morton's Fork: Scratch sums up Molly's dilemma by saying she either lets Libby embarrass herself in the talent show with her dreadful singing, or she tells Libby how bad it is and crushes Libby's spirit.
- Pass the Popcorn: Scratch is gleeful about Molly's dilemma, saying either way the fireworks are fun. He gets annoyed when Libby is able to save her act and tries to ruin it.
- Sequel Hook: Molly promises to be honest to Libby from now on, only to hide Scratch when she asks who she's talking to.
- Shout-Out:
- Scratch wears a half-mask when noting that Libby can be brutally honest.
- "Obstruction" is a pastiche of "Sabotage" by the Beastie Boys.
- Talent Contest: The plot involves Libby accidentally entering the Brighton Middle School talent show when she meant to sign up for stage crew.
- That Syncing Feeling: Subverted. Molly thinks that she can invoke this trope by autotuning Libby's voice, and you expect this plot to play out. Her phone explodes when hearing audio of it, leaving Molly back at square one.
- Throw the Dog a Bone: After getting injured in most appearances, this episode goes very well for Libby, with her getting a standing ovation for her salvaged slam poetry act.
