Jason and Michelle have finished their second game of Squid-Tac-Toad. Jason is about to use his Squid-Hopper to knock one of Michelle's Yellow-Capped Whopper Dingies down when Grandmum interrupts in order to let them know where she got that game from. It turns out that the twins are tied at two games, with only one game left until the champion is declared. Grandmum puts in her two cents by commenting that although they're both good players, Michelle has the upper hand because she's a girl, and girls have dainty fingers that can spin the spinners well.
And Jason and Michelle's third game is on! Highlights include Jason placing his Red-Naped Ib onto D-3, using the Squid-Hopper, and Michelle using the Toad-Roller. As their game is concluding, only one winning space remains. By the time Jason's and Michelle's spinners finish spinning, one of Michelle's spinners lands on the Red-Naped Ib. Thinking quickly, Michelle greets "Pidgel". Jason gets momentarily distracted, and Michelle uses this opportunity to switch the arrow from the Red-Naped Ib to the Yellow-Capped Whopper Dingie. Jason turns back to Michelle, who declares victory over the game. Jason takes his loss well enough and congratulates Michelle on her win as he walks upstairs.
Michelle takes off her glasses and looks at the penguins in their ship. She denies that what she did was cheating. Grandmum arrives to assure her that she knows better than to cheat at a game. She quotes a Bible verse all about how cheating is bad, but playing by the rules is good. Michelle is confused, so Grandmum uses an analogy involving someone altering the scales to say that she's got ten pounds of socks when she's only got five, thus, she has to pay double the price; that means cheating is like stealing. Michelle still doesn't understand, so Grandmum tells her that it's the same when playing a game, if she cheats, she steals someone's chance at winning fair and square. If she cheats, everyone loses, but if she plays by the rules, everyone wins.
When Grandmum leaves the room, Michelle insists to herself that she only bent the rules a little. She used the Squid-Hopper to knock a Yellow-Capped Whopper Dingie aside, but it winds up hitting the Rockhopper model. Instead of hitting the ground, it flies up to Michelle and Zidgel requests her help. Michelle calls for Jason, but Zidgel says that it's her help that's needed this time around. Fidgel brings Michelle aboard by using the galeezel. Turns out, Michelle wasn't wearing her glasses at the time. Despite Michelle saying otherwise, Fidgel brings them aboard. The ship then flies off into the depths of outer space.
Zidgel is about to begin the introductions to Michelle when she tries to guess who's who, but winds up failing. The distress call of the day comes from the king of the bandicoots of the Colossal Aussie Colosseum. The tournament of one of their traditional games has been suspended thanks to a protest. Their mission is to head there and sort it out as ombudsmen, er, ombudspenguins, as Kevin and his little fourth-wall-breaking marker would put it. They arrive at Bullamanka, which is down under, and prepare for landing. Midgel's first try at using untested landing gear, a pair of tennis shoes, goes about as well as you'd expect, culminating with the ship crashing into the stadium. Despite this, the rest of the crew compliment his skills.
When Michelle and the Rockhopper crew enter the Colosseum, the Lizard King gets annoyed at them interrupting the tournament. Turns out, the Bandicoot King has been imprisoned in one of the game's cages. According to the Lizard King, it's because he won the last game. This makes him the new champion, and this gives him the right to drop all the loser's pieces down the gurgler. However, the Bandicoot King tells a different story. According to him, he was the one who was winning, but the Lizard King cheated and put him in the cage. Whatever the case may be, since there's no opponent right now, the Lizard King automatically wins. Michelle doesn't think that little rule makes sense, so she calls for a huddle. In it, she recognizes the game as a LARP version of Squid-Tac-Toad, a game she's played before, and is the champion of it. Also, she's got the upper hand because of her girl fingers. The Lizard King can't help butting into their little huddle when he hears that Michelle is the champion.
He admires Michelle for her champion status and her fame as a result of her status across the galaxy.He claims to have studied her tactics, and is impressed, but not intimidated since he too is a champion. He challenges her to a game with these terms and conditions: if she wins, everyone who's been imprisoned in the cage goes free, if he wins, they have to go down the gurgler, never to be seen again. Upon hearing this, Michelle calls for another huddle.
In their second huddle, they decide that Michelle should play so that the Bandicoot King will be saved from going down the gurgler. Michelle prepares for the tournament, but it turns out that three of her game pieces wound up imprisoned with the Bandicoot King. Declaring himself the winner again, the Lizard King prepares to send them down the gurgler. Michelle decides to find her own pieces, and uses Zidgel, Midgel, and Fidgel to be the replacement Red-Naped Ibs. When the Squid-Hopper is revealed to have been broken, Kevin becomes its replacement.
The game has begun! Highlights include, but not limited to, Fidgel and Midgel being sent to their respective spaces and getting knocked off of them by the Toad Roller, Kevin's failed attempt to knock off a Yellow-Capped Whopper Dingy off its space with a small ball, and Kevin knocking away three Yellow-Capped Whopper Dingies by accident.
As the game draws to a close, the Lizard King distracts Michelle by having one of his koala minions blow a didgeridoo into her ear. His other koala minion throws a boomerang at the spinner, changing it from the Squid-Hopper to the Toad-Roller. So, he uses the Toad-Roller to knock Zidgel off of the winning square and place his own piece. He declares himself the victor and prepares to send the loser's pieces down the gurgler. Thinking fast, Michelle uses Kevin to stop this. The Lizard King prepares a countermove involving the Toad-Roller. Michelle repeats what Grandmum told her regarding cheating to the Lizard King. After hearing this one speech, he has a change of heart and apologizes to the Bandicoot King, who offers a rematch.
In outer space, Zidgel recaps their little mission. He then notices Michelle's not looking too good and asks why? Michelle admits that she cheated to win, but it only made her feel worse. This reminds Zidgel of a saying regarding cheating back at the Academy, which goes...well, it has the word "cheating" in it.
Whatever that saying might be, back at the cottage, Michelle reveals to Jason that she had an adventure of her own with the penguins. Later that night, they say their prayers. Michelle eventually admits what she did. Jason forgives her and offers a rematch after breakfast.
The Cheating Tropes of Bullamanka:
- Call-Back: This episode features many call backs to Trouble on Planet Wait your Turn. One of them is Midgel trying out the new landing gear after hearing Jason's advice and echoing his statement, "No job's too hard when you use your head."
- This one in particular gets Lampshaded:Michelle: Jason was right! You guys are real!
Midgel: Either that or you're daydreaming.
Kevin: Whoa! Deja vu!
(guitar riff from The Twilight Zone (1959) plays)
- This one in particular gets Lampshaded:
- Creepy Long Fingers: The Lizard King reveals his to Michelle to show her that he has a good chance of winning the game of Squid-Tac-Toad.
- Duel to the Death: The large version of Squid-Tac-Toad is heavily implied to be this, with the whole losers going down the gurgler and all.
- Easily Forgiven: The Bandicoot King forgives the Lizard King even though he cheated in a game that's implied only one player survives.
- Fictional Sport: Squid-Tac-Toad, if LARPs of fictional board games count as a sport.
- Heel–Face Turn: The Lizard King reforms after hearing Michelle's speech on playing by the rules.
- Worthy Opponent: The Lizard King considers Michelle to be a formidable opponent when they play Squid-Tac-Toad.
