"If something odd happens like your dog is doubled or your spouse is shrunk, not to worry. Simply call your friendly local Odd Squad precinct and those kids will fix you right up. But what happens when oddness doesn't stay put? Like a globe-trotting creature or a villain causing oddness across multiple towns? In that case, you call the Odd Squad Mobile Unit."
— Official synopsis for the show
Odd Squad: Mobile Unit is a Spin-Off of Odd Squad, which premiered on February 17, 2020 on numerous networks, including PBS Kids note and TVO Kids. It is created by Tim McKeon and Adam Peltzman, with Mark De Angelis as the showrunner, and is produced through a joint venture with Sinking Ship Entertainment and Fred Rogers Productions.
Set after Season 2 of the original series, it focuses on a group of Odd Squad agents who come together and eventually form the Mobile Unit department, traveling all across the world to solve odd cases, beat back villains, and help out other Odd Squad agents along the way.
These agents include:
- Agent Opal, a 10-year-old Odd Squad agent who works in the desolate and empty Arctic where nothing odd occurs and craves adventure to the point of wanting to get reassigned to another precinct entirely. The de facto leader of the Odd Squad Mobile Unit, she bears a strong competitive streak and refuses to back down from a challenge.
- Agent Omar, Opal's partner who also works in the Arctic. He's not exactly the brightest agent of the organization, but his optimism and passion for collecting souvenirs is unrivaled and he tends to serve as the Odd Squad Mobile Unit's mediator when conflict arises.
- Agent Oswald, the head of the Odd Squad Museum of Natural Odd in New York City who joins up with Opal and Omar on their quest to find an Ancient Artifact. A Cowardly Lion who would prefer to stay out of the action rather than throw himself into the fire, he is the brains of the group who tends to serve as a voice of reason at times.
- Agent Orla, an Odd Squad Protector who has guarded an Ancient Artifact for centuries within an Odd Squad Headquarters situated deep in the Amazon rainforest. Following her induction into the Odd Squad Mobile Unit, she is a Fish out of Temporal Water who is confused about the modernities around her and would rather solve things head-on rather than take the time to think things through.
- Esmerelda Kim, a girl who wants to join Opal and co. on their adventures but is often too busy with other responsibilities to do so. Midway through Season 3, she becomes Opal's replacement under her real name of Osmerelda Kim.
- Orpita, later known by her title of Little O. A student at the Odd Squad Academy who was originally laid-back and dangerously carefree before going through Character Development as the Number Two of Odd Squad, becoming more focused and coolheaded in a wide variety of tense situations.
This series is notable for the departure of Millie Davis, marking the final Odd Squad main cast member to leave the franchise after a Wolverine Publicity stint with PBS Kids and TVO Kids that lasted for six years. She was replaced by Shazdeh Kapadia, who plays Orpita, known by her title of "Little O" in the second half.
While the show, and by extension both the main show and the franchise, was thought to have ended in July of 2022 following the premiere of "Odd Together Now", another Spin-Off, Odd Squad UK, was announced to be in the works, which will release in 2024.
Tropes:
- Adminisphere: The Arctic Odd Squad Headquarters where Opal and Omar work is quite isolated and desolate. Cases are a rarity, meaning that they don't go out onto the field as often as most agents do. Opal's motive in particular is to get out of the Arctic and get transferred to a new Headquarters.
- All There in the Script:
- The tube operator Arctic Mr. O talks to in "Odd Beginnings: Part 1" isn't named in the episode, but the credits list her as "O'Dowd".
- "Raising the Bar" provides an inversion — the Chief of Graph is listed in the credits as just that, but the episode itself gives her the name of "O'Wow".
- The members of the Shadow League in "Odd Squad in the Shadows" aren't given names in the episode proper, outside of Odin, the League's leader. The credits, however, list their names as "Oskie", "Odiana" and "Odette".
- In "Ahead of the Times", the credits provide names for a few characters — "Newsie Norman" note , "Rhoda Block" note , and "King Pin Mike" note .
- "Off the Clock" provides another inversion in the form of Oliyah, who gives her real name to the Mobile Unit in the episode but is listed in the credits as "Apprentice". The episode also provides a straight example with "Wanda the Wizardess", who is not named in the episode but is named in the credits.
- Ancient Artifact:
- The 44-Leaf Clover, guarded by Orla, is eleven times luckier than a typical four-leaf clover, and can grant people magical powers. It was originally thought to be fantastical, but Opal and Omar set out to find it after receiving a map detailing its location and eventually come to find it's real.
- The Golden Sundial, guarded by Olando, has the ability to create time portals, which can allow things to come into the present day from the past. It also allows time-travel. Destroying it will result in a timetastrophe that might have disastrous effects on the universe.
- Arc Villain: The Shadow, an Enfant Terrible who has an inexplicable grudge against Opal and seeks to take her and her teammates down through any means necessary.
- Art Evolution:
- Compared to Season 1 and Season 2 of Odd Squad, the animation of agents riding in the tubes is much different. Whether it's a good upgrade or not, though, depends on mileage. The effects used when agents exit the tubes are also upgraded so it's no longer just a bright flash of light.
- Graphics for numbers (which are in an Agency FB font) and blueprints, among other things, are also upgraded.
- Babysitting Episode: "It's Not Easy Being Chill", which focuses on Omar helping a young agent-in-training named Orpita with her class assignment while trying to get her to understand responsibility.
- Birthday Episode:
- "Orla's Birthday" for Orla, who turns 500 and has a party kept from her by her teammates as they attempt to set it up.
- "Party Crashers" for Oswald, who turns a Vague Age (likely 11) and is forced to deal with three Party Crasher impostors as Omar, Orla and Osmerelda gradually weed them out to find the real Oswald.
- Breaking Old Trends:
- Odd Squad Mobile Unit deviates from the norm of focusing on two Investigation agents, an Odd Squad Director, and a Scientist, instead focusing on four agents who are collectively known as the Odd Squad Mobile Unit along with Oprah, who is the Big O. The second half of the season switches things up and replaces Opal with Osmerelda Kim and Oprah with Orpita, who is the Little O.
- Beginning with "Portalandia", Cold Opens are not shown at the beginning of episodes. Instead, episodes open up with the van either flying through the air or at some unique location.
- Beginning with "Running on Empty", the Mobile Unit is split into alternating pairs for episodes with Two Lines, No Waiting.
- Character Focus: Downplayed. While many episodes do have some or all of the Main 4 agents in some capacity, a majority of them in this season tend to focus on one or two specific characters, and while some episodes make it clear off the bat whom it's about, others are more subtle. In this case, the episode focuses on Orla as her Leeroy Jenkins mannerisms overshadow her common sense and send her teammates to Another Dimension.
- Cool Car: The Mobile Unit's van, which is not only Bigger on the Inside but can also fly and is self-driving.
- Episode Title Card: Instead of the tan-colored manila folders that Odd Squad had, Odd Squad Mobile Unit has blue-green-colored folders on the Big O's desk that show episode titles instead. Oprah handles narration duties for them in the first half of the season, while Orpita handles them beginning in "Box Trot" once Oprah leaves the show.
- Evolving Credits: The credits change a total of three times over the course of the series.
- Fictional Social Network: Oddstagram, a parody of Instagram that is used by both the heroes and the villains.
- Fish out of Temporal Water: Orla is an agent from ancient times who is placed in a modern setting. As a result, she calls things by more ancient terms (cars being "metal chariots", for example) and is unfamiliar with modern amenities.
- Jokers Love Junk Food: Cheerful Omar is often seen eating quite a bit of junk food. "It's Not Easy Being Chill" has him and Orpita building a large tower of nachos, and "Raising the Bar" shows him and Oswald downing numerous pies in one sitting.
- Museum of the Strange and Unusual: The Odd Squad Museum of Natural Odd in New York City is home to a host of artifacts and other relics from the organization's history. Originally run by Oswald, it's handed off to Ortho once Oswald joins the Mobile Unit.
- No Clear Leader: The episode "Odd Squad in the Shadows" revolves around the Mobile Unit unable to determine who the leader of the group is after North Carolina Ms. O asks who the leader is. What follows is each member taking turns being the leader and attempting to fix things in time for the North Carolina precinct's golf tournament. Eventually, Mr. Sides tells the group that no one is the leader and they're all equal in rank. This is all despite the fact that Opal is, in fact, the de facto leader of the Mobile Unit, as she was the one to round the main cast up and is shown taking charge more often than anyone else.
- Odd Reaction Out: In "O for a Day", Orpita shows the Mobile Unit a video of Seattle Mr. O turning into a hideous creature. Oswald, Omar and Osmerelda all react with fright. Orla, on the other hand, gives a heartfelt "awww!" before she looks around and changes her reaction to fit everyone else's.
- Older Than They Look: Orla is 400 years old (later 500, after her Birthday Episode) but has the physical appearance, stamina, and overall health of a 12-year-old.
- Put on a Bus:
- At the end of "End of the Road", Opal leaves the Mobile Unit to repair the damage caused by her sister. She isn't seen again for the rest of the series.
- Though she doesn't resign from her position, Oprah leaves the show in "Odd Off The Press", heading to space to assist agents there. Like Opal, she isn't seen again for the rest of the series.
- Running Gag: Osmerelda Kim serves as one for the first half of the season. Then going by "Esmerelda Kim", her schtick was wanting to join the Mobile Unit on adventures but being unable to do so due to other commitments. In "Odd Off The Press", she gets Running Gagged and becomes an official member of the Mobile Unit as a Sixth Ranger of sorts.
- Series Fauxnale: "Odd Together Now" was originally thought to be the Grand Finale, and like the finales of Odd Squad it was framed as such. However, with the advent of Odd Squad UK, the episode has shifted into being a season finale instead.
- What Happened to the Mouse?: "Odd Beginnings" has Opal state that the 44-Leaf Clover grants magical powers. However, when she, Omar, Orla and Oswald come across it, they don't get any powers whatsoever and instead spend the season as Badass Normals.
- World Tour: This series has agents traveling the world in a flying van as opposed to working out of one town.
