Recap / Big City Greens S 1 E 11

Out of desperation to have a friend, Tilly lies to a conspiracy theorist about the gargoyles at a nearby building

"Gargoyle Gals" contains examples of:

• Alliterative Title: Gargoyle Gals.
• Book Ends: The episode starts and ends with Tilly watching Cricket go off to play with Remy.
• Conspiracy Theorist: Andromeda, the girl Tilly befriends.
• Hypocritical Humor: Andromeda asks Tilly how the latter dares to spy on her while she's spying on other kids.
• I Just Want to Have Friends: Tilly's reason to lie to Andromeda.
• Liar Revealed: When Andromeda is in danger, Tilly is forced to reveal she lied about the gargoyles just to make friends with her, leaving her disappointed.
• Surprisingly Happy Ending: At first it seems Tilly doesn't get a friend, but then she gets a letter from Andromeda apologizing for ditching her and inviting her on a new theory, revealing she won her indeed.
• Only Known by Their Nickname: Implied. Andromeda shushes herself before writing down her name for Tilly; when Tilly asks if that's her real name, she says "Yesssss" while shaking her head.

When the Greens open their vegetable stand at the Farmer's Market, Cricket tries to get a big profit by selling fake food to a supermarket, unaware of the horrible consequences that lay ahead of him.

This episode marks the first appearance of the Greens' Arch-Nemesis Chip Whistler.

"Supermarket Scandal" contains examples of:

• Alliterative Title: Supermarket Scandal.
• Armor-Piercing Question:
  Bill: Kids! Whaddya think will happen when people eat your fake food?!
  Cricket: Uh...gee Dad, I don't know. You really think ten steps ahead.
  Bill: At most, that's like two!
• Apple of Discord: In a literal case, Chip eats the 8-ball apple, which chips his tooth and turns him against the Greens for the sake of the fake food ruining his teeth. Naturally, this is exactly what Bill predicted what would happen if customers eat the fake food.
• Big "NO!": Cricket screams one at the end of, and in response to, his Imagine Spot of the customers eating the fake food.
• Cerebus Rollercoaster: Due to the introduction of Chip Whistler this episode and given his words to the Greens in the end, it's the moment the series will start to become serious on occasion, usually whenever Chip shows up.
• Create Your Own Villain: Deconstructed. Not only does the fake produce have horrible consequences for eating them, it also causes Chip Whistler to turn against the Greens, but that was of his own accord as he outright ignored Cricket's warning not to eat it.
• Didn't Think This Through: In order to make a sale, Cricket disguises some random objects as farm produce and doesn't worry about the consequences until Bill asks if he knows how the people who eat the fake food will react.
• Eat the Camera: Done by Cricket at the end of the Imagine Spot of what happens if customers ate fake produce.
• Establishing Character Moment: When the Greens (and the audience) meet Chip for the first time, he's snapping his fingers at Bill demanding his attention; in many places snapping your fingers is considered rude, and is often a sign of abuse/bullying, especially when doing that at school/at work of when in you are in a relationship. This should give you a hint about Chip's personality and how he's used to getting his way. He assumes that the Greens are putting on a humble but quirky farmer act in order to garner sympathy sales. Then, when he and Bill shake hands, he notices Bill's severed right index finger and gets noticeably disgusted. He tries to hide how grossed out he is in order to make Bill agree to sell his produce in his supermarket, but he can't stop looking at the finger and when the two stop shaking hands, he takes out a handkerchief and cleans his hand, like if he touched something that is dirty or poisonous. This should give you a hint about how vain he is and how much he values his looks.
• "Everybody Laughs" Ending: The episode ends with Cricket, Tilly and Bill laughing off Chip now that his name fits his mouth.
• Five-Second Foreshadowing: The fake produce Chip decides to taste is the 8-ball apple. Note that this could allude to the idiom "behind the 8-ball", which means "in a position that is unable to escape". Guess what happens next?
• Foreshadowing:
  • How the money Cricket gets from tricking Chip will be spent is foreshadowed twice.
    • First, when Chip tries to buy the food he needs from Bill, he makes a mention about reselling it for double the price. Cricket gets one half of the money from selling real food and the other half from selling fake food and has to spend it all to buy back the fake one.
    • Later, when Chip pays for both the real food and the fake one, he tells Cricket not to spend everything in one place unless the place is Wholesome Foods. Cricket has to spend it all at Wholesome Foods to buy back the fake one.
  • When Bill warns Cricket what would happen if the customers eat the fake food, he says "they're gonna be mad" and "our reputation will be ruined". In the end, it's Chip who does exactly that.
• Honesty Aesop: When the Greens open their food market, Cricket tries exaggerated routines to round in customers but that fails. When Bill can only fill out half of Chip Whistler's order, Cricket and Tilly make various fake produce out of household objects and make a huge deal; unfortunately, Bill reveals the horrible consequences of what happens if the customers ate the fake food, prompting them to buy it all back and lose all the money. Bill admits he enjoyed Cricket's showperson routines from before and he's free to use them as long as he's honest about it. This gives Cricket an idea on how to sell the fake produce after all.
• Idiot Ball: Cricket has no excuse to not quickly grab the fake food out of Chip's hand to stop him from eating it.
• Irony: The distraction provided by Tilly accidentally led Bill to find customers but Cricket had already sold everything real and fake by the time Bill took the customers to his stand.
• Laser-Guided Karma: Cricket buys back the fake food to keep people from finding out it's not real and it costs all the money he got from selling it and the real food.
• Meaningful Name: Upon taking a bite of a fake apple, Chip Whistler gets a chipped tooth and starts making whistle noises whenever he talks.
• Never My Fault: Chip blames the Greens for what happened when he tried to eat a fake apple but it was his own fault for ignoring Cricket's warning about it being fake.
• No Good Deed Goes Unpunished: The kids manage to sell out all the vegetables and fill the order, with fake produce spliced in-between, but they are forced to buy it all back when Bill reveals the disastrous consequences of eating the fake produce, and lose all the money because of it.
• Oh, Crap!: Cricket's reaction when Bill reveals the Bad Future of what will happen if customers eat the fake produce, followed by another when Chip decides to eat the fake produce himself and tries to stop him but to no avail.
• Or My Name Isn't...: Chip ends his declaration of revenge with "or my name isn't Chip Whistler".
• Produce Pelting: Cricket's Imagine Spot features his family receiving this treatment for the fake food trick.
• Sequel Hook: Chip's words toward the Greens after chipping his tooth with the fake produce hint this won't be the last they see of him.
• Take Our Word for It: We never actually see how much it cost to buy all the fake food.
• Tempting Fate:
  • When the Greens go to Wholesome Foods to buy back the fake food, Cricket says they can't draw attention to themselves. Chip then notices the Greens and announces them to the customers as the people who supplied all the food being sold at the place.
  • Bill warns Cricket whoever eats the fake produce will turn against them and ruin their reputation. Then Chip eats them...
• Torches and Pitchforks: Cricket's Imagine Spot features angry customers using these against his family.
• We Will Meet Again: Chip vows he will get the Greens next time for getting his tooth chipped from the fake produce, exactly what Bill worried would happen.