Recap / Amphibia S1-E38 "Anne of the Year"

When Anne throws a party, it's always LIT... literally and figuratively.

Anne wins the prestigious "Frog of the Year" award and gets to plan her own party, but the frogs of Wartwood may not be ready for a human-style bash.

Full Recap

The gang attend the yearly Frog of the Year ceremony at Wartwood, which Anne was unaware of because she was listening to music when the voting was happening. Mayor Toadstool announces the winner and is surprised to find that it's Anne. As she happily accepts the award to the approval of the townspeople, Toadstool criticizes Anne being the winner by claiming that she is not selfless. Anne challenges him by proclaiming that she will throw a party that is bigger than any other party that Wartwood has ever thrown as it's a tradition that the frog of the year throws a party for the citizens of Wartwood as is explained by Toadie. Back at home, Anne makes her plans for the party. She sets Hop Pop to be the comedian and make jokes on the front stage, Polly to be in charge of exclusivity by allowing people into the party and Sprig with finally expressing his love to Ivy in order to make the party feel complete.

Anne has everyone get to work with Loggle designing a statue and Stumpy catering. Polly begins using the party rope as a nunchaku, Hop Pop is having trouble with his written jokes and Sprig is nervous about talking to Ivy. When Toadstool proclaims that her party will be a disaster, Anne becomes frustrated and doubles down on everything telling Hop Pop to use improv and create jokes on the spot, Loggle to redesign the statue, Stumpy to create sashimi (which he abides with a live mudskipper) and soon starts to become a control freak in order to get things finished on time. The party finally starts with everything appearing in order, though Sprig still cannot talk to Ivy without freezing up. Eventually things get out of hand with Hop Pop giving up as his improv jokes weren't appreciated and the mudskipper getting loose and starting a fire, breaking decorations and the giant statue causing everyone to flee in terror. Anne watches as her party is ruined and takes it upon herself to save the citizens, using her ribbon to control the mudskipper and recruiting Mayor Toadstool and grabbing the citizens. Anne asks Toadstool to grab the chocolate fountain and they spray the fire using the fountain's hose, saving the town.

Afterwards, Anne apologizes for everything. Hop Pop says that they voted for Anne not because she is flawless, but because she has grown as a person in Wartwood. Toadstool admits that he too is impressed. Everyone returns to the party and play it out traditionally, scavenging what they could remain of the party, with Ivy going up to Sprig and confessing to him about wanting to go out with him. He happily accepts and they go to dance. Anne watches them go and Toadie approaches Anne and tells her that "a friend" is waiting outside of town for her. She leaves the party and approaches the bridge where a mysterious hooded figure awaits her. The figure takes off her hood to reveal her to be Sasha, one of Anne's best friends who was transported alongside her to Amphibia. The two scream in delight and hug as Anne claims she thought she would never see her again. Sasha is overjoyed as well and tells Anne that she also brought along a few 'friends' of hers. Captain Grime and his toad army emerge from the darkness, with Grime greeting "Nice to finally meet you, Anne Boonchuy."

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This episode has examples of:

• Bait the Dog: Anne is relieved and happy to see Sasha, who genuinely hugs and greets her...and then reveals she brought the toad overlord who has a personal interest in Anne.
• Bifauxnen: As shown in the image above, Anne dresses for her party in a dapper white tuxedo with a Classy Cane (not pictured) and her hair done in a more masculine style.
• Broken Aesop: One of the lessons Anne learns is not to force someone (Sprig) to confess their feelings to a person (Ivy) they like. They should do that when they're ready. Then Ivy comes in to ask Sprig out immediately afterwards.
• Culture Clash: The frogs who attend the ceremony are understandably confused by the excessive lighting and techno music that they don't know how to partake in the festivities.
• Disaster Dominoes: The giant mudskipper knocks over the statue of Anne, causing a chain of events that sets the place on fire.
• Drunk with Power: Polly lampshades this when Anne makes her the bouncer of the party and grants her authority over who is welcome or not.
  Polly: "I can't wait to abuse this power!"
• Five-Second Foreshadowing: Once Anne and Sasha are reunited at the bridge, Sasha is shown wearing armor instead of her school uniform. After they hug, Sasha reveals she brought the entire toad army to Wartwood.
• Flat "What": This is Sprig's reaction to Anne suggesting he add spectacle to the party by confessing his feelings for Ivy.
• Headphones Equal Isolation: If not for the headphones Anne was wearing in the flashback from when the Plantars were leaving home to vote, she would've known about the Frog of the Year award one week before the episode's beginning.
• Improvised Weapon: Polly, in her newfound position as Bouncer, flails the rope barrier like a nunchuck.
• Jerkass Has a Point: At the start of the episode, Mayor Toadstool objects to Anne being elected Frog of the Year, not because she isn't a frog, but because she's not exactly selfless. Even when you put aside some of Anne’s Jerkass moments she has at times, it's hard to disagree.
• Living MacGuffin: It's revealed Grime was as interested in finding Anne as Sasha was.
• Love Confession: Anne tries to invoke this trope by having Sprig confess his crush for Ivy as the spectacle of her party. She decides to avert this afterwards saying that Sprig can confess when he feels ready. However, this trope is played straight when Ivy confesses her feelings for Sprig and the boy is all too willing to reciprocate them.
• Mood Whiplash: The last 2 minutes of this episode. Anne finally gets to enjoy a calmer party, and then happily reunites with Sasha. Then Sasha reveals she brought the whole toad army and Captain Grime, for an unknown purpose.
• Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: Anne laments that she doesn't deserve the award or the party since it all went wrong. Mayor Toadstool swallows his pride and admits that she still stepped up to save everyone and relied on him though he's been at odds with her and her family, subverting the trope.
• Oh, Crap!: Anne has this reaction when Sasha says "we" but mentions that she couldn't find Marcy, and reveals Grime's army.
• Pop-Cultural Osmosis Failure: Anne proclaims that her party will be so big it will "blow everyone's minds". Nobody in the crowd understood the expression, so she had to clear up that "that's a good thing".
  Frog in the crowd: I don't want my mind blown.
• Reactive Continuous Scream: Anne and Sasha when they reunite. It's more of the happy kind than the normal frightened kind the trope embodies.
• Red Eyes, Take Warning: Grime's minions all have red eyes which highlight their ominous presence.
• Relationship Upgrade: After Anne apologizes to Sprig for forcing him to confess his love to Ivy, she shows up and hesitantly confesses her love for Sprig, and asks if he wants to go out with her; he happily accepts, and they become a couple the true way.
• Running Gag: This is the third time that features Anne dabbing; this time she has her statue take on this pose.
• She Cleans Up Nicely: Anne pulls out a tuxedo from nowhere and styles her hair back. She reverts back to her regular clothes at the smaller party.
• Shout-Out: At the start of the party, Anne is holding a martini glass while wearing a white tuxedo right before fireworks go off. This is likely an allusion to The Great Gatsby.
• Took a Level in Kindness: Mayor Toadstool finally gets some redeeming moments. He teams up with Anne to save everyone, finally admits that Anne is deserving of the award thus averting his Ungrateful Bastard status, and manages to salvage a new party in the end with no ulterior motive in mind.
• Visual Pun: When Anne decides to revamp her party to make it bigger and better, she declares that the party needs to be lit. Afterwards, when the party goes out of control and a fire breaks out, Leopold happily tells Anne that the party is officially lit.
• Wham Episode: At the end of the episode, Anne is finally reunited with Sasha, but unfortunately, she brought Grime and his army with her.
• Wham Line:
  Grime: Nice to finally meet you... Anne Boonchuy.
  • And earlier:
    Sasha: For now, I'm just glad I found you. We came as soon as we heard.
• Yank the Dog's Chain: Mayor Toadstool finally likes Anne and helps throw her a party that's smaller and simpler, but also safer for everyone. Ivy also admits that she likes Sprig, which he was wanting to confess for a while. Anne feels better about everything going up in flames, and then finds out one of her human friends is in Amphibia. They hug it out, only for Sasha to reveal she brought an army, with Captain Grime being interested in finding Anne.

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