Ma-Ti becomes addicted to a detective novel and has trouble telling fantasy from reality. Meanwhile, the Planeteers must stop Verminous Skumm from selling tainted seafood.
This episode includes examples of the following tropes:
- 13 Is Unlucky: Skumm's base of operations is at Pier 13.
- Acquainted with Emergency Services: After the umpteenth time of someone collapsing in front of them from poisoning, Gi says she'll call the hospital; they know her by this time.
- Acquitted Too Late: Ma-Ti accuses several people, who then collapse in pain from whatever is causing the mass poisoning. It doesn't help endear his Dash Raymond interest to the others.
- "Eureka!" Moment: Ma-Ti, after several false conclusions as to who was responsible for the poisonings, manages to figure out something from all the clues he picked up from each mishap, realizing that they're all items that one gets from a seafood restaurant. He checks the matchbook for the restaurant's name and its address.
- Force Feeding: The climax has all the Planeteers save Ma-Ti (who had been left behind due to his obsession with a detective series) bound to chairs, about to be force-fed the same polluted food that had put the victims of the week in the hospital. Then Ma-Ti kicks open the door and causes the villain's lobsters to upset the plan.
- Hold Your Hippogriffs: Gaia has trouble pulling Ma-Ti out of his book.Gaia: Spirit of Earth to Ma-Ti, hello!
- Idiot Ball: Ma-Ti is the only one to spot the obvious trap that is the tip to go to a restaurant on Pier 13 at midnight, and is thus able to save the others, who were definitely carrying the Idiot Ball at that point (and also when they talked to a mime who was obviously Verminous Skumm and didn't figure it out).
- I'm a Doctor, Not a Placeholder: While Captain Planet shows up to help, he comments that he's a superhero, not a detective, and wouldn't be much good trying to get to the bottom of the case.
- Indulgent Fantasy Segue: The episode opens with Ma-Ti as a noir detective asking a female client into his office. It turns out to be Gaia arriving with another case. Ma-Ti is a little slow to break out of the fantasy, leading him to introduce himself as "Dash Raymond" and call Gaia "doll" without thinking.
- Malaproper: Because detective slang is a little weird and Ma-Ti is from a different country, he mixes up several terms, such as "barbeque" for "grill [suspects]" and "lollipop" for "sucker".
- Mystery Episode: The episode has the Planeteers go to San Francisco to find out why several locals came down with several forms of food poisoning at once. Overlaps with Noir Episode because Ma-Ti is reading a pulp detective novel and imagining himself as a detective working the case. The culprit? The locals ate at a seafood restaurant run by Verminous Skumm who has been deliberately harvesting the fish from heavily polluted waters.
- Noir Episode: Ma-Ti becomes interested in reading 1940s detective novels and imagines himself and his colleagues in sequences in shades of gray.
- People Fall Off Chairs: When Gaia comes to fetch Ma-Ti for a new mission, he's so lost in his book that she has to wave a hand in front of him to get his attention. He yelps and falls off his chair.
- Repeated Cue, Tardy Response: Ma-Ti is absorbed in a detective novel when a new case arrives. When the villain traps the Planeteers on a runaway streetcar, Kwame decides they need Captain Planet. All of them combine their powers... except for Ma-Ti, who's been taking advantage of the ride to read again. By the time he's brought back to reality, it's a little late and Gi and Wheeler decide to handle the problem themselves with some impromptu rail-bending. This leads to a wild ride when the streetcar gets routed down Lombard Street.
