Recap / Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends S2E12 "Bloo Done It"

"Sus-pi-ciousssss"

During the production of the new Foster's Gazette, a famous imaginary friend that's been the most frequently adopted Uncle Pockets returns to Foster's again. Uncle Pockets' charm drives all the other friend's attention to him, making Bloo jealous and he tries to expose Uncle Pockets as a fraud through the home's newspaper.

This episode provides examples of:

• All-Loving Hero: Pockets is kind to everyone, treats them like family and loves all the friends in Foster's.
• Behind a Stick: Defied: At one point, we are shown a chair that is positioned to directly resemble Bloo's shape... and we pan to the right, where Bloo is very obviously hiding behind a lamp. Bloo's recollection of this has him using an invisiblity cloak while behind the lamp.
• Comically Missing the Point: At one point, Mac gets annoyed with Bloo's obsession with assuming Uncle Pockets is operating under nefarious means and goes off on his own investigation, suggesting that Bloo should read The Boy Who Cried Wolf instead^note with the unspoken implication that Mac wants Bloo to learn a lesson in the truth. One cut later, we see that Mac probably shouldn't have bothered:
  Bloo: (is reading the story; bored) Okay, there's a boy... (flips page) he lies... (flips page) lies some more... (flips page) Again with the lying. (flips page) Finally, he tells the truth... (flips page) Nobody believes him... (skeptical) He gets eaten by a wolf. (shuts book; tosses it overhead) Well, that was a colossal waste of time! What does that have to do with anything!
• Dark Secret: While Bloo was way off the mark with his interpretation of events, Uncle Pockets was hiding something from everyone. Uncle Pockets prides himself on his reputation for professional detachment. That he can be any kid's best friend and move on once they've grown up without any concern. But the truth is he deeply loves and misses all those he became friends with and has a chest of mementos buried away in secret.
• Foreshadowing: It’s easy to miss, but when Uncle Pockets tells Frankie of his intent to have Madame Foster “rubbed out”, she’s smiling. Suffice to say, that’s not the reaction one would expect her to have if someone told her that they were planning to kill her grandmother.
• For Want Of A Nail: While Bloo was just initially distrustful of Uncle Pockets (mainly out of a minor case of jealousy), the second he tried looking in his bag, and he got extremely defensive of it, that is when Bloo began to suspect him of ill intent.
• Good Is Not Soft: Uncle Pockets is a really nice guy, but he'll do whatever it takes to keep his secret hidden. That was shown when Bloo was caught following him around, Uncle Pockets tucked Bloo into his bed so tightly, Bloo couldn't escape. He even later knocks out Bloo with a shovel (though, that was by accident).
• Her Codename Was Mary Sue: By the end of Bloo's story concerning investigating Uncle Pockets, he's decided to make himself out to be a complete badass: He busts out of chains by becoming ripped, can suddenly fly, and when confronting Uncle Pockets, the two apparently went to battle, with Bloo pulling out a giant, glowing sword. He still kept in that he got knocked out by the shovel, however, albeit reframed as being an intentional act from Uncle Pockets.
• "I Am" Song: Uncle Pockets introduces himself to the new faces upon his return with a rendition of "I'm a professional friend, imaginary."
• Insane Troll Logic: The conclusion Bloo ultimately reaches about Uncle Pockets is that he had murdered Madame Foster, take possession of the house, and force everyone into a pocket-making sweatshop. Notably, Bloo quite literally comes up with that last bit on the spot.
• Not What It Looks Like: Bloo's ultimate conclusion that Uncle Pockets had come back to murder Madame Foster and steal the deed is the result of four events he bore witness too, but lacked the context of:
  • Madame Foster aggressively confronting Uncle Pockets about his "checkered past".^note They were playing a game of checkers.
  • Mister Harriman reacting in shock over Uncle Pockets brandishing a piece of paper, claiming it was "a good deed".^note Uncle Pockets was showing Mister Harriman that he wanted to gift Madame Foster a trip to the day spa; the paper was the certificate for it.
  • Uncle Pockets telling Frankie that Madame Foster was "so old, we need to have her rubbed out", insisting it was the humane thing to do.^note He was showing Frankie a brochure for the spa, and it was opened on a section discussing massages.
  • The shadow of a knife being stabbed downward, followed by Madame Foster screaming.^note Madame Foster was opening an envelope containing the certificate, and she was screaming in joy upon seeing it.
• One-Shot Character: Uncle Pockets; although he has a handful not non-speaking cameo appearances in later episodes, this is his only plot-relevant appearance.
• O.O.C. Is Serious Business: As noted below in Pet the Dog, Duchess actually manages to give Uncle Pockets a compliment when interviewed about him. It's not much of one—"Eh, tolerable"—but considering that she actively hates anyone and everyone who isn't herself, it's a sign of just how beloved and friendly Uncle Pockets is to the whole of Foster's.
• Pet the Dog: Even Duchess can't bring herself to hate Uncle Pockets. When Bloo interviewed her in the hopes of finding someone willing to slander him, she calmly replies "Eh, tolerable." Seems small, but coming from Duchess, that's a pretty big compliment.
• Pint-Sized Powerhouse: Because Uncle Pockets had intentionally tucked Bloo in too tight into his mattress on the bunk bed, Bloo (obviously) was having trouble getting out. So, when he heard a commotion going on in the hallway, his solution was to suck in his breath, and physically bounce the bunk bed to the door, and then the window, to see what was happening.
• Questionable Casting: invoked At one point during Bloo's summary of his investigation on Uncle Pockets, he portrays Frankie as a Southern belle, much to the latter's annoyance.
  Frankie: Hold on, hold on! Why am I suddenly a Southern belle?!
  Bloo: Uh, I'm telling the story, thank you very much!
• "Rashomon"-Style:
  • Coupled with Self-Serving Memory: In his recollection of investigating Uncle Pockets, Bloo makes a point of portraying him as being a big monster figure, terrifying Madame Foster. Mister Herriman, and Frankie, who Bloo makes a Southern belle. By the time Bloo gets to him sneaking out of bed, we have gone fully Off the Rails: Bloo makes it seem he was chained up, and broke out of the chains and flew out the window, before expertly jumping down from a tree to confront Uncle Pockets.^note In reality, it took Bloo a few moments to wiggle out of the blanket, and upon unlocking the window, Eduardo got startled awake and accidentally launched Bloo into the tree, where upon he fell to the ground and was promptly knocked out by an accidental swing of the shovel.
  • Downplayed: In Mac's explanation of his own investigation, when recounting the scene where Bloo was bugging him in the filing room, Bloo is shown making an idiotic face^note eyes lidded, tongue hanging out the second he stops talking. Outside of that minor addition, the rest of the flashback is an exact recreation of the scene.
• Rhymes on a Dime: Uncle Pockets constantly speaks in rhyme.
• Right for the Wrong Reasons: Bloo got jealous and suspicious of an imaginary friend named Uncle Pockets as believed that he was hiding something. Bloo suspected Uncle Pockets' kindness was a front to hide some nefarious secret. Although Uncle Pockets turned out to be genuinely kind, Bloo was right about him hiding something, as he buried a chest filled with memorabilia of the many children who adopted him, as he couldn't let go of all the good times and move on. This made Uncle Pockets look even sweeter, much to the latter's annoyance.
• Serious Business: Factoring in what's established under Good Is Not Soft, considering the reveal that Uncle Pockets' big secret was a bag full of mementos, trying to keep Bloo trapped in his bed comes off as a touch too extreme.
• Sheep in Sheep's Clothing: Bloo suspects Uncle Pockets to be a conman trying to kill Madame Foster and get the deed to her house. Not only is he genuinely a nice guy, but all those things that made him look like a sinister person was just him trying to get Madame Foster to go on a vacation.
• Shout-Out: At one point during Bloo's story, he's shown wearing the helicopter hat.
• Tragic Keepsake: Variation: While none of the kids he left had died, the fact remains that when it came time to leave, Uncle Pockets (not really wanting to) would ask his kid for a memento so he could remember them. By the time of this episode, the bag he was using to collect them was stuffed.
• With Catlike Tread: Zig-zagged: Bloo loudly asking for help in trying to get out of bed, and openly bouncing the bed around the room, wasn't enough to wake up his roommates. The second he quietly unlocks the window? Eduardo bursts awake, screaming in fear.

---