Mr. Herriman punishes the imaginary friends by sending them to their rooms without dinner, when he is really trying to hide carrot addiction. This causes a chain of events, such as Madame Foster teaches Frankie how to make a disgusting gruel she calls "It", Bloo attempting get himself in trouble on purpose to sent to his room with dinner to avoid eating "It", and Wilt trying to punish himself for breaking Mr. Herriman's ridiculous made up rules.
Tropes:
- All for Nothing: Bloo’s attempts to get in trouble so he won’t have to eat "It" were all in vain as Bloo not only fails to get sent to his room without dinner, he ends up being the only one who wasn’t sent to his room.
- Bait-and-Switch:
- Just as it seems Mac has come up with something that might get Bloo into trouble, the scene shifts to reveal the bad thing Mac wanted to do was just jumping on the bed which Bloo had done earlier in the episode.
- At Dinner time, when Madame Foster tastes Frankie’s latest try at "It", it seems like she is going to scold Frankie again when she says it’s awful, Madame then congratulates her granddaughter for getting it right.
- Bait the Dog: When Bloo finally has to eat "It" at dinner time, Madame Foster tells him not worry as "It" isn’t that bad, only to tell that "It" is much worse.
- Banana Peel: Bloo deliberately tries to get punished by Mr. Herriman by filling the hallway with bananas, causing him to fall down a long flight of stairs. Unfortunately for Bloo, Herriman doesn't punish him, due to the prank serving his paranoia at the moment. In The Stinger, this turns out to be one of the things that warrants Frankie serving Bloo another helping of "it".Bloo: What a slip-up, Mr. H! You should have kept your eyes peeled! Get it? 'Cause I made you slip on banana peels? Get it?
Mr. Herriman: Why, I could have been ''killed''... by that terrifying villain that was stalking me in the halls. Oh, you've saved my life, Master Blooregard! You have my eternal gratitude! - Berate and Switch:
- When Bloo does something to get in trouble with Mr. Herriman, while it appears that he is going to succeed at getting trouble, Mr. Herriman then thanks Bloo for unintentionally helping him instead, much to Bloo's frustration.
- The final time Frankie makes "It", after Madame Foster tries it and says it’s awful it appears she’s going to scold Frankie again, she gives Frankie her praise for succeeding.
- Bland-Name Product: One of the ways Bloo tries unsuccessfully to get sent to his room without supper is by filling Mr. Herriman's office with Gelatin-O.
- Cold Turkeys Are Everywhere: At the end of the episode, when Mr. Herriman gets arrested for stealing diamonds, he decides to quit carrots cold turkey. Wilt then gets himself arrested and put in the same cell as Mr. Herriman, and when they are served supper, Mr. Herriman finds out from Wilt that it's carrots.
- Cool and Unusual Punishment: Frankie punishes Bloo for his actions the entire night by making him more of "It".
- Cut-and-Paste Note: Coco sends one to Mr. Herriman, telling him to meet her on the roof if he wants to see his carrot stash again. This being Coco, the message says "COCO COCO COCO COCO COCO COCO COCO COCO COCO", with different Cs and Os cut out and pasted onto the paper.
- Didn't Think This Through: Bloo broke various rules in order to get in trouble with Mr. Herriman so he get sent to his room without dinner. He never considered that Mr. Herriman is not the only one who could punish him for breaking so many rules, Frankie and Madame Foster can also discipline him for his actions as well. After Frankie learns of all the rules Bloo broke, she punishes him by making eat more "It".
- Denied Food as Punishment: Played with; Bloo tries to get sent to bed without supper on purpose after finding out that Frankie is making "it". Unfortunately for him, thanks in part to Mr. Herriman's carrot addiction, he manages to get everyone in the entire house except himself sent to their room without supper. Frankie takes particular delight in dumping the entire bowl of "it" onto Bloo's plate since he's the only one left who hasn't "gotten in trouble", and brings him more during the closing credits to punish him for all the things he did to try getting in trouble.
- Felony Misdemeanor: Throughout the episode Wilt tries to punish himself for breaking Mr. Herriman's fake rules, such as standing on rugs, being near lamps, or touching things. At the end of the episode, he convinces the police to arrest and throw him in jail, and even ends up in the same cell as Mr. Herriman.
- Fun with Homophones: When Mr. Herriman finds out his carrot stash has been stolen, he calls the police, saying the thief must have stolen 100 carrots. The police believe he's referring to karats, meaning diamonds, and rush over to Foster's. Bloo hides some diamonds in Mac's backpack as a last resort to get sent to his room without supper, and when Mr. Herriman gets the backpack, he is surrounded by the police, who tell him to drop the diamonds. He assures them that there aren't any diamonds in it, just carrots. When he opens Mac's backpack to prove it to them, he finds the stolen diamonds in it, and the police say "Yes, Sir. About a hundred of them.", once again believing he was referring to karats, and arrest him for theft.
- Gave Up Too Soon: After his recent actions failed at getting Herriman's attention, Mac suggests jumping on the bed, which Bloo tried earlier and leaves for another solution, unknowingly that he previous attempt caused pieces of the ceiling to fall into Frankie's food setup which got berated by Madam Foster. Frankie arrives to the room and assumes Mac was the one jumping on the bed, and she has him sent outside.
- Idiot Ball: Bloo went through so much trouble to be sent to his room without supper by Mr. Herriman, but he never considered possibly asking Mr. Herriman to send him to his room without supper when he inadvertently helped Mr. Herriman who offered to repay him in return.
- Insane Troll Logic: After Eduardo learns from Wilt about how Mr. Herriman was punishing everyone in the house, he decides stay away from him to avoid getting in trouble. But his way of doing it, following Herriman everywhere goes so he knows where he is, so he can stay away from him, this is not only the opposite of what he should be doing, it’s also what gets him into trouble with Mr. Herriman after he catches him, thanks to Bloo exposing him, and Eduardo is sent to his room without dinner for spying on and stalking Mr. Herriman. Furthermore Eduardo blames Bloo for him getting into trouble and getting no dinner, despite Mr. Herriman punishing him for a good reason, and Bloo explaining to him that dinner really isn’t something worth eating.
- Jerkass Has a Point:
- While Mr. Herriman had no right to punish everyone in the house to hide his addiction to carrots, he is correct and had every to right punish Eduardo, because he was technically stalking and spying on Mr. Herriman.
- Even though Bloo did break many rules in the house, when confronted by Eduardo who felt upset he was sent to his room without supper, Bloo is right when he tells Eduardo he shouldn't be that mad because dinner is something less than edible.
- Karma Houdini: Madame Foster receives no punishment for actually trying to make everyone in the house eat a disgusting gruel that intentionally tastes awful. But luckily for them, thanks to Mr. Herriman punishing everyone without dinner that night they don’t have to eat it, except Bloo, who has eat it because of his actions all night.
- Laser-Guided Karma:
- For punishing the imaginary friends for no good reason to hide his craving for carrots, it eventually leads to Mr. Herriman to be punished for something he didn't do, i.e. being thrown in jail for stealing diamonds, when it was actually Bloo who attempted to get in trouble so he wouldn't have to eat "It".
- Speaking of Bloo, for all his rule-breaking the entire night to get out of eating "It", The Stinger shows Frankie making him eat more of "It" for all the rules he broke.
- Mustache Vandalism: Played with; one of the ways Bloo tries to get in trouble is by vandalizing a framed picture in the hallway. Yogi Boo Boo asks him if he's going to draw a mustache on it, but Bloo assures him that he would never do such a thing. Instead, he gives the picture a clown nose, clown hair, and clown lips, claiming that clowns are the new mustaches.
- Never My Fault: Eduardo blames Bloo for him getting sent to bed without supper as Bloo was the one who used a wrecking ball on the house, which caused Eduardo to be exposed to Mr. Herriman while the former was spying on the latter. He fails to realize that Mr. Herriman actually did have a good reason to punish him for spying on and stalking him.
- Noodle Incident: Before the events of the episode, Bloo managed to disassemble the Foster’s bus without anybody noticing which Mr. Herriman scolds him for.
- Ordered Apology: Coco holds Mr. Herriman's carrot stash in exchange for a written apology from him for falsely sending her to her room without supper.
- Poke the Poodle: Bloo asks Mac to help him get in trouble. At first Mac is hesitant because he'd get in trouble too, but Bloo points out that since he doesn't live there he can't get grounded, spanked, or sent to bed without supper, so he basically can do anything. Mac then decides to do the most evil thing he's ever wanted to do... jump on the bed.
- Soap Punishment: When Wilt tries to think of a way to punish himself for standing on a rug, at one point, he suggests washing his mouth out with soap, but decides against it because if he did that, he'd be touching the soap (as Herriman had earlier punished some other imaginary friends for touching toys).
- Self-Punishment Over Failure: After Mr. Herriman sends Clumsy and Sam Burger to their room without supper for the made-up-on-the-spot rule of standing on rugs (really trying to get them out of the way since they came dangerously close to spotting his carrot stash), Wilt notices he's also standing on a rug and asks Mr. Herriman if he should also go to his room. Mr. Herriman impatiently tells Wilt to figure it out himself, resulting in Wilt spending the rest of the episode trying to find a way to punish himself without breaking any other rule Mr. Herriman pulls out of his tail.
- Series Continuity Error:
- Bloo claims that Mac doesn't eat at Foster's, but Mac is seen eating at Foster's in "Bloo Done It" and "Imposter's Home for Um... Make 'Em Up Pals". Bloo also asked him if he could stay for dinner in "Dinner is Swerved".
- Mac said he is too young to go to jail claiming that he had never been to jail before, however he was sent to jail alongside the others in "My So-Called Wife".
- Shout-Out: When Mr. Herriman punishes Clumsy and Sam Burger for standing on a rug, a Nintendo GameCube can be seen near them.
- Springtime for Hitler: Bloo's plans to get sent to bed without supper all backfire, due to his pranks serving Mr. Herriman's paranoia. When Bloo fills Herriman's office with Gelatin-O, preventing Herriman from getting in it, Herriman thanks him for it, saying that if he shredded his carrot stash, he'd be leaving clues in his office, directly linking the crime to himself. When Bloo litters the hallway with banana peels so Herriman will slip on them and tumble down the stairs, Herriman is relieved to have gotten away from his stalker. When Bloo swings a wrecking ball through Madame Foster's bedroom, he ends up exposing Eduardo as Herriman's staker.
- The Stinger: Just as Bloo has finished eating "It", Frankie gives him seconds, thirds, even forths as punishment for everything he did to get in trouble.
- Trapped at the Dinner Table: In the end, Bloo is the only one left who hasn't been sent to bed without supper, and is forced to eat all of the "it", which Frankie delights in giving him as punishment for all the things he did.
- Unishment: While Mr. Herriman did unfairly punish everyone in the house by sending them to their rooms with no dinner for the night so he can hide his addiction for carrots, they really aren't missing out on much given what's being served for dinner.
- Writing Lines: One of the ways Wilt tries to punish himself for standing on a rug is by writing "I will not stand on rugs." on the chalkboard repeatedly. When Mr. Herriman punishes some friends for touching toys, Wilt overhears and freaks out upon realizing he was touching the piece of chalk he used to write with.
