Stuck between a Fraggle and a hard place.
Fed up with Gobo's position as the leader, Red decides to take him to the Trash Heap to determine which one of them should be leader, along with a very reluctant Boober. Before they even get there, Red and Gobo are arguing over who should be listened to—and, along with Boober, get caught by Pa, who plans to give them to Junior but forgets. Later, when Junior sits on the basket covering the Fraggles, they pretend they're a genie and convince Junior he's sick and is dying. Junior believes them and lies down, but he blocks the way back to Fraggle Rock. The Fraggles get him out of the way by singing a funeral dirge that he starts dancing to.This episodes contains examples of:
- Arcade Sounds: Zombie Attack, the game Sprocket is playing on Doc's new computer, includes sound effects from Pac-Man.
- Bait-and-Switch Comment: Red makes one when Gobo tells the others his escape plan.Gobo: Okay. We lift the basket, and then we make a run for it.
Red: Gotta hand it you, Gobo. That's a simple and direct plan.
Gobo: Why, thank you.
Red: But I've got a better one. - Berserk Button: Never insinuate, in Gobo's presence, that the stories Traveling Matt relates in his postcards are fictional.
- Bowdlerise:
- The Hub re-airing of this episode mutes the word "attack" in the title of Doc and Sprocket's home-computer game, Zombie Attack, and also blurs the word "attack" on the package.
- When the whole series came to Apple TV+, the postcard segment (which contains women smoking) was cut.
- Couldn't Find a Tissue: At one point, Junior, who has a cold, sneezes into his shirt.
- Didn't Think This Through: When Red has the idea of pretending to be a genie, she doesn't stop to think that Junior would ask for wishes.Junior: Uh, do I get my wishes now?
Red: [taken aback] Wishes?
Junior: Magic genies give wishes. Where are mine?
Gobo: [whispering] What do you say to that, O leader of ours?
Red: [whispering] Oh, boy...! - Don't Wake the Sleeper: Red and Gobo's argument wakes Pa, who was napping in the garden, and he traps them under the basket.
- The Drag-Along: Red and Gobo insist that Boober come with them, to the latter's dismay.
- Due to the Dead: Lampshaded after Red's failed attempt to get Junior to move away from the hole.Gobo: Ah, this is getting us nowhere.
Boober: I think you two are showing no respect.
Gobo: Boober, he only thinks he's dead.
Boober: I know, but I have great sympathy. The Grim Reaper comes to us all. - Exact Eavesdropping: Red and Gobo, after getting trapped under the basket, overhear Junior wishing aloud that he had a genie to grant him any wish. Red then tells Junior that she's "the magic genie of the bushel basket".
- Failed a Spot Check:
- Red and Gobo are too busy arguing to notice that Pa's in the garden, despite Boober warning them to keep it down.
- Junior never stops to think that the genie under the basket might be some Fraggles, not even when the "genie" starts speaking in different voices.Red: [from under the basket] Junior Gorg!
[Junior's eyes widen in astonishment.]
Red: Oh, Junior Gorg! Can you hear me?
[Junior cranes his neck to look at the basket.]
Red: Can you hear me?
Junior: My bottom is talking to me!
Red: I am the magic genie of the bushel basket!
Junior: [amazed] No! Magic genie? Are you in there?
Red: I am here, under the basket!
Junior: Oh, I'm gonna look!
Red: No! You must never, never look under the basket!
Junior: Not even a peek?
Red: He who lifts this basket will have his ears fall off!
Junior: Oh, my goodness! His ears fall off? Oh, I promise I won't lift the basket!
- Feud Episode: Red has a swim race planned, but her friends are going to have a picnic in the Yellow Caverns. Red is not happy to hear this.Wembley: Uh-oh. Sounds like an argument...!
Boober: Argument, nothing. It's an attempted coup! - Friendly Tickle Torture: Red tickles Junior to try to make him get up and move away from the hole. Junior calls it "the best laugh I've had since I dropped dead," but he doesn't get up because "you can't move when you're dead."
- The "Fun" in "Funeral": Boober sings "Dixie Wailin'," a funeral dirge he's composed in honor of his own departure, to Junior. Per Junior's request, and to Boober's dismay, Red and Gobo increase the tempo from mournful to celebratory so Junior will get up and dance away from the hole.Junior: [opening his eyes] Hey, pick up the tempo, will ya? I like a funeral dirge you can dance to!
- Hats Off to the Dead: Although Junior likes to catch Fraggles, and though Boober knows Junior isn't really dead, he can't help but sorrowfully remove his hat on seeing Junior lying motionless on the ground.
- Hypocritical Humor:Gobo: You know, leadership does take some special qualities.
Red: What's that supposed to mean?
Gobo: Well, only just that... well, a leader has to be strong and... and brave...
Red: I'm strong and brave!
Gobo: ...and dedicated...
Red: I'm dedicated!
Gobo: ...and calm and tactful!
Red: Who says I'm not calm and tactful, BOULDER BRAIN?!! - Improvisational Ingenuity: When Boober starts to sing "Dixie Wailin'" in a slow, mournful tempo, Junior wants a dirge he can dance to. Red and Gobo not only pick up the beat, getting Junior to dance away from the hole, but improvise the rest of the lyrics to a song they had only heard the first lines of!Boober: Wait a minute! You're losing the sad, maudlin quality!
- "I Want" Song: Junior, wishing the genie from a story Ma told him were real, sings about it: "Dum De Dum II (I Wish I Had a Genie)."
- The Leader: Gobo and Red argue over who gets to be this.
- Make a Wish: Junior makes several when he thinks there's a genie under the basket. Including a wish for a new pumpkin knife, because the one he has is too dull to cut the stems of the pumpkins Pa told him to pick.
- Never My Fault: While sneaking through the garden, Gobo and Red begin arguing loudly, alerting Pa to their presence. Boober frantically tries to alert the bickering duo to this fact. By the time Red and Gobo realize that Pa is about to trap them under a basket, Gobo blames Boober for not warning them.
- Oh, Crap!:
- The Fraggles, when Gobo starts to lift the basket, only for Junior to sit on it.
- And later on, when Junior declares that, to keep Pa's ears from falling off, he'll sit on the basket forever.
- Only Sane Man: Boober, who's more concerned with escaping from the Gorgs than who gets to be boss.
- Rake Take: At one point, Junior accidentally steps on a rake, which hits him in the nose.
- Reports of My Death Were Greatly Exaggerated: Pa, seeing Junior lying motionless on the ground, thinks he's dead and runs to tell Ma. They realize this isn't the case when they notice Junior singing and dancing to "Dixie Wailin'."
- Sick Episode: Junior can't stop sneezing and thinks he must have a cold, which inspires Gobo to trick him into thinking he's dying of "gorgliosis." It's never confirmed if he's actually sick or not, though.Gobo: But never fear. Gorgliosis does not last long. You will sneeze only once more.
Junior: Then I'll be cured?
Gobo: Then you'll be dead! - Smoking Is Not Cool: In the North American version, Traveling Matt encounters people smoking cigarettes and cigars, which he thinks are tubes they use to light fires inside their mouths. He notes that, judging from the way they cough, it can't be healthy. Matt throws a pitcher of water on a man smoking a cigar to keep the "fire in the man's mouth" from getting "out of control". The enraged man chases him offscreen.Uncle Matt: I expected to be thanked profusely. But, to tell you the truth, Gobo, Mouth Burners are an ungrateful lot.
- Sneeze Interruption: Junior sneezes just before he sings the last note of "Dum De Dum II (I Wish I Had a Genie)."
- Sneeze of Doom: Junior thinks he'll die the next time he sneezes, due to Gobo convincing him that he has a fatal disease called gorgliosis. Of course, nothing actually happens the next time he sneezes, but he believes he has died and lies down, blocking the way to Fraggle Rock.
- Speak in Unison:
- After they get captured, Gobo and Red do this, each asking the other what to do.Red and Gobo: Now what do we do, boss?
- They do this again at the end, congratulating each other while watching Junior and his parents joyfully singing and dancing to "Dixie Wailin'."Red and Gobo: Nice going, boss!
- After they get captured, Gobo and Red do this, each asking the other what to do.
- Time for Plan B: Gobo's escape plan: lift the basket and make a run for it. Just as they start to lift it, though, Junior sits on it.Boober: I think it may be time to reconsider Red's plan!
- Tomboy: We all know Red is this, but in the NHK Japanese dub, Gobo uses the term (otenba musume, or "tomboy girl") as an insult.
- "Too Young to Die" Lamentation: Boober makes one when it looks like Pa's about to tell Junior about the Fraggles.Pa: Oh, oh! Uh, Junior...
Junior: Yes?
Pa: There was something I meant to tell you...
Boober: He's remembered us! I'm too young to be fricassee! - Unwanted Assistance: Traveling Matt throws a pitcher of water on a guy smoking a cigar, thinking he's helping put out a fire in the guy's mouth, and is surprised when the man angrily lunges at him rather than being grateful.
- What Happened to the Mouse?: So many unanswered questions. Did Red miss her swim race? Was the picnic rescheduled? Did the sandwiches spoil? Where the hell was Mokey? And what song would have been Marjory's ambiguous ruling on the leader issue?
- Your Days Are Numbered: Gobo, as the genie, tells Junior this is happening to him.
- You're Insane!: Pa says this to Junior when the latter refuses to let him pull off the basket, exclaiming Pa's ears will fall off.Pa: Now I, your father, the King of the Universe...
Junior: Yes...?
Pa: ...am about to lift that basket! Now, stand aside!
Junior: No! [He sits on the basket.]
Pa: Get off that basket!
Junior: Never! To keep my daddy's ears from falling off, I will sit on this basket forever.
Pa: Say, you are a sick boy, son! This is serious. I'd better get your mother. - You Won't Like How I Taste: Played with when Pa traps the Fraggles under the basket. Boober, instead of saying it to the Gorgs, asks Gobo about it.Gobo: Why do you think his son likes Fraggles?
Boober: Gobo, we don't taste good, do we?
Red: Don't be silly, Boober. Still, I wonder what he wants with Fraggles?
Boober: Probably baked potatoes and mushroom gravy!
