"Do I detect a lack of enthusiasm for my soup?"
While tossing out a failed gumbo and some wash water that got ruined when someone put yeast in the rock soap, Boober accidentally creates an invisibility formula. The Fraggles use this to take radishes from the Gorgs' garden, but Junior, seeing radishes apparently moving by themselves, unknowingly picks up Boober. To get him to let Boober go, the other Fraggles convince Junior that they're magic radishes.Boober's friends praise the magic gumbo, but when there's a giant quake at the Rock, Boober suspects the soup. He takes it to the garden, intending to throw it out, despite the others' protests. Junior, who is grudgingly helping his parents with the spring cleaning, stops him and throws the soup out with the rest of the trash, causing an explosion that blows up all the Gorgs' junk in the garden. Boober's friends, realizing how easily the explosion could have happened at the Rock, congratulate him on his bravery, and he tells them to be wary of anything that seems too good to be true.
This episode contains examples of:
- Accidental Discovery: Wembley discovers the soup's power when he puts in a stick to try to fish out the skunk cabbage (which he hates).Red: Boober's soup made the stick invisible!
- An Aesop: If something seems too good to be true, it probably is.
- Anthropomorphic Food:
- Boober's soufflé gets up and walks off.
- The Fraggles, who are invisible at the time except for the radishes they're carrying, convince Junior they're magic radishes when he unknowingly picks up Boober.Junior: But what are magic radishes doing in my garden?
Red: Oh... uh... well, we occasionally come by to check on the normal radishes. You know...
[Loud agreement from the other Fraggles.]
- Apocalypse How: What Boober fears will happen to the Rock if they keep the soup. The others disagree but change their tune when they see what happens with the soup in the garden.Gobo: [as he and the others try to grab the pot of soup from Boober] Your rutabaga gumbo caused a rockquake? Ha!
Boober: It's not rutabaga. It's... it's... it's doomsday gumbo!
[The others laugh, still trying to take the pot.]
Boober: I knew it was too good to be true.
Wembley: Boober, your soup may have been bad, but it's not gonna kill you.
Boober: I'm telling you, this soup will lead to death and destruction, two subjects on which I am an authority. - Arbitrary Skepticism: Subverted. Everyone but Boober doubts that the soup can cause quakes, despite the fact that it causes invisibility—until the soup blows up the junk in the Gorgs' garden.
- Beleaguered Assistant: Junior is this to Ma, who's caught spring cleaning fever.
- Brutal Honesty: Gobo and Wembley aren't even subtle in expressing their disgust for Boober's rutabaga gumbo (which was meant to be radish gumbo).Boober: Wait a minute... do I detect a lack of enthusiasm for my soup?
Gobo and Wembley: No...
Boober: Good.
Gobo and Wembley: [in unison] We just don't like it.
Wembley: Sorry. [He and Gobo leave.] - Cassandra Truth: No one believes Boober when he says the soup will lead to death and destruction.
- Cooking Stories:Boober: Today's the day I make my famous radish gumbo!
- Cowardly Lion: As frightened as Boober is of the soup, when it causes a quake, he overcomes his fear of it—and of Gorgs—to get it out of the Rock.
- Didn't Think This Through: The Fraggles think they'll be safe from the Gorgs if they use the soup to become invisible when getting radishes from the garden—but they don't stop to think that the Gorgs will know something is up if the radishes they're carrying remain visible.
- Does Not Like Spam: Gobo and Wembley hate greaseberries and skunk cabbage, both of which Boober uses in his gumbo when he finds he's out of radishes. Mokey would have picked more, but she was away sketching spiderflies when Boober was making the gumbo.
- Earthquake Machine: A side effect of the soup.
- Eat the Bomb: Pa drinks some of the soup. It doesn't blow him up, though—it just makes him bounce up in the air a few times and blow steam out of his ears.
- Food Songs Are Funny: Boober sings "Dump the Stuff Out (Yucky for Sure)," a song about his cooking being less than a hit with the other Fraggles lately.Boober: [singing] This soup's overdone.
That purée's too lumpy.
My ring mold's too jumpy.
My cakes weigh a ton.
The turnip pie's burnt, or it's raw.
The soufflé just walked through the door. - Hiccup Hijinks: In the U.K. version, Sprocket gets the hiccups, and the Captain makes soup to cure them, only to catch them himself.
- I Ate WHAT?!: Boober puts the pot of laundry on to boil while the gumbo is simmering. While Boober's peeking into the garden to see if he can get a radish himself, Gobo and Wembley accidentally take a taste of the wash water instead of the soup.Gobo: Ah, this must be it, Wembley!
Wembley: Mmm-hmm!
Gobo: Boober's famous radish gumbo!
Wembley: Oh boy, oh boy!
[They each take a taste, then make disgusted noises.]
Wembley: [choking] If that's soup, I'm on a diet!
Gobo: Yeah!
Boober: [walking over] What are you doing to the laundry? - Indy Ploy: The Fraggles make themselves invisible and pick radishes, but Junior sees the radishes moving and unknowingly picks up Boober. Red improvises a plan to make him let go: telling him they're magic radishes.
- Invisibility: The primary effect of the soup. Boober's friends even sing an ode to it: "A Fraggle You Can't See."
- Invisibility with Drawbacks: The soup makes things invisible, but only for a few minutes. Boober reappears just as he's going back through the hole. Luckily, the Gorgs don't notice.
- I've Heard of That — What Is It?: When Boober tells Gobo and Wembley he's about to make his famous radish gumbo...Wembley: Gumbo! Oh, boy! I... uh... what's gumbo?
Gobo: It's soup. - Lazy Husband: Pa lounges in the sun instead of helping Ma and Junior with the spring cleaning. The most he does is to insist that Junior put back what Ma throws out.
- Lethal Chef: Boober, whenever he makes new recipes.
- Literal-Minded: Uncle Matt observes that fast food doesn't move very fast. In fact, it doesn't move at all.Uncle Matt: Why do they call it fast food? As I suspected, it's just as slow as radishes.
- Must Make Amends: Boober is determined to get rid of the quake-causing soup he's made.
- My God, What Have I Done?: Boober, on realizing the soup he's made has just caused a quake.
- Obsessed with Food: After being picked up by Junior, Boober thinks his friends have become this when they make it back to the Rock with the radishes and start talking about gumbo.Boober: Gumbo? How can you think about gumbo at a time like this? I was almost eaten by a Gorg!
- O.O.C. Is Serious Business: Boober's so fixated on disposing of the soup, he doesn't even flinch in Junior's presence. In fact, he gets annoyed.Boober: Get out of my way. Can't you see I'm in a hurry?
Junior: Wait a minute. I'm a Gorg. Fraggles are afraid of Gorgs, remember?
Boober: I have not got time. Now, move it!
Junior: Ohhhh, you must be a very cunning Fraggle! What are you up to?
Boober: Oh, nothing much. Just saving the universe from destruction. - Skewed Priorities: Gobo, Mokey, Red, and Wembley seem more concerned with keeping the soup so they can become invisible than with getting rid of it in case it turns out to be the cause of the quake in the Rock.[The other Fraggles sadly watch from the hole as Boober begins carrying the soup through the garden.]
Red: Well, there goes the soup.
Mokey: Awww. Now we'll never be invisible again.
Boober: Fine. Don't worry about me! - Spring Cleaning Fever: Doc has caught it, and Ma gets it every March. The song "Spring Cleaning" is about how much Junior hates it, especially since Ma keeps throwing out everything only for Pa to insist that Junior put it back.
- Stuff Blowing Up: The soup blows up all the junk Junior put in the yard while helping Ma with the spring cleaning. The Gorgs and their castle are fine, though.Junior: Well, Ma, that's one way of getting rid of the trash!
