- "Take your vitamins!"
Airdate: March 3, 2000
"Pitchin' Impossible" is the ninth episode of the first (internet) season of Happy Tree Friends.
The episode begins with Petunia playing a carnival game at Lumpy's stand. A blind mole named, well, The Mole, hears the fun and walks to the stand to play as well. Lumpy is at first unsure because of The Mole's sight problems, but he shrugs it off as he takes the money and gives him the balls to play. The Mole's first throw immediately turns into trouble as the ball ricochets around the stand before knocking the support beams off the booth, causing the window to fall down and cut off half of Petunia's head. Fortunately, The Mole manages to duck due to him trying to get his second ball, which fell off the booth. He then does another throw, resulting in the ball bouncing off the closed stand and into a lever, causing the nearby Ferris wheel to spin out of control to the point of releasing it from its hinges. Lumpy opens up his booth, only to see the Ferris wheel barreling straight into him. He tries to escape, but it is too late as the ride cuts through half of the stand, leaving Lumpy with half of his body. The episode ends with one of the teddy bear prizes falling onto The Mole's head and then into his hands. He happily hugs it.
"Pitchin' Impossible" contains the following:
- Accidental Murder: The Mole's blindness leads to him unknowingly causing the deaths of many critters working at and visiting the amusement park.
- Amusement Park of Doom: The setting becomes this due to The Mole's hijinks.
- Artistic License – Biology: There's several things wrong with Lumpy when he gets sliced in half:
- His antlers seem to be entirely filled with blood.
- Lumpy's brain is outside his skull.
- His antlers are not attached to it either.
- Bittersweet Ending: The amusement park ends up in a horrible disaster, but at least The Mole is still alive and gets his prize at the end.
- Coincidental Dodge: Non-assassination attempt example. The Mole leaning down to get the ball he accidentally knocked to the ground allows him to dodge the falling booth window caused by his ricocheting previous ball which cuts Petunia's head in half.
- Cruel and Unusual Death:
- Petunia loses half of her head from the falling booth window. Her body is then dragged away by the runaway Ferris wheel, leaving her flattened tail.
- Lumpy is cut in half by the runaway Ferris wheel.
- Debut Queue: The Mole makes his debut in this episode.
- Establishing Character Moment: The Mole's complete obliviousness to danger thanks to his blindness.
- Faceless Masses: The colorful faceless crowd from "Wheelin' and Dealin'" appear as the unlucky souls on the Ferris wheel.
- Ferris Wheel of Doom: The Mole's second ball toss hits a lever that causes a nearby Ferris wheel to speed up and spin out of control, killing the people riding it, as well as Lumpy when it rolls through him and cuts him in half.
- Half the Man He Used to Be: Lumpy is cartoonishly (yet graphically) ripped in half vertically, leaving his remaining body stuck in his running pose.
- New Job as the Plot Demands: Lumpy is a carny in this episode.
- Oh, Crap!:
- Petunia's reaction when the window is about to crash down on her. It is too late for her...
- Lumpy's reaction when the runaway Ferris wheel is barreling towards him.
- Pinball Projectile: The Mole's first throw bounces all over the stand before knocking off its two support beams.
- Pun-Based Title: The title is based on Mission: Impossible.
- Shout-Out: See Pun-Based Title above.
- They Killed Kenny Again: Lumpy dies yet again. This is also Petunia's first death.
- Updated Re-release: One of the early episodes to be part of "Classics Remastered" releases, which rerelease early HTF episodes in HD.
