Recap / I Heart Arlo S 1 E 19 The Uncondemning

Determined to rescue Edmée from her danger, Arlo and his gang travel to the swamp where he was raised, where they must face down a dangerous scheme planned by a mysterious foe from Arlo's past known as the Bog Lady.

Tropes:

• An Aesop: Even if you move to a new home, your old home always has a place in your heart.
• Aesop Amnesia: Actually subverted with Ruff and Stucky; while the ransom letter claims they forgot Arlo's life lesson from the movie, it was not their idea, indicating they actually did change and the lesson stuck. The two have been demoted to bumbling Anti Heroes, but are nevertheless no longer against Arlo.
• And the Adventure Continues: With the Bog Lady defeated, Seaside completely restored, and especially Edmée coming to live with Arlo, he has seen to it that this is not the end of his adventures and hopes to make it last.
• Back for the Finale: Nearly every supporting Seasider who appeared throughout the season and the Pilot Movie appear at the Uncondemning.
• Berserk Button: Arlo leaving the swamp is what apparently pushes the Bog Lady's anger to its highest levels.
• Beyond Redemption: Even though Arlo did apologize to the Bog Lady for leaving the swamp, she refused to return the favor and eat him along with his entire team.
• Big Damn Heroes: Bertie and Alia swinging into the Heart of the Swamp and calling out to Arlo, which causes him to snap out of the Bog Lady's hypnosis and free Edmée. Also Marcellus and the others showing up in a fan boat having planted a tracking device to Bertie.
• Book Ends: Multiple with the movie:
  • The movie starts with Arlo leaving the swamp for NYC; the Season 1 finale begins with Arlo leaving NYC for the swamp.
  • In the movie, Arlo leaves Edmée for New York; in this episode, she leaves the swamp to come live with him.
  • The movie ends with Arlo and his gang beginning reconstruction of Seaside by the Seashore; the season ends with it fully restored to its original beauty.
  • The season began with Jeromio coming to live with Arlo; the season ended with Edmée doing the same.
• Bound and Gagged: Happens to Arlo when the Bog Lady snags him up in her roots, before hypnotizing him. He isn't gagged however.
• Brainwashed: The last part to the Bog Lady's Evil Plan, which happened to be a failsafe should Arlo refuse to apologize to her; she has him bound up in her roots before hypnotizing him into never leaving her grasp, not even caring if everyone else is still in peril.
• Call-Back: Several to the movie:
  • Arlo's song "Back To You" is a parallel to "Beyond These Walls", complete with a Disney Acid Sequence. Arlo gets to hop on light up lily pads again.
  • During Arlo's "Back To You" number, a seagull feeds him like how one did when he was lost at sea.
  • Arlo's party arrives in the swamp at sunrise the following day, just like how they first arrived in New York City. Also when they were amazed by the city sights, they were shocked and worried at the condition the swamp was in due to the Bog Lady's influence.
  • Seaside was run-down and had dull colors until Arlo restored it, making it brightly colored; Arlo's swamp was originally full of color, but when the Bog Lady takes over the swamp as revenge for Arlo leaving, the swamp becomes dull like Seaside was originally.
  • Ruff and Stucky are back, and it turns out they really have changed following the movie.
  • The yacht is sunken by the Bog Lady's powers, like how Alia lost her bus when it got towed.
  • Before encountering the Bog Lady, Arlo is separated from his friends like how he willingly left them before meeting Ansel for the first time.
  • Arlo once again falls into the role of the Distressed Dude thanks to the Big Bad's plans.
  • The Bog Lady's Villain Song can be considered a darker parallel to Ansel's song "Better Life". The latter song has a fast, upbeat Broadway vibe about Ansel being famous and willingly changing himself and convincing Arlo to do the same, while the former is a slow, hypnotic melody where the Bog Lady is furious upon Arlo leaving the swamp and tempts him into staying forever. Both songs end with Arlo undergoing some state of outcome, but different reactions. In the former, he was unpleased at changing himself and called Ansel out; while in the latter, he tried to refuse a forced apology, but was straight-up hypnotized and let the Bog Lady cuddle him while everyone else was still in peril.
  • Alia literally "changing her perspective" to find where Arlo is calls back to when Bertie saw Arlo's "best friend rock" which clues her in to Arlo's presence.
  • Edmée gives Arlo a heartfelt talk about how much he's learned, similar to how Bertie gave him a similar talk the morning after he was disowned by Ansel.
  • When Marcellus' motorboat gets sent flying following the shack's destruction which also resulted in the Bog Lady's death, they fly over Willow Button and land on the same train where Arlo first met Bertie.
  • While on the train, Arlo and Edmée reunite with a hug like how he and Ansel rekindled their father-son relationship at the Met Gala.
  • Both productions end with a Dance Party Ending at SBS, each with a musical number led by Arlo.
  • The season ends with "The End" washing on the beach, mimicking the final scene of Arlo and Bertie on the beach from the movie.
• Cartoonland Time: Averted with the trip to the swamp, as the yacht arrives there at the next sunrise and it takes about 18 hours to get to the Louisiana swamp from New York City by boat. Played straight with the repairs to Seaside, as by the time the episode starts, all the damage caused by Ol' Bessie has been immediately repaired in no time.
• The Cavalry: Marcellus, Tony and Furlecia arrive to pick up Arlo, Edmée and the girls and escape the Bog Lady thanks to the fan boat plus Marcellus' tracking devices.
• Chainsaw Good: Tony uses a chainsaw to break the root holding Ruff and Stucky captive.
• Character Death: The Bog Lady is killed in the shack's explosion, setting off a fire at the Heart of the Swamp where she sinks into the water and disintegrates into nothingness.
• Chekhov's Gun: Marcellus' tracking devices.
• Continuity Nod:
  • Peggy the giant squid appears during the swamp journey, still possessing Ansel's bust.
  • Bertie finally gets to perform the song she wrote at the end of "Get Lost!".
  • The series began with Jeromio coming to live with Arlo in New York; with the season ending, Edmée does the same.
• Curb-Stomp Battle: Arlo's first fight with the Bog Lady did not end well for him.
• Damsel in Distress: Edmée, thanks to the Bog Lady trapping her in a vine cage and holding her hostage as bait to lure Arlo to her.
• Dance Party Ending: The episode, and the season, ends with everyone at Seaside singing and dancing to the song "As Long As We Got Each Other" at the Uncondemning.
• Darker and Edgier: Compared to the rest of the season, this one takes the cake. Arlo's adoptive home is in peril, and the very first truly evil villain is introduced in the franchise.
• Darkest Hour: Arlo's friends have been tricked and separated from him, the yacht is sunken, Arlo is hypnotized, Edmée is still locked up, and the swamp is still a thorny graveyard.
• Death by Irony: The Bog Lady separates Arlo from his friends, lures him back to the swamp and forces him to stay forever; it's her own narcissism and commitment to everything in the swamp which proved to be a roadblock in Arlo's journey to his birth home, that results in her ultimate fate which allows Arlo his freedom while she disintegrates out of existence.
• Death Glare: Arlo gives one to the Bog Lady to show defiance during the Villain Song when he is ensnared in her roots, along with a stern head-shake. This cues her to assert her hypnotic powers and make him not want to leave.
• Dénouement: After a long season of preparations and obstacles, Seaside finally has its Uncondemning and is officially restored. Arlo also reaches the end of his Character Development over learning to appreciate his birth home and know that even though he doesn't live in the swamp anymore, he will always have it in his heart.
• Deconstruction: Of Arlo's journey, apparently. While Arlo enjoyed his trip from the swamp to the city, he realizes too late it resulted in serious consequences for his old home, specifically it becomes gloomy and dark thanks to the Bog Lady taking over as revenge for him leaving. Arlo realizes soon after and begins admitting repeatedly if he didn't leave the swamp in the first place, then none of this would've happened.
• Determinator: Arlo stops at nothing to rescue Edmée from the Bog Lady.
• Didn't See That Coming: The Bog Lady didn't expect Bertie and Alia would swing right into the swamp to take her down (because Alia got the idea to "change her perspective"), as once they call out to the bewitched Arlo and he hears them coming to save him, this causes him to snap right out of her mind control and fight back.
• Did You Just Punch Out Cthulhu?: Arlo and the gang manage to defeat the Bog Lady when Edmée blows up her shack, causing her to explode with it and melt into nothingness.
• Diegetic Switch: "As Long As We Got Each Other" starts out as a diegetic piece by Bertie, before Arlo turns it into a full-blown Alternate Universe song-and-dance number with all of Seaside. The music even continues when Bertie stops playing the piano, in addition to instruments being heard out of nowhere despite not being present to begin with.
• Disney Acid Sequence: The last part of "Back To You" becomes this. Also serves as a Call-Back to Arlo's song "Beyond These Walls" from the movie.
• Disney Death: Arlo and his gang have been Eaten Alive by the Bog Lady, but thanks to Edmée rigging her shack with a self-destruct, this kills her and ends up releasing them, completely unharmed, into the sky.
• Distressed Dude: Arlo ends up falling victim to this thanks to the Bog Lady, as his refusal to apologize for leaving her resulted in him brainwashed into her mindless slave.
• Double-Meaning Title: The episode title refers to Seaside's Uncondemning party and Arlo's swamp home under a curse which needs to be uncondemned as well.
• Dramatic Wind: During "Back To You", a strong breeze is blowing Arlo's hair back as he sings from the bow of the yacht.
• Dutch Angle:
  • Used when Arlo is being hypnotized.
  • Also used a few times during "Back To You" when Arlo is singing from the bow of the yacht.
• Dynamic Entry: The main cast and Edmée bursting through one of SBS's subway entries on the fan boat, flying through the air before landing on the Uncondemning stage.
• Earn Your Happy Ending: Big time. After Arlo spends the whole episode finding the swamp he lived in under a thorny spell, being hypnotized by a wicked swamp goddess from his past, destroying his childhood home and killing the witch forever, he finally makes it back to Seaside for the Uncondemning and appreciates where he truly is, and sings and dances with his friends.
• Eaten Alive: What nearly became of Arlo and his gang after the Bog Lady turns down his apology.
• The End: The final shot of the season is these words being washed up on the beach.
• Evil Counterpart: The Bog Lady can be seen as one for Edmée. While the latter was kindhearted and accepting of Arlo, raising him as her own and letting him go off to see the world when it's time, the former is a sinister, ruthless tyrant who commits herself to all life in the swamp and actually wanted Arlo to stay. It is to the point Arlo realizes the Bog Lady's takeover of the swamp wouldn't have happened if he didn't leave in the first place, but Edmée knows for sure he did the right thing.
• Evil Plan: The Bog Lady's plan was this: Get Ruff and Stucky to hold Edmée hostage before writing out a ransom letter, which in turn allows Arlo to come back to the swamp, then call her twigs back to the heart and call out Arlo's name, and he follows her voice all the way back to the heart where she demands an apology from him. In the case he turns her down again, she magically mind controls him into not wanting to leave.
• "Eureka!" Moment: While separated, Alia notices Bertie doing a handstand, saying she's "changing her perspective". When she lies in the grass and sees a crow flying overhead, this inspires her to use an alternate method to find the Heart of the Swamp by having Bertie toss her over the treetops allowing her to see it from far away.
• Extra-Long Episode: This episode runs twice its regular length, coming at a full half-hour.
• Fascinating Eyebrow: Arlo briefly has this expression when Ruff and Stucky tell the truth.
• Faux Affably Evil: When the Bog Lady first meets Arlo, she greets him in a motherly tone and is glad he came back to the swamp and hopes he stays with her. Naturally, Arlo is not at all fooled, and is desperate to save Edmée, and that's where the tables turn.
• Final Exam Finale: Serving as not just the S1 finale, but also the finale of Arlo's character growth from the beginning of the movie. Arlo is lured back to the swamp he lived in by the Bog Lady, who was furious at losing the one thing she enjoyed protecting all his life living there. He's only able to break out of her control and rescue Edmée through the companionship of his misfit friends, as well as learning while he no longer lives in the swamp, he's proud to have it part of him. The destruction of Edmée's shack and Arlo's old home serves as an indication that Arlo has finally moved on, and will always remember the swamp now that he's in his true birth home of New York City and officially accepts it as the perfect community for everyone.
• Fisher King: When the swamp is cursed by the Bog Lady, its colors change from happy yellow-green to dullish grey, and is coated with roots and thorns. The sky and water turn dark as well.
• Five-Second Foreshadowing: While Arlo is running to the heart of the swamp, we then cut to Bertie and Alia following; while the latter two are seen as partial shadows, "Arlo" is seen in complete shadow. Turns out, the Bog Lady created a fake doppelgänger to trick them.
• Foreshadowing:
  • When preparing to enter the shack, Marcellus considers planting tracking devices to find everyone. Said technique is what leads to the whole gang being reunited in time for the final battle.
  • Ruff and Stucky's Warning Song actually foreshadows what's going to happen to Arlo later on:
    • "She'll put you in a spell with her breath of rotting trees! I'm afraid it's you she can't let go!" — Arlo is hypnotized by the Bog Lady into never leaving her grasp.
    • "'Cause when you leave her, she gets oh, so angry!" — When Arlo left the swamp, this angered the Bog Lady to the point of casting a spell which turned the swamp into a vineyard.
    • "And whatever you do, and I mean this, don't let her sing!" — This foreshadows the Villain Song, which culminates in Arlo being ensnared as well as falling under the Bog Lady's Mind Control.
    • "If she can't keep you, well, she'll crush your tiny alligator bones!" — This leads up to the Bog Lady going full One-Winged Angel and tried to eat Arlo and his gang after turning down his apology.
  • The song "Back To You" included one particular line from Arlo which takes on a whole new meaning once you find out the reason why he's coming back to the swamp in the first place:
    Arlo: ♫ Return me unto the place that I'm from/Take me back in... ♫
  • After the gang splits up, Bertie is almost always seen from the front, hiding the reveal that Marcellus put a tracking device on her so the group can reunite.
  • Back in the episode "Swamp Itch", Arlo turns down a care package from Edmée due to the sweater she gave him causing him to gain the titular ailment, Ansel adding they hate packages in return toward Bertie coming in with it. Naturally, not checking up on Edmée's care packages caused Arlo to learn of her danger too late, and admits it was indeed his fault for letting it all go to his head.
• Forgotten First Meeting: The Bog Lady had been watching over Arlo and protecting him since he first showed up there as a baby. However, Arlo didn't know of her existence until she lured him back fifteen years later.
• For Want Of A Nail:
  • The Bog Lady's takeover of Arlo's old swamp happened because of Arlo leaving the swamp for New York in the first place. He was upset when he realized the consequences of leaving, but Edmée is nevertheless proud of him going off to see the world.
  • Similarly, if Bertie didn't meditate upside-down to think, then this wouldn't have inspired Alia to "change her perspective" and locate the Heart from the treetops, and the Bog Lady would've won.
• Foul Flower: The first thing the Bog Lady does after Arlo meets up with her is materialize a red swamp flower for him, as a welcome back present and that he'll promise never to leave her again. Naturally, this allows him to see right through her, and he rejects the apology and the flower in favor of wanting to save Edmée. As a bonus, the flower being red is ironically a symbol of bad luck in gypsy culture, showing just how dangerous the Bog Lady really is.
• Gilligan Cut: Tony says a wise cheesemaker told him, cut your curds, bathe in brine, and most importantly, don't get lost. One scene later, he and Marcellus are lost.
• Go Back to the Source: Edmée is rescued and the Bog Lady is fought in the same place Arlo was raised all his life: The Louisiana swamp.
• The Good, the Bad, and the Evil: Arlo and co. (good) head to the swamp where they encounter Ruff and Stucky (bad), who reveal the true villain behind Edmée's kidnapping is the Bog Lady (evil).
• Heel–Face Door-Slam: When Arlo finally apologizes to the Bog Lady for leaving the swamp and delivers his message that it will always be inside him and asks for forgiveness, she coldly rejects it.
• Heroic Second Wind: When Bertie and Alia swing into the swamp and call out to Arlo, not only does this break the Bog Lady's spell on him, it also gives him enough confidence and determination to bite his way out of her grasp, rush past her roots, hop onto Edmée's cage and tear the bramble bars off, freeing her.
• Heroic Willpower: When the Bog Lady takes over Arlo's mind and he's under her control, it seemed her powers were not strong enough to get through to him completely. Because when the girls call out to Arlo that they're coming to save him, it breaks the spell and he fights against her.
• Hope Spot: After realizing the swamp will always be in his heart no matter where he goes, Arlo stops the Bog Lady and finally apologizes, delivering his message, asking for forgiveness and everyone begs... but she says no and decides to eat them instead.
  Arlo: I THOUGHT FOR SURE THAT WOULD WORK!!
• Hypnotic Eyes: The Bog Lady uses these to hypnotize Arlo.
• Hypnotize the Captive: When stuck in the Bog Lady's clutches, Arlo is hypnotized into never leaving her again.
• If I Can't Have You…: Once Arlo makes it clear he won't stay in the swamp, the Bog Lady decides to eat him and his friends alive.
• I Know Your True Name: The Bog Lady knew Arlo's name since he first came to the swamp as a baby. When he first encounters her, she uses his name, and he is dumbstruck that she knows who he is.
• Immediate Sequel: Likewise with "Goin' It Arlone", this episode continues right where "Alro" left off, where Arlo and the gang are setting off for the swamp on Ansel's yacht.
• I'm Melting!: The Bog Lady's final fate, melting into nothing but just normal moss thanks to Edmée's shack exploding underneath her.
• Impossible Shadow Puppets: Ruff does a few of them as he describes the Bog Lady's shapeshifting abilities during the Warning Song.
• It's All About Me: The Bog Lady's purpose to to commit herself to all swamp life, what it has and what it does, to the point of caring about Arlo as well. She even claims she made the swamp the way he wanted it. When Arlo left the swamp, this infuriated her to the point she traps Edmée and hatches a plot to lure him back to her.
• It's All My Fault:
  • When Marcellus' motorboat is in the Bog Lady's grasp, Arlo realizes leaving the swamp was all his fault for angering her and leading up to what has happened now, and admits to Edmée he shouldn't have left in the first place. Edmée understands his sadness and lets him know he still didn't do anything bad and no matter where he is, the swamp will always be part of him.
  • Earlier on, Arlo expressed it was his fault for not checking up on anything Edmée sent him due to focusing on the preparations for Seaside's Uncondemning.
• Karmic Death: The Bog Lady suffers this, being destroyed along with Edmée's shack, after forcing Arlo to stay with her forever.
• Killed Off for Real: When Edmée makes her shack explode, it results in killing the Bog Lady along with it, starting a fire in the Heart of the Swamp and she disintegrates in the swamp water until she's no more.
• Last Episode, New Character: This is the first season finale and the Bog Lady appears as a new character.
• Last-Second Chance: Arlo gives one to the Bog Lady, finally saying he's sorry and the swamp will always be part of him and asks for forgiveness, but she declines it.
• Leaning on the Fourth Wall: Arlo notes twice during the Dance Party Ending that "this might be the last song".
• "Leave Your Quest" Test: The Bog Lady tempts Arlo into staying with her in the swamp forever, her plan to lure him back having worked without a hitch, ignoring Edmée still locked up and his friends who have been separated from him. Thanks to the cavalry arriving to save the day, he manages to break out of her spell and go right back to the mission at hand.
• Let's Split Up, Gang!: When Arlo is following the Bog Lady's voice to the Heart of the Swamp to find Edmée, Bertie and Alia decide to follow after him, while Marcellus, Tony and Furlecia are tasked with staying behind to watch the yacht.
• Madness Mantra: The Bog Lady repeatedly chants, "I'm the one who created this whole thing!" during the Villain Song as she has Arlo ensnared in her grasp with no way out. She screams the last one, which in turn finally makes her hypnotic powers take their full effect on him.
• The Man Behind the Man: While Ruff and Stucky did send the ransom letter and tie Edmée up, it wasn't their idea; it was an order given to them by the true villain, the Bog Lady, as part of her plan to lure Arlo to her.
• Manipulative Bastard: After capturing Edmée, the Bog Lady manipulates Ruff and Stucky into writing a ransom note along with Edmée's distress letter, as her first attempt to lure Arlo to her.
• Mind-Control Eyes: Arlo has these when he falls under the Bog Lady's control.
• Multi-Part Episode: The third and final part of the epic season finale saga centering around Edmée's danger which coincides with Seaside's Uncondemning.
• Near-Villain Victory: The Bog Lady separates the gang of misfits (using a moth doppelganger of Arlo to trick Bertie and Alia, sinks the yacht before Marcellus, Furlecia and Tony) and has Arlo under her control and Edmée locked up in her thorn prison. If it weren't for Bertie and Alia arriving which in turn breaks Arlo out of his trance, and Marcellus using tracking devices to find everyone, the Bog Lady would've won without question.
• No Good Deed Goes Unpunished: Basically the reason the Bog Lady took over the swamp and held Edmée hostage as bait to lure Arlo to her was a result of Arlo leaving the swamp in the first place.
• Non-Protagonist Resolver: It's Edmée who ends up saving the day last-minute, thanks to bombarding the shack with a self-destruct so she can finish off the Bog Lady for good.
• No Ontological Inertia: When the Bog Lady dies, the thorns in the Heart of the Swamp are gone, showing that the swamp will slowly but surely return to its original peaceful state.
• Nothing Is the Same Anymore: Not only is Edmée's shack and Arlo's old home destroyed, but Edmée now lives at Seaside with Arlo.
• Oh, Crap!:
  • Arlo's reaction to Ruff and Stucky's warnings about the Bog Lady. He gets another when he's ensnared in the Bog Lady's root trap, followed by an even bigger one when he sees the Bog Lady summon a wall of water and finds himself unable to look away from her, just before getting hypnotized.
  • A shared one done by Arlo and co. when they see the Bog Lady assume her One-Winged Angel form and takes over the shack.
  • The Bog Lady when Edmée activates the shack's self-destruct, leading to her Family-Unfriendly Death.
• One-Winged Angel: The Bog Lady turns into a gigantic forest dwelling kaiju creature when she seizes control of Edmée's shack.
• Ordered Apology: The Bog Lady demanded this from Arlo for leaving her.
• Out-Gambitted: How the Bog Lady separates Arlo's friends from him. First, Marcellus, Tony and Furlecia are tasked with watching the yacht, but they end up going in circles while the Bog Lady sinks and destroys the yacht with her plant life. Secondly, she uses a fake duplicate of Arlo to trick Bertie and Alia into following him the wrong way and getting them lost, thus Arlo arrives in the Heart alone as part of her plan. Suddenly double-played when the others manage to outwit the Bog Lady when Alia changes her perspective and finds the Heart from the treetops, while Marcellus regroups everyone with his tracking devices.
• Out of Focus: Ansel only appears at the beginning and end and is limited to a few non-verbal vocalizations.
• The Power of Friendship: Arlo is only able to break out of the Bog Lady's Mind Control when he hears the voices of Bertie and Alia coming to help him, and their love and support of him also causes him to have a Heroic Second Wind and free Edmée.
• Red Herring: As it turns out, Ruff and Stucky are not responsible for Edmée's kidnapping, and they only sent the ransom note as an order by the Bog Lady to lure Arlo to her.
• Redemption Rejection: Arlo gives the Bog Lady a full-fledged apology but adds that even though he no longer lives in the swamp, it will always be part of him like he is part of her. Unsurprisingly, she turns down the chance at redemption and tries to devour everyone whole.
• Red Sky, Take Warning: From the moment Arlo escapes the Heart with the girls to the point the shack is blown up to kill the Bog Lady, the sky turns a very faint infernal red.
• Remember the New Guy?: The Bog Lady. When Arlo encounters her, he is surprised that she knows his name, because she has been protecting him his entire time living in the swamp. Unsurprisingly, it's implied that she is the reason behind Arlo enjoying himself during his swamp years in the Pilot Movie, likely during his "More More More" number.
• The Reveal: It is revealed Arlo's departure from the swamp to New York in the Pilot Movie angered the Bog Lady, who secretly protected him to the point she didn't want him to leave in the first place.
• Rewatch Bonus: Pretty much all work up to this point becomes extremely poignant, starting from the point Arlo left the swamp in the Pilot Movie. The fact that Edmée didn't want Arlo to leave the swamp because she's worried of what would happen to her takes on a whole new meaning, as said moment is what angers the Bog Lady to the point she puts the swamp under a thorny curse, holds Edmée hostage, and hatches a scheme to lure Arlo back and force him to stay forever.
• Pre-Explosion Glow: Prior to the Bog Lady's death, explosion light beams out from her eye sockets and mouth.
• Say My Name:
  • Arlo screams, "I'M COMING, EDMÉE!!!!!" just before singing "Back To You".
  • Arlo shouts Edmée's name three times just before being ensnared in the Bog Lady's trap.
  • Alia and Bertie scream Arlo's name in unison just before swinging into the Heart, which breaks the spell on Arlo's mind.
  • The Bog Lady screams Arlo's name in fury when he and Edmée are fleeing with Bertie and Alia.
• Screw This, I'm Outta Here: Ruff and Stucky attempted at this after being freed from the giant root, but Bertie and Furlecia prevent them. They later escape the swamp for real after warning Arlo of the Bog Lady and where she took Edmée.
• Scenery Gorn: When the swamp is taken over by the Bog Lady, its colors become muted, the animals get sick, and roots coat the waters and shack.
• Season Finale: The last episode of Season 1.
• "Setting Off" Song: Arlo sings "Back To You" as he and the gang are setting off in the yacht to save Edmée.
• Sheathe Your Sword: Arlo tried to do this to the Bog Lady, giving a full-fledged apology and his lesson while begging for forgiveness, but she rejects it.
• Shoo Out the Clowns:
  • Jeromio does not come along with Arlo and his gang, and stays behind with Ansel and Elena, not appearing until the Uncondemning party at the end, in order to make the buildup to the Bog Lady more serious and foreboding.
  • Ruff and Stucky flee the swamp for the rest of the episode after telling Arlo about the Bog Lady, and Arlo's friends are separated from him just before the confrontation in the Heart of the Swamp.
  • Tony, Furlecia and Marcellus, the most comedic of Arlo's gang, disappear after the scene of the yacht sinking and before Arlo arrives in the heart alone and the girls get tricked and separated, building up to the arrival of the Bog Lady as well as crossing into the episode's Darkest Hour.
• Shout-Out:
  • Arlo is hypnotized by the Bog Lady like how Mowgli was hypnotized by Kaa.
  • Also, the first two lines of the Bog Lady’s Villain Song have the same rhyme scheme as the chorus of Avril Lavigne's "Sk8er Boi":
    Hey, little gator boy
    You tried to say "See ya later, boy"
• Society-on-Edge Episode: Revolves around Arlo's former home being put under a thorny curse by the Bog Lady as revenge for Arlo leaving in the first place.
• The Song Before the Storm: Two in quick succession.
  • "Back To You", Arlo's heartfelt ballad at doing whatever he can to save Edmée, which is sung right before the gang arrives at the swamp and find it under a gloomy curse.
  • Ruff and Stucky's Warning Song, sung right before Arlo is lured to the Heart of the Swamp by the Bog Lady, his friends getting separated and lost, and the events leading to the episode's Darkest Hour.
• Spanner in the Works: Bertie and Alia are the reason why the Bog Lady's plan to get Arlo to stay with her forever fails. By Bertie meditating upside-down and Alia taking inspiration from her to "change perspective", she finds the Heart from above the trees, and the girls swing into the swamp, calling out to Arlo which in turn snaps him out of the Bog Lady's hypnosis so he can save Edmée.
• Special Edition Title: The end credits are at night instead of during the day, and lights are coating the boardwalk, in honor of the Uncondemning party.
• Swamps Are Evil: Arlo's old swamp home ends up turning into this thanks to the Bog Lady's takeover, but it's her domain, the Heart of the Swamp, which takes the cake.
• Tears of Remorse: Arlo is crying a little as he finishes off his "Setting Off" Song. He cries again when everyone is held by the Bog Lady and he apologizes to Edmée for his departure from the swamp leading to all that's happened right now.
  Arlo: Oh, Edmée... I never should've left the swamp! I never should've left YOU!
• Three-Point Landing: Arlo does one of these after he finishes climbing the tree where Edmée is being held prisoner.
• Trailers Always Spoil: The Season 1 trailer completely spoiled moments from the final minutes of the episode, specifically Arlo's crew and Edmée skydiving out of the sky and landing on a train in Marcellus' fan boat, as well as scenes from the Uncondemning party and even playing the final song and showing the very last scene of the episode. Thankfully, it avoided showing the Bog Lady.
• Trash the Set: Edmée's shack is blown up to bits. Which means Arlo's old home is truly gone for good.
• The Unapologetic: On the Bog Lady's side, she didn't take Arlo's departure that well, and demands an apology from him for leaving her once she lures him to her domain. When Arlo refuses on account of her being a False Friend and holding Edmée captive, she has him shackled in roots; when he refused again, he is hypnotized.
• Unwitting Instigator of Doom: Unsurprisingly, Arlo leaving the swamp in the Pilot Movie infuriated the Bog Lady and led to all the tragic events that occur here.
• Vomit Discretion Shot: Marcellus does this a few times, thanks to eating loads of tuna before the trip.
• Villainous Breakdown: The Bog Lady completely loses it when Arlo breaks free of her hypnosis and frees Edmée when his friends come to help.
• Villain Song: "The Bog Lady", sung by the Bog Lady as she has Arlo trapped in her domain and tries to tempt him into apologizing for leaving the swamp.
• Villain Takes an Interest: The Bog Lady is hesitant at keeping everything in the swamp in order, but it's Arlo whom she's especially attached to. She secretly showers him with love, care, and protection ever since the day he first entered the swamp as a baby, something he completely had no idea during his time there. After learning of his true heritage from Edmée on his fifteenth birthday which in turn allows him to finally leave the swamp and begin his journey, this enraged the Bog Lady over losing the one thing she grew attached to all those years; thus she hatches a scheme by casting a dark curse over the swamp, getting Ruff and Stucky to trap Edmée as bait, has Arlo lured to her by a ransom note she ordered the hunters to write out, sinks the yacht used for the way back home, separates him from his friends, and once she finally has him all alone, demand he apologize for leaving her and never do it again. Naturally, he refuses.
• Warning Song: Ruff and Stucky's self-titled song, as they tell about the Bog Lady and warn Arlo and the gang of her dark magic.
• Where It All Began: The episode revolves around Arlo returning to the swamp where Edmée adopted him and was raised for fifteen long years before leaving for New York.
• Would Hurt a Child: The Bog Lady didn't take Arlo's departure well, and when he refused to apologize, she went out of her way to attack him and ensnare him in her roots, before brainwashing him into never leaving her grasp.
• You Are Better Than You Think You Are: Bertie to Arlo following the "Setting Off" Song that she's sure Edmée will be happy to see Arlo and his gang when they come to save her. Later Edmée to Arlo during the final battle when she reassures him that leaving the swamp was never at all the wrong thing to do and is proud he saw the world and the swamp will always be part of him.
• You Can't Thwart Stage One: Arlo is unable to thwart the Bog Lady's early stages of her plan, because once he gets to the swamp, it has become gloomy and dark, and Edmée has already been kidnapped.