After pursuing a man and explaining that the words are about police work and detectives, Martha is seen with Skits and Helen, the latter of whom points out a cop named Officer O'Reilly. He has a dog, but the dog isn't interested in Martha or Skits. O'Reilly explains that the dog's name is Rascal, and he's part of their canine unit. When O'Reilly reveals that his partner will be taking Rascal to Chicago for the next few days, Martha volunteers to sub for Rascal. At first he's hesitant since Martha is untrained, but then he lets her.
Martha, to the Lorraines' annoyance, prepares for her new job by watching crime shows on TV. Helen doesn't think this will work, since none of the crimes portrayed on TV happen in Wagstaff City. She falls asleep that night and has a dream about being a police dog and having her own show, only for a man to smuggle bug-infested pineapples into Wagstaff City, which cause mass destruction (since Helen used this scenario as an example of what smuggling was and how it could be bad).
Helen feeds the dogs the next morning (with Martha being angry that she almost forgot), and Martha is sleepy because she couldn't fall back asleep after her nightmare and worried about smugglers. She then goes off and meets Officer O'Reilly.
O'Reilly tells her that there are no smugglers in Wagstaff City, since no foreign planes or boats come there, but she finds a rat chewing on a rutabaga at the docks. Fearing the rutabaga could be bug-infested, Martha chases the rat, who escapes, leaving the rutabaga, which the skipper puts in his pocket. O'Reilly takes Martha away, but she's suspicious of the skipper.
The chase gets Martha fired, and while sulking in the yard, she smells the same smell from the docks coming from a truck. She and Skits chase the truck, and when it stops, the ship captain gets out. As it turns out, he is smuggling, and has a partner in crime. She tells the police, but they don't take her seriously.
However, they do agree to check it out, and the smugglers get arrested. O'Reilly apologises for not believing Martha and gives her donuts as a prize.
This episode provides examples of
- Ahem: Martha gets Helen to feed her and Skits by clearing her throat.
- And Your Reward Is Edible: O'Reilly gives Martha donuts as a prize for stopping the smugglers.
- Anxiety Dreams: When Helen brings up the idea of someone smuggling bug-infested food into Wagstaff City and the bugs eating the crops, Martha fears that it'll actually happen and has a nightmare about it.
- Big "NO!": Martha wakes up from her nightmare yelling, "NO!".
- Continuity Nod:
- Martha remembers fighting off Louie Kablooie and Jimmy Gimme Moore (which happened in "Codename: Martha"), and stopping some dogs who were robbing the butchers (which happened in "Martha and the Canine Caper").
- When Martha is going over her previous jobs, she remembers being a fire dog (in "Fire Dog Martha"), a radio host (in "Martha Gives Advice") and a telemarketer (in "Martha Runs Away").
- Death Glare: Martha glares at Helen for forgetting to feed her and Skits.
- Does Not Like Spam: Martha claims to not like root vegetables.
- Donut Mess with a Cop: In Martha's dream, she and Officer O'Reilly eat donuts when they're being cops, then later they end up eating some for real.
- Episode Tagline: Characters, most often Martha, keep saying, "Police! Freeze!".
- Evil Laugh: The smugglers laugh evilly when gloating about how everyone thinks there's no smuggling in Wagstaff City.
- Half-Dressed Cartoon Animal:
- Rascal wears a police vest.
- In her dream, Martha wears a police vest and hat.
- Heroic Dog: As it turns out, there are bugs in the rutabagas, so Martha potentially saved Wagstaff City from a dangerous infestation.
- Instantly Proven Wrong: Martha says she's not sure how she'll ever fall asleep, only to fall asleep.
- Ironic Name: The police dog is named Rascal.
- Literal-Minded: An example from a character besides Martha — when she says something "smells fishy", O'Reilly thinks she means literally and points out that she's by a river.
- Mirthless Laughter: Martha chuckles awkwardly when O'Reilly points out she smells bad (due to being covered in trash).
- The Pratfall: When the three men slip on the marbles, O'Reilly lands on his rear.
- Slapstick: When a box of marbles spills, three men slip on them.
- Sleep Deprivation: Martha can't fall back asleep after her nightmare, so she's a little groggy the next morning.
- Stink Snub: Due to Martha having been hiding in the trash, when she says something "smells rotten", O'Reilly says, "Maybe you".
- Talking Animal: In addition to Martha, her dream features evil, talking bugs.
- Tempting Fate: Helen and O'Reilly insist there's no smuggling in Wagstaff City, only for two smugglers to show up.
