Ronald, Reginald, and a third boy are talking together, and Ronald starts talking about how, according to him, cats are smart and dogs are dumb. Martha walks up, and to "prove" that dogs are dumb, Ronald tells her in a judgmental way that she was "ambulating" in front of everyone. Martha tells Truman at the corner store, and finds out that "ambulate" just means "walk" and Ronald was just tricking her by making it seem like something bad. However, Helen, Alice, and T.D. approach, having been told Martha was "ambulating" by Ronald, and ask if she's okay. Martha assumes those three are in on the joke and berates them for making fun of her, then walks off in a sulk.
However, she is then hit on the head with a book thrown from a window and knocked unconscious. We then see a parody of the opening theme that establishes that the book was a verb-only dictionary and she's now a superhero named Verb Dog with the power to make verbs come true by saying, "[noun] - [verb]!".
Martha/Verb Dog is then seen with her sidekick, a human named Dr. R, walking down the street. He gives her the lowdown on her powers, then tells her that she needs to defeat some "mean" people. They arrive at the Lorraines' yard, and find a girl in the treehouse that looks just like Alice, but is wearing a strange costume. Dr. R explains that this is "Al-Ice", and she uses her ice powers to freeze Dr. R solid. She tries to freeze Martha/Verb Dog too, but she commands her to giggle, rendering her powers unstable, and unfreezes Dr. R.
Then, a robot version of T.D. with expendable limbs arrives, named the T.D. 603. She tries to make him giggle as well, but it doesn't work since he's a robot and has no emotions. He then picks up Dr. R and spins him around, but Martha uses her powers to make the T.D. 603's robot arms tangle. Then, a giant version of Helen in a strange outfit appears, and Dr. R says that her name is just Helen and she's a traitor. Martha/Verb Dog says, "Fly to Hackensack, instantly!", which does make her fly away, but as Martha/Verb Dog is dancing, Dr. R points out that "to Hackensack" and "instantly" are not verbs.
Martha/Verb Dog thinks Dr. R is being too negative, so she takes him for a fly around town, but then Helen comes back with a jetpack, so they hide in the sewers. Helen follows, and then mesmerises Martha/Verb Dog into coming towards her. Dr. R tells her to resist it, and when he tells her to "ambulate", she then remembers that Helen is her owner and "made fun" of her earlier. She uses the word "petrify" to turn Helen to stone, but then Dr. R muzzles her and takes off his face, which is really a mask, revealing himself to be Ronald all along. He reveals that Helen really was Martha's friend and didn't make fun of her after all.
Then, Helen wakes Martha up, revealing that everything that happened after Martha was knocked out was only a dream. Helen, Alice, and T.D. explain that they weren't making fun of her — Ronald just tricked them the same way as he tricked Martha. Then, they confront him and tell him that despite what he says, Nelson isn't a genius since he got his head stuck in a paper bag.
This episode provides examples of
- Absurdly Spacious Sewer: The sewer that Martha, Helen, and Dr. R are seen in is very roomy.
- Adventures in Comaland: The episode shows Martha being knocked unconscious and dreaming of being a verb-themed superhero.
- All Just a Dream: Most of the episode turns out to be Martha's dream she had while knocked out.
- Backhanded Apology: When Ronald is told to apologise, he says, "I'm sorry you don't know what 'ambulate' means". Alice tells him off for this.
- Bad People Abuse Animals: Subverted — it seems as though Helen, Al-Ice, and the T.D. 603 were trying to kidnap Martha, but really they were trying to take her away from Ronald.
- Big, Stupid Doodoo-Head: Dr. R describes Al-Ice, the TD-603, and Helen as "mean".
- Blue Means Cold: Al-Ice's suit is mostly sky blue.
- Brought to You by the Letter "S":
- Martha's "Verb Dog" shirt has a "V" on the front.
- Helen's superhero shirt has an "H" on the front.
- But You Were There, and You, and You: All the humans in Martha's dream are based on people she knows. She even says, "You were there and you were there" after waking up.
- Circling Birdies: Martha sees copies of her face as she's passing out.
- Continuity Nod: Martha at one point disguises herself in the same Goldilocks costume from "Martha Spins a Tale".
- Dogs Are Dumb: Discussed when Ronald calls dogs stupid for doing tricks and eating garbage.
- The Emotionless: The TD-603 has no emotions, and thus can't laugh, due to being a robot.
- Evil All Along: Dr. R turns out to be Ronald in disguise, trying to sway Martha away from her friends.
- Evil Laugh: Ronald laughs evilly after revealing himself.
- Facepalm: Ronald's chubby friend facepalms when Ronald starts going on about how dogs are apparently dumb.
- Fat Bastard: Downplayed for the podgy teenage boy — he laughs at Martha along with Ronald and Reginald, but also glares at Ronald for being mean to her later.
- Flight: Martha can fly as "Verb Dog".
- Flowery Insults: Dr. R calls Al-Ice "about as much fun as an ice cream headache" (i.e. no fun at all).
- Foreshadowing:
- Dr. R as the villain is foreshadowed by him saying that Helen "pretends to be your friend and then stabs you in the back", which is what he later did.
- Him being Ronald in disguise is also foreshadowed by him having the same first initial.
- Helen, Al-Ice, and the T.D. 603 being good guys is foreshadowed by them being based on Martha's friends.
- Several things foreshadow the episode being All Just a Dream:
- Before being knocked out, Martha mentions that the humans "use words like an evil superpower", hinting that the business of words and superpowers are just in her mind.
- Martha has strange gaps in her memory, not remembering at first that Helen is her owner, and then remembering that Al-Ice and the T.D.-603 were her friends all along despite her initially not recognising them.
- Helen, Al-Ice, and the T.D.-603 are too similar to Martha's real-life friends for it to be a coincidence.
- Four Eyes, Zero Soul: As well as Reginald, Ronald's friends with another boy in glasses that laughs at Martha during the "ambulate" incident. Downplayed though, since he and Reginald do glare at Ronald for continuing to call dogs dumb.
- Half-Dressed Cartoon Animal:
- Martha is shown wearing only a bathrobe in the intro.
- Martha wears a blue shirt and no pants as "Verb Dog".
- Happy Dance: Martha/Verb Dog does a victory dance after the first fight, and tries to get Dr. R to join in.
- Heroic Dog: In Martha's dream, she's a superhero.
- Hypno Fool: Helen hypnotises Martha into walking towards her.
- An Ice Person: Al-Ice can make ice shoot out of her hands.
- An Ice Suit: Al-Ice wears a onesie with a blue and white colour scheme.
- In a Single Bound: Martha as "Verb Dog" can jump very high by saying, "Leap!".
- Instantly Proven Wrong: Ronald calls Nelson a genius, but it's then revealed that he got his head stuck in a bag.
- Kid Hero: Helen and Alice are superheroes in the dream, and they still seem to be the same age.
- Knotty Tentacles: Martha defeats the T.D.-603 by having his long robot arms tangle.
- Mind over Matter: Downplayed — Martha's powers over verbs can cause things to move if applied in the right ways (e.g. saying, "elevate", "fly", or "descend").
- Nightmare Sequence: Downplayed for the dream that only really becomes a nightmare just before she wakes up (ending on Helen being petrified and Martha muzzled).
- Odd Name Out: The superhero (or in Ronald's case, villain) versions of the characters are Verb Dog, Dr. R, Al-Ice, the T.D. 603, and... Helen.
- Opening Shout-Out: After being knocked out, Martha is seen on a parody of the show's intro, that begins with "Martha was an average talking dog".
- Opinion-Changing Dream: Martha is knocked out believing her friends were in on the trick, but then dreams that Ronald betrays her, which makes her realise that he just fooled them the same way he fooled her.
- Pet the Dog: Despite being bullies occasionally, Ronald's friends glare at him for calling Martha stupid.
- Power Incontinence: Al-Ice can't control her powers when she's laughing. Invoked when Martha/Verb Dog makes her laugh so she won't be able to control her powers.
- Punny Name: Alice's superhero name is Al-Ice since she has ice powers.
- Red Is Heroic: "Verb Dog"'s cape, mask, boots, and initial are red.
- Scary Science Words: When Helen, Alice, and T.D. are told that Martha was "ambulating", they seem to think it's an off-putting symptom of a disease, since they ask her in a disgusted voice if she's okay.
- Shout-Out: Martha changes into her Verb Dog attire by spinning around, referencing Wonder Woman.
- Special Person, Normal Name: Helen doesn't have a superhero name; she just goes by her actual name.
- Spell My Name with a "The": The robot T.D. is called the T.D. 603.
- The Stool Pigeon: Alice tells Ronald to apologise or she'll tell Mrs. Boxwood about how he was mean to Martha.
- Superhero Episode: The episode shows Martha (in a dream) becoming a superhero with the power over verbs.
- Superheroes Wear Capes: Martha's "Verb Dog" outfit includes a red cape.
- Taken for Granite: Martha as Verb Dog can turn people to stone by saying, "petrify" and does it to Helen.
