Raggedy Android
Year produced: 2002
Production code: 102-002
Original U.S. air date: 8/8/2003 (first aired in the U.K. on 11/10/2002)
The one with the exo-skin.
Jenny wants to go to the 11th Annual Tremorton Townsquare Fair with Brad and Tuck, so Dr. Wakeman makes an exo-skin for her to wear to the fair.
However, Jenny puts it on before it's ready, and goes to the fair with the unfinished exo-skin, scaring all the fairgoers. Amidst the panic, the Ferris Wheel comes off the hinges, and Jenny sacrifices her exo-skin to save the day.
Upon saving the fair, the citizens become aware of Jenny's presence, thus earning her status as the hero of Tremorton.
"Raggedy Android" contains examples of:
- 13 Is Unlucky: Tuck and Brad are riding in the #13 car on the Ferris Wheel and it gets stuck at the very top before the ride is shifted into “death spiral” mode.
- Absurd Phobia: In a Bait-and-Switch, Tuck isn’t scared of the Ferris Wheel because he’s afraid of heights, but because it’s a giant wheel.
- An Aesop: Let your kids live the lives they want to live and accept that they’re growing up.
- Be Careful What You Wish For: Jenny wanted to go to the fair and in the end, she got her wish - just not how she expected.Dr. Wakeman: What’s wrong XJ9? I thought you wanted to be part of the fair?Jenny: I wanted to be part of the fair, but I didn’t want to be part of the machinery.
- Be Yourself: Jenny learns that being yourself is always better than trying to be something you’re not.
- "Brave the Ride" Plot: Tuck is on a mission to face his fears at the town fair’s Ferris Wheel. He was doing well, until it got set to “Death Spiral.”
- Chekhov's Skill: At the beginning of the episode, Jenny learns the “stretchy arm and extendo fingers” move. This same move is what she later uses to stop the runaway Ferris Wheel.
- Company Cross References: You can see Stimpy as a prize at one of the fair games. Both these shows are owned by Nickelodeon.
- Creator Cameo: Series creator Rob Renzetti and his then-girlfriend are two of the people on the Ferris Wheel.
- Feet-First Introduction: The camera pans up Jenny’s body to show the entirety of her creepy exo-skin.
- Ferris Wheel of Doom: Tuck is terrified of the fair’s Ferris Wheel, and it turns out he had a good reason to be as it breaks off its axis and goes rolling towards high voltage power lines.
- First-Person Perspective: In order to prolong the reveal of Jenny’s exo-skin, we see through her perspective until she arrives at the fair.
- Flawed Prototype: The Human Exo-Skin. Nora practically forced herself to make it in one night for her daughter's sake, and as such it makes Jenny look more threatening than she does without it.
- Freak Out: Tuck screams very loudly once he realizes they’re up too high on the Ferris Wheel. Also when it gets set to “Death Spiral.”
- I Just Want to Be Normal: Jenny wants to go to the fair with her friends like any other teenager, but her mom thinks her robot form makes her stand out too much.Jenny: Why can’t I look like everyone else?
- Heel Realization: Nora realizes she was wrong for restricting her robot daughter’s life after seeing her save the Ferris Wheel from rolling into the power lines.
- Karma Houdini: The fair-goers face no consequences for chasing Jenny, nor do they apologize for their actions.
- Never Say "Die": Averted with the "Death Spiral" setting on the Ferris Wheel.
- Pop-Culture Pun Episode Title: A pun on the classic Raggedy Ann doll toy.
- Screaming Woman: A woman at the fair gives a long, high-pitched scream when Jenny in her exo-skin shows up.
- Shout-Out: Jenny's manual is called "Your Body, Yourself,” which is a reference to Our Bodies, Ourselves - a women's health book, designed for girls going through puberty.
- Showdown at High Noon: Jenny and Dr. Wakeman face off in one at the beginning of the episode as part of Jenny’s training.
- Slower Than a Snail: The overweight angry mob chasing Jenny quickly slows down to the point that they’re passed up by a snail.
- Tantrum Throwing: Jenny throws a major one when her mom says she can’t go to the fair, made worse with the robotic weapons she has at her disposal.
- Torches and Pitchforks: The fair-goers form an angry mob to run Jenny out of town, but they use cotton candy and other fair foods in place of torches and pitchforks.
- Uncanny Valley: Jenny’s exo-skin is supposed to make her look like a normal teenage girl. Instead, it makes her look like she’s wearing a normal teenage girl’s skin.
- Unfinished, Untested, Used Anyway: Because Jenny wanted to wear the exo-skin to the fair, Dr. Wakeman works on it all night and drastically cuts down on the design. This leads to its rather...unconventional look.
Class Action
Year produced: 2002
Production code: 102-006
Original U.S. air date: 8/8/2003 (first aired in the U.K. on 11/10/2002)
The one with Jenny's first day of school.
On Jenny's first day of high school, she tries to make friends with the two most popular girls in school: Crust Cousins Brit and Tiff, who instantly despise Jenny, and a prank they pull on her leads to the school setting on fire.
In the end, Jenny saves the school, and Brit and Tiff are taken into custody.
"Class Action" contains examples of:
- Alpha Bitch: Brit and Tiff.
- Amazingly Embarrassing Parents: Dr. Wakeman draws attention to Jenny by honking her horn and yelling goodbye to her as she drops her off at school.Jenny: 2.75 seconds into the new school year; my mom’s already made me into a laughing stock.
- Be Yourself: Brad tries continuously throughout the episode to make Jenny realize that this is the best way to make friends. She finally does learn this lesson, however in a backwards kind of way.
- Dead Hat Shot: When Jenny’s dismembered arm comes falling out of the sky with the rest of the boiler debris, Brad thinks she’s dead. Fortunately this trope is averted when her arm taps Brad on the head and draws his attention to Jenny, alive and well, a few feet away from him.
- Dodgy Toupee: It turns out that Jenny’s chemistry teacher wears a toupee. When it accidentally catches on fire because of her laser, he throws it off his head in a panic and reveals his shiny bald head underneath.
- Does Not Know Her Own Strength: Unfortunately, Jenny's not familiar with her surroundings in school, thus cannot keep her Super-Strength under control. She rips her locker off its hinges then tosses it (piercing it through another locker, narrowly missing a student), crushes her desk with her weight, makes a hole in a chalkboard, shatters a door she was walking through, dislodges a water fountain (spraying it on nearby students), knocks down an entire bookshelf, and finally pops a volleyball with her pigtail.
- Eating Lunch Alone: After Brit and Tiff lie and tell Jenny there’s no room for her at their table, she has to eat lunch all by herself. To make the situation even more humiliating, the lunch chair breaks underneath her.
- Engineered Public Confession: Britt tricks Jenny into asking all of her embarrassing questions into the school’s PA system.
- Failure Montage: Jenny does her best to fit in at school, but a montage plays of her destroying everything she touches with her robot strength.
- First Day of School Episode: This episode focuses on Jenny’s first day of high school.
- Heel–Face Door-Slam: In their first appearance, Brit and Tiff actually defended Jenny when the police were planning on bringing her downtown after the science lab caught on fire (which they caused), as thanks for saving their lives. They actually wanted Jenny to start hanging out with them, until Brit shook Jenny's hand too hard and dislodged the hair pin Tiff shot into it. As the two were being led away by the fire fighters, they blamed Jenny for it.
- I Owe You My Life: After Jenny saves them from the burning school, Brit and Tiff stand up for her against the principal and are ready to become friends with her out of gratitude for saving their lives. However, they quickly change their minds when Jenny finds the hairpin they used to sabotage her with and they get busted.
- Literal-Minded: When Brad tells her to open up and show people what’s on the inside, Jenny takes it literally and shows the school all her inner gadgets and weapons. Lucky for her, this actually works to increase her popularity.
- Never My Fault: The Crust Cousins blame Jenny for getting in trouble with the principal for the school fire. They accuse her of snitching on them and vow to get their revenge. The truth is however, it was their plan to get rid of Jenny that caused all the trouble in the first place and they were stupid enough to use one of their own distinctive hairpins to do it, so they really only have themselves to blame.
- Relocating the Explosion: Seeing that the school’s boiler is about to blow, Jenny flies off into the sky with it where it can explode far away from the school.
- Robo Cam: We see through Jenny’s point of view when she scans the Crust Cousins to determine their popularity rating, which is 100%.
- Serious Business: Dr. Wakeman and Jenny treat her first day of school like a dangerous mission.
- Totally Radical: Jenny tries to relate to Brit and Tiff by using outdated slang. Obviously, it doesn’t work and they make fun of her.Jenny: What is up, homeslices?
