For if you want to tour New York without leaving your house.
Sample of New YorkAirdate: July 9, 2020 note
The Mobile Unit is sent to New York City to fill in for the local Odd Squad agents, who are on strike because they don't like what's being served for lunch. It's up to Opal and Oswald to figure out what they would like to eat. Meanwhile, Orla and Omar must venture out into the city to solve oddness, and see the sights along the way.
Tropes:
- Adaptational Context Change: The scene where Orla and Omar admire the Flatiron Building and spot a portal nearby is taken from a sample script that was part of a casting call for Omar as a character. However, like the sample script adaptation seen in "Running on Empty", there's no context provided for why the two agents are in New York to begin with in the script itself. However, the episode does provide context, and a majority of the dialogue from the script is either left out or changed (such as Orla saying "But that oddness is just over yonder" instead of saying that it's "a mere stone's throw away").
- Alternate Aesop Interpretation: At some points, the episode makes it seem like it wants its audience to learn moreso about New York City's history and its landmarks than about the actual Aesop of sample sizes, when the show's Aesops have never been history-oriented.
- Artistic License – Statistics: Opal only gathers data from 50 agents as a small sample. However, said agents turn out to all be babies, who all like the same thing: mushed peas. She soon realizes what she did wrong, and gathers data from a more wider variety of (much older) agents who like numerous different foods so she and Oswald can figure out what they like.
- Berate and Switch: When Omar tells her that he wants to check off things on his New York City to-do list as he and Orla are solving oddness, she mocks him by asking him if he wants to protect the city and see the sights at the same time, then switches to a more amiable tone as she says, "Challenge accepted!"
- Big Applesauce: The setting for the episode.
- Bizarre Taste in Food: At the end of the episode, Oswald is revealed to actually enjoy the New York City Ms. O's disgusting sludge concoction, which she gives him and the rest of the Main 4 in a small metal canteen. This is in contrast to the beginning of the episode, where he reacted in disgust upon smelling the boiling brown mess in a pot.
- Directly after that, the Main 4 are seen enjoying hot dogs and pretzels both wrapped up in pizzas (versus separating each food and eating them that way), which they chow down on with a fair amount of difficulty.
- Blunt "Yes": Orla and Omar give Polka Dot Pete these when he realizes he's giving them Too Much Information about his personal life.
- The Chase: Orla and Omar chase Polka Dot Pete to the Statue of Liberty. However, since he has Flight capabilities and travels by trapping himself inside a Sphere of Power, he has a huge advantage over the agents, who don't move as fast and don't have the ability to fly on their own accord. Despite this, Orla still manages to catch up to him just as he attacks Lady Liberty.
- Crowd Chant: The protesting Odd Squad agents repeatedly chant, "No way, we won't work, 'till there's good food on our fork!"
- Cuteness Proximity: Opal takes a moment to fawn over the baby Odd Squad agents who are shown eating mushed peas.
- Descended Creator: Mark De Angelis, a writer for the show and the showrunner of Season 3, plays a tourist that Orla and Omar come across with the odd problem of having his tower viewer continuously moving so he can't look out of it.
- Exact Eavesdropping: Averted. Both New York City Ms. O and Oswald tell Opal that they didn't hear her phone call with Orla and Omar, so they have no idea what's happening, leading her to say that she'll tell them while on the way to where the New York City Odd Squad agents are protesting.
- Flat "What": Polka Dot Pete gives Omar this reaction when the agent asks him to polka-dot someplace else.
- Friendly Enemy: Polka Dot Pete is a villain who wishes to polka-dot various things in New York City. However, Orla and Omar don't harbor any malice towards him and treat him more like a common citizen of the city than a villain, asking if he can perform his odd crime somewhere else that Omar has never been to before. Pete is also more friendly towards Omar than Orla, viewing her as more of a Worthy Opponent.
- Heel–Face Turn: Polka Dot Pete manages to pull one when he bonds with Omar over their love of New York City, and vows to start getting out more and seeing the sights with Cheryl, his sister.
- Idiot Ball: Opal somehow thought that getting a sample from babies, who generally have stricter food preferences than older kids, would work out for all of the New York City agents, because babies are adorable and they don't move.
- Improbable Weapon User: Befitting his name, Polka Dot Pete attacks using polka-dot-based attacks, forming a sphere filled with polka dots then throwing it on whatever he sees fit.
- Instant Ice: Just Add Cold!: The New York City agents manage to trap both woolly mammoths in a large block of ice, despite there being no cold weather in the city. It's not stated whether they used the Freeze-inator (or multiple Freeze-inators) on the creatures, or whether they used other gadgets entirely.
- Jaw Drop: Opal does one when the New York City agents refuse to eat the mushed peas that she and Oswald have prepared for them.
- Lethal Chef: New York City Ms. O, holy hell. She is infamous for her sludge, which is basically every single food in existence mixed together into a boiling brown mixture that is incredibly foul-smelling and manages to erode the ground. Her poor cooking skills contributes to all of her agents leaving her precinct until they can get something edible to eat, much to her confusion, and it doesn't appease the palates of the Mobile Unit agents either — although Oswald, who is somewhat of a Big Eater himself, expresses his love for it at the end of the episode.
- No-Sell: The woolly mammoths break free from every attack Orla and Omar throw at them using the Freeze-inator — they become encased in ice and break free a second later.
- Offscreen Teleportation: When the agents begin to protest, it cuts to a shot from behind Opal and Oswald as they watch them briefly. Right after Oswald asks why the sample didn't work and Opal says that she isn't sure, the camera cuts to four babies who suddenly appear out of nowhere despite them not being in the previous shot.
- Pointy-Haired Boss: While not nearly to the extent of those like Arctic Mr. O, New York City Ms. O is more dimwitted and clueless compared to previous female Directors we've seen.
- Poor Communication Kills: Played with. Opal can't understand a word Omar and Orla are saying while they are fighting two woolly mammoths loose in the city, but is eventually revealed to have understood exactly what they said.
- Properly Paranoid: Orla tells Omar that she doesn't think it's wise to be in an indoor space when oddness is lurking outside, which is why she refuses to see a Broadway show with him. He tells her that she worries too much and begins to walk away, causing her to become The Drag-Along. As it turns out, right after he and Orla leave the Broadway theater after seeing Hamilton, they spot two woolly mammoths roaming the streets.Omar: I take back what I said earlier. You worry the exact right amount.
- Road Trip Across the Street: Omar wants to hail a taxi so he can ride to the odd portal that is less than 5 minutes away from him and Orla, since one of the things on his New York City to-do list involves taking a taxi.
- Scenery Porn: This episode has a lot of luxurious establishing shots of New York City.
- Screw This, I'm Outta Here: As soon as Polka Dot Pete shows up, the tourist is quick to make a run for it.
- Shout-Out: Orla and Omar go and see Hamilton at one point, with Orla saying how the real George Washington didn't rap as well.
- Slogan-Yelling Megaphone Guy: New York City Ms. O gets her protesting agents to calm down by shouting into a Management-branded megaphone.
- Sphere of Power: Polka Dot Pete attacks with these, which contain polka dots. In addition, he achieves the power of Flight and gets around by encapsulating himself in a polka-dot sphere and flying to his preferred destination.
- Stealth Hi/Bye: Polka Dot Pete suddenly appears after Omar recites a fun fact about the Rockefeller Center.
- Stock Sound Effects: The sound effect of children cheering can be heard when the protesting agents cheer after Opal and Oswald tell them that they've made pizza, salad, and cheese sandwiches for them.
- Waving Signs Around: A few of the protesting Odd Squad agents do this.
- What the Hell, Hero?: Being roped into something she doesn't want to do by one of her partners is a Running Gag for Opal at this point — when Oswald volunteers both himself and her for cooking duty, she's quick to give him a piece of her mind, and telling her that she'll thank him later earns him a scathing Death Glare which causes him to back away.
- Worldbuilding: It's implied that the kitchen that Opal, Oswald, and the New York City Ms. O use is within Odd Squad, and a kitchen for those in the Food and Beverage department has been alluded to in past episodes and Training Videos.
- World Tour: The Mobile Unit go to New York City in this episode.
Hey, at least being chill is easier than chasing an excited agent-in-training all around the van.
It's Not Easy Being ChillAirdate: July 9, 2020 note
Agent-in-training Orpita decides to do her Agent Profile report on Omar, who is on creature duty, while the rest of the Mobile Unit goes out to defeat a giant robot. But when Orpita turns out to be too laid-back, Omar must use fractions to feed the creature properly before it grows too big and escapes.
Tropes:
- An Aesop: Know when to be calm, and when to be responsible — there's a time for work, and a time for play.
- Arc Words: Go ahead and make a Drinking Game out of every time anyone says "chill". We aren't responsible for your hospital bills when you get alcohol poisoning.
- Babysitting Episode: Omar ends up having to care for Orpita when she chooses him to write her Agent Report on. He keeps her safe while the rest of the Main 4 go to fight a robot, and he also is forced to care for a creature, as he is on creature duty.
- Big "WHAT?!": Omar gives one of these when Orpita remarks how the creature grew huge.
- Broken Pedestal: Played with in the cases of both Orpita and Omar.
- Omar jumps through numerous hoops to defy the trope throughout the episode, as he is hesitant about letting Orpita feed the creature, but when she writes in her book that Omar is more of a "rules guy" than a Mellow Fellow and that he's under a lot of stress (meaning that she pretty much starts to view him as a Broken Pedestal, in her own way), he backtracks and allows her to do so, while claiming that he is consistently laid-back. Eventually, the stress of caring for her and the creature gets to him, and the end of the episode has her saying that she wants to do her Agent Report on Opal and Orla.
- Orpita tends to be very manipulative when it comes to trying to get Omar to let her feed the creature — every time she expresses doubt about him and remarks about how he's a stickler for rules, he defends himself and allows her to feed it. Her manipulation could essentially be seen as her trying to exploit the trope, but it may also be justified due to her naivety, since she's younger than Omar and the rest of the Main 4 and is only an agent-in-training still at the Odd Squad Academy.
- But for Me, It Was Tuesday: A heroic variant. When they arrive at Holland, Opal tells Oswald to come with her and Orla so they can go and defeat a giant robot per the Big O's command. The two girls then exchange smiles and gleefully say in unison, "I love Tuesdays."
- Butt-Monkey: Omar goes from his usual Pollyanna self to extremely stressed and worn out, which isn't helped by the fact that he has to babysit both Orpita and an aggressive creature, as well as deliver equipment to his teammates when they need them. Not only that, but he actually tries to hide being stressed from both his teammates and Orpita because he doesn't want to let them down.
- Call-Back: It seems that having a Babysitting Episode is a Once a Season occurrence — Season 1's "Hold the Door" had Olive and Otto babysitting Ori (who was, funnily enough, another agent-in-training), Season 2's "Two Agents and a Baby" had Olympia and Otis babysitting Baby Genius, and this episode has Omar babysitting both Orpita and a captured creature.
- Captain's Log: Opal starts one of these, with her first entry being how she believes that someone organized various villains to work together, and how said someone is an "evil genius mastermind". The log and her entries (which she refers to as a "blog" rather than a "log") both become a Running Gag throughout the rest of the season, and play a very pivotal role in the fourth part of the mid-season finale and The Shadow's Heel–Face Turn.
- Character Focus: On Omar, as it deconstructs his Mellow Fellow personality trait that he has shown in past episodes.
- Cheerful Child: Orpita is adorable, cheerful, and is very laid-back, and often has a sunny demeanor — much like Omar, whom she gets along with.
- Continuity Nod: The Big O calls the Main 4 and Orpita from the Museum of Natural Odd, last seen in "The Thrill of the Face". She also explains how Ortho got turned to stone again, and remarks how the place is terribly understaffed.
- When trying to figure out who built the robot, Oswald suggests that it might be Fladam's doing, since the robot has the ability to flatten things. Fladam hasn't been seen since "Who Let the Doug Out?", but doesn't make an appearance in this episode outside of that mention.
- Deconstructed Character Archetype: This episode deconstructs the Mellow Fellow trait of Omar. He is generally a laid-back agent who doesn't sweat the small stuff, and because he's so laid-back, he has little regard for what rules are in place. It's because of this that Orpita grows to admire him and chooses him to write her Agent Report on, but whenever Omar gets serious regarding the creature he's taking care of, she doubts him and starts to lose faith in him, causing him to revert back to his relaxed demeanor. It doesn't help that Omar also leaves the task of feeding the creature to Orpita at her insistence, and she over-feeds and under-feeds it at various points due to her inability to understand fractions, causing it to eventually break out of its cage and wreak havoc. As he continues to feel mounting stress over Orpita's naivety, Omar cracks and admits to his teammates about his emotions and what's happened, and comes to realize that there's a time for relaxing, and there's a time for being serious — something that Oswald initially warned him about.
- Distaff Counterpart: It's a little subtle, but Orpita appears to be a younger, female version of Ocean from Season 2, due to the fact that both deal with creatures in some capacity and have Mellow Fellow personalities.
- Do-Anything Robot: The Villain Network's robot appears to be this — it can shoot Eye Beams and fire bread at the agents.
- Easter Egg: The robot that Opal, Orla and Oswald fight has the logo of the Villain Network on it, suggesting that it was built and sent out by a villain in the Network.
- Eye Beams: The robot shoots these as Orla, Oswald and Opal as they try to dodge and run for cover. While the yellow ones are meant for general attack, the blue ones can flatten things like hay bales.
- Failed a Spot Check: Orpita tells Omar that she couldn't find the jar that contains cookies cut into clean halves. Sure enough, the jar is found to be buried under a pile of juice boxes that Orpita drank, which Omar swats away with his hand to expose it.
- Gasp!: The Main 4, as well as Orpita, all give one when they see the robot for the first time.
- Great Big Book of Everything: Oswald keeps a creature emergency book on him, which is used at the climax to help re-capture the creature.
- Headphones Equal Isolation: Omar is listening to music while swinging on a swing in one of the nooks, and doesn't hear or notice Oswald even after he says his name twice.
- Hypocritical Humor: As Opal, Orla and Oswald are walking through the meadow, Oswald vents about Orpita not choosing him for her Agent Report since he considers himself chill, then asks his partners if they think he's chill with all the excitement of a little kid on Christmas day.
- Immediate Self-Contradiction: Oswald tells Omar that things with the giant robot are going fine. Directly after he says that, the robot sets its eyes on him, Opal and Orla as it fires more bread at them and Opal screams that everything is not going fine.
- When the robot is seemingly defeated, Oswald points out that Omar looks stressed. He defends himself by saying that he's not stressed at all and that he and Orpita are having fun hanging out in the van, putting a smile on his face that quickly turns into a frown as he dashes straight for the van.
Oswald: [nodding] That's a stress run. - Insistent Terminology: When Oswald tells Opal to forget her blog, she sharply corrects him by saying that it's a captain's blog.
- Instantly Proven Wrong: When Oswald asks Omar if everything is okay in the van, Omar is shown struggling to close the cage with the creature inside as he convinces his partner that things are okay.
- It's All My Fault: Omar quotes the trope name verbatim when he cracks under pressure and admits to the rest of the Main 4 that he was trying to be laid-back when he shouldn't have been, and that the creature growing huge and getting loose — the former of which was due to Orpita feeding it — is all his fault. Opal and Orla are shown giving rightful What the Hell, Hero? reactions to him, but Oswald catches the sign of his partner's stress early and comes up with a solution to re-capture the creature again.
- Jet Pack: Orla and Opal use these to reach the robot's weak spot under the Villain Network badge located on its chest.
- Lethally Stupid: Orpita's naivety and inexperience causes more harm than it does good.
- Locked Out of the Loop: Being an ancient warrior, Orla doesn't know who agents-in-training are. Luckily, she has Opal to help bring her up to speed.
- Metaphorgotten: As Orpita is eating the nachos that Omar made, the pair have this exchange.Omar: When you think about it, Odd Squad's a lot like a nacho.Orpita: Because it's awesome?Omar: Exactly.
- My Friends... and Zoidberg: Oswald introduces the rest of the Main 4 like this, calling Orla and Opal "amazing agents" as he introduces them to Orpita, then turning to Omar and simply saying his name, then giving an exasperated sigh as he leads Orpita to him.
- The Paragon: Oswald tries his damndest to invoke this, wanting Orpita to look up to him as a role model so she'll write her Agent Report on him, but it ultimately fails as she turns her sights on Omar instead. That doesn't stop him from trying to convince Omar to steer the young agent-in-training towards him, though he gives up the fight when she says that she wants to do her Agent Report on Opal and Orla after seeing them shrink the creature that the Mobile Unit is transporting down to normal size using jetpacks.
- Reused Character Design: The robot that Orla, Opal and Oswald go to defeat is basically a Palette Swap of Benny and is near-similar in design, only with a spinning rotor in place of a steamroller, and the Villain Network logo emblazoned onto its chest.
- Reveal Shot: After Opal, Oswald and Orla leave, Omar tells Orpita to pay attention to him as he starts to build something and explains that he's going to teach her something that they won't at the Academy. When he's finished, the camera pans back to reveal that the "something" he's building is a stack of nachos.
- Running Gag: This episode introduces yet another season-long gag: Opal's Captain's Log (or "captain's blog", as she calls it), where she records her thoughts on current situations. Unlike most other running gags, however, this gag plays an important role in the fourth part of the mid-season finale, "End of the Road", and contributes to The Shadow's Heel–Face Turn and redemption.
- Self-Applied Nickname: Omar refers to himself as "Mr. Chill" throughout the episode.
- Skewed Priorities: Even in the midst of battle with a giant robot, Oswald is still fixated on Orpita and how he wants her to do her Agent Report on him.
- Stealth Hi/Bye: Orpita does this when Omar says that there's only one whole cookie left, when two are needed to shrink the creature down to its normal size.
- Suddenly Voiced: The robot initially appears to be voiceless, up until it has a verbalized Oh, Crap! reaction when Orla and Opal go to defeat it.
- Vertebrate with Extra Limbs: The creature that the Main 4 capture has six legs, as well as a pair of bat-like wings.
- Worldbuilding: Downplayed. While the main room of the van has been left unidentified before, this episode confirms that it is a bullpen, in a similar vein as Precinct 13579's.
- Much like Precinct 13579, the van also has a Creature Room, although it appears to be much smaller and more filled with cages than the one Ocean ran.
- World Tour: This episode takes place in a meadow somewhere in Holland.
