First aired: April 12, 2016
Solar System Bake Off:
"Maybe you can join our team!" "Oh, uh, no thanks...."
- Written by: Joe Purdy
Mindy enters the Boxwood Terrace Kids' Baking Contest. She and the others decide to make a Saturn cake, but they don't remember if it's cold outside, hot inside, or vice-versa. The big kids travel to Saturn to discover the truth. At the same time, Mitchell is also entering the baking contest, but he keeps getting nervous when around Mindy.
- Adorably Precocious Child: Mitchell & Mindy are able to make realistic rocket and Saturn cakes respectively, without the help from grownups.
- Adults Are Useless: Zig-zagged: the rule for the baking contest is no grown-ups are allowed to help, but Celery and Face 9000 provide help to the kids. Celery takes them to Saturn and Face 9000 teaches them about gas and terrestrial planets.
- Advertised Extra: Carrot is included in this episode's official PBS description, yet he barely contributes to the plot.
- Affectionate Gesture to the Head: Dr. Bergs gives one to Mindy.
- Animation Bump: The previous 15 episodes (or previous 30 11-minute segments) had shoddy animation. Beginning with this very segment, the animation is much more solid, fluid, and very pretty to look at because of its lovely color palette. This is because the rest of the season is animated by Digitales Studios as opposed to Hot and Sour Animation and FX, Inc.
- Arson, Murder, and Jaywalking: When Mitchell is presenting his Saturn V cake, he tells the judges to take notice of the command module, four engines, and the "fact" that his design is approved by the International Society of Outer Space Shaped Baked Goods.
- Aw, Look! They Really Do Love Each Other: A parent and child example. Mitchell and his dad have a complicated relationship, but Mitchell's dad shows that he does care for him when he compliments his rocket cake and hugs him.
- Blatant Lies:
- When Sydney asks Mitchell why he is writing in his notebook, Mitchell claims that maybe he'll write a cookbook someday. Or maybe a blog. Or webisodes.
- Mitchell later claims that his cake is approved by the International Society of Outer Space Shaped Baked Goods.
- Brick Joke: In the episode What's Up With Saturn's Rings?, Mindy expresses disappointment that Saturn's rings aren't made of cookies. In this episode, she gets to make the rings on her Saturn cake out of cookies.
- The Cameo: Dr. Rafferty and Dr. Bergs make cameos as judges for the baking contest.
- Continuity Nod: See Brick Joke.
- Cooking Duel: The premise of the episode.
- It's for a Book: Mitchell sneaks into Jet's house to gather info on Mindy's baking contest entry. He writes down some information in his notebook. When Sydney asks what he's writing in there, Mitchell says its for a cookbook. Or a blog. Or webisodes.
- Lampshade Hanging: Going to Saturn just for a baking contest is kinda dumb. Sean points this out:Sean: Are you sure we need to go to Saturn just for a baking contest?
- May I Borrow a Cup of Sugar?: Mitchell uses this excuse in order to see what Mindy is doing and gather information.
- No Social Skills: When Mitchell spies on the gang in order to gather information, he acts awkward and almost robotic around them, especially around Mindy. Before he entered the house, he was even thinking of what he should say to them.
- Ship Tease: Tons and tons
- Mitchell wants to win the baking contest, so he sneaks into Jet's house and tries to get information about the gang's recipe. It is important to note that before Mitchell enters the house, he tries to think of what he should say to them, which, when taken out of context, can be interpreted as Mitchell trying to think of what he should say to this crush. When Mitchell enters the house, he acts very socially awkward, speaking almost robot-like. And then he "notices" that Mindy is entering the baking contest and says that he will probably enter as well. It is also important to note that Mindy gets very excited when she finds out that Mitchell is entering the baking contest, and puts her hand on Mitchell's shoulder. She also wants Mitchell to join her team, but Mitchell refuses, claiming that he does not want to get in the way. Considering the fact that Mitchell seems to not have any friends, perhaps he secretly wanted to join Mindy's team, but refused because of his nervousness.
- Later, at the baking contest, Mindy and Mitchell immediately run towards each other's desserts and taste them. Mindy says that she likes Mitchell's rocket cake, and then Mitchell nervously says that he likes Mindy's Saturn cake. Towards the end of the episode, Mitchell once again compliments Mindy on her Saturn cake, and Mindy thanks him. At the very end of the episode, Mitchell secretly tastes Mindy's cake again.
- Should we also mention that Mitchell's cake was of the Saturn V rocket, which was named after Saturn, which was what Mindy baked?!?
- Jet and Sydney also get some ship tease when they're in Saturn.
- Shout-Out: Mindy asks Jet, Sean, and Sydney if they're ready to help. They respond with "YES!" Mindy then says "I can't hear youuuu!" similar to Painty the Pirate from Spongebob Squarepants in the intro.
- Shown Their Work: In-Universe. Mindy and Mitchell clearly put a lot of effort into their cakes and got every detail right. Especially Mindy, who even got Saturn's temperature right.
- Shrinking Violet: Mitchell acts this way towards the other kids, and especially Mindy.
- Town Contest Episode: The episode features Boxwood Terrace holding a kids' baking contest. Mindy and Mitchell both win ribbons for their cake designs.
- Two Lines, No Waiting: The subplot of the episode focuses on Mitchell entering the contest.
- Win-Win Ending: Mindy & Mitchell both won the titular bake-off.
- "Yes"/"No" Answer Interpretation:
- At the beginning of the episode, Mitchell talks to his dog Cody. Cody ignores him, and Mitchell takes that as a "Yes, Mitchell! That's my goal too!"
- Not too long afterwards, Cody grunts at Mr. Peterson, which he interprets as a "Yes, I understand, Mr. Peterson"
Kid-Kart Derby:
Not Wacky Races, but still just as wacky
- Written by: Craig Bartlett
- Accent Interest: Mr. Peterson takes note of Jet's apparent Midwest accent. Jet says that Bortron is in the middle of their spiral arm of the galaxy, so midwest was accurate. Luckily, Mr. Peterson avoids finding out that Jet is an alien by assuming that Bortron is somewhere in Iowa.
- Accidental Truth: In the beginning of the episode, Mr. Peterson assumes Jet is from the Midwest because of his accent. Jet says that Bortron is in the middle of their spiral arm of the galaxy, so midwest was accurate.
- Air Quotes: Jet makes air quotes when saying the word "winning".
- Amusing Injuries: When Mitchell gets squished by the automatic door in Jet's garage.
- An Aesop: The moral of the episode is that winning isn't everything. But it's conveyed subtly instead of shoved down your throat.
- The Big Race: The premise of the episode.
- Binocular Shot: Towards the beginning of the episode when Mitchell is spying on Jet.
- Blatant Lies: "I wasn't spying on you. Uh, we just wouldn't want our racers to be the same. I was..playing...this!"
- The Cameo: Lillian (Mindy's friend from "The Grandest Canyon"), Carrot, Celery, Dr. Rafferty, and Dr. Bergs all make cameos in this episode.
- Cassandra Truth: Mitchell tried to expose Jet before the race even started, by claiming that he put some sort of alien technology into his kid kart (Jet borrowed some junk from the DSA for his kid kart), but Jet gets off the hook because Mr. Peterson tells Mitchell that what Jet did was "recycling"
- Cool Helmet: The helmets that the racers wear.
- Did Not Think This Through: Mitchell finds the plans for an ion drive, but it does not work because Mitchell didn't read farther down in the plans.
- Does This Remind You of Anything?: Mindy asking Mitchell to come and see what Jet's building twice can be interpreted as Mindy asking Mitchell out on a date.
- Forgetful Jones: Jet constantly forgets that he's supposed to win the derby.
- Graceful Loser: Jet ends up losing the derby, but takes this in stride and is glad that he had fun in the race anyways. This contrasts with Mitchell's reaction to winning the derby, where he's happy about it at first, but sad because no one's cheering for him.
- Groupie Brigade: Mitchell tries to invoke this by asking everyone if they want his autograph when he wins the derby, but fails.
- Hoist by His Own Petard: Mitchell cheats by installing an ion drive into his kid kart, but then when he starts to use it, it doesn't work. Jet then informs him that ion drives only work in the vacuum of space. Mitchell still wins the derby, however.
- I Need to Go Iron My Dog: When Mitchell overhears Sydney while he's in Jet's garage, Mitchell says that he thinks he left the hose on, or the lights.
- It's All About Me: When Mitchell wins the soapbox derby, he is the only one cheering for him and even asks anyone if they want autographs from him, but instead everyone is looking up at and cheering Jet (who was parachuting) even though he lost the derby. Mitchell is the complete opposite of Jet, who is very selfless and tries not to expose his alien identity because he doesn't want to be a celebrity and leave his friends.
- I Work Alone: Mitchell once again rejects help with his detective work.
- Palm-Fist Tap: After exiting Jet's garage, Mitchell taps his fist on his palm while declaring that he will show everyone that Jet is an alien.
- Shell Game: Mitchell is using a stack of identical cups to listen in on Jet's plans. When Jet and Sunspot catch him, the cups collapse and wanting to distract them, Mitchell quickly puts a tangerine under one of them, asking Sunspot to guess which cup the tangerine is hidden inside. Sunspot correctly guesses where it was hidden.
- Ship Tease:
- Sydney hugs Jet when he parachutes and lands.
- Mindy is further implied to have a crush on Mitchell, as she constantly annoys him and randomly says hi to him.
- Two Lines, No Waiting: The subplot of the episode, much like its sister episode, is about Mitchell.
