On the satellite, Larry is baking in the kitchen when he is suddenly startled by a farting noise as he sits down. Laughter erupts from the hallway, where Tuddrussel and Otto were hiding, but have now rolled out on the floor in hysterics. Larry realizes he sat on a whoopee cushion and yells at Otto and Tuddrussel, who insist on making fun of him. He yells at them to leave the kitchen and they do. He manages to finish his soufflé soon later, but the History Instability Alarm goes off, deflating it. This sours Larry's mood further. The group sees that their mission is to help Edgar Allan Poe. Larry finds some comfort in knowing who Poe is, reciting lines from "The Raven" to prove the point. Tuddrussel attributes his dramatic recitation to him being moody.
The group arrives outside of Edgar Allan Poe’s house, but the house is decorated with a cheery atmosphere. Tuddrussel asks if they've arrived at Santa's Workshop. Edgar Allan Poe, dressed in a bright purple suit then answers his door and cheerfully asks Time Squad if they're supposed to be trick-or-treaters. When Otto tells him otherwise, he assumes they have come for a poetry reading and invites them inside. The house is just as cheery inside as it is outside, and Poe starts reading a poem he wrote called "The Bear."
The poem is appallingly sappy, and Larry asks if Poe would rather write horror stories. This surprises Edgar Allan Poe, who states that he only writes happy things like greeting cards and childrens books. This frustrates Larry, who decides that they have to show him how dark and dreary the world is by taking him to depressing places. The gang takes Edgar Allan Poe to a charred forest, a hospital, and a cemetery, but Poe always has advice on how to look at things positively and is unaffected by everything. This all bores Tuddrussel and Larry, but something about Poe's cheeriness draws Otto in. Heavily influenced by Poe, the boy tries to convince the others that Edgar Allan Poe is just having fun.
After a few days, Tuddrussel and Larry are stumped, saying that nothing gets to him while Edgar Allan Poe is in the kitchen making a cake. Otto attempts to talk Tuddrusel and Larry into accepting Edgar Allan Poe's optimistic attitude, but Larry won't stand for it. Edgar Allan Poe then offers everyone some of his cake while the tea is still boiling, but Larry says it is dry with lumpy icing, and Tuddrussel refuses to eat it because the frosting is pink. The whole team starts subtly complaining about the cake. Even Otto asks for some milk to wash it down, and Edgar Allan Poe snaps. He becomes furious and destroys his own cake and furniture, ranting about how he hates it all, too. Eventually, he becomes a morbid person again and leaves his house with a raven scaring the trick-or-treaters outside. Larry, Tuddrussel, and Otto, defeated in their own victory and shocked by the turn of events decide to leave quietly.
Tropes present in this episode include:
- Beware the Nice Ones: Edgar Allen Poe.
- The Cynic: Larry is determined to tear down Poe's happiness by bringing him down to his level of misery.
- Mess of Woe: Poe turns his whole house into a bleak disaster in a matter of seconds once his anger and depression sets in.
- Pink Is for Sissies: Tuddrussel refuses to eat Poe's cake because it's bright neon pink.
- Sickeningly Sweet: Everyone finds Poe's poetry nauseatingly sweet.
- Snark Knight: Tuddrussel provides a lot of sarcasm and dry quips in this mission.
- Sugar Bowl: The world that Poe surrounds himself in, with all of his cheerful books.
- The Pollyanna: Edgar Allen Poe.
- Took a Level in Cheerfulness: While Otto is normally the optimistic one anyway, he really gets influenced by Poe and slips into a more innocently cheerful state of mind.
