Two Wild Kratts kids wake up to find the praying mantis cocoons they've been keeping in their room have hatched - they now have 200 babies. Sending out a Wild Kratts Alarm, the Tortuga rushes to help them.
Tropes
- Always a Bigger Fish: Martin overpowers Zach's normal-sized Zachbots, so Zach makes two more Zachbots even bigger to capture him. They do so successfully...just before they are trounced by a ginormous transformed Aviva with praying mantis powers.
- Are You Pondering What I'm Pondering?: Subverted. Martin asks this of Chris, but Chris catches on instantly.Martin: You thinking what I'm thinking, bro?
Chris: I know I'm thinking what you're thinking!
Martin: [takes out two gecko Power Discs] A little electrical Lizard Power?
Chris: It's time to get back to...
Chris and Martin: The Gecko Effect! - Artificial Limbs:
- Zach builds a pair of robotic arms mirrored after those of the praying mantis, with a female praying mantis as a power source.
- Aviva also makes another pair of robotic arms mirrored after those of the praying mantis, but in this case, this is to test out its function as she makes a praying mantis Creature Power Suit.
- Attack of the 50-Foot Whatever:
- Invoked by Zach, who keeps sending out bigger and bigger Zachbots to deal with the transformed and much smaller Martin. While Martin wins the first round against Zachbots that are just his size, he can't deal with the even bigger Zachbots that go after him, which are absolutely monstrous.
- Due to being female, Aviva, when her Creature Power Suit is activated with praying mantis powers, grows huge and towers over everyone but the Tortuga and Zach's plane. This allows her to deliver an easy Curb-Stomp Battle against Zach and his Zachbots.
- Bad Impressionists: Martin puts his life on the line to save Chris, Aviva, Gavin, and Ronan by making a mouse impression to ward off a threatening snake. Said impression leaves a lot to be desired.Chris: How was that a mouse, bro? That's just you squeaking.
Martin: So? This milk snake is believing it. - Batman in My Basement: Gavin and Ronan call upon the Kratt brothers to help them get out of bed and save the baby praying mantises without crushing any. When they arrive, Ronan asks his mother if they can have a Wild Kratts adventure in their room, and she says yes.
- Big Damn Heroes: Just when Zach is about to win after capturing Martin in Martin's attempt to save Koki and Jimmy, Aviva activates a praying mantis Creature Power Suit to not only free Martin, Koki, and Jimmy, but also to let Chris change himself, Gavin, and Ronan back to normal size, effectively foiling Zach's plan as a result.
- Black Cloak: Zach wears one to disguise his praying mantis-designed Artificial Limbs from Koki and Jimmy.
- Bound and Gagged: Not gagged, but Koki, Jimmy, and Martin are all bound up, courtesy of the Zachbots. Koki and Jimmy are placed into a cell while Martin is freed by Aviva, and not long after, Gavin is able to free Koki and Jimmy.
- Chekhov's Gun: The guessing game Chris and Martin play at the beginning of the episode, where they each try to guess the animal based on face expressions and behaviors, comes in handy later when they, along with Aviva, Gavin and Ronan, are threatened by a snake. Martin doesn't change his face to look like a mouse's, but he does act like one.
- Collector of the Strange: Maybe not so strange considering they're allies of the Wild Kratts, but Gavin and Ronan have a lot of Wild Kratts memorabilia in their room that looks just a tad out of place — a few posters that are completely identical to posters for the show and not for the eponymous group, a picture of a jaguar, and a picture of Poby the polar bear, among other things.
- Comically Cross-Eyed:
- Martin briefly goes cross-eyed when he shakes his head to undo his facial and hair changes during a guessing game with Chris.
- Directly after that, Chris's own eyes not only bulge out, but he goes cross-eyed as he makes the face of a gecko.
- Crazy-Prepared: No one would really expect the Tortuga to have an alarm system specifically designed to alert people to a Wow Fact...but it does.
- Curb-Stomp Battle:
- Martin delivers one to the first round of Zachbots, largely due to their sheer stupidity in finding him while he's camouflaged.
- Aviva later delivers an easy one to the bigger Zachbots, and to Zach himself as well.
- Cymbal-Banging Monkey: Martin goes under Gavin's bed to look for more mantis babies and ends up tripping over a marble, falling in front of a toy monkey with cymbals. It turns on and bangs away, which manages to scare the absolute hell out of Martin to the point where he cowers behind Aviva for protection.Gavin: So that's where my toy monkey was.
- Damsel in Distress: Koki spends the second half kidnapped by Zach along with Jimmy following an attempt to protect the Miniaturizer. She is rescued along with Jimmy and Martin by Aviva in her praying mantis Creature Power Suit.
- Defiant Captive: In contrast to Jimmy, who's just terrified, Koki is much more defiant when she's captured by Zach and his Zachbots.
- Description Cut: As Ronan calls the Wild Kratts Crew, he expresses his hopes that they aren't off on a creature mission. Transition to Martin in the Tortuga, fixing up his face to make an imitation of a golden snub-nosed monkey as he plays a guessing game with Chris.
- Didn't See That Coming: Zach really didn't predict Aviva transforming into a praying mantis and growing large enough to outclass his Zachbots.
- Disproportionate Retribution: Zach's motive for going after the Wild Kratts Crew is Ronan stealing his question of "Why is a praying mantis called that?" He believes that if they stole a question from him, they'll go on to steal everything else from him.
- Distressed Dude:
- Jimmy spends the second half kidnapped by Zach along with Koki following an attempt to protect the Miniaturizer. He is rescued along with Koki and Martin by Aviva in her praying mantis Creature Power Suit.
- Martin also becomes one after trying to save Jimmy and Koki. The Zachbots become large enough to be able to grab his arms and wind up restraining him. Like Jimmy and Koki, he is rescued by Aviva not long after.Martin: Oh yeah?
[a Zachbot catches Martin's arm]
Martin: Uh oh! [he gets pulled by the same Zachbot] Aaaaah!
[the other giant Zachbot holds his other arm as well]
Jimmy and Koki: Oh no!
- Diving Save: When observing the baby praying mantises, Aviva tackles Chris and Martin, sending them flying out of the way of a female praying mantis's arms.
- Dynamic Entry: Chris and Martin arrive in Gavin and Ronan's bedroom by leaping in through their window and landing on the ceiling.Martin: How's that for an entrance?
- Ear Ache: After Martin activates the alarm for giving a Wow Fact, Aviva is shown cleaning out her ear with a finger.
- Epic Fail: Martin riding the male praying mantis ends up with him launching himself into the air and landing perfectly on his own two feet...seconds before he trips on absolutely nothing and falls down.
- Ethnic God: Played for laughs when Martin brings up "Ugbuh, the bug god" as he and Chris explain why praying mantises look like they're praying.
- Everyone Has Standards:
- Martin is an avid creature namer, but even he has his limits — specifically, naming over 200 babies.
- Chris, who has gone on several creature adventures, shudders when he sees a female praying mantis eating a butterfly head-first.
- Failed a Spot Check: Zach's Zachbots don't notice Martin peeking out of the tree, even though Zach himself can see him fine.Zach: HE'S RIGHT THERE! He's camouflaged, you metalhead! HE'S RIGHT THERE!!
- Heroic Sacrifice: He doesn't end up dying, but Martin imitates a mouse to lure the snake away from everyone so that they can make a break for it. It works.
- Good Morning, Crono: Gavin wakes Ronan up to inform him that the praying mantis cocoon they unwittingly brought home has hatched. Ronan's first reaction is to ask his brother if it's time for school already, to which Gavin replies, "No, it's still summer.".
- Humiliation Conga: Zach goes from having the upper hand in the battle to getting his enlarged Zachbots utterly destroyed, getting the Miniaturizer taken back from him by a regular-sized Chris, Gavin and Ronan, getting captured by a very large and transformed Aviva, having to give up the praying mantis he stole for a Power Source after being threatened by Aviva, then being unable to escape by Aviva holding his plane back by the wing.
- I'm a Humanitarian:
- Upon seeing the gigantic transformed Aviva, Martin begins to have an Oh, Crap! moment as he realizes that female praying mantises eat male praying mantises. Luckily, Aviva very much averts My Instincts Are Showing and doesn't eat him at all.
- The same goes for Zach, who gets scared that Aviva is going to eat him only for her to say that she isn't since doing so would be gross.
- Incredible Shrinking Man: In order to rescue the baby praying mantises without killing any of them, Chris, Martin, Gavin, Ronan, and Aviva shrink themselves with the Miniaturizer. This ends up being to the detriment of Gavin, Ronan, and Chris, however, when Koki and Jimmy end up captured along with the Miniaturizer.
- Inevitably Broken Rule: Aviva makes Zach promise not to bother harmless animals ever again, even though she knows it's a promise he will never keep and she knows he is Beyond Redemption by this point. As such, she lets him go.
- Ironic Echo Cut: We're shown numerous cuts between Aviva and Martin making a praying mantis Creature Power Suit and Zach making his own robotic praying mantis arms for use in stealing things, in a sort of "good vs. evil" comparison.
- It Amused Me: As one final dig against Zach, Aviva prevents him from pulling a Villain: Exit, Stage Left by holding back his plane for a few seconds, then letting it rip. She has no qualms about stating how fun being a giant praying mantis who has the complete upper hand against a credible threat is for her.Aviva: [laughs] Oh, this is fun. I could so catch him if I wanted to.
- Kids Driving Cars: Subverted. A baby praying mantis is shown seemingly driving the Createrra, but in reality, Aviva is simply pushing it to make it move — not only that, but it's a toy version of the vehicle.
- Lampshade Hanging: Aviva lampshades how Martin can't resist any chance to ride a creature, as he is riding on a male praying mantis.
- Laser-Guided Karma: Zach's karma comes solely in the form of a gigantic Aviva, who delivers him a Curb-Stomp Battle and later toys with him by stopping him from escaping.
- Murphy's Bed: When Martin activates the alarm for giving a Wow Fact, Jimmy is suddenly awoken and gets tangled in his hammock briefly before collapsing to the ground.
- Nice Job Breaking It, Hero:
- Gavin encourages Ronan to kick the soccer ball that is now giant to both of them. Ronan does so...unaware that there are still baby praying mantises in the room that the ball could easily kill. Not only that, but Chris is right in the pathway of the ball with mantises in hand and nearly gets bowled over.
- Chris, Martin, Aviva, Gavin, and Ronan all end up being cornered by a snake once they rescue all the baby praying mantises. Gavin and Ronan explain that they caught the snake to look at him, but he escaped and they haven't been able to find him.
- Overly-Long Tongue: Chris briefly gains one when playing a guessing game with Martin.
- Paper-Thin Disguise: Zach tries to disguise himself as a weary traveler who just wants a glass of water. Koki and Jimmy don't buy it for a minute.
- Pink Girl, Blue Boy: Martin wears a blue Creature Power Suit and transforms into a blue praying mantis, while Aviva transforms into a pink one.
- Power Echoes: When transformed into a female praying mantis, Aviva speaks with a noticeable echo due to her large size.
- Psycho Pink: Aviva transforms into a pink praying mantis and unleashes a load of karma on Zach, starting with a Curb-Stomp Battle and ending with her toying with him by preventing his escape.
- Punch Catch: Martin attempts to attack a giant Zachbot with praying mantis powers, but unfortunately for him, the same Zachbot grabs him by his arm, subsequently capturing him.
- Rod And Reel Repurposed:
- Not wanting to get out of bed and accidentally crush some baby praying mantises, Gavin uses his fishing rod situated by his bed to get his Creature Pod sitting on the other side of his bedroom.
- Chris later uses Gavin's fishing rod as a climbing aid so that he and the others can reach the bedroom window and rescue the mantises.
- Series Continuity Error: This episode has Aviva donning a pink Creature Power Suit and turning into a pink praying mantis. Earlier episodes, as well as future episodes, pin her theme color as purple, not pink.
- Silly Prayer: Typical of Zach to give his own ridiculous answer to why the praying mantis is called such.Zach: What does a bug pray for? [thinks and then realizes] To be more like me?
- Smelly Feet Gag: Martin rescues a praying mantis baby from inside a sneaker, and holds his breath at how smelly it is. Aviva does as well when she walks away with the baby in hand.
- Snakes Are Sinister: A snake lurking in Ronan and Gavin's room ends up slithering out from under a cabinet and becoming a major threat for them, as well as Chris, Martin, and Aviva, since they're all miniaturized.
- Super Window Jump: Martin and Chris arrive in Gavin and Ronan's bedroom by leaping and swinging in through the window using gecko powers.
- Surprisingly Functional Toys: Gavin and Ronan's wind-up Createrra toy doesn't need to be wound up, as Chris drives it like it's the real deal.
- Tempting Fate: Koki sits out of being miniaturized and rescuing the baby praying mantises, citing that she wants to guard the Miniaturizer as "you never know if Zach may be lurking around somewhere.". She doesn't know how right she is.
- Too Many Babies: The episode opens up with over two hundred praying mantis babies in Gavin's and Ronan's room hatching and crawling out of the cocoon and around the bedroom. The main plot revolves around the Wild Kratts Crew, along with Gavin and Ronan, rescuing the mantises.
- Villain: Exit, Stage Left: Double subverted. Just as Zach is about to leave, Aviva decides to toy with him and hold his plane back so he can't leave. Then she ends up letting him go, and he soars away with an out-of-control plane.
- Villainous Valor: Zach is sorely on the losing end of the battle and gets swiftly defeated by Aviva, but he still continues to antagonize Chris and goes off on him when he orders him to remove the praying mantis he stole for usage as a Power Source. Only after that, when Aviva taps him on the shoulder to remind him of who is the bigger threat and then decides to toy with him, does he swiftly take his leave (or tries to, anyway).
- William Telling: Aviva and Martin perform a variant of this. Instead of shooting the apple off of Martin's head, Aviva uses her robotic praying mantis arm to grab the apple.
- You Have GOT to Be Kidding Me!: Chris has this reaction to Martin naming the mantis babies in his arms, stating that there are over two hundred babies he'll have to name.
