Aunt Praline's Sweetie Pie is the 31st episode in the airing order of Season 3 of Strawberry Shortcake: Berry in the Big City, and the 36th in official order. It premiered on February 3rd, 2024.
Summary[]
When Aunt Praline is nervous for her Sweetie Pie Date, Strawberry and her berry friends help her gain back her confidence with a practice date.
Plot[]
It's Sweetie Pie's Day at the Berryworks, and the place is filled with berries spending the day with their loved ones. Strawberry Shortcake proclaims her love of the holiday as she prepares some cupcake orders, when she's suddenly interrupted by Aunt Praline trying to get her attention while hiding behind a newspaper, something Strawberry notes looks suspicious. Aunt Praline begins hastily asking if she wants to do something together for the next few hours, but Strawberry declines since she still has orders to fulfill. When Praline begins doing the same with Custard, Strawberry asks her aunt what's going on. Aunt Praline admits she has a date tonight, which makes Strawberry freak out in excitement. Praline doesn't share her enthusiasm, since she accidentally scheduled it on Sweetie Pie's Day due to how busy work was, and is now paranoid everything is going to come off as weird as a result.
Cutaway: Strawberry notes that everyberry can get nervous, including the usually unfettered Aunt Praline.
Aunt Praline decides to just cancel the date, but Strawberry runs up to stop her. Before Strawberry can reassure Aunt Praline, the rest of Strawberry’s friends run up and start asking her about the date, having overheard the conversation. Aunt Praline explains she was thinking of canceling, while Strawberry tries to explain what she was going to tell Aunt Praline, before Lime Chiffon interrupts and suggests all she needs to be is well-informed.
Cutaway: Strawberry admits she was just going to say “Be Yourself”, but decides to see where this goes.
Strawberry's friends immediately begin giving Praline advice. Lime tells Aunt Praline that knowing fun facts gives her confidence, and Blueberry Muffin tells her that expressive body language is the best way to go, demonstrating a "Let's order appetizers" dance as she falls into Orange Blossom's arms. Orange disagrees, accidentally dropping Blueberry, and claims that all she has to do is be bold, daring, and fearless. Huckleberry Pie adds that when she does get scared, she can just sing her feelings. He starts singing before Bread Pudding pushes him away and informs Aunt Praline that outfit choice is a huge deal. Aunt Praline stops the Berry Besties and tentatively thanks them, but assures the group that she knows more about dates than any of them. Raspberry Tart points out she really has no say when she’s the one who’d rather cancel than actually go on a date, which Praline admits is fair. Strawberry agrees with Aunt Praline, and tries explaining what her aunt really needs, but is interrupted by Bread declaring that Praline needs a practice date.
At the clubhouse, Strawberry and Aunt Praline are put into a practice date, the mood immediately awkward, not helped by the fact that all the Berry Besties are watching them. Aunt Praline comments that Strawberry's friends are persistent, which Strawberry doesn't argue. Bread Pudding calls "Action!", and the practice date begins. Strawberry sighs in resignation and starts by telling Praline how glad she is they could meet, and tries asking Praline about herself. Before Praline can respond, Lime and Blueberry interject to remind Praline about their advice. Aunt Praline decides to go about this by making arm gestures while talking about what happened at her work, when Raspberry interjects that talking about work isn't fun, while Orange tells her to be bold. Aunt Praline loudly asks Strawberry what she wants to order, making Strawberry fly out of her seat from the volume. Lemon Meringue pops in to shoot pasta onto their plates (missing Praline's), and Huck reminds Praline to sing. In response, Praline begins singing about how ridiculous this is and questioning why she's playing along in the first place, when she accidentally slips on the misfired pasta. Praline grabs the tablecloth in a futile attempt to catch herself, causing a chain reaction as Strawberry's plate flies off the table, hitting Lemon in the face, making her drop her pasta launcher, which begins firing pasta everywhere. Orange manages to stop the pasta launcher, while the Berry Besties all begin arguing over how Praline should handle her date. In the chaos, Praline heads out, while Strawberry follows her aunt outside.
As Praline texts on her phone, Strawberry tries to stop her from cancelling the date, noting while her friends mean well, they're also pretty ridiculous. She finally tells Aunt Praline to be herself like she had been trying for the entire episode. Strawberry reassures Aunt Praline that she's the most confident and amazing berry she knows. Praline tells her niece what she said is sweet, but Strawberry continues telling her she has to go. Aunt Praline reveals that she is going on the date, and was just texting her date to meet at the Berryworks. Praline admits after the train wreck that was the practice date, she realized no real date could possibly be as horrible and uncomforable as that. She asks Strawberry how she got so wise, and Strawberry just answers she learned it from a "smart berry she lives with", leading the two to embrace in a hug.
A voice suddenly speaks up, greeting Praline as she enters the Berryworks. It's revealed that Aunt Praline's date is Kiki KeyLime, the host of Bite of the City. Kiki greets Strawberry, who greets her back, when the realization that her aunt is now dating her childhood idol sets in, making Strawberry freak out in excitement. Aunt Praline gives her niece a goodbye peck on the forehead as she meets up with Kiki, who apologizes for being late, explaining she was caught up in work stuff. Aunt Praline reassures her date that she loves talking about work as the two depart for their night out. As Strawberry watches her aunt leave, she once again professes her love of Sweetie Pie's Day as she hugs Custard. It's then shown the Berry Besties were also eavesdropping on the whole thing in the doorway. The episode ends with Bread complimenting the gang for their "contribution".
Cast[]
- Ana Sani as Strawberry Shortcake, Aunt Praline
- Bahia Watson as Orange Blossom
- Andrea Libman as Lemon Meringue
- Margarita Valderrama as Lime Chiffon
- Diana Kaarina as Blueberry Muffin
- Vincent Tong as Huckleberry Pie
- Tabitha St. Germain as Raspberry Tart
- Chirag Naik as Bread Pudding
- Crystal Balint as Kiki Keylime
Non-Voiced Appearance[]
- Orange Crisp
- Cherry Blossom
- Cherry Crisp
- Dr. Lime Pops
- Fluffy Chiffon
- Mr. Mangosteen
- Bobby Bananabee
- Salesberry (Red)
- Hijabi Woman (Pink)
- Wheelchair Berry
- Punk Girl (Pink)
- Woman (Yellow)
Trivia[]
- Aunt Praline and Kiki KeyLime are revealed to be sapphic in this episode, and from this episode onwards the two are a couple.
- This also marks the first instance of a sapphic relationship in the franchise.
- Despite being a main cast member by this point, Sour Grapes is the only Berry Bestie to not appear in the episode.
- When Bread Pudding is telling Aunt Praline to dress confidently, Huckleberry begins buttoning his jacket.
Continuity[]
- The Wheelchair Berry and the pink-haired punk girl extras are briefly seen together at the beginning of the episode. The two were previously depicted as a couple in Fashion Forward, during the establishing shot for Bloomingberries.
Errors[]
- When Lime Chiffon runs up to Aunt Praline, Strawberry's character model is incorrectly layered over Lime's.
Video[]
Gallery[]
Click here to see the gallery of the episode