Mission Unfrostable is the 17th episode in airing order of Season 2 of Strawberry Shortcake: Berry in the Big City and the 13th episode in official order. It premiered on December 10th, 2022.
Summary[]
When the Peculiar Purple Pie Man thinks up with a sham holiday special Strawberry and friends make sure that he follows through on his promise.
Plot[]
The episode begins with Kiki KeyLime hosting Bite of the City, where she tells the audience that The Peculiar Purple Pieman has a special holiday announcement. The Purple Pieman confirms this and grabs her microphone, as he begins advertising a contest he is holding. He takes out a pie from his coat and tells the audience that there have been five tokens placed inside his frozen purple pies, showing them off as he smushes them into the pie he was holding. If one can find any of the tokens, they'll win a month's supply of his new frosted mini-pies.
Strawberry Shortcake, watching the episode with Raspberry Tart, is touched by Purple Pieman feeling the Winterswirl spirit, and plans on buying a pie. Raspberry tells her that she won't buy one because she doesn't buy Pieman's claims, and believes that he's cheating. Strawberry asks Raspberry how, since he said that the tokens would be placed in the pies. The two then overhear Sour Grapes ask The Pieman if he's not putting the tokens in the pies.
They look into the Purple Pieshop and see The Pieman and Sour Grapes discussing the contest. The Purple Pieman confirms Sour's question, asking why he should give away a month's supply of mini-pies. Sour Grapes points out to him that he literally said that he would on T.V., and The Pieman explains to her that he's letting the customers think they can win so they'll buy more pies. He hands her the tokens, telling her it's a victimless crime and everyberry wins, except the customers. As The Pieman leaves, Sour asks him what she should do with the tokens, and he tells her to lock them in the cash register when she closes the shop. He also reminds her to set the alarm, as he doesn't want a "dishonest berry" stealing the tokens to collect pies he has no intention of baking.
As Sour stares at the tokens in her hand, the screen zooms out to show Strawberry and Raspberry, shocked at what they just heard.
Cutaway: Strawberry immediately decides she needs to get those tokens and put them into the pies. But she can't do it alone, she needs to put together a crew, as she puts on a pair of sunglasses.
First, Strawberry and Raspberry recruit a berry who knows her way around the Berryworks: Lime Chiffon, The Compass. The two approach Lime and Strawberry asks her if she knows a way into the Purple Pieshop (that isn't the front door). Lime shows them a blueprint of the Berryworks, pointing out that there's an airshaft that leads right to it. Strawberry finds the airshaft and removes the grate.
Then, Strawberry and Raspberry recruit a berry who knows tech: Lemon Meringue, The Brainiac. They roll Lemon out from under the LemonLime Time Cart and ask if she's ever built anything strong enough to suspend someone in the air. Lemon switches a lever on a remote, lowering an Automatic Licorice Dispenser. The scene transitions to Lemon Meringue in the airshaft, deploying the licorice rope as she crawls through the space.
Next, Strawberry and Raspberry recruit a berry who's light, fast, and graceful: Orange Blossom, The Feather. The two approach Orange as she's cleaning the Citrus Slice Cart, and Strawberry asks if she minds being upside down. Orange Blossom responds by quickly jumping down, landing in a one-handed handstand. In the Purple Pieshop, Orange removes the grate leading into the store. While Sour Grapes' back is turned as she mops the floor, Orange covers the security cameras with whipped cream, adding a cherry on top as she goes back up the vents.
Lastly, Strawberry and Raspberry recruit a berry to watch their backs: Blueberry Muffin, The Eyes. Before either of them can say a word, Blueberry immediately agrees to help by saying she can see the past, present, and future as she holds up some familiar-looking ice cream cones. At the Purple Pieshop, Blueberry looks through the window, and tells Strawberry that she is waiting for Sour to leave the store so Orange can snag the tokens.
Sour Grapes prepares to put the tokens in the cash register, when a dollop of whipped cream suddenly plops onto the register. She looks up and sees the cream-covered camera and the askew vent grate, but seemingly thinks nothing of it as she closes the register and leaves the tokens on the counter. Sour then activates the Purple Pieshop’s security system, a grid of purple laser sensors. Sour then notices Blueberry Muffin standing outside the Pieshop, who proceeds to act innocent. Sour shrus and goes to leave. Blueberry waits until Sour is far enough away to tell Orange she’s good to go, but warns her about the “scary purple lasers.
Orange assures Blueberry that she's got this, as she removes the vent grate and lowers herself down via the licorice ropes. She spots the tokens on the counter, and remarks how easy it was as she snags them. Suddenly the licorice ropes snap, Orange barely managing to grab one of the ends with her teeth while Lemon tries to hold Orange up. Orange manages to escape the Pieshop by eating her way up the licorice rope.
Outside, Blueberry Muffin hands Strawberry Shortcake the tokens, who exclaims that she can't believe the plan worked. Blueberry admits it almost didn't, so it was a good thing that Sour Grapes left the tokens out for Orange. Orange, still eating the licorice, does finger guns at Strawberry. Raspberry and Strawberry are confused at Blueberry's statement but brush it off, preparing to give Kiki KeyLime a call. Strawberry starts the Extraordinary Berry, and the two speed out of the Berryworks as dawn approaches.
The next day, The Peculiar Purple Pieman and Sour Grapes are walking to the Pieshop, The Pieman singing a mean-spirited version of Jingle Bells insulting Strawberry Shortcake. Suddenly, The Purple Pieman is approached by Kiki KeyLime and her filming crew, the former proceeding to interview him about someberry finding all five of his tokens. The Purple Pieman is outraged and in disbelief, as he looks over at Sour Grapes. Caramela Éclair approaches The Pieman, showing him the five tokens. The Purple Pieman tries to claim it was a mistake, but Caramela isn't having it, demanding for him to give her the pies. The Pieman refuses, telling her that he won't give them away if he doesn't want to. He then hears someone clearing their throat, and looks over to see Caramel Tartufo menacingly staring. The Pieman tries to utter a response, but is too frightened to get a sentence out. Caramel's henchmen drag The Purple Pieman into the Pieshop to force him to make the pies, with Caramela following them inside. The Pieman pleads for help as the doors shut, leaving Kiki and her film crew standing outside.
Cutaway: Strawberry notes that Caramela's dad runs some "shady business" in Fruitleg Alley, and he's not the type of berry to mess with, which is why they gave the tokens to Caramela.
Raspberry congratulates the team for their successful heist, considering them a pretty good crew. Strawberry comes up with team names, such as "Tinsel Team" and "The Strawberry Six". Strawberry and Raspberry then notice Sour Grapes watching them from the upper levels, giving them a small smile. Realizing that Sour Grapes did help them, Strawberry settles on "The Shortcake Seven" for their team name.
The episode ends on an action group shot of The Shortcake Seven.
Cast[]
- Ana Sani as Strawberry Shortcake (character)
- Tabitha St. Germain as Raspberry Tart, Caramela Éclair
- Bahia Watson as Orange Blossom
- Andrea Libman as Lemon Meringue
- Margarita Valderrama as Lime Chiffon
- Diana Kaarina as Blueberry Muffin
- Meg Roe as Sour Grapes
- Ian Hanlin as The Peculiar Purple Pieman
- Crystal Balint as Kiki KeyLime
- Stock Audio Effects as Caramel Tartufo
Non-Voiced Appearance[]
- Studio Executive
- Salesberry
- Old Man
Song[]
- Jingle Bells (parody version, first four words)
Trivia[]
- The name of the episode comes from "Mission: Impossible" and "frost."
- Sour Grapes is revealed to not be fully on The Purple Pieman's side, and will go against him to help the Berry Besties when she feels it is necessary.
- The ending shot of The Shortcake Seven would be reused for the DVD cover of Season 2, though images of Huckleberry Pie and Bread Pudding would be added to the side so the cover could feature the entire main cast. The strawberry is also changed into the series logo.
- It is unclear why Strawberry didn't enlist Huckleberry and Bread as part of her heist crew, though there are a few possibilities:
- They didn't have a job that could be done during the heist, as all of Strawberry's friends already filled a major role.
- Neither of them were at the Berryworks.
- Strawberry really wanted to keep the alliteration of "Strawberry Six" for her heist crew.
- Pieman's rendition of Jingle Bells is technically the shortest song in the series, with only four words. The previous record was five words, held by Huckleberry Pie's coffee bean song from Keylime Time.
- It is also the first time a real-world song is sung in Strawberry Shortcake: Berry in the Big City.
References to Past Series[]
- In her introduction scene for the heist, Blueberry Muffin holds up two ice cream cones resembling the 1980s Strawberry Shortcake and the current Strawberry while saying she can see the past and present respectively.
References[]
- Mission: Impossible:
- The title is a pun on the film series' name.
- Orange Blossom drops down from the ceiling via a cable, homaging the iconic "cable drop" scene from the first Mission: Impossible film, where Ethan Hunt hacks a CIA computer while dangling horizontally via cable harness above a pressure-sensitive floor. Orange Blossom even nearly falls to the ground after a cable mishap.
- Ocean's Eleven:
- The plot of the episode is a homage to Ocean's Eleven, with Strawberry and Raspberry gathering their friends to perform a heist.
- Strawberry and Raspberry recruiting their friends plays out in a similar manner to the recruitment scenes from the film series. Strawberry also wears sunglasses while doing so, like Danny and Rusty did whilst recruiting The Eleven.
- Strawberry refers to her team as the "Shortcake Seven".
- Lemon Meringue crawls through an air vent and quips "Yippie Pie-Yay, Berries!", referencing the catchphrase of John McClane from the Die Hard film series.
- The Peculiar Purple Pieman's brief rendition of Jingle Bells is based on the popular Batman parody of the holiday song: Jingle Bells, Batman smells, Robin laid an egg. The Batmobile lost a wheel, and The Joker got away!
Error[]
- The blueprint layout of the Berryworks shows the airshaft leading from the VIP greenhouse, however when Strawberry finds it, it is clearly in the Berry Besties Clubhouse, which should be located near the old storage facilities.
Video[]
Gallery[]
