Who Stole the Pies is the 23rd episode of the first season of Strawberry Shortcake: Berry In The Big City. It premieres on February 5th, 2022.
Summary[]
Lime Chiffon puts her detective skills to use and searches for the culprit that’s been stealing Strawberry Shortcake’s pies.
Plot[]
The episode begins on an exterior shot of the Berryworks, when Strawberry Shortcake suddenly screams in horror, catching her friends' attention from their current activities (Lemon Meringue was fixing Blueberry Muffin's cart, Orange Blossom was preparing a smoothie, and Lime Chiffon was reading a book). They all rush to the Extraordinary Berry, where Lemon asks Strawberry why she was yelling. Strawberry explains that she left out several strawberry pies to cool, and someone ate them all, even though she placed a sign that said: "Hot pies, only eat when cool". Strawberry expresses frustration at her situation and Blueberry wonders who would do such a horrible thing. Lime Chiffon suddenly steps out of the conveniently appearing shadows, fog, and muted colors, now dressed as a detective, and dramatically offers to help find the culprit. Orange Blossom gets excited, telling the girls that Lime is an awesome detective. Strawberry asks if Lime's holding a donut, and Lime explains that every time she finds a clue, she takes a bite, as she eats the donut.
Cutaway: Lime says she's read a lot of Apricot Christie mysteries, so she knows all the tricks to find the who, what, where, when, and pie (why), as she eats another donut. Lime then admits that she also just really likes donuts.
While Lime investigates Strawberry's truck, Strawberry expresses skepticism that they'll be able to find anything, feeling there aren't enough clues to go on due to the mess. Lime agrees that the crime scene is a mess, but notes that no berry would eat pie like this, concluding that the culprit they're looking for is an animal. Strawberry expresses shock, and grabs Custard, who was sleeping on the counter. Lime, however, dismisses Custard as the culprit, as her paws don't match the markings in the pies. Lime declares the cat innocent and takes a bite from her donut. Strawberry, impressed, compliments her detective work, but Lime tells Strawberry that she's just getting started.
Lime gets in the LemonLime Time cart, puts on her seatbelt, attaches a siren to the roof, and drives it while the rest of the girls follow. Eventually the girls come across Huckleberry Pie in the Berryworks highline, playing his guitar as Red Hot, his pet ferret, dances to the music. Lime identifies Red Hot as her next suspect and grabs him, interrogating him about the pies. Huckleberry then takes his pet back and tells Lime that Ret Hot would never steal from a sweet and generous baker like Strawberry. Strawberry is flattered, and thanks Huck for the compliment. Huck then points out that Red Hot has been with him all day, meaning he couldn't be the culprit. Huckleberry then offers to join the girls in their investigation, declaring he'll leave no bag of flour unturned, no critter unquestioned, and no pies left behind.
The Berry Besties all head back to the courtyard to investigate the pets there, approaching each one for interrogation. The first is Cheesecake, who denies being the culprit by pulling out her tiny calendar and pointing out her busy schedule, so Lime crosses her out. Next is Pupcake, who makes puppy-dog eyes and Limes crosses him out, Then Parfait, who denies being the culprit because he only eats seeds, pulling out a bag of sunflower seeds to demonstrate, so Lime crosses Parfait out. Last up is Frappe, who eats a cockroach that walked past him.
Lime crosses Frappe out, realizing she's reached a dead end. Lime then begins monologuing on her lack of progress, noting that she checked every animal and every lead, but had no conclusive evidence on who was the culprit. Lime is then interrupted by Strawberry, who asks her if she's narrating to herself. Lime gives Huck the last piece of her donut, feeling she doesn't deserve it for failing to solve the case. Huck thanks her and immediately gobbles it up in a messy fashion, weirding everyberry out, but makes Lime look back at the pie tins. Strawberry tries to console Lime, telling her that it's okay that she didn't get the culprit, and she'll just have to keep a closer eye on her stuff next time. Before Strawberry can finish her sentence, however, Lime points at Huckleberry Pie and declares him to be the culprit, shocking everyberry.
Huckleberry denies this, but Lime points out that he ate the donut like an animal, just like how the pies were eaten. Huck asks why would he steal from Strawberry, since she already gives him pies for free. Strawberry, confused, asks him to elaborate. Huck points out the sign said, "Hot pies, only eat when cool". Because Strawberry likes his music, she thinks he's cool, concluding that she leaves the pies out for him. The girls all stare at Huckleberry with varying degrees of dumbfoundedness, making him realize that wasn't what the sign meant, which all the girls confirm. Huck then realizes he did steal the pies, which the girls confirm once more, Lemon expressing astonishment at Huck's strange logic. Huckleberry apologizes to Strawberry for eating her pies, telling her he really did think those were "thank-you" pies for his smooth and jazzy tunes. Strawberry tells him that she does think he's cool, and that his tunes are very smooth and jazzy, but to check with her next time before making assumptions. Lime, however, says that there's still one mystery left... why does Huck eat pies like that? Huck solves that mystery by showing off a medal, proudly revealing that he's the Big Apple Fair's pie-eating champion three years in a row. Huck tells his friends that there's no better way to enjoy a pie, which gives Strawberry an idea.
Strawberry hosts a mini pie-eating contest for her friends. All of them scarf down the pies messily, except for Blueberry, who just picks out a chunk and eats it by hand. Lime and Huck come up from their pies, and she agrees with him that pies do taste better this way. The episode ends with Lime Chiffon holding up a magnifying glass, declaring that another mystery has been solved as she winks at the screen.
Cast[]
- Ana Sani as Strawberry Shortcake, Custard (archive audio)
- Margarita Valderrama as Lime Chiffon
- Vincent Tong as Huckleberry Pie
- Bahia Watson as Orange Blossom
- Diana Kaarina as Blueberry Muffin
- Andrea Libman as Lemon Meringue
- Tabitha St. Germain as Cheesecake (archive audio)
- Stock Audio Effects as Red Hot, Pupcake
Non-Voiced Appearance[]
- Parfait
- Frappe
- Mrs. Crumbcake
- Honeydew Sorbet
- Salesberry
- Studio Executive
- Apricot Christie (mentioned)
Trivia[]
- This episode reveals Huckleberry Pie is the three-time winner of Big Apple City's annual pie eating competition. Which is funny since he is named after a type of pie.
- Custard and Cheesecake use pre-recorded audio from previous episodes. Custard's comes from It's My Purr-ty, while Cheesecake's comes from Blueberry Brain Freeze.
- The tiny calendar Cheesecake holds up has the same layout as the calendar from It's My Purr-ty, with a 7x4 grid. While it is most likely for simplicity, it could also mean that months only last 28 days in the Berry in the Big City universe, and always start on a Sunday.
- Frappe's interrogation scene has him eat a cockroach. This technically makes "Who Stole the Pies" the first time a living being dies onscreen, along with the first ever instance of killing in the Strawberry Shortcake franchise.
- The cockroach isn't the first time a living being has died in Strawberry Shortcake, however, as Berry in the Big City also has another dead character with J. Quincy Cupcake. However, he died offscreen in the past.
Continuity[]
- This episode features Huckleberry Pie's messy eating again after his debut episode. An explanation for why he eats so messily is also provided, as he reveals he's a three time pie-eating contest champion.
- Huckleberry Pie's strange thought process is also featured, having previously been shown in the "Meet The Berries" short, where he assumed pocket trash counted as currency because someberry tossed it in his money bowl.
- Lime Chiffon's love of mysteries is expanded upon in this episode, which had been briefly touched on in the episode It's My Purr-ty. However, given in that episode she says "Another mystery!", that would imply that It's My Purr-ty would take place after Who Stole The Pies, as this episode is the one to truly establish Lime Chiffon's mystery-solving skills.
- Lime Chiffon's love of donuts is also brought back from Be Your Berry Best.
References[]
- Apricot Christie is named after the real life renowned mystery author Agatha Christie[1], who is well known for the Hercule Poirot detective novels.
- Lime Chiffon's detective outfit is reminiscent of Sherlock Holmes, who is commonly portrayed as wearing a deerstalker cap and Inverness cape.
- Lime Chiffon cites the "Five Ws", which stands for "who, what, when, where, why (and how)". The Five Ws are a journalism technique used to ensure that the first paragraph (the "lead") contains all the essential points of a story.[2]
- Lime's brief usage of internal monologue is a common trope with noir detectives[3], who usually narrate the story with a voiceover as they provide a play-by-play of the scene.
Errors[]
- When Lime is investigating Huckleberry and Red Hot, Blueberry’s blinking was improperly layered over her eyes, making it look as if she had no eyelids whenever she blinked.
Video[]
Gallery[]
Click here to see the gallery of the episode.
Transcript[]
Click here to see the transcript of the episode.