"Something's a Ms." is the 25th episode of Season 2, and the 49th episode overall.
It was produced in 1999 but premiered on Cartoon Network in the United States on June 30, 2000 as part of Cartoon Cartoon Fridays.
Plot
Ms. Bellum starts seducing the Mayor into giving her days off. Meanwhile, a series of robberies occur around Townsville without a clue of who the culprit is, leaving the Powerpuff Girls and the Police baffled at each crime scene.
Synopsis
During the day, Ms. Bellum enters the Mayor's office, seducing the Mayor and convincing him into letting her take the rest of the afternoon off. That same evening, she rushes back into the office to call the Powerpuff Girls about a crime being committed in Townsville. The girls arrive at the scene, but are unable to find any clues of who the culprit is. This same pattern continues each day, with Ms. Bellum becoming progressively more seductive towards the Mayor and the Girls no closer to figuring out the crimes.
One day, Ms. Bellum fails to show up at the office at all, as the Mayor receives a mysterious paper from his fax machine that night. As the Powerpuff Girls sit in their room discussing possible culprits, the Mayor summons them to his office. They rush over and find the Mayor sitting in front of a fireplace, depressed while giving a speech about Ms. Bellum. He hands the girls the paper, a note which reads: "I have Bellum. Bring $100,000,000 in unmarked non-consecutive bills to Miss Bellum's house. No funny stuff! Love Sedusa." Surprised at the discovery, they immediately fly away, assuring the Mayor of his secretary's return.
The Powerpuff Girls trapped on a window by Sedusa's hair gel, as she watches them.
The Powerpuff Girls arrive at Ms. Bellum's home with a duffel-bag. They crash through the roof of the house, shocked to find Sedusa tied to a chair, mouth covered with tape and Ms. Bellum standing over her. The girls question Ms. Bellum subduing Sedusa, but are ignored, leading to Blossom throwing her into a couch. The girls accuse Ms. Bellum of her suspicious actions, culminating in Bubbles pulling her hair off, revealing it as a wig and mask worn by Sedusa. She fights the girls, taking them out one by one with her sticky hair gel and trapping them onto a window.
Sedusa grabs Ms. Bellum with a hair whip.
With the Powerpuff Girls subdued, Sedusa taunts them. Her celebration is interrupted by Ms. Bellum, who managed to escape from her bindings. She removes her own mask and fights Sedusa. However, Sedusa overwhelms Ms. Bellum by tossing the secretary around and laughing at her. As Sedusa taunts her, Ms. Bellum takes advantage of the opening and lands a tackle, sending them both through a window and taking the fight to the swimming pool. Ms. Bellum tries to swim out, but is dragged back down by Sedusa. After the two trade blows, Ms. Bellum manages to knock Sedusa out, leaving her in the pool unconscious as Ms. Bellum swims out. As she tries to recover, Sedusa emerges from the pool to retaliate, but the water has washed away her special gel, leaving her hair wet and powerless. Ms. Bellum sees this and uses the knowledge to free the girls with a flower vase full of water. As the girls thank Ms. Bellum for freeing them, Sedusa attempts to fight Ms. Bellum some more without her hair, not realizing the secretary has freed the girls. Ms. Bellum takes out a pair of scissors, preparing to cut Sedusa's hair. She begs the group not to, as they cut all of her hair off anyway.
Back in the Mayor's Office, the Mayor is glad to have Ms. Bellum back, as the girls reveal to the secretary that the ransom was just the Mayor's dirty laundry - the whites. At this point, the Mayor heads off to the prison before visiting hours are over to see Sedusa, to everyone else's confusion.
And so, once again, the day is saved, thanks to Ms. Bellum and the Powerpuff Girls, the "Cuties of Townsville."
Characters
Major Roles
Minor Roles
Mentioned Only
Locations
Trivia
- This episode premiered in some countries before the United States.[1]
- This episode premiered in Australia on December 24, 1999.
- This episode premiered in Canada on January 22, 2000.
- This episode premiered in the United Kingdom on March 12, 2000.
- This and the next episode premiered on Cartoon Cartoon Fridays with Bubbles hosting for the very first time.
- Being an episode mostly focused on Ms. Bellum, it gives her the most screen time than in any other episode, at just a little over 5 minutes. This includes scenes with Sedusa disguised as Ms. Bellum with under 3 minutes, Ms. Bellum disguised as Sedusa in under a minute, and Ms. Bellum in both Sedusa's attire and her regular attire in a little over 2 minutes.
- Ms. Bellum's name is also mentioned the most in this episode, with a total of 20 times.
- This episode marks the last time Sedusa appears in an 11-minute episode as the main villain, as her next and final major appearance, "Aspirations", was a 22-minute episode.
- This is one of three episodes to have dot (.) in the title. The other two being "Mr. Mojo's Rising" and "Powerprof.".
- Recurring event: The narrator making a pun of "The City of Townsville" throughout the episode.
- This episode is a parody/homage to the Coen Brothers' 1998 cult comedy film The Big Lebowski and borrows several themes, locations, plot points, and direct quotes from the movie. The whole episode had to be toned down a lot due to certain content that parents would consider inappropriate at the time, such as sexual intercourse.
- This was the first time a Cartoon Network show had an episode that borrowed elements from The Big Lebowski. The other time was in Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends episode "The Big Lablooski", which wasn't a direct parody, however.
- Bubbles' speech and accent slightly differs in this episode and appears to in the later episodes as follows. For example, her "Ls" sound sharper.
- The scene where the Mayor tries playing a compact disc on a record player is similar to a scene from Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery (1997) where among being transported from 1967 into 1997, the titular British spy attempts to play a CD on a turntable. The main difference is that Austin is immediately turned off by the horrible scratching sounds that ensue, while the Mayor mistakes said scratching for new "techno music" and seems to enjoy it.
- This episode is the second time in which a character gets his face covered in red lipstick marks after being kissed by a female, in this case the Mayor. The first time was in "Cootie Gras" where Harry Pitt gets kissed by Blossom, Bubbles, and Buttercup, which resulted in his face being covered in red lipstick marks.
- This is the second time Ms. Bellum has cried, the first being in "The Rowdyruff Boys", albeit it is Sedusa disguised as Ms. Bellum.
- Princess Morbucks, the Rowdyruff Boys (since they are still dead at this point), and the Amoeba Boys are the only recurring villains not mentioned as culprits by the Powerpuff Girls.
- It was never explained what happened to Ms. Bellum while Sedusa was disguised as her for days.
- Blossom telling the other two Powerpuff Girls to execute "Wing Attack Plan R", is a reference to the flight plan for a preemptive nuclear strike on the Soviet Union in Dr. Strangelove.
- This is the second time Ms. Bellum is tied to a chair, the first being in "Powerpuff Bluff", this time while disguised as Sedusa.
- This is the fourth time the girls fight a villain (or at least attempt to) at night, following "Mommy Fearest", "Boogie Frights", and "Abracadaver", and preceding "Burglar Alarmed" and "Aspirations". Coincidentally, Sedusa is featured in three of these episodes, resulting in Sedusa being fought at night in every one of her major appearances.
- This is the second time Sedusa tricked a male character. The first was with Professor Utonium in "Mommy Fearest".
- Referencing the same episode, it came to the point where Bubbles would rip off Sedusa's disguise to reveal her real self while stating her name.
- This is the first time Sedusa uses attacks besides her signature hair whips, with Blossom becoming the first target, throwing shoulder pads at her during her attempt to free Ms. Bellum, who is tied to a chair, although the attack is deflected easily.
- Ms. Bellum, as a result, becomes the first character Sedusa successfully lands attacks on besides her hair whips, such as kicks, punches and freehand throws.
- Ms. Bellum is the first adult character Sedusa attacks and damages directly, the first adult to be grabbed by Sedusa's hair whips and the only adult to be attacked physically more than once by Sedusa, both onscreen and offscreen. Sedusa is also the first villain shown to physically attack Ms. Bellum herself.
- This is the first time Ms. Bellum gets grabbed and lifted up by Sedusa's hair whips, the second time being in "The Powerpuff Girls Rule!!!"
- Ms. Bellum, as a result, becomes the first character Sedusa successfully lands attacks on besides her hair whips, such as kicks, punches and freehand throws.
- Ms. Bellum's fight with Sedusa is the only fight in the series to exclusively involve adult women, up until the Powerpuff Girls are freed by Ms. Bellum after Sedusa's hair loses its power.
- This is the first and only fight in the series to involve Ms. Bellum and have her in full control of her body and mind. Before this episode, she was brainwashed by HIM in "Tough Love" and forced to fight the Powerpuff Girls (albeit she was never actually shown fighting and is immediately knocked out.) After this episode, she switched minds with Blossom in "Criss Cross Crisis", which resulted in Blossom (in Ms. Bellum's body) fighting Mojo Jojo (in an old lady's body) for a brief time. Coincidentally, she wears a different outfit for each of these interactions.
- As a result of her extensive fight with Sedusa, Ms. Bellum experiences the most physical damage in this fight than in any other episode. Additionally and ironically, Ms. Bellum has also taken more damage than each of the Powerpuff Girls have from Sedusa in each episode she's fought in:
- Blossom gets swatted away by a hair whip in "Mommy Fearest", grabbed and stuck to a window in "Something's a Ms.", zapped three times and hit seven times by Sedusa's scepter in "Aspirations". (Total: 1 grab and 11 hits.)
- Bubbles gets grabbed by a hair whip and thrown onto a wall in "Mommy Fearest", grabbed and stuck to a window in "Something's a Ms.", zapped three times, hit once by Sedusa's scepter and stomped on once in "Aspirations", and grabbed by a hair whip and slammed against Buttercup in "See Me, Feel Me, Gnomey". (Total: 3 grabs and 7 hits.)
- Buttercup gets grabbed and stuck to a window in "Something's a Ms.", zapped three times and hit once by Sedusa's scepter in "Aspirations", and grabbed by a hair whip and slammed against Bubbles in "See Me, Feel Me, Gnomey". (Total: 2 grabs and 6 hits.)
- Ms. Bellum gets grabbed by a hair whip and whipped in the face by another, thrown or launched onto floors, walls and other objects five times, kicked in the stomach, had her hair grabbed by Sedusa, grabbed offscreen two times, grabbed by the ankle underwater and dragged down, punched in the face two times and once in the stomach, all in "Something's a Ms." alone. (Total: 5 grabs and 10 hits.)
- Ms. Bellum and Sedusa fighting in the swimming pool is the only underwater fight sequence in the series.
- This is the second time Ms. Bellum coughs in an episode, the first being in "Birthday Bash".
- This is the last episode Sedusa is shown with hair until her cameo in "See Me, Feel Me, Gnomey" and her major appearance in "Aspirations", the latter of which is a continuation showing the aftermath of Sedusa's haircut.
- In this episode, two edges are removed from the star explosion, resulting in the introduction of the June 2000 version of the 1998-2001 3D star explosion.
- This episode is the only time Ms. Bellum saved the day with the Powerpuff Girls.
Production Notes
- Although this episode premiered in the United States on June 30, 2000, it was actually produced in 1999 according to the credits.
- This episode was finished in August of 1999.[2]