If you thought last week’s episode was a one-and-done you were way wrong as the story continues, before we head to Nrodle’s birthday party that takes place in multiple dimensions on this week’s Hamster & Gretel.
The Search For Super Guy
Did you think that last week’s episode was a one-off where Kevin would get powers, save his sister, and move on? No, of course not. This has now become a very serious story arc for the series. And it has carried its way over into this episode, where the Mudsinger, who Kevin under the guise of Super Guy defeated, is now being taken to prison aboard a bus.
The officers and guards transporting the Mudsinger are singing the praises of Super Guy, while ridiculing the villain in the process. At a boiling point, the Mudsinger uses his operatic mud slinging power to escape, and is now on a mission to find the true identity of Super Guy.
But he’s not the only one. Back at school, Hiromi has been stood up for her date/not date where she was going to interview Super Guy/Kevin for the school paper, and has given up on the story. As fate would have it, the school paper has a new teacher in charge, and she is a veteran journalist hoping to raise a new generation of journalists who won’t give up and will get the great headlines.
Now, Hiromi is on a mission to learn everything she can about Super Guy, and thanks to the new teacher, Ms. Knight, she isn’t stopping there. She knows revealing who Super Guy really is will be the attention grabbing headline she needs.
Fortunately for Kevin and his secret, Fred is also in the class with Hiromi and is doing what she can to warn Kevin and maybe stop the whole mission.
Thinking it will end the whole saga after Fred yells at him for everything he’s done so far, including standing up Hiromi AGAIN, Kevin makes a video as Super Guy (in a homemade burlap suit since he no longer has powers) to tell Hiromi he had to go back to his home planet and save them.
While Hamster and Gretel take on the production of this video, Fred and Hiromi are chasing clues. They begin at a totally-not-Guy Fieri operated food truck, where they discover a photo of Super Guy who had clearly just been to the zoo. So that’s their next stop.
But following closely behind is the Mudsinger, who knows the teen girls will lead him right to Super Guy.
Eventually, the chase leads to the discovery of a library book that originated at their high school, so Super Guy must be a student there! All they need to do now is scan the book and reveal who checked it out.
Now, Fred knows she must do what she can to get the book away from Hiromi but are quickly distracted when the Mudsinger shows up at the school, also looking for Super Guy.
Fred calls Kevin for help, and the whole gang arrives on scene to stop the Mudsinger from getting the book and Hiromi from scanning it. Finally, Gretel has the idea that the mud could dry up and goes to get the intensely hot lights from their earlier video shoot to seal up the villain before showing Hiromi the video, saying that Super Guy asked her to show it to her.
Sad, Hiromi realizes that her story is gone, and Fred takes the book and destroys it so she can never find out who checked out the book.
However, Ms. Knight says that this is only the beginning – she wants Hiromi to start investigating Hamster & Gretel as they obviously have some kind of connection to Super Guy. So this surely isn’t the last we’ve heard of this story arc.
Lorraine, Rattle, and Roll
It’s Nordle’s birthday party, something he is relishing in because his father, Professor Exclamation, has never thrown him a birthday party before. Gretel and Bailey are in attendance, and even Tobor is getting in on the fun but he has forgotten a significant detail – he forgot Nordle’s anchovy birthday cake. Setting out to the nearby bakery (that only has one left), Tobor discovers he isn’t the only one trying to get his hands on that cake and must now face a luchador who also wants to fishy pastry.
Back at Nordle’s, plenty of activities are planned but are thwarted when his estranged Aunt Lorraine has shown up. She has quite the history of coming and going, and though she originally pretends to have arrived for Nordle’s birthday, she quickly comes clean and admits that she is only there to pick up her guitar. You see, Lorraine is a relic of pop music’s past. She had a hit single, “Bad Bad Heart,” back in 1996 and has been living on that success for the last few decades.
Sadly, Nordle is not impressed with Lorraine’s sporadic and impromptu lifestyle. He, like his father, needs plans, goals, and schedules. Regardless, he allows Lorraine into the home and up to her former bedroom where her guitar is waiting. Bailey and Gretel are excited that they might get to hear some live music, but as soon as she strums the guitar, it opens up a portal and she is sucked into a mirror image of the room she was just in, but complete with a salad bar.
There, a mannequin version of Professor Exclamation is there to explain that he is sick of her coming and going and has decided to trap her in this other dimension that he has created, but has also included the salad bar for food – he’s not a monster.
On the other side, the kids are all still trying to figure out what happened and can hear everything going on through the wall, and soon attempt to figure out a way to get Lorraine out. Nordle strums the guitar and he too gets pulled inside the alternate room.
There, Nordle and Lorraine have quite the heart to heart, where Lorraine says that there is some good in his heart, unlike his father that has a bad heart.
CUE THE SONG.
After the song at the salad bar, the two are sharing their distaste for olives which begs the question – If Nordle’s dad knew of Lorraine’s hate for olives, why would he include them in the salad bar? That’s it! That’s where the way out must be hiding, since she would never go near the olives anyway!
Sure enough, under the olives hides a switch that opens up the portal allowing them to get out and enjoy the birthday fun, which also includes the anchovy cake since Tobor was able to defeat the luchador in wrestling at the bakery.
You can catch this episode of Hamster & Gretel now on the DisneyNOW website and on Disney Channel. You can catch up with earlier episodes and the first season streaming now on Disney+.