Kiff and Barry come face to face with a bridge troll and then reshape a detention’s worth of students in this weeks episode of Kiff on Disney Channel.
Everyday I’m Riddlin’ Riddlin’
Kiff and Barry are chasing a balloon that has a note attached with the thoughts that this note could be some kind of treasure map or something. Alas it is not. It’s an expired coupon. However, their chase has taken them into the outskorts of town, and when devotees think there may be an encounter with Lady Lorraine ahead, we instead hear the annoyed grunt of a bridge troll.
Unfortunately, he missed the opportunity to provide the pair of children with a riddle as they had already crossed the bridge. Kiff and Barry want a riddle anyway, but the only way they can hear one is if someone else comes by. This bridge is on the outskorts of town, nobody comes through anymore, so they’re out of luck. Alas, the bridge troll goes back to muttering to himself while Kiff and Barry come up with a plan. Though they just met, they’re ready to change the bridge troll’s life – by having him find a bridge in Tabletown proper.
Moving in quickly, Trolly makes himself right at home at a bridge in the heart of the city and Kiff and Barry position themselves to get the best vantage point for the riddle. Though the Troll might seem rusty, he poses a question to one who wants to pass – before telling them their answer (which was right) is wrong before giving a ridiculous “correct” answer and throwing them into a muddy pit below.
Confused, Kiff and Barry watch this happen time and time again as more ridiculous answers keep coming from Trolly. The pair start to grow concerned, especially since Barry’s mother uses the bridge to get home, and rush hour is fast approaching.
A crowd has formed at the bridge, and Kiff goes to ask Troll to move back to the other bridge. Troll rules are invoked, and the only way to get him to leave the bridge is to stump him with their own riddle. Neither of them have their own unanswerable riddle, so the pair seek out The Riddler’s Society of Tabletown, which consists of Ms. Mouffle, Principal Secretary, Glarbin, Sweeper Steve, and his broom. All introduced through an 80s sitcom-like intro, which most parents or viewers of a certain age might say channels Perfect Strangers the most.
The group is pulled over to the bridge and each presents the troll with a question that he answers with ease. The troll tells them to give up, and the riddlers agree. The troll always seems to know the answer. So Kiff jumps on this and asks him, essentially asking him how a town full of people can get around a troll blocking a bridge. The answer: build another bridge.
While the town debates the fiscal and engineering viability of that answer, the troll simply says “It’s easy! Look!” and he goes and builds a neighboring bridge right next to his new one. The town rushes it, and goes on their merry way. Now, the two bridges live in harmony, with some residents opting for the riddle bridge for fun when they are running ahead of schedule.
Life on the Inside
It’s one of the most interesting days in Miss Deer Teacher’s classroom. She is going to stuff a model of a stomach with hot dogs and soda just to see what happens. Anybody who has experience with their own stomach, hot dogs, and soda. Kiff and Barry are too excited, but the rest of the class is passive and terrible. When MDT leaves the classroom to go get everything from her car, a stern warning is issued – if anyone is out of their seat when she gets back, they’re getting sent straight to detention, no exceptions. The crowd takes this as an invite to test the limits, getting up from their seats, playing games, and dancing. Kiff knows that she can return at any time, and they could ruin the whole experiment that she and Barry really want to see. She snaps and squirrel-attacks the classroom, sending everyone back to their seats just in time. As an act of celebration, Kiff starts dancing on the way back to her seat, but doesn't make it in time. MDT has returned and sees Kiff and is shocked that of all students, it was her. Candle reminds MDT that she said there were no exceptions to the rule, and Kiff is sent to detention. Trying to rally the rest of the class, Barry stands up for his friends but ends up being sent to detention alongside her.
Once there, they meet a gang of students who are in detention for a myriad of reasons, but she only has her mind set on breaking back into the classroom to watch the stomach experiment. One of the other students reminds her that each of them has tried breaking out already, and shows off their attempts. All of them were horrible and poorly thought out, which leads Kiff to realize that they need to escape with her and Barry, they are missing some critical instruction and lessons.
Sweepy Steve oversees detention, and Kiff comes up with a plan to get around him. Turns out, whenever the sunbeams come in the windows and hit Steve’s desk, he’ll fall asleep. Using the timing and the angles, the group partakes in an Escape from Alacatraz style scheme, making paper mache dummies of themselves to replace them at the desks when Steve is asleep.
Steve catches on that something is afoot, so he moves his chair and magazine to the door, blocking anyone from escape. Worse off, he is in a position that the sun beams won’t hit him. Thanks to Kiff’s knowledge though, she throws some paper at the trash can and misses intentionally so she can get up and knock the trash can over, reflecting the sun beams to the chair and making Steve fall asleep. The door is still blocked though, so the gang of students now climb over to the vent, and work their way in. Using a prime example of what Kiff was hoping to see, one of their new friends lets out a fantastic burp that propels the group through the other end of the vent shaft. The kids are now free.
Using the same vent system, Kiff and Barry can now watch the stomach demonstration, but just as it's about to burst, the pair come crashing through the roof and onto the exploding stomach. Everyone in the room is covered with Hot Dog beef.
Over in Principal Secretary’s office, the whole room shakes as a result of the explosion, prompting him to go into MDT’s classroom. There, he finds Kiff and tells her that while she has broken out, she has also broken through to the fellow students. We see a brief montage of the students all doing exceptionally well in their classes, and not in detention. Doesn’t really help clean up all the exploded beef though.
This episode of Kiff is now available on Disney Channel and the DisneyNOW app. You can also catch up with earlier episodes on Disney+.