| “ | You know, it's funny. I never thought of myself as a smart person before, but now that I've made such a difference in the world, I feel really important. | ” |
–Todd | ||
"Ratted Out" is the nineteenth episode of the first season of The Replacements.
Synopsis[]
Riley loses Todd's lab rat and replaces it with a new one, which turns out to be younger than the other rat. Todd learns a lesson about honesty when everyone starts believing he can reverse the aging process and clone animals.
Plot[]
Todd brings a lab rat home from school for his science fair project. He plans to log the rat's eating habits, which he believes guarantees him a C-minus. Riley wants to play with the rat, but Todd thinks the rat likes its cramped cage. He also doesn't notice that the rat is hungry. After some prodding by Riley, Todd makes his rat a sandwich consisting of pickles, mayo, mystery meat, paprika, and lots of sugary cereal.
Late at night, Riley sneaks into Todd's room while he's sleeping and grabs the rat cage. She sets it down on the living room table and promises to be the rat's best friend. Riley sings about the fun times they could have together ("My Rat Buddy"). After the song, Riley is shocked to see the cage wide open. She sees her cat outside burping. Riley panics, thinking that her cat ate the rat. She calls Fleemco, waking up Conrad Fleem in the middle of the night, and asks for an identical lab rat so that Todd won't fail science class.
The next morning, Riley nervously paces back and forth. Sure enough, Todd comes down the stairs with a lab rat that looks the same as the old one. At the science fair, Todd presents his project, "The Effect of Super Happy Honeyball Sandwiches on the Common Lab Rat", to Principal Cutler. The principal quickly notices that the rat is several years younger than the rat Todd took home. Principal Cutler concludes that Todd's cereal sandwiches successfully reversed the aging process. Todd becomes a celebrity in the scientific community. He publishes a best-selling book titled "Super Happy Honey Life" and gives lectures at prestigious institutions.
While Todd prepares for an at-home interview with Ace Palmero, Riley is about to admit what really happened to the rat. Todd cuts Riley off thinking that she is proud of him. Ace Palmero and Todd discuss Todd's nomination for the Alfred P. Dunleavy Science Award. During the interview, the old rat turns up alive and crawls into the camera's shot. Riley attempts to stop the interview, but Ace Palmero believes that Todd cloned his rat. After the interview, Riley confesses that she lost Todd's first rat and that she called Fleemco for a replacement. Todd wants to continue covering it up; the scientific community sees him as a hero, and Riley's dishonesty got him into this mess in the first place.
Todd is the favorite to win the coveted Dunleavy Award. At the ceremony, one scientist approaches Todd and says he's a big fan of Todd's work. The scientist invented a spray that makes vegetables taste like candy. Another nominee spent seventeen years researching a type of penguin thought to be extinct. Todd remembers his cereal sandwich science experiment and his lie about cloning a rat. He admits to Riley that she was right all along.
The winner is Alfred P. Dunleavy, Jr., son of the event's organizer. He had created a simple baking soda and vinegar volcano. Todd wanted to win so he could dramatically apologize to the attendees, but Riley believes that Todd learned his lesson: knowing the difference between right and wrong separates Todd from the animals. That doesn't stop Todd from sicing the rats on Alfred Dunleavy, Jr. ("My Rat Buddy's Revenge")
Trivia[]
A rather dark reference.
- "My Rat Buddy" spoofs the My Buddy jingle from the 1980s. In addition, the smiling sun has the same face as the participation ribbon in "Todd Strikes Out".
- During the scene where Todd's rat gets replaced, Sloan Stone appears in a police lineup as a metaphorical rat.
- Buzz's science fair project is a food called "Soylent Nerd", and he gets nervous when the principal realizes Shelton is missing. This references the 1973 film Soylent Green, in which the titular substance is made from human flesh.
- In the same scene, one girl presents the head of the Robofleem S-G-X from "The Insecurity Guard".