| “ | You hear that? Even in England my brothers have some scheme planned. | ” |
— Candace Flynn | ||
While in London, Candace and Stacy emulate Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson, while trying to bust Phineas and Ferb. Meanwhile, Perry must team up with British agent Double-0 0 in order to stop Dr. Doofenshmirtz from moving Big Ben to the Tri-State Area.
Episode Summary
Still on vacation in London, the Flynn-Fletcher family is joined by Stacy. She and Candace stay up all night reading Sherlock Holmes stories, even though they originally mocked reading as something people did "before they invented fun." The next morning, the adults take Phineas and Ferb along with Candace and Stacy to see the London Eye, a giant Ferris wheel.
Once the family leaves, Perry opens the face to the grandfather clock and zips down a chute into a comfortable arm chair, in what appears to be his lair while he is in London. After Agent P's last mission in London, the Agency ran into some trouble with the British Spy Union. So, he is assigned a partner for today's mission, Agent Double 0-0.
Grandpa Fletcher and Lawrence drop the rest of the family off at the London Eye and head off to the International Haggis Festival. Once there, Linda and Grandma Fletcher head off to explore downtown London, leaving the kids to wait in line for the ride by themselves. They split up further into two groups, with Phineas and Ferb together and Candace and Stacy together.
Candace figures that her brothers have some scheme planned even though they are in London. She believes that she might finally be able to bust them if she uses Holmes' method of deduction. Even though Stacy would rather go shopping, she agrees to help her friend and takes on the role of Dr. Watson.
After trying to squeeze into Perry's hover car, the two spies take Agent Double 0-0's car. The British agent explains all the gadgets that his car is equipped with, and Perry inadvertently hits the ejector seat button, propelling Agent Double 0-0 out of the car. Once back inside, he asks Perry if he thought it was funny.
Candace and Stacy are walking through downtown London and Candace has bought a deerstalker hat and cape just like Sherlock Holmes usually wears, while Stacy has a bowler hat like that of Dr. Watson. Stacy gets distracted by window shopping in all the stores. Candace sees her brothers walk into an auto supply store and starts making several outrageous leaps in unlogicical thought as to what they could be doing.
The two agents arrive at Dr. Heinz Doofenshmirtz's London lair underneath Big Ben. After making fun of Agent Double 0-0's name, Doofenshmirtz reveals his plan to launch Big Ben into orbit and land it outside Doofenshmirtz Evil Incorporated's main building so that he doesn't have to look at his tiny watch. Agent Double 0-0 ridicules Doofenshmirtz's plan, saying that he could just buy a bigger watch or a wall clock to solve his watch problem, but the scientist feels launching the famous landmark into space is much easier than going into a store and picking one of those out.
After talking to the auto supply store manager, Candace and Stacy follow the boys' trail out back to find that they've picked up the free tires the store was offering. After chasing them around town and pulling Stacy out of several stores, Candace is close to figuring it out.
The boys drop a notebook while getting into a cab, and the girls pick it up. Half the page is missing, but it reads, "To Big Race 1600 Water S." Candace deduces that they must be planning a big race at 1600 Water St. She calls her mom, but arrives at the address only to find the building is abandoned and Phineas and Ferb are nowhere to be found. She then remembers an old Holmes trick to use pencil lead to reveal impressions left on a piece of paper. Candace tries this and it reveals the note to read, "To Do Today: Big Ben Race To Thames 1600 for Water Slide Fun."
Agent Double 0-0 slowly tries to escape.
Agent Double 0-0 is using his watch laser to open his and Agent P's traps. Since it is taking so long, Perry figures out that he can throw a nearby brick on the remote control and release the trap. Once free, Agent Double 0-0 climbs up through the
inner workings of Big Ben to go undetected and surprise Doofenshmirtz. Agent P decides to take the elevator instead.
Candace and Stacy get off the water slide.
The girls arrive at Big Ben and find that Candace was right. They were making a water slide at Big Ben. It loops around the clock tower and the finish fires them off into the London Eye. As Phineas and Candace are discussing her method of deduction, the lift comes down and brings her up to the top and she is launched into the slide while she is on the phone to Linda. Stacy decides to voluntarily ride the slide, and Phineas hops on as the last customer of the day. They all land safely in the Ferris wheel.
Across the River Thames, Big Ben is starting to soar into the sky with the slide still wrapped around it. Stacy sees this and tries to show this to Candace, but she ignores Stacy to see Linda coming. Doofenshmirtz is at the top of the tower basking in the glow of his success when Perry leaps up and knocks the remote for the rocket out of his hand and knocks the evil genius down the slide. All the stress on the structure breaks the slide apart and it falls into the river. Perry pushes the button and the clock tower floats back into place just in time for Linda not to see any of it. While returning home and seeing the girls, Ferb says he'll never understand fashion.
Transcript
Read the transcript of Elementary My Dear Stacy.
Songs
End Credits
At 7:45 PM inside Big Ben, Double-0 0 is still trying to reach the ladder from the pendulum. He then manages to get out through a door under the hands of the Big Ben and looks at his clock to find out how much time he has been in there, but complains about his watch being too small.
Gallery
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| View the image gallery for "Elementary My Dear Stacy". |
Running Gags
The "Too Young" Line
Worker: Well, them two bics were 'angin' about an' they got a bit o' the bushies an', uh, also ran back an' carted off some ol' bangers that ah didn' need. Oi! Aren' they a bit harrish for them kind o' bushies?
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Ferb's Line
What'cha doin'?
None.
I know what we're gonna do today
None.
Hey, where's Perry?/Oh, there you are, Perry
Phineas: Hey, where's Perry? Oh, there he is. |
Perry's entrance to his lair
He goes down the Fletchers' grandfather clock to land in a lair beneath the Fletchers' house. It is furnished in a very traditional British style. He is soon joined by Agent Double 0-0.
Evil Jingle
None.
Memorable Quotes
Candace: Ah, yes, reading. That's what they did before they invented fun. Grandma: I heard that! |
Double-0 0: You realize this man is a platypus? Inspector Initials: They're American, Double-0 0. Just be glad it's a mammal. |
Double-0 0: What, no files, no location, no contacts, what kind of mission is this? Major Monogram: It was enough for the mammal. |
Dr. Doofenshmirtz: Double-0 0? Isn't that just "triple 0"? Double-0 0: No, that's not how you say it. |
Candace: They've acquired a fleet of automobiles and they're in there buying a bunch of little air fresheners for them. OR they're buying motor oil for their giant robot! What do you think Stace? Stace? Stacy returns to Candace with multiple shopping bags under her arms, Candace crosses her arms and glares |
Candace: Who is the total king of busting? Stacy: Sherlock Holmes? |
Background Information
- This episode reveals that Winifred Fletcher is a fan of Sherlock Holmes and has the complete collection of books.
- Part of Candace and Stacy's search montage takes place at Canary Wharf Underground station, and on the footbridges at London Bridge City south of the Thames, even though neither place is actually close to Big Ben.
Production Information
- A sneak peek was shown on Disney Channel.
- During production of this episode, Dan Povenmire had a cold, and was unable to record his dialogue as Doofenshmirtz until after the animation was already completed.
International Premieres
- April 14, 2009 (Disney Channel Brazil)
- Summer 2009 (Disney Channel Spain)
Errors
- When Stacy points to Candace that Phineas and Ferb have borrowed tires from the auto parts store, the sign says "Free Tires". The episode is set in the UK, therefore it should say the British spelling "tyres" making the sign say "Free Tyres". However, the US spelling is probably used to avoid confusion.
- Likewise, the Auto Parts store would probably be called Car Parts or Motor Parts in British usage.
- The London Eye stops in the episode, but in real life the London Eye never stops rotating.
- When Candace is deducing the message, she says "Fun" before she finds the impression.
- Phineas and Ferb open the door of the London Eye to get to the ground, but when they walk off-screen, the door is closed.
- Ferb's mouth doesn't move when he begins to talk before walking off-screen.
- Agent Double 0-0's watch laser makes a hole in his trousers, which disappears in the next scene and for the rest of the episode.
- Candace and Stacy are surrounded by several piles of books after reading the "whole [Sherlock Holmes] collection." However, Holmes' creator, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, wrote only four novels and 56 short stories starring the detective. It's possible that Winifred Fletcher, being a big fan, also collected later, "unofficial" Holmes books by other authors.
- When Big Ben returns to its launch pad, the displayed time is certainly not 4:15.
- When Ferb goes down the waterslide and into Big Ben he is alone with an official timesman. And Phineas is in a different shuttle. Yet, they come down together and the timesman is not with them.
- Agent Double 0-0's Watch laser is on his left hand during the scene where he and Perry are trapped, but when he looks at it in the end scene, he looks at his right hand.
- There is a Water Street in London, but it doesn't have a Number 1600. In fact, since British addresses do not use the American block-by-block numbering system, it is highly unlikely that any property in the UK has the number 1600.
- Winifred says that the evening meal is at 19:00 following this up with "that's seven o'clock to you Yanks" but use of 24-hour time to read clocks is not common in England. Indeed, most British viewers would expect to hear 7 o'clock than 19:00. This is probably deliberate in order to send Candace to 1600 Water Street and then re-read the clue as being 16:00 (4 o'clock).
Continuity
- When Major Monogram gives Agent P his mission, he mentions about his last mission in London ("A Hard Day's Knight").
- This episode takes place the day after "A Hard Day's Knight".
Allusions
- During the sunrise scene, if you listen closely, you can hear the opening music of Peggle.
- Shortly after Stacy returns from a quick shopping trip, when 2 brief scenes of Big Ben is shown, part of the British patriotic song "Rule, Britannia!" is played.
Sherlock Holmes
- Candace imitates the great detective quite a bit during this episode, including wearing the clothing most commonly associated with Sherlock Holmes: the deerstalker hat and cape featured in Sydney Paget's illustrations for Strand Magazine.
- Candace designates Stacy as Watson, Sherlock Holmes' most trusted companion. which has helped him in all of his most fascinating cases.
- "Elementary, my dear Watson" The episode title comes from the famous phrase which was not actually said by Sherlock Holmes in any of the Sir Arthur Conan Doyle works. The line "Elementary, my dear Watson" was either first said in the 1929 movie The Return of Sherlock Holmes or in the 1899 stage production Sherlock Holmes.[1]
- Someone dressed as Dr. Watson is seen going up an esculator
James Bond
- Agent Double 0-0 is a very direct parody of James Bond.
- Inspector Initials is a parody of Bond's boss, M, as the character is currently being portrayed by Dame Judi Dench.
- Double 0-0's laser watch is similar to many gadgets that Bond has been equipped with over the years, most directly the laser watch featured in 1995's Goldeneye.
- The ejection seat on Double 0-0's Aston Martin is borrowed from Goldfinger. However, it was the passenger seat that had the ejection seat, not the driver. As Perry is sitting in the passenger seat, he should have been the one ejected, not Double 0-0. It's possible this was a deliberate goof.
- When Perry and Agent Double 0-0 are captured by Dr. Doofenshmirtz, they are under the ejection port of the Big Ben rocket, just like James Bond and Dr. Holly Goodhead were in Moonraker.
Trivia
- Based on Monogram's dialogue, this episode takes place immediately after "A Hard Day's Knight".
- However, there are some contradictions. In "A Hard Day's Knight", Candace was seen calling Stacy on the phone, meaning that Stacy wasn't with her in London. In this episode, however, Stacy was seen with them on their vacation. These two days must have taken place on separate vacations, and due to dialogue in the episode "A Hard Day's Knight", where Lawrence was heard saying "How I love our yearly holiday to my parents' home.", these episodes must have taken place on different years.
- This is the only episode set during the summer vacation that lasts longer than one day.
- This is the first episode where the Perry the Platypus side plot has a character with dialogue other than Doofenshmirtz, Monogram or Carl (Agent 0-0).
- Once again Stacy has a hard time focusing on busting Phineas and Ferb. ("Put That Putter Away")
- The first person to be shown going up the water slide is the boy in the commercial of Bust 'Em. ("Leave the Busting to Us!")
- Candace and Stacy appear wearing the Sherlock Holmes and Watson outfits. ("Toy to the World")
- Candace mentions "motor oil for [a] giant robot". ("Traffic Cam Caper")
- Double 0-0 makes an appearance. ("It's About Time!")
- Stacy's love for shoes is mentioned again. ("Day of the Living Gelatin")
- Stacy witnesses the boys' big idea disappearing, but Candace does not.
- The real Water Street in London resembles the Water Street shown in the episode, except that there is no wood barrocading the buildings.
References
- ↑ Snopes article on the phrase "Elementary, my dear Watson".
Cast
- Vincent Martella as Phineas
- Thomas Sangster as Ferb
- Ashley Tisdale as Candace
- Kelly Hu as Stacy
- Caroline Rhea as Linda
- Richard O'Brien as Dad
- Dee Bradley Baker as Perry
- Jeff "Swampy" Marsh as Major Monogram
- Dan Povenmire as Dr. Doofenshmirtz
- Malcolm McDowell as Reginald Fletcher
- Jane Carr as Winifred Fletcher
- Damian Lewis as Agent Double 0-0
- Jane Leeves as Inspector Initials
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