"The Magical Red Jewel (aka Tyler Gets Fired)" is the seventh episode of Season Two of Smiling Friends.
Synopsis[]
The Boss and Pim fight for their lives in a mysterious and psychedelic world called Spamtopia. Meanwhile, Charlie confronts Allan over something serious. [1]
Plot[]
The episode begins with all Smiling Friends called into Mr. Boss's office, where he tells them he has good news and bad news. He shares the bad news first, stating that he has to let one of them go. Mr. Boss chooses to fire Tyler, a hitherto unseen Smiling Friend. Charlie is indignant on hearing this news, exclaiming that if Tyler has to get fired, he will leave the company too. Tyler deescalates the situation and leaves as Charlie tells him that they will still hang out with and that he will text him. Mr. Boss then shares the good news, explaining that he purchased a rare, red jewel from the country of Spamtopia, and that he has to leave to obtain it. However, he does not speak Spamish, the native language of Spamtopia, which Allan and Charlie initially mishear as Spanish. Pim chimes in, informing Mr. Boss that he knows some Spamish, after which Mr. Boss enlists him as his translator. Before leaving for Spamtopia, Mr. Boss leaves his son Jason in the care of Charlie and Allan, explaining that he is very low-maintenance and that he will let them know if he needs anything before driving off with Pim.
The scene then cuts to Charlie and Allan inside Mr. Boss's office, where they have laid Jason is on the desk. As Allan brings up the fact that he and Charlie don't hang out much on their own. Charlie responds that the last time they did, at the end of Desmond's Big Day Out, Allan sucked on his nose. This shocks Allan, who claims to have no memory of the incident, to which Charlie explains he was not okay with it, to which Allan reaffirms he forgot about the incident and apologizes for his actions. Charlie explains that he's bringing it up to hash it out so they can spend more time together and that he is fine with Allan despite it. This is interrupted by Jason screaming, as he shrivels up and perishes.
On the road-trip to Spamtopia, Mr. Boss asks Pim about why he chose to learn an obscure language like Spammish. Pim explains that he hasn't spoken Spammish before in-person, but that he learned it from his Spammish pen-pal, Oscar. Mr. Boss explains that Spamtopia has some traditions that they strictly follow, stating that he believes Spammish culture is primitive as a result. As the group arrive, the people of Spamtopia sing a song about respecting their nation's main law; to never make eye contact with anyone for any reason, which confuses Pim and makes Mr. Boss want to leave as soon as possible. Back at the office, Charlie and Allan panic over the death of Jason. Charlie attempts to find an EpiPen in Mr. Boss' desk, but stumbles onto a stack of papers titled "my manifesto" instead. He then tries to revive Jason via CPR, but fails.
Pim and Mr. Boss arrive at a diner to meet their contact, Mr. Jester. Remembering their only rule, the two are horrified to discover that Mr. Jester's head is a giant eyeball. Mr. Boss greets Mr. Jester as he and Pim take their seats and attempts to give an order to the waitress, only for her to disappear. The negotiations start off strong, but a mosquito soon lands on Mr. Jester and starts to suck at his giant eye. Pim asks Mr. Jester to bring out the red jewel, but as he does, the mosquito bursts a vein in his eye. Pim reflexively looks at it to assess the damage, gazing directly into Mr. Jester's eye and gaining the negative attention of the entire diner. Meanwhile, Charlie reveals his new plan to Allan his plan, to paint Glep pink and dress in a suit to replace Jason. Allan dismisses the plan and Glep storms off, seemingly unimpressed with Charlie's suggestion. Soon after, a physical altercation breaks out between Allan and Charlie with both blaming the other for Jason's unfortunate death.
Pim and Mr. Boss are brought to a stage where Mr. Jester begins executing those who looked into his eye by ripping their body in half. Mr. Boss offers a Pim a way out by offering him a cyanide pill. Not wanting to take the pill, Pim asks Mr. Jester to speak to the leader of Spamtopia first before they are executed, though Mr. Jester promptly reveals that that is him by swapping his executioner's hood for a crown. Lifting Pim up into the air, he plans to tear him in half, but Pim whispers a Spammish prayer. Mr. Jester is surprised to hear the prayer, stating that he made it up and shared it with only one other person before revealing himself to be Oscar, Pim's old pen-pal. Apologizing to Pim for nearly killing him and his boss, Oscar reveals that Pim's correspondence was the only thing helped him through tough times born from insecurity regarding his eye. Pim assures him there's nothing wrong with having a weird looking eye, pointing out his own, and that he should learn to love himself. Oscar agrees that he has bad eyes, and he and the city mocks Pim for them. Oscar pardons them and gives them the jewel. Mr. Boss then says he learned that all cultures should be respected before kissing Oscar. Oscar nullifies not only the eye rule, but all rules in general. The Spamtopia devolves into anarchy, with the fabric of reality itself collapsing around them. Fortunately, Pim and Mr. Boss manage to escape, but not before being chased down by the waitress from the diner.
Mr. Boss and Pim reminisce about their adventure, only for Charlie and Allan to walk in to inform the boss Jason died. Though Charlie attempted to do so at first, he could not manage it, leaving Allan to break the news and show Jason's body to his father. Mr. Boss panics at first before pulling out the magic gem he bought and uses it to revive Jason, causing him to pop out of the mouth of his old body with butterfly wings. As the group marvel at Jason's new form, Charlie attempts to confront Mr. Boss about the manifesto, though Jason's wing flapping and releasing of Purple Dust begin to consume the entire office, deafening and irritating the eyes of everyone in the building. The episode ends with Jason lunging at the screen.
A post-credits scene reveals Charlie followed up on his promise to reconnect with Tyler; even offering to try and get a good word in with Mr. Boss. Tyler says he's going to focus on his music instead, which Charlie respects.
Characters[]
- Pim
- Mr. Boss
- Charlie
- Allan
- Glep
- Jason
- Tyler (debut)
- Desmond (Mentioned)
- Mr. Frog (Mentioned)
- Bliblie (cameo)
- Dave (cameo)
- Oscar (debut)
- Spamtopian Waitress (debut)
Title in other languages[]
| Language | Title | Translation |
|---|---|---|
| Czech | Magický červený kámen (neboli Tyler dostane padáka) | The Magic Red Stone (aka Tyler gets fired) |
| French | Le mystérieux joyau rouge ( aka "Tyler se fait virer" ) | The Mysterious Red Gem (aka "Tyler Gets Fired") |
| German | Der magische rote Juwel (AKA Tyler wird gefeuert) | The Magical Red Jewel (AKA Tyler Gets Fired) |
| Polish | Czerwony klejnot (czyli Tyler wylatuje) | The red gem (or Tyler gets fired) |
| Portuguese (Brazil) | A Joia Vermelha Mágica | The Magical Red Jewel |
| Spanish (Latin America) | La joya mágica | The magical jewel |
| Spanish (Spain) | La joya roja mágica | The magical red jewel |
Transcript[]
To view this episode's transcript, click here.
Gallery[]
To view this episode's gallery, click here.
Trivia[]
General[]
- This episode reveals that Mr. Boss' son Jason is 18 years old.
- This is also the first episode to directly address Jason by name. His name was previously left unmentioned outside of the episode commentary for "Desmond's Big Day Out."
- This episode and "Erm, the Boss Finds Love?" are the only episodes not featured in the Season 2 official trailer.
- However, clips of these episodes are featured in a short promotional trailer uploaded to TikTok and Instagram.
- Mr. Boss ultimately didn’t need Pim as his translator since Oscar can speak English.
Episode references[]
- Spamtopia was previously alluded to in "Gwimbly: Definitive Remastered Enhanced Extended Edition DX 4K (Anniversary Director’s Cut)" on the thumbnail of a show recommended to Charlie on his streaming service profile.
- This episode contains several references to "Desmond's Big Day Out":
- Charlie brings up how uncomfortable he was with Allan biting his nose during the episode's ending.
- Desmond and the Bliblies are directly mentioned by name.
- A bottle of ranch dressing with Dave's face on it is in one of the Boss' desk drawers.
- A dead Bliblie with a paperclip stabbed through the heart is also visible in one of the drawers.
- Jason returns, after being absent since "Frowning Friends."
- A "Mr. Frog CPR special" is mentioned by Charlie as how he learned to perform CPR.
Cultural references[]
- The titular red jewel may serve as a reference to a joke in Oneyplays involving Chris finding one in the remake of Resident Evil 3. [2]
- Additionally, the red jewel could be based on the Philosopher's Stone, which is an important item in alchemy.
- Mr. Boss says "You're fired!" in the same manner as 45th/47th American president Donald Trump eliminates (or "fires") contestants on the reality television program The Apprentice.
- Many graphical errors occur in Spamtopia, including an Adobe Premiere Pro media offline error and scrolling text similar to Twitch and Nico Nico Livestreams during the city's collapse.
- The Japanese word “niko” means “smile”; following a common pattern of word doubling in Japanese, “niko-niko” has a meaning closer to “smiley”. [1]
- Mr. Boss and Oscar's kiss resembles fanart drawn by Zach's friend PhantomArcade of Yoshi and Toad kissing, and socialist fraternal kissing.
- Oscar and the Spamish people are voiced by TruVoice text-to-speech voices, best known for being used in many early Windows software.
- Several pictures in the background of the post-credits scene reference the infamous web series Homestuck. These include portraits of people resembling Dave and Dirk Strider, one of John's avatar, a crocodile, one of Becquerel and a Yaldabaoth denizen.
- Amidst the chaos, one of the Spamtopian citizens is dragged away into the air in a similar way to how Zach's character in the Hellbenders Christmas special is dragged into heaven by Jesus.
- Hellbenders was later pitched to Adult Swim by Chris and Zach, though it was rejected in favor of Mr. Pickles.
- One of the intersections in Spamtopia resembles a notorious six-way intersection found in Beverly Hills.