The Whiff of Badness

"The Whiff of Badness" is the first segment of the 2nd Season 1 episode of PJ Masks: Power Heroes. It is directed by Christian De Vita and written by Lady Aria Grey. It is premiered in April 16, 2023 in the United States and April 29, 2023 in the France. It is viewed by 0.12 million viewers. 
== Summary ==
Ice Cub wants to prove how amazing his polar sniffing power is.
== Characters ==
The following characters appeared in the episode "The Whiff of Badness":
* Gekko (main hero in this mission)
* Ice Cub (main hero in this mission)
* Catboy
* Owlette
* PJ Robot
* Newton Star
* An Yu
* Night Ninja
* Ninjalinos
* Wolfy Kids (brief appearance)
* Steven
* Tanya
* Trunk-A-Tron (pictured)
* Sniffer Boy (pictured)
* Super Snout (mentioned)
* Connor's Mom (mentioned)
== Synopsis ==
The episode opens with Catboy, Gekko, Owlette and Ice Cub patrolling the city. Ice Cub is disappointed that there are no villains active, since he's eager to try out his new powers. He then picks up a bad odor that according to him indicates evil is nearby. The smell disappears before he can do anything, so the heroes call it a night, but Ice Cub is determined to investigate further the following night.
The next night, the heroes meet up in Power Q to discuss their next mission. Ice Cub wants to further investigate the evil smell, and Gekko volunteers to go with him. They take the Gekko-Mobile and head for the city. Ice Cub tracks the smell to the museum, where they find the Wolfy Kids digging through a trash can in an alleyway. However, it turns out they're just celebrating Rip's birthday and not up to something bad. Ice Cub begins to doubt his sense of smell due to this mistake, but keeps looking.
Unbeknown to either hero, they are observed by a Ninjalino, who immediately warns Night Ninja. It turns out that what Ice Cub was smelling was something called the Ninja Nightmare, which Night Ninja is working on. Ice Cub meanwhile, keeps chasing the smell, while Gekko has trouble keeping up with him. When he falls behind, he is ambushed and captured by Ninjalinos, who lock him in a cage. Unaware of what happened to Gekko, Ice Cub follows the scent to the park, where he finds Night Ninja and his ninjalinos with a large cauldron. They have collected a ton of trash from all over the city, and with the power of his rings, Night Ninja uses the trash to cook up a new super smelly Stinky Splat, with the intent to clear out the city and leave it free for him to take over.
Ice Cub tries to fight the villains, but is overwhelmed by the stench and unable to fight. With great effort, he tosses a snowball into the cauldron, which creates a giant stink cloud high above the park. Just like Ice Cub hoped, the stench reaches Gekko, and he realizes his friend needs help. He tries to break out of the cage with his super strength, but finds the cage is proteced by ninja magic. Instead, he turns invisible to trick the Ninjalinos guarding the cage into thinking he has escaped. When they open the cage to investigate, Gekko traps them inside and escapes for real.
Gekko hurries to the park and finds Night Ninja and the Ninjalinos, along with the incapacitated Ice Cub. He uses his strength to throw his teammate high into the air to get him away from the bad odor. The fresh air revitalizes Ice Cub, and he uses his ice powers to incapacitate the Ninjalinos and neutralize the cauldron with the stinking splat. Night Ninja tries to ambush them with a final ball of stinky splat, but Ice Cub detects the danger and counters with a snowball. The villains retreat while the two heroes shout their victory cry.
== Moral/Lesson ==
* Being a hero means dealing with difficult things.
== Trivia ==
* This episode shares a similar title with "Bubbles Of Badness."
* Lady Aria Grey debuts as a writer in this episode.
** Olivier Renard also debuts as a storyboard artist in this episode.
* This is the first episode to feature the Power Heroes transformation sequence.
* This is the first episode where TBA voices Kevin, replacing Ethan Pugiotto.
* It is revealed that not all the members of the Power Heroes will go out in every mission.
* This is the first time Ivan joins a fist bump with the PJ Masks before the transformation sequence.
* It is revealed that the PJ Vehicles can be used to fly down to Earth.
* Newton Star and An Yu wear masks for the first time.
* Ice Cub rides in the Gekko-Mobile for the first time.
* This is the first episode where Ice Cub and Gekko shout their victory cry without the rest of the team.
** This is also the second episode where not all three of the PJ Masks members shout their victory cry together in general.
*** This aspect becomes more recurrent in subsequent episodes.
* Ice Cub says the first part of the victory chant for the first time: "PJ Masks, all shout 'hooray!'".
* Rip's birthday is celebrated for the first time.
** She is also the fourth character celebrating a birthday.
*** The previous three characters were Luna Girl in the shorts "Moon Rocked," Gekko in "Catboy and the Great Birthday Cake Rescue" and "To the Moon and Back," and Romeo was from the episode "Flying Factory Out of Control."
* The Stinky Splat makes its first appearance.