The Debt

**"The Debt"** is the fourth episode of season 1 of *The Excellent World of Rumball*.

## Synopsis

After Mr. Robinson supposedly saves Gumball's life, the latter is determined to repay his debt.

## Plot

The episode starts with Rumball, Hammer Bro, and Coiny hanging out on the street in front of their house. Rumball is waiting for Mr. Robinson's senior talent show performance, which, as Coiny points out, does not start for another ten hours and has explicitly banned him from attending. Just then, Mr. and Mrs. Robinson pull into their parking spot. Hammer Bro and Coiny move out of the way, but Rumball is frozen by panic on the spot. Despite Hammer Bro’s telling him to just step aside, Rumball truly believes he is done for. Mr. Robinson simply stops, and Rumball, believing this to be an act of great kindness, jumps onto Mr. Robinson's windshield and starts thanking him, much to Mr. Robinson's annoyance. Mrs. Robinson eventually throws Rumball off by flinging up the hood, launching him into space, where he makes a deep promise to repay Mr. Robinson for supposedly "saving his life." Rumball then decides to follow Mr. Robinson around in hopes of finding a way to save his life, much to Mr. Robinson's dismay, ultimately ending up at a convenience store. While Mr. Robinson reviews a brand of mouthwash, Rumball notices a wet floor sign. Thinking it is dangerous, he moves it out of the way, only to see Mr. Robinson slip over the puddle it was warning about. The fall knocks Mr. Robinson out, prompting Rumball to attempt CPR. Before he can try, though, Pantsbully performs it instead. Mr. Robinson awakes just in time to see his huge mouth make contact with his.

Annoyed and grossed out, he walks outside to a vending machine near the store. He buys and drinks a something hot, hoping it would soothe his vocal chords. He tests out a few notes, clearing his throat to try to get the right pitch, but Rumball interprets it as choking and runs in to perform the Heimlich maneuver. This causes Mr. Robinson to cough up his heart and collapse to the ground. He struggles over to where his heart landed, and scoops it back into his body using his tongue, berating Rumball and storming off immediately after.

Mr. Robinson arrives at a tanning salon and steps into a tanning bed to enhance his appearance. Rumball then arrives and mistakes the tanning bed for a casket, woefully mourning his death. He refuses to give up, though - he grabs a defibrillator and attempts to revive Mr. Robinson with a zap, but since Mr. Robinson is still alive, all it does is electrocute him. Regardless, Rumball continues zapping him for the sake of safety.

Mr. Robinson returns home to find Rumball waiting at his front door to greet him. Rumball informs him that he booby-trapped his front door. He demonstrates this by ringing the doorbell, causing Mr. Robinson to get slugged in the chest by a bowling ball. Mr. Robinson, frustrated with the day's events, starts crying and begging Rumball to leave him alone. This finally reaches Rumball, who realizes he failed and decides to give up, breaking his promise to the universe and starts sobbing.

Coiny and Hammer Bro witness Rumball's angst, and decide to help him out. They throw over a note informing him that Mr. Robinson will be assassinated at the talent show. Rumball, seeing this as an opportunity to redeem himself, tries to warn Mr. Robinson, but his warnings get ignored. Refusing to accept defeat, Rumball follows posthaste.

At the talent show, there are only two entries and three people in the crowd. Following a brief tap-dancing routine from the senior citizens, Mr. Robinson gleefully performs "I Wanna Be Free." Throughout his performance, Hammer Bro and Coiny start attempting to hurt him with various props and effects. Rumball, however, fails to notice. Finally, as Mr. Robinson sings his last note, it causes an overhead light to fall down. Rumball taking notice, pushes Mr. Robinson aside right as the light falls to the ground. Mr. Robinson, acknowledging the fact that Rumball just saved his life, looks thankful for a moment, but nevertheless scolds Gumball for cutting his performance short.

Despite the abrupt ending to his performance, the two audience members (Mrs. Robinson left, disgusted by her husband's success) start applauding like crazy. Mr. Robinson bows repeatedly, ignoring the fact that the lift that was carrying Coiny and Hammer Bro was about to crush him. He eventually does get crushed, and Coiny and Hammer Bro run off without helping him.

## Trivia

* In the newspaper, the name Avicii appears; the Avicii brothers have both worked on the show (the name likely refers here to Avicii, as he storyboarded the episode).
* This episode marks the first time Mr. Robinson has a major role, as well as the first episode where he makes an appearance.
* This is the first episode where Spiffy is absent. However, he is mentioned.
* This is the first episode of the series to have a song.
* On Fiji, this is episode 3 instead of episode 4.