Simpleman

**Simpleman**

**Season 4, episode 19 (Production order); Episode 97 (Overall)**

> The problem is the world around you! I'm going to show you how much better life can be when everything is simpler!
>
> Simpleman, "Simpleman"

**"Simpleman"** is a Season 4 episode of the series, Miraculous: Tales of Ladybug & Cat Noir. As based on the series' production order specifically, **"Simpleman"** is the 19th written and produced episode of Season 4. It is also the 97th written and produced episode of the series, overall.

## Synopsis

Marinette can never refuse to do favors for others! This makes her a wonderful Ladybug, but it also often complicates Marinette’s daily life. Today, for instance, Marinette has agreed to babysit four children at the same time! And as if looking after the kids in a room filled with kwamis was not hard enough, Adrien makes things even harder when he asks her for a favor! While she rushes to her crush’s rescue, Marinette entrusts the kids to her Grandpa… unaware that she is about to turn him into a perfect target for Shadow Moth!

## Plot

The kwamis panic as Manon shakes the sewing box. Marinette tries to distract her with an activity which would not affect the kwamis and settles on beads. Alya enters the room together with her little sisters and offers to cancel her date with Nino when she sees Manon. Marinette reassures her that she can handle the twins and Manon. Once Alya leaves, the three play with the sewing box and tickle Marinette when she takes it from them. Nino and Chris arrive, and once again, Marinette insists that she can handle the kids. Once he leaves, Marinette finds the kids playing with the kwamis. She tries to stop them, insisting that the kwamis are her secret project, kwashies, and convinces the kids to watch a movie instead. She turns on the Ladybug and Cat Noir movie as the traumatized kwamis hide. Marinette soon receives a call from Adrien, and after freaking out and being interrogated by the kids, she picks up. Adrien explains that there's no one on the set to fix his outfit and asks Marinette to help. Marinette immediately jumps at the opportunity, planning the encounter and questioned by the kids over the complexity of her plan. When the kids express their wish to be there, Marinette decides to leave them with her only relative who was home that day: Rolland.

Rolland refuses to babysit the kids, claiming that it was too complicated, and that he was busy baking brioches. Upon hearing this, the kids run into his house, excited, and start playing with the fragile and dangerous objects of his residential. Marinette leaves her laptop and turns on the movie. Rolland is baffled by the laptop, but Marinette explains that the kids know how to use it. She promises to return soon and leaves, set to "rescue" Adrien. Rolland takes the brioches out of the oven and comes to the kids, who are watching the cartoon. He is confused about the roles of the heroes and villains, and the kids explain who is who. Annoyed at the complexity of these roles, Rolland decides to watch the 1998 World Cup Finale and accidentally turns off the laptop when poking it with the cassette, much to the kids' disappointment.

At the Eiffel Tower, Marinette fixes Adrien's wing. He thanks her, and, stumbling upon her words, she thanks him for thanking her and tries to invite him to watch a movie. Adrien interrupts her rambling, explaining that he is the one thanking her, and leaves. Marinette is exasperated. Tikki advises her not to overcomplicate the situation. Marinette decides that she needs a second chance, and when she sees a man with a fishing rod, she decides to tear Adrien's wing so she could fix it again, be thanked again, and invite Adrien to the movies. She gets a phone call from an anxious Rolland and explains that she will take a little longer and then be right there.

Surrounded by the mischievous kids, Rolland cries out loud, frustrated by how complicated the modern world had become. Shadow Moth releases an akuma, which flies into Rolland's spatula. After several unsuccessful name choices, Rolland settles for the name "Simpleman" and is akumatized, set to simplify the world. The kids are scared at first, feeling guilty for causing his akumatization, but then are disappointed by the villain's unappealing look. Simpleman reassures the kids that they are not the problem, but rather the world around him. He heads towards the exit and hits the floor with the tip of his spatula, simplifying all of Paris. Simplified Shadow Moth gets angry for being hit and threatens to remove Simpleman's power but lets him continue when reminded of his goal: the Miraculouses.

Chaos rules among the simplified citizens: cars crash into each other to not alter their trajectory, Roger prohibits all cars that come his way, Nadja and Clara have a primitive discussion, and the helicopter pilot turns off the engine instead of keeping the helicopter up in one location. Back at the Eiffel Tower, the photographer decides to simplify the photoshoot and have Adrien standing and smiling. Marinette realizes that her plan is too complicated, reels in the rod and runs to Adrien to confess her feelings for him. She is interrupted by the screams of the helicopter's passengers. She decides where to transform makes her way through a labyrinth of barriers. Meanwhile, the set leaves, satisfied by the photoshoot, and Adrien stands in the same place, deciding what he should do. He settles with following Ladybug's example and soon joins her as Cat Noir, rescuing the helicopter's passengers. The two heroes groan at having to fight a supervillain. Cat Noir suggests fighting Shadow Moth directly, and the two run off, searching for him.

The kids follow Simpleman, watching a simplified Parisian take out the trash can together with its content. They spot André and ask for ice-cream but are disappointed when the flavor is limited to vanilla. They complain that the simplified world is less interesting, interrupted by a veggie pizza rain. Despite his dislike of pizza, Simpleman, having protected the kids, agrees that having only one topping is indeed much simpler. The kids are worried and hope that Ladybug and Cat Noir come soon to defeat the villain. Just at that moment, the heroes show up, running in the streets and screaming Shadow Moth's name to grab his attention, while the latter is glad he is hidden. Ladybug and Cat Noir are startled by Simpleman, and the three squabble over their Miraculous. An appalling fight follows with the misuse of the yo-yo and staff, and the kids grow concerned. When the heroes proceed to tickling Simpleman, he decides that they were not simplified enough, and he hits the floor with his spatula once again.

The Parisians begin to act like children, using simplified words, throwing tantrums, and being arrested by an "upset" Roger. Ladybug, advised by the kids, uses her Lucky Charm, a ball, and tosses it at the villain. The ball bounces back and hits her in the face, then rolls under a car. Shadow Moth decides to bribe the heroes with candy. The heroes happily run for the candy Simpleman offers but are stopped by the kids, who tell them never to accept candy from a stranger. Ladybug and Cat Noir express their annoyance of being superheroes and try to take off their Miraculouses. The kids hold their arms and convince them to fight Simpleman. They explain that the ball should be placed under the spatula to make it bounce, and Cat Noir should then use his power. Shadow Moth points out that the kids are cheating, and Simpleman decides to simplify them, too. Chris tosses the ball to Ladybug, who throws it under the spatula. Cat Noir catches it with a Cataclysm, and Ladybug catches the akuma with her yo-yo. She uses her Miraculous Ladybug, returning everyone to normal as the kids cheer. She thanks the kids for saving them, and Cat Noir realizes with horror that they were about to give away their Miraculouses for candy. Ladybug gives Rolland a Magical Charm. He is saddened by his inability to comprehend the modern world, but the kids reassure him that they were like him in that way, and they would learn together.

At the Eiffel Tower, the photoshoot goes on. Marinette reels the rod back in, aware that she was overcomplicating the situation, and explains that her fear of rejection is the reason she comes up with her bizarre plans. She decides to confess to Adrien, but once again stumbles upon her words and proceeds to talk about fishing. She awkwardly runs away. Adrien glides on the zipline while the Vincent takes pbotographs.

Heading back towards her grandpa's residential, Marinette reflects on how difficult simplicity is. She finds Rolland and the kids watching the cartoon and suggests watching something simpler. But Rolland declines and proceeds to explaining who is who and is shushed by the kids. The six watch the movie together.

## Characters

### Major characters

* Marinette Dupain-Cheng/Ladybug
* Adrien Agreste/Cat Noir
* Shadow Moth (Hawk Moth mentioned and pictured)
* Tikki
* Plagg
* Akuma
* Rolland Dupain/Simpleman
* Manon Chamack
* Ella and Etta Césaire
* Chris Lahiffe

### Minor characters

* Barkk
* Ziggy
* Sass
* Kaalki
* Stompp
* Mullo
* Xuppu
* Daizzi
* Pollen
* Roaar
* Fluff
* Wayzz
* Longg
* Nino Lahiffe
* Vincent
* Nadja Chamack
* Clara Contard
* Roger Raincomprix (Rogercop doll)
* André
* The Evillustrator (doll)
* Tom Dupain (flashback)
* Sabine Cheng (flashback)
* Gina Dupain (flashback)
* Alya Césaire (Rena Rouge pictured)
* The Mime (mentioned and pictured)
* Civilians

## Trivia

* Internationally, this episode first premiered in Brazil on Gloob.
* The first minute of the episode was revealed on September 18, 2021, by Gloob on their YouTube channel as a surprise to celebrate their achievement of reaching 4 million subscribers.
* It's revealed that Manon is friends with the Césaire twins, Ella and Etta, as well as Nino's younger brother, Chris.
* It's shown that Ella and Etta possess Rena Rouge-styled backpacks.
	+ It is also shown that there are different variants to the backpacks, with Ladybug and Cat Noir-themed ones also making an appearance.
		- Manon's backpack is Ladybug-themed and Chris' is Cat Noir-themed.
	+ Coincidentally, Rena Rouge is Alya, their older sister.
		- Not only that, Rena Rouge's first appearance was in "Sapotis", the episode where Ella and Etta are akumatized together into the titular villains.
* This is the second 19th produced episode to feature an appearance of Ella, Etta, and Chris, the first being "Timetagger".
* This is Chris's first appearance in Season 4. He hasn't appeared since "Timetagger"
* This is the second time Rolland got akumatized after "Bakerix". However, unlike the first time, he is turned into a new supervillain identity.
	+ Coincidentally, both Rolland's akumatizations are connected to the fact he is attached to the old ways and not able to adapt to the modern world. As Bakerix, he wants to get rid of anything modern and technological. As Simpleman, he wants to simplify anything too complicated.
* This is the first time a character introduced in Season 3 is reakumatized.
* Simpleman is the third akumatized villain to have heterochromia, following Frightningale and Reverser.
* It's revealed that Marinette and Adrien's favorite movie is called "The Umbrellas of Douville".
* This is the second episode in Season 4 to feature an anime, the first is "Rocketear".
* It's revealed that Etta and Rolland are ticklish.
* It's revealed that Marinette has a pull-down chart with a complicated plan (at least 48 steps) to propose to Adrien.
* This is one of the few times where people besides the Miraculous holders notice the kwamis, with Manon, Chris, Ella and Etta finding some of the kwamis, thinking of them to be squishies called "kwashies" created by Marinette.
	+ This is fourth episode where the kwamis pretend to be toys following "Princess Fragrance", "Truth" and "Furious Fu".
	+ This is the second time Marinette pretends the kwamis are squishies following "Truth".
	+ Chris pulling Fluff's ears along with Manon appears to be a reference to the events of "Timetagger".
* This is one of the many times Marinette's thought process is shown.
	+ This is also one of the few times when a thought process is shown more than once.
* It's revealed that Rolland has a VHS tape of the 1998 World Cup.
* This is the first time an akumatized villain rejects the name Hawk Moth/Shadow Moth gives them, forcing the latter to come up with one that pleases his victim.
	+ Shadow Moth first comes up with "Unravelder" and "Doctor Obsolete".
* Simpleman's back breaks when he tries to strike a pose, similar to Wang Fu in "Ladybug and Cat Noir" and "Feast".
* This is one of the many times neither Ladybug nor Cat Noir transform on-screen.
* This is the second episode of Season 4 where the villain causes a car crash, after "Hack-San".
* This is the first time Ladybug and Cat Noir decide to go after Shadow Moth directly.
* In the English dub, the pizza delivery man only hands out veggie pizzas. In the Brazilian Portuguese dub, he hands out mozzarella pizzas.
* This is one of the few times where someone other than Ladybug comes up with a plan to stop the villain. In this case, Manon, Ella, Etta, and Chris.
* This is the fifth time where Hawk Moth is affected by his akumatized villains following "Simon Says", "Robostus", "Miraculous Shanghai" and "Cat Blanc".
* In one scene when Marinette calls Gina to babysit the kids she says she's in China and met a girl who reminds her of Marinette. It may be possible that Gina met Fei Wu from "Miraculous Shanghai".
* The way Ladybug used her Lucky Charm is similar to how she used the basketball in "Miraculous Shanghai".
	+ This is the fifteenth time where Ladybug's Lucky Charm is an object from a previous episode, following the ball in "The Evilustrator" and "Miraculous Shanghai".
* Because of the simplicity of Simpleman's powers, this is the first time where a villain's akumatization doesn't give them any other subsequent powers, like with the other akumatized villains, as he lacks any enhanced physical abilities and is still affected by his back pains.
	+ When people were affected by Simpleman's powers, they are converted to have the minds of children. It's most likely that Manon and her friends, possibly along with all the kids in Paris, couldn't have been affected because they already have child-like minds and on top of that it's unknown if the titular villain's powers would've caused a reverse effect.
* Chris, who has a major role in the episode, makes his first appearance in "Christmaster", which was aired internationally as the third episode of Season 3. Interestingly, Rolland made his first appearance in "Bakerix", which is the third episode of Season 3 by the production order.
* This is Rolland's first appearance since his cameo in "Party Crasher".
* This is one of the several times where both heroes are affected by the villain's powers.
* This is the sixteenth time, where Cat Noir used his powers on someone else following "Dark Cupid", "Princess Fragrance", "Despair Bear", "Troublemaker", "Malediktator", "Miraculous Shanghai", "Miraculer", "Cat Blanc", "Ladybug", "Miraculous New York", "Furious Fu", "Sole Crusher", "Queen Banana" and "Guiltrip" but the thirteenth time of his own free will.
	+ Due to him having a child-like mind, Cat Noir had forgotten about the dangers of using his powers on other living beings. However, unlike with the other akumatized villains, as Simpleman lacked any enhanced physical abilities and was still affected by his back pains, if he were struck by the Cataclysm, and something vital was hit, he could've died.
* This is the eighteenth episode in which Cataclysm is summoned twice, after "The Pharaoh", "Simon Says", "Copycat", "The Dark Owl", "Mayura", "Santa Claws", "Miraculous Shanghai", "Weredad", "Reflekdoll", "Oblivio", "Kwamibuster", "Cat Blanc", "Miraculous New York", "Psycomedian", "Queen Banana", "Glaciator 2" and "Hack-San".
* This is second time where the heroes remember what they did while under the effects of a villain, the first being "Psycomedian".
* This is the second time where an akumatized villain puts Marinette in danger without knowing it following "Lady Wifi" as both had a connection to Marinette.
* Like other villains, Simpleman started to act like Hawk Moth as both wanted things to go the way they want but in trying to do so they were unaware of the consequences they caused everyone else.
* Thomas Astruc has stated on Twitter that this is a meta episode. Rolland's frustration with not being able to understand and adapt to the modern world references some viewers hating the episode because it did not live up to their expectations, and the kids' ingenuity and willingness to learn and teach Rolland references how younger kids are more open to differences and thus understand better compared to older children who, in Thomas' words, are "obsessed with shipping".
	+ Point of fact, Ladybug even mentioned the same thing in "Guiltrip" about not always needed a spectacular battle to have a victory.
* The animated in-universe movie was edited from the original PV, where The Mime meets Hawk Moth in his basement. In the edited version, Hawk Moth's design has been updated to match his current design.
* Ladybug saying that even the most simplest of powers can be dangerous foreshadows the events of "Shadow Moth's Last Stand".
* Ironically Marinette has a fear of rejection when it comes to love relationships however unknown to her that she'll have to face rejection when it comes to her dreams of being in the fashion industry.

### Errors

* The speedometer of the helicopter is not moving even before the pilot turns it off.
* The helicopter falls far too slowly. Additionally, if it fell at a realistic speed, it would be highly unlikely for any passengers to survive.
* When Ladybug and Cat Noir save the helicopter passengers, none of the characters have shadows.
* At the end of the episode, when Marinette turns her head to look at where she's supposed to be going, her neck turns almost 180 degrees around.
* Ella and Etta say that they will see a Lucky Charm in person, however in Santa Claws they did.
* When the akuma flies out of Shadow Moth's hand, neither the Butterfly, nor the Peacock Miraculous can be seen on his chest.

## Gallery

Click here to view the image gallery for Simpleman.
*Click here to view the gallery.*

## References

1. ↑ https://twitter.com/MLadybug\_Blog/status/1502605498956324865/photo/1
2. ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=\_5Jlta9xryM
3. ↑ https://twitter.com/Thomas\_Astruc/status/1443849727825661962

Template:Episodes
de:Zu kompliziert
fr:Simplificator
es:Simplificador
pt-br:Simplificador
pl:Prosteusz