Capture the Flag Part 4: The Plan

"**Capture the Flag Part 4: The Plan**" is the 38th episode of the third season and the 118th episode overall of *Craig of the Creek*.

## Synopsis

Craig puts a plan into motion to save the Creek.

## Plot

King Xavier holds a sleep over for his “buddies” that make up his royal guard along with his newest buddy Jason. Xavier points out how big Jason's backpack is and tries to joke if Jason wants to move in? Maya shows up and apologizes for being late, but Xavier doesn't want to hear excuses.

In Xavier's basement, the buddies hang out and play Power Punchers. Maya asks if Xavier has more squishers and Xavier tells her that he doesn't because she wasn't by his side and didn't stop the raid that happened since she was destroying the ramps. Maya points out that she was only destroying the ramps because Xavier told her to and tells him she can't be everywhere at once. Xavier tells her that he doesn't want her to be everywhere, just by his side and warns her that her position as his BFF is on the line if she disappoints him again. Maya meekly apologizes and Xavier takes over Jason’s controller when he was about to win his Power Punchers match to win in his place.

Xavier then decides they should play Truth or Dare and asks what to they like the best about him and someone says Xavier is the biggest jerk he ever knew. Xavier demands to know who said that and it turns out it was Craig hiding in Jason’s bag. The buddies try to surround Craig, but Craig has the remote for the basement TV and its connected Home theater and surround sound system and threatens to turn the volume up so that it's loud enough to wake up Xavier's parents (and possibly the block). Xavier agrees to listen to what Craig wants and Craig challenges him to a game of Capture the Flag for control of the Creek and promises to leave the creek forever if Xavier wins. Xavier likes the idea of no more Craig at the Creek and accepts the challenge. Craig then manages to slip out through the basement window after establishing that the game will happen Saturday at Noon.

Craig is at the library with Kelsey, JP, Stacks, Wildernessa, and Wren and they can't believe Xavier accepted their challenge. Jason appears at the library and it's revealed that he was working undercover to get information for Craig which is how Craig's group always knew where to strike for the candy raids. Craig then sets out to recruit the other kids that were affected by Xavier’s rule.

Craig manages to recruit the Sewer Queen, Cannonball, Toman, the Paintball Brothers Mike and Benny, and Sparkle Cadet. The major holdout is Omar who doesn't want to be part of the battle for the creek after spending 3 entire summers defending the creek from the other side, time that he could have been spent playing and making friends, only for the creek to abandon him when he needed them. Craig apologizes for what happened, but tells him that he wants to preserve the freedom to play however you want that the creek represents. Omar tells him that he won't fight for the Creek, but he will fight for Craig and emerges with his green poncho.

At Craig's, the group goes over the plans for the next day. With Jason’s intel, they know that Xavier is considering 3 spots for hiding his flag which are Xavier's Keep, The Maze, and Fort Wisteria. Craig plans to have 3 main groups led by himself, Kelsey, and Omar search each of the locations while JP has a group to stay behind and guard their flag. Bobby comes in and begs for forgiveness for what he's done and wants to make it up to Craig. Craig tells him he shouldn't make it up to him, he needs to make it up to the Creek.

On the day of the battle, the creek kids are gathered near the Overpass tunnel. Beth the Timekeeper explains that they're using freeze tag rules in that the moment a kid gets tagged while on the opposing side's territory, they're stuck in place for the remainder of the game. The episode ends as Beth is about to blow her sousaphone to start the game.

## Characters

### Main

* Craig
* Kelsey
* J.P.
* Mortimor
* Jason
* Wren
* Wildernessa
* The Green Poncho

### Supporting/Minor

* King Xavier
* Maya
* Keun Sup
* Jackie
* Aggie
* Stacks
* Cannonball
* Todd
* Handlebarb
* Warpspeed
* Sewer Queen
* Bobby
* Cheese Sticks
* Sparkle Cadet
* Paintball Mike
* Paintball Benny
* Paintballers
* Zoe
* Roger
* Toman
* Alliance of Science
* Diane
* Big Red
* Horse Girls
* Scooter Girl
* Junior Forest Scouts
* Timekeeper
* Nicole (non-speaking)
* Harold (cameo)

## Videos

Capture the Flag - Sleepover - Craig of the Creek - Cartoon Network
## Trivia

* The segment featuring *Power Punchers* references many real-world properties.
	+ Some of the toys resemble a cross between Pikachu and a cat, turtle, and dinosaur.
	+ The game controllers used for *Power Punchers* resemble the Super Nintendo controller.
	+ Other game controllers are shown that resemble a PlayStation 3 Rock Band guitar controller and drum pad.
	+ A poster parodying *Godzilla* can be seen.
* Xavier's basement has two purple basketball jerseys with the numbers 8 and 24 on them. This is likely a reference to Kobe Bryant and his daughter Gianna, who both died in a helicopter crash in 2020.
* Jason and Craig's greeting at the library is a reference to *Predator*.
* Sparkle Cadet's Mud Pug craft adhesive is a parody of Mod Podge.

## References

1. ↑ Page, A. (2021, July 7). TV Ratings for Thursday 1st July 2021 - Network Prelims and Top 200 Cable Numbers Posted. Retrieved July 7, 2021, from https://www.spoilertv.com/2021/07/tv-ratings-for-thursday-1st-july-2021.html.