Hop 'Til You Drop

"Hop 'Til You Drop" is the first segment of the second episode of the third season of Amphibia, and the seventy-seventh episode overall.

It premiered on October 9, 2021, alongside "Turning Point".

Synopsis
Anne brings the Plantars to the mall for a crash course in Earth survival.

Plot
The episode begins with Anne going to check the mail and agreeing to allowing the Plantars to come with her. However, things quickly get out of hand when Polly almost gets into a fight with two children for nearly crashing into her, Sprig almost falls into a wood chipper, and Hop Pop almost falls for a scam. Eventually, Anne grabs them and quickly takes them back inside. She then explains what happened outside to her parents and says to them it's exhausting work to keep the Plantars safe. They suggest to her that she takes it slow and steady.

Unfortunately, Anne sees Sprig trying to touch the ceiling fan with his tongue, Polly trying to attract the two children to fight her and Hop Pop talking to some guy on the phone scamming him, making her so furious she screams at the top of her lungs. After saving the Plantars yet again, she comes to the conclusion that "slow and steady ain't going to cut it!" and she is going to teach them to survive in her world no matter what.

Anne decides to take a trial-by-fire approach to getting the Plantars acclimated to the human world and takes them to the most dangerous place she can think of…the mall. There, she gives each of the Plantars a challenge to complete, and if they don't, they can never leave the house again…EVER. Polly must head to the "Create-A-Carnivore" plush building store and successfully build a toy with other children without getting into a fight. Sprig, who loves exploring the different textures and materials of Earth, must go through an art gallery without touching anything, and Hop Pop must go down Kiosk Alley without getting suckered into taking anything for free. Everything seems to be going smoothly until Gabby, a classmate of Anne's, finds her and starts catching her up on the gossip that she missed while she was "visiting family in Alaska." While her back is turned, Sprig manages to destroy an art piece full of cranks and knobs and is sent barreling through the mall, Polly reaches her breaking point and starts a fight with a bunch of babies who destroyed her plush creation, and Hop Pop goes diving into a chlorinated-fountain to round up all the free coppers (coins) in it after being pursued by mall security.

Anne breaks free of her classmate's gossip, and rounds up Sprig and Polly and redisguises them so they can get out of the way, and set the mall security guard on the angry baby moms, allowing a newly-green (thanks to the chlorine of the fountain) Hop Pop to get away. The Plantars apologize to Anne, but Anne turns around and apologizes to them, saying that she shouldn't have thrown them in the deep end like she dealt with in Amphibia. The Plantars start laughing and we see quick clips of moments where they were looking out for Anne without her even knowing it to make sure she is protected and safe. They promise to listen to her next time and hug it out, before realizing that Hop Pop needs to take a shower because his skin is burning.

Cast

 * Brenda Song as Anne Boonchuy
 * Justin Felbinger as Sprig Plantar
 * Bill Farmer as Hop Pop Plantar, Modeling Photographer (credited as additional voices)
 * Amanda Leighton as Polly Plantar
 * On Braly as Mrs. Boonchuy
 * Brian Sounalath as Mr. Boonchuy, Art Observer (credited as additional voices)
 * Jessica McKenna as Gabby, Bike Boy (credited as additional voices)

Additional voices

 * Troy Baker as Mark, Free Gift Card Salesman, Hair Growth Salesman
 * Eden Riegel as Scooter Girl
 * Jenn Strickland as Black Haired Mom, Glasses Mom, Alligator Store Owner
 * Sumalee Montano as Trampoline Mom

Trivia

 * While the is real, it's located at Houston, Texas, not in Los Angeles, California.

Revelation and significant events

 * Sprig and Polly wear new clothes to be on Earth instead of the clothes they wore in the previous episode.
 * Anne takes the Plantars to Willow Brooke Mall so that each of them can gain control of their weaknesses on Earth:
 * Polly goes to the Construct-A-Carnivore store to control her bad temper with aggressive behavior.
 * Sprig goes to the art gallery to control his desire to touch everything.
 * Hop Pop goes through kiosk alley to stop taking "free" stuff.

Continuity

 * Anne's scream from "The First Temple" is recycled in the scene where Anne angrily screams at the Plantars, but it's used in a deeper pitch.
 * Gabby thought Anne was dead, while Anne lied to Gabby that she spent 5 months away from LA in the family farm in Alaska.
 * The Plantars mention Anne getting stuck in quicksand, referencing the "Chibi Tiny Tales" short "Quicksand". However, unlike the original short, Anne was too distracted by her phone and walked in the quicksand.

Allusions

 *  - The title of this episode is a reference to the famous game show and a phrase.
 *  - The cactus statue seen in the mall's art gallery resembles the monster Cactuar.
 * Possibly a reference to , which features a Cactuar statue in a mall in the Toy Box world.
 *  - One of the art sculptures in the mall resembles Bill Cipher.
 *  - One of the art sculptures is a purple jaguar, referencing the titular character's Mega Jaguar form.
 *  - One of the art sculptures features a fly that strongly resembles the titular character from the old Disney Channel cartoon.
 *  - In the Construct-A-Carnivore store, Polly is briefly seen with two round ears and a big nose, making her resemble the famous Disney mascot, before discarding the nose.
 * Build-A-Bear - Construct-A-Carnivore is a parody of Build-A-Bear.
 * H & M - One of the stores in the mall, named N & I, parodied the clothing retail line.
 * Abercrombie & Fitch - One of the stores in the mall, named & Pitch, parodied the clothing store.
 * Forever 21 - One of the stores in the mall, named Ever 22, parodied the brand.
 * Old Navy - One of the stores in the mall, named Old Maybe, parodied this clothing brand.
 * Uniqlo - Uniq-oh in the mall parodies Uniqlo.
 * Auntie Anne's - The beginning of the scene of the mall, there's a store with a pretzel with a dark blue background.
 *  - One of the stores also at the beginning of the scene of the mall, is called Soapworld.
 *  - The fountain of wishes, Hop Pop jumps in (and climbs out green) is a parody of real life fountains of Make-A-Wish foundations.
 * This one in particular prevents others (like Hop Pop try to do) steal the coins/wishes.