The Birthday Boy

The Birthday Boy is the 21st episode of the series. It aired on June 12, 2005, in Canada on Teletoon, and on April 16, 2009, in the United States on Cartoon Network.

It's Wyatt's birthday today, but instead of being happy about it, he's displeased. The source of his unhappiness is simple: every year, his family throws a themed party for his birthday, but since they refuses to repeat themes and the themes are a tradition for his entire extended family, Wyatt has never had a good birthday party. When the group hears about this, they vow to ensure that Wyatt has a great birthday by throwing him a party themselves.

Plot
Wyatt is walking through the mall when Jen and Caitlin run up to him, pull him into a hug, and wish him a happy birthday. Strangely, though, Wyatt is not happy about it being his birthday, and when pressed he reveals the reason why: every year, his family throws a themed party for him, and the themes are always horrible, with this year's theme being trailer parks. Naturally, his friends are sympathetic to Wyatt's predicament, and Jen vows to throw Wyatt a birthday party that he'll love.

While Wyatt is not enthusiastic about this, he recognizes that there is nothing he can do, and Jen soon starts handing out jobs to her friends. Jonesy is put in charge of food, Nikki in charge of the gift, Jen in charge of wrapping paper and a card, and Jude in charge of getting a cake. Everyone is happy to do this, especially since they have until six o'clock P.M. to complete their mission.

However, with no time pressure, soon the group gets distracted. While Jen and Caitlin get sucked into Jude's Simu-Mall game, which Jude has set up to be an exact replica of the Galleria Mall, Jonesy gets Nikki to help tutor him in geography so that he can pass a class. This latter activity poses trouble for both Jonesy and Nikki, as Jonesy is still hung up on Nikki after their date and wants to know why they haven't gone out again–questions that Nikki dutifully avoids while making sure that Jonesy correctly answers the geography questions she throws at him.

Eventually, though, time runs out on the group and they realize that they haven't accomplished anything–Jen, Caitlin, and Jude wasted their whole day playing the Simu-Mall game, while Jonesy and Nikki spent their time studying geography and forgot to hold up their end of the bargain. To make matters worse, the group chose 6:00 because that's when all the stores in the mall close, so they can't get Wyatt a present even though they do manage to get Wyatt to believe that the party time was actually 6:30 and he misheard them.

When the group meets up again at the Big Squeeze, empty-handed, they realize that Wyatt's disappointment over his big day is only going to be compounded because this time two parties of his will have flopped. Upon hearing that the group has no clue, though, Jonesy rallies them to action. He saw a party going on in Albatross & Finch, and he's certain that the only way to make it up to Wyatt will be to hijack that party and pretend it's for him. While the rest of the group is uncertain that they can pull off the trick Jonesy is proposing, they're willing to try, and soon they head over to Albatross & Finch to figure out how to go about remaking the party for Wyatt.

Unfortunately for them, the party going on is a bridal shower. Despite this, the group decides to plunge ahead with the plan. To do this, they get rid of as many decorations as they can and cover up for all the anomalies that Wyatt spies when they bring him to the party. While Wyatt sees several suspicious things there, such as chocolates in the shape of brides, people he doesn't recognize walking around a party that is theoretically for him, and a negligeé being given to him as a present, he buys into it being a party for him until a cry goes out for the guest of honor to give a speech.

Upon hearing this, Wyatt takes the stage and thanks everyone for coming to his party. Of course, the rest of the party is there for the bride, and have no clue what he's talking about. However, Wyatt gets clued in quickly when he spots the crying bride behind him and she tells him that this was her bridal shower. Upon hearing this, Wyatt looks towards his friends for an explanation but only sees them decide to cut and run, leaving him behind at the party.

Later, though, his friends meet him to apologize. Wyatt is at first unwilling to accept their apology, but when he realizes how much effort his friends must have had to go through to hijack the bridal shower for him, he decides to forgive them simply because of how much they care. Furthermore, he realizes that his parents are just trying to give him good birthday parties, and heads off to his real birthday party after he and his friends have some of the ruined cake from the bridal party.

The next day, the group finds Jude playing Simu-Mall inside Grind Me and decide to hold an intervention to break him free of his addiction. When Jude resists, the group soon engages in a wrestling match to get the computer away from him, and while this transpires Nikki realizes why she doesn't want to date Jonesy again: she's afraid of screwing up the friendship between all of them. While Jonesy isn't happy about this, he accepts it, as the group of friends is important to him too.

Quotes
Jen: And last year was the color brown. All the presents, drinks, food–everything was brown. Caitlin: That sounds atrocious! So what's this year's theme? Wyatt: Trailer Park Party. Jonesy: Is that against store policy? Store Owner: Yes! Jonesy: Then no. Store Owner: Jonesy! I thought I said no phone calls! You're fired! Jonesy: That was quick. Jude: Whose picture? Jen: Wyatt's, Jude. Jonesy: Ah, the city of love. Nikki: Country, Jonesy. Country. Jen: You're worth it. Wyatt: Why do the chocolates look like brides? Caitlin: Happy birthday! Wyatt: Thanks everybody! This birthday is awesome. I've always hated birthdays, but after tonight, I think I actually like them again! You guys are all so great! Greeter God: Dude! Who are you?
 * Wyatt: One year, the theme was "Diseases We're Glad We Don't Have."
 * Store Owner: Jonesy! Are you on the phone?
 * Jonesy: No can do. First day on the job, and I don't get off until six.
 * Caitlin: Maybe even get one with a picture airbrushed on it.
 * Nikki: Now, on to France.
 * Nikki: Good job. Now all we have to do is find the bride-to-be and shove her into a closet.
 * Wyatt: This must have cost a fortune.
 * Wyatt: (opening a present and getting a negligeé) Um...thanks?
 * Crowd: Speech! Speech! Speech! Speech!

Trivia
Reason for firing: He was too busy talking on the phone despite his boss's unusually strict "no phone" policy.
 * Jonesy's job: Fruitworld employee.

Errors

 * It could be considered unreasonable for employers to prohibit the use of cell phones at their job, as they could be used in case of real emergencies.

Episode connections

 * This episode, as well as the season 3 episode "Sweet 6teen", deals with a character's birthday, with the character in question being Wyatt.
 * Jonesy calls back to the episode "The (Almost) Graduate" when he states that he worked at Albatross & Finch for two days.

Cultural references

 * The Simu-Mall game Jude plays is based on the real-life social simulator The Sims.
 * While Jonesy makes his speech, the song "Pomp and Circumstance", known for playing at ceremonies such as graduation, plays in the background.
 * Incidentally, this song also played in the episode "The Big Sickie", where Jude did something similar.