A Crime of Fashion

A Crime of Fashion is the 51st episode of the series and the 24th episode of the second season. It aired on April 13, 2006 in Canada on Teletoon and remains unaired in the United States. After Tricia overhears Caitlin complaining about how mean she is, she invites Caitlin shopping and then frames Caitlin for shoplifting. Meanwhile, Jonesy manages to convince Amélie, an attractive French exchange student, to go on a date with him. Unfortunately, he has to babysit his youngest brother, Robbie, at the same time. Also, Jude discovers that there is a mannequin model that looks exactly like him.

Main Plot
Jen and Caitlin are trying on outfits at Albatross & Finch and conversing between the changing rooms. While talking, their conversation turns to why Caitlin is looking for a new top; it seems that last night, while Caitlin was closing the Big Squeeze, Tricia purposely spilled a milkshake on Caitlin's top and then stole a guy Caitlin was romantically interested in. Jen is shocked at Tricia's actions, but when the duo exit their changing rooms, the conversation turns to the matter at hand: Caitlin wants to buy the halter top she has on, but even she admits that $50 is far too high a price for it. Jen argues with Caitlin over the cost, and eventually wins the argument with Caitlin, refusing to let her even steal the price tag. Caitlin gives in, and then suggests that they go to Nice Cinnabuns for a snack. However, as soon as they leave, Tricia throws open the door to a different changing room. It seems that she has heard everything, and is not happy with Caitlin's feelings about her.

Later, the gang has gathered by the Big Squeeze, where Jonesy takes the opportunity to brag about his new job: selling ice cream at The Soda Hop next to the new (and hot) French exchange student, Amélie, whom he plans to get a date with. To prove his point about her hotness, she walks past the table, trailed by three men. However, the group is distracted when a remark comes from somebody they hadn't even noticed was there: Jonesy's youngest brother, Robbie.

When Jonesy asks what his little brother is doing there, Jen explains that it's Jonesy's turn to take care of him, as she's sick of putting up with Robbie while his and Jonesy's dad is away on a business trip. Jonesy protests, however, and the reasons for his protest become quite clear when Robbie throws Caitlin's tampons into the blender and then turns it on, showering Caitlin with lemon juice. However, Nikki offers to take Robbie, not because she wants to take care of him, but because she knows he'll drive the Clones crazy.

With this problem settled, every member of the group goes back to work. As soon as they're gone, Tricia approaches the lemon and offers an apology to Caitlin, firstly for spilling a milkshake on her and then for stealing a guy that Caitlin liked, claiming that she didn't know Caitlin liked him. To seal the apology, she offers to take Caitlin out shopping with her, and when Caitlin hesitates (knowing her duplicitous nature), she pulls out a 20% off card at Albatross & Finch to seal the deal.

When the two shoppers get to Albatross & Finch, Tricia points Caitlin towards the halter top she tried on earlier. However, Caitlin mentions that she did like it but it cost too much and turns towards another display. While Caitlin's back is turned, Tricia slips the halter top into Caitlin's purse, and then says that they should leave, as she's bought everything at the store already. Caitlin follows her out, but when she does, the store alarm goes off, and when a Greeter Goddess checks her purse, she pulls out the halter top. Soon, Ron arrives, and Caitlin is hauled off to mall jail.

The next day, Caitlin is telling her tale to her friends. All of her friends believe her, even Jen, who initially expresses some doubt because of how Caitlin felt about the halter top. However, while the support of her friends helps, what Caitlin really wants to know is how the halter top got into her bag. She recounts what happened, up to her going shopping with Tricia–at which point Nikki points out that she was with Tricia. This makes Caitlin realize that Tricia must have done it, and she and Nikki start formulating a plan to prove Caitlin's innocence.

This plan has Nikki distracting the A&F employees by lying to them about a cooler store opening up in the mall so that Caitlin can sneak in and steal yesterday's security tape. Unfortunately for Caitlin, she can't find the tape, and she gets caught when the Greeter Goddesses come back. Once again, she's hauled away to mall jail, but this time her friends bail her out. Caitlin is ready to give up, but Nikki has another plan to get the tape, this time while the store is closed.

However, this plan needs the help of Darth, who doesn't like the idea. He is unwilling to go along until his girlfriend intervenes and, by using a long-winded metaphor that relates the idea to Star Wars, Julie manages to convince Darth to help. At this point, Darth agrees to the plan, and they meet at the shut doors of Albatross & Finch that night. There, Darth finds a way to open the doors without setting off the security system, and gives Caitlin two minutes to find the tape. Caitlin manages to do so, but along the way sets off an alarm, and as a result Caitlin and Darth end up in jail (along with Jonesy for a completely unrelated crime).

Things work out in the end, however, as Caitlin's finally able to convince Ron to watch the security tape and see what really happened. As a result, Tricia gets arrested the next day while shopping at the Khaki Barn and hauled away. Later, it turns out that Caitlin's record was cleared, with Albatross & Finch throwing in a gift certificate of fifty bucks, allowing Caitlin to purchase the halter top that she wanted, while Tricia ended up being assigned 100 hours of community service.

Sub-Plot 1: Jonesy and Amélie
When Jonesy goes to his job at the Soda Hop, business starts buzzing almost immediately, almost entirely due to his coworker's good looks. He serves Jude and Wyatt ice cream, and then turns his attention to serving other customers. Eventually, however, business tails off, and it's at that point that Jonesy asks Amelie out. Unfortunately for him, Amelie rejects him, because she heard about the time that he ran through Grind Me naked.

The next day, he decides to try again. This time, his strategy is to ask repeatedly until she's worn down. Eventually, much to his surprise, this strategy works, and she agrees to go out with him that night. That evening, Jonesy is all ready for his date when his older stepsister arrives, Robbie in tow, and dumps Robbie on him because she has a date.

Robbie does his best to ruin Jonesy's date, from having them go get sushi (which Jonesy hates) to making Jonesy look like a pervert. However, he ends up saving the date by blurting out that Jonesy's in love with Amelie, softening her heart towards his older brother. Robbie then does his best to make Jonesy's life worse, by forcing Jonesy to eat his boogers (through placing them in his ice cream) and then making Jonesy kiss him by pretending to be Amelie. Eventually, though, Jonesy has had enough, and he grabs his brother, intending to throw him into the fountain. Amelie is frightened by this, and grabs Ron to stop him.

As a result, Jonesy ends up in jail with Caitlin and Darth. In addition, he gets fired from his job, and Amelie breaks up with him. To make matters worse, the person who does win Amelie's heart is his younger brother, Robbie. This leads a furious Jonesy to chase him down, much to Amelie's dismay.

Sub-Plot 2: Jude's Identical Mannequin
Jude is eating the ice cream he got at the Soda Hop when he comes across a mannequin that looks exactly like him. When he notices the resemblance, he comes up with an idea: pose as a mannequin himself by standing perfectly still next to the actual mannequin, and then move whenever somebody notices to freak them out. This plan works well, as he manages to scare Stuart Goldstein and the Penalty Box Customer.

The next day, things take a turn for the worse, as Stanley informs him that there's another identical mannequin of him standing in Not Quite Naked. This mannequin is wearing a thong, much to Jude's displeasure, and he does his best to get rid of it. Eventually, the mannequin disappears from the store, but this is because Robbie has stolen it and put it on Jude's skateboard to embarrass Jude. It spends the rest of the day and part of the next rolling through the mall, showing off what Jude would look like while wearing a banana hammock.

Quotes
Wyatt: Ice cream? Jude: Exactly. Nikki: (laughing) The Cracky Barn! Jonesy: That wasn't me! Okay, it was, but I can explain. Caitlin: It wasn't me! You've got the wrong girl! I'm a good girl! Ask anyone! Jonesy: I'm a good guy! Ask anyone! (thinking) Okay, maybe not anyone. Caitlin: Please? Ron: No. Jonesy: Please? Amelie: No. Nikki: Funny, I thought that's exactly what it meant.
 * Jude: (about the Soda Hop) You know what they sell there.
 * Robbie: (on the Khaki Barn phone) Hi. You've reached the Cracky Barn, where butt cracks are our specialty. Have a cracky day!
 * Amelie: I heard that you ran through Grind Me naked.
 * Jonesy: Yeah, she shot me down, but that doesn't mean she won't go out with me.
 * Jude: NO! NOT A BANANA HAMMOCK!

Trivia
Reason for firing: He got revenge on Robbie for ruining his date with Amélie. Afterwards, he got arrested.
 * Jonesy's job: employee at Soda Hop
 * This episode did not air in the United States due to scenes where all the men in the mall lusted over Amélie's body, some suggestive dialogue, and Robbie looking up Amélie's skirt, which falls under "upskirting". Last, most of the plot revolved around shoplifting, similarly to the episodes "The Five Finger Discount" and The Wedding Destroyers.

Errors

 * While Jonesy talks about how he dreams of having the perfect date with Amélie, he is shown to have 12 fingers (ten fingers and two thumbs).
 * Jen declares that Courtney got stuck babysitting Jonesy's little brother. However, Jonesy has two brothers, Diego and Robbie.

Episode connections

 * This episode marks the second time Jonesy worked at the Soda Hop. In the pilot episode "Take This Job and Squeeze It", he worked there and was later fired.
 * This also marks the moment where that same store is eventually shown on-screen (as it didn't got one in its first mention), which is actually an ice cream parlor despite its name.
 * Amélie references the episode "The Wedding Destroyers" when she accuses Jonesy of running through Grind Me naked.
 * Caitlin's mugshot that first appeared in the episode "One Quiet Day" is reused in this episode, including her mugshot number (170771).

Cultural references

 * If one were to look at the pink t-shirt Jen was holding upside down, the white line on there will look like the logo, known as the "Swoosh", used on all Nike apparel.
 * Julie makes a lengthy reference to Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back in order to convince Darth to help out Caitlin. The conversation continues with Darth and Julie discussing the movie, and many spoilers are given, especially in reference to the character arc of Lando Calrissian.
 * Jonesy says that there's something good they say about imitation, but cannot remember what it is. The actual saying is "Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery." The proverb itself comes from the English cleric and writer Charles C. Colton and is his most commonly-known saying.