Phineas and Ferb Get Busted!


 * "At Last" and "At Last!" redirect here, but this is the same episode with the U.S. title.

Out! I'm gonna bust my brothers out!

Phineas and Ferb build a flying car and Candace finally busts them. They get sent to reform school to have their spirits broken and imaginations removed.

Episode Summary
Phineas and Ferb are looking for bolt 473 from their "Flying Car of the Future, Today" landing tower, already completed and under testing. Upon arrival, Candace drags Linda into the backyard to bust Phineas and Ferb. When Linda questions her, she agrees and says: "Whenever I look, there's this very big thing in the backyard, and when you look, you say-", and her mom says, "I see it." Candace says, "There it is. 'I see it.' right on cue. Wait, what!?"

The boys fly by them in the Flying Car on return to the tower, greeting Linda. Once they are on the tower, Linda orders them down to her. She complains that it is "the most dangerous thing she's seen in her life." She also yells that they didn't have her permission to do it. Phineas explains that they asked her if they could make a flying car, but this makes Linda angrier. (She assumed that "car" meant their toy car.) Phineas says that they build things every day, prompting her to apologize to Candace.

Lawrence comes out to see what is happening. Upon seeing the tower, Linda asks him if he knew about it, to which he answers no. Candace suggests several punishments, including taking them off of the City Counsel (They trade out with the Board of Selectment). Lawrence agrees a punishment may be needed, but no harm has been done. Phineas then finds bolt 473 and states, "I hope that wasn't important." Immediately after he says this, the tower falls over, completely destroying the Flynn-Fletcher house. The Flying Car hovers down to the ground, to which Phineas remarks, "At least the self parking works!"

Linda and Lawrence decide to send Phineas and Ferb to Smile Away Reformatory School. Before leaving, Linda explains that it for their own good and safety. On the bus, they discover that Baljeet is coming, too, because his grades were too high for summer school. When the bus leaves, Candace does everything she couldn't do with her brothers around. But in the end, she looks out the window and there's an empty back yard where busy little brothers are supposed to be...

Phineas and Ferb arrive at the school, where their hair is shaved into crew cuts. The sergeant says the reason they are there is because they have imagination and "unbridled enthusiasm." Then, they get caught making a Ferris wheel out of their beds. The sergeant punishes them by making them clean a bathroom with toothbrushes and water.

Meanwhile, Candace is starting to miss her brothers. She sadly walks away from the window she was looking through then trips over Ferb's old tool box. She sits down on the couch to talk to to Stacy. She begins to think about her brothers and all the fun things they've done together while Stacy sings Little Brothers. After Candace tells her to stop, Stacy leaves, saying "You just got everything you ever wanted. Let me know when you get over it." Candace decides to turn on the TV to take her mind off things. Morty Williams is covering a report on the school the boys are at. Candace, seeing the horrible events happening at the school, realizes that is no place for her brothers. Just then Jeremy comes over, entering through the huge gaping hole the tower made. Candace tells Jeremy she's going to bust her brothers. When Jeremy tells her she's already done that she says "Out. I'm gonna bust my brothers out!". Jeremy decides to go with her, much to Candace's excitement.

Linda and Lawrence get a letter from the Board of Selectment, saying they need Phineas and Ferb's output for an issue. They decide to go to the reform school and get them out. However, they realize the Flying Car is gone.

Candace and Jeremy take the "Flying Car of the Future Today" to save them, but Candace doesn't know how to drive it. Because of this problem, the car gets damaged, and Candace and Jeremy are forced to walk to Smile Away Reformatory School. When they are not allowed into the reform school, they make a "Trojan Horse" that looks like the Sergeant; but this plan fails and they end up in a dumpster full of hair, including Baljeet's summer wig.Candace and Jeremy, disguised as Morty Williams and a camera man, enter into the school under the guise of a follow-up story. When they are in, they find Phineas and Ferb, but the boys don't want to escape with them because the sergeant had finally broken their spirits. Meanwhile, Linda and Lawrence are going to the school to take Phineas and Ferb with them, feeling bad about their decision, but Candace and Jeremy flee with them before they can.The schools sargent chases after them. After seeing this, Linda says to Lawrence "Why is Morty Williams running off with our children?" and he replies "I...don't... know......."

They reach the Flying Car and Candace asks Phineas and Ferb to repair it, but it falls to a gorge. So she asks them to build a bridge. "Good boys don't make anything but their sisters happy." replies Phineas in monotone. In tears, Candace tells them she has always secretly been proud to be their big sister and begs them to forget everything the school told them. Slowly, they return to normal form. But it's too late: the sargeant has caught up with them. Suddenly a giant spider-like robot emerges from the ground with Perry the Platypus and Dr. Doofenshmirtz on it. Perry takes off his hat to the kids then pulls a lever which makes the robot go back into the ground with Doofenshmirtz yelling: "Curse you Perry the Platypus!" just as one of the arms of the robot knocks the sergeant into the ravine. Candace thinks about this and asks, "Perry has a hat?".

Linda and Lawrence arrive and Candace tells them about what happened at Smile Away. When she turns back around, Phineas and Ferb are juggling corn dogs. Linda and Lawrence turn into marionettes controlled by Baljeet, who himself becomes a marionette controlled by a giant Talking Zebra. She turns around and Jeremy asks Candace to marry him. She realizes that Jeremy wouldn't do that and says that this must be a dream. Jeremy then says, "That would explain the talking zebra!" Candace responds saying, "No I see him all the time." This finally gets Candace to realize that it was all a dream, and she wakes up.

At the breakfast table, she tells her dream to her family, including that she saw Perry as a Secret agent. When they see Perry, Ferb wonders if that's what Perry does all day when he goes missing. Immediately, government agents crash in and kidnap the family. Major Monogram appears, telling Perry that he will be transferred to another home because the Flynn-Fletcher's discovered Perry's secret. Immediately, Perry wakes up, discovering the entire mess was only a dream. Phineas wakes up too and assures Perry that is was just a bad dream, and they go back to sleep.

Songs

 * The Good Life
 * Little Brothers (Voted #4 on the "Phineas and Ferb Musical Cliptastic Countdown")
 * Funky Rhythms in the Bathroom
 * Chains on Me

End Credits
Funky Rhythms in the Bathroom. The sergeant tells Phineas and Ferb, "I said, no funky rhythms!" Phineas then tells Ferb, "You know, Ferb... He's right. That was a little funky."

Hey, where's Perry?
In this episode, there is no subplot with Perry, and because of this, Perry isn't shown entering his lair, or getting his brief mission from Major Monogram. However, Perry is later shown doing his job.

Perry's Entrance to Lair
In this episode, there is no subplot with Perry, and because of this, Perry isn't shown entering his lair, or getting his brief mission from Major Monogram. However, Perry is later shown doing his job.

Candace's Dream
Candace's dream was technically Perry's Dream, as shown in the part after she wakes up and turns into the scene explained below.

Characters present in Candace's dream:


 * Ferb
 * Dad
 * Mom
 * Phineas
 * Herself
 * Stacy


 * Jeremy
 * Baljeet
 * Sergeant
 * Talking Zebra
 * Morty Williams
 * Perry
 * Heinz Doofenshmirtz

Perry's Dream
Perry's dream was about Phineas and Ferb getting busted. At the end, Candace tells her family that Perry was wearing a hat, just like a secret agent. Ferb wonders if that's where he disappears to everyday. At that moment, a bunch of guards rush inside their house and kidnap the Flynn-Fletcher family. Major Monogram tells Perry that his family almost found out about his secret job. Perry then wakes up and realizes it was all a dream.

Characters present in Perry's dream:


 * Phineas Flynn
 * Ferb Fletcher
 * Candace Flynn
 * Linda Flynn


 * Lawrence Fletcher
 * Himself
 * Major Monogram
 * SS SN

Background Information

 * Isabella and Buford are absent in this episode.
 * This was the first episode that shows how Phineas, Ferb, and Candace met, but as a dream sequence, cannot be considered official. Also, the episode in general is non-canon.
 * Dr. Doofenshmirtz and Major Monogram only make cameos in this episode.
 * This is the biggest role for Jeremy yet.
 * Perry appears three times in this episode.
 * This episode marks the second time Phineas, Ferb and Candace see Perry wearing his hat although it was just a dream. ("Toy to the World" (Phineas and Ferb), "The Ballad of Badbeard" (Candace)
 * This is the only episode (until "Isabella and the Temple of Sap") that does not contain an Agent P sub-plot.
 * However, Perry and Dr. Doofenshmirtz show up on a giant robot near the end of the episode, implying that an Agent P sub-plot was happening while Candace was trying to save Phineas and Ferb, but the audience didn't see anything besides the fight on the robot.
 * If the episode actually took place in Candace's dream instead of Perry's, this would put an end to the overall plot of the show, considering that Candace would have finally realized that busting her brothers would have unpleasant results.

Production Information

 * Episode description from a 2009 Disney XD Phineas and Ferb press release:
 * In an episode guest starring Geraldo Rivera, Candace finally gets Mom to see what Phineas and Ferb are up to. Then the boys get shipped off to reform school, where they encounter a strict Sergeant (played by Clancy Brown, "Shawshank Redemption"), all while investigative talk show host Morty Williams (guest star Geraldo Rivera) prepares an eye-opening report on the school.


 * Episode description from YourTV.com.au: "The boys are finally caught in the act by their mother and consequently shipped off to military school. Life is great for Candace until she realizes she actually misses them and has to get them back."
 * The Disney Channel premiere recorded the largest audience ever for a Phineas and Ferb telecast in total viewers, topping all previous telecasts on Toon Disney with 1.1 million viewers. In Boys 6-14, the new episode ranked among the Top 5 series telecasts ever on Disney XD/Toon Disney with 302,000 viewers.
 * This episode was originally titled "At Last" until the network changed it for the U.S. broadcast (Dan Povenmire Correspondence).
 * "At Last" is used as the title in several regions and countries, including Asia, Philippines, United Kingdom, Australia, and New Zealand. Holland under the name: "Eindelijk!"(Finally!).
 * For Latin America, the title was "Al Fin", which is Spanish for "At Last". It was broadcast in 2008, many months before the U.S. premiere.
 * This episode has an extended title "The End?", as reported in Phineas and Ferb World.
 * When the episode originally aired on Disney XD, the title card for the High Definition broadcast remained unchanged, and read "At Last". In addition, the ending credits also called the episode "At Last".
 * A clip of Perry from this episode was used in the TV commercial for The Fast and the Phineas DVD, even though the DVD does not contain the episode.
 * International premieres:
 * Late Summer 2008 (Disney Channel Latin America)
 * December 2008 (Belgium)
 * Sometime in between February 23rd and 27th, 2009 along with other Season 2 episodes in Asia. (Exact premiere dates per episode are unknown.)
 * April 1, 2009 (Disney Channel Germany)
 * April 2009 (Disney XD UK)
 * May 4, 2009 (Disney Channel Scandinavia)

Errors

 * When the Flynn-Fletcher family is getting carried away, Phineas says "Hey, I haven't finished my cereal," but he was eating eggs and bacon. (Then again, it was a dream.)
 * Among Linda's recollection of Candace's phrases of busting attempts, Candace mentions that Phineas and Ferb has carved her head into Mount Rushmore, yet in that episode she doesn't ever mention to Linda that they did that, only saying that she should see what they've done.
 * When Phineas and Ferb are being brain-washed (at top) Ferb can be seen with his hair almost invisible.

Continuity

 * So far this episode is the only one (next to Phineas and Ferb's Quantum Boogaloo and She's the Mayor) that Phineas and Ferb get "busted" by their mom.
 * Perry would later make a cameo appearence in "Isabella and the Temple of Sap". Major Monogram and Dr. Doofenshmirtz would later be absent in that same episode.
 * Jeremy would later be focused on in "Nerdy Dancin'".
 * When Stacy is in the speedboat, her bikini from "Lawn Gnome Beach Party of Terror" can briefly be seen.

Allusions

 * The music and tempo of the lyrics in Chains on Me is in the style of Stray Cat Strut by The Stray Cats. (Link to a live performance by Brian Setzer: .)
 * Alternately, the song's lyrics and style could be a reference to songs such as Sixteen Tons as sung by Tennessee Ernie Ford. The oppressive atmosphere of the school (and the song) are reminiscent of the oppressiveness of the coal mines mentioned in Sixteen Tons.
 * The line "Drink the water boss?" as well as the punishment boxes come from the movie Cool Hand Luke
 * Baljeet's line about the book being better is a reference to A Clockwork Orange. The book and the movie include a famous aversion therapy sequence, which is the type of treatment all three boys are undergoing at the time.
 * When Phineas and Ferb regain their imaginations, the scene were they stand on the cliff and receive direct lighting from above could be a reference to the Disney film The Lion King
 * The character Morty Williams may be a combination reference to talk show hosts Morton Downey, Jr. and Montel Williams. Morty Williams is voiced by another talk show host, Geraldo Rivera.
 * The Sergeant said "I'm gonna need a bigger yard" is a direct reference to the line "You're gonna need a bigger boat." from Jaws.
 * Smile Away takes a nod from Camp Greenlake from the book and movie Holes.
 * When the camera zooms out of the tower for "The Flying Car of the Future-Today!", it looks like the Space Needle in Seattle, Washington.
 * The O.W.C.A. agents are making the same "hut, hut, hut" noises as the S.W.A.T. teams did in The Blues Brothers.
 * The episode has some striking similarities to Avatar: The Last Airbender; the reform school building resembles the earth king's palace, the brainwashing is similar to the dai li's way of brainwashing, and the sergeant's character is similar to Long Feng, the leader of the Dai li. Also, Clancy Brown Voiced Long Feng.
 * Animaniacs: Both Young Phineas and Ferb are wearing clothes simlair to Mindy in the Buttons and Mindy segments
 * When we first see Candace and Jeremy flying in the flying car of the future--today, the music we hear is possibly a nod to the famous movie Back to the Future, which features a flying Delorean as a time machine.
 * Pikmin 2: The robot spider Perry and Doofenshmirtz are fighting on resembles the final boss of this game known as the Titan Dweevil. It crawls out of the ground in the same way and looks similar to it.
 * Westworld: "The Flying Car of the Future-Today" is similar to the beginning of Westworld. (The Vacation of the Future-Today!)

Cast

 * Vincent Martella as Phineas
 * Ashley Tisdale as Candace
 * Thomas Sangster as Ferb
 * Caroline Rhea as Mom
 * Mitchel Musso as Jeremy
 * Dan Povenmire as Dr. Doofenshmirtz (cameo)
 * Jeff "Swampy" Marsh as Major Monogram (cameo)
 * Richard O'Brien as Dad
 * Dee Bradley Baker as Perry
 * Maulik Pancholy as Baljeet
 * Kelly Hu as Stacy
 * Geraldo Rivera as Morty Williams
 * Clancy Brown as Sergeant
 * Additional voices: Dee Bradley Baker, April Winchell