Cranius Maximus

With my stimulated brain, I am dreaming up all sorts of super smart projects.

When Baljeet becomes concerned that he is losing his mental edge, the boys invent a cerebral stimulatory hat, or "Brain booster," to help him. But when the hat exceeds expectations and makes Baljeet exponentially smarter, he suddenly views everyone else as beneath him and becomes a threat to civilization by taking Earth's atmosphere and bringing it to the moon. Meanwhile, Dr. Doofenshmirtz plans to use his "Key-Find-Inator" to collect all the keys in Danville in hopes that it will lead to the Key to the City.

Episode Summary
Candace notices that the kids are up to something dangerous, even though it's just playing cards. Baljeet comes in, apologizing that he's late. Buford brings up the question of who invented playing cards. Baljeet claims that ancient Babylonians created playing cards, but Ferb corrects him by telling everyone that the Babylonian Society had been defunct for 1000 years before playing cards were introduced in India. Baljeet then realizes in horror that he was wrong, and concludes that due to the 3 months of Summer Vacation, he is losing his edge. After Baljeet walks away, Phineas says he knows what they're going to do.

At the antique shop, Lawrence is showing a customer around, and shows her a wardrobe that Perry is sitting near. After they walk away, Perry dons his fedora and walks into the wardrobe and into his lair, encountering coats, trees, and snow on his way. Major Monogram then explains the trees were left over from Christmas and that the air conditioning was on the fritz. He then informs Perry that keys across the Tri-State Area are disappearing causing chaos.

In the backyard, Baljeet comes back with two CAT Scans of his brain, one before Summer and one during Summer. Isabella points out that they look the same. Baljeet knows this, but says he is slipping, evidenced by the fact he took three minutes to remember how to give himself a CAT Scan. Phineas then shows Baljeet what they made while he was gone; a helmet that stimulates his brain. The helmet visibly works, as Baljeet performs complex equations to solve how many sub-atomic particles are on a dandelion. Meanwhile, Candace asks Stacy if she still wants to go to the pool.

Perry then appears at Doofenshmirtz Evil Inc., where Doofenshmirtz traps him in a water soluble capsule. He then reveals his plan; to steal all of the keys in the city with his Key-Find-inator, in hopes of finding the Key to the City, believing it will allow him to go anywhere in the city.

Back at Phineas and Ferb's house, Baljeet is still testing the helmet. He reveals his new intelligence has given him a lot of ideas, with his favorite being taking the Earth's atmosphere and placing it on the moon, so that everyone would have a better view out of a telescope. His friends try to talk him out of it, but he continues anyway. Phineas realizes that the brain booster was not such a good idea after all. Buford tries to shut off the helmet's power source, but Baljeet placed a force field around it so no one would shut it off.

Fooling Baljeet with cardboard effigies, Phineas, Ferb, Buford and Isabella make their way under the backyard to get to the atmospheric device. Using jet-packs, they distract Baljeet by flying around the device. Thinking he has stopped them with his tractor beam, Baljeet commences the atmospheric transfer process. Candace walks out, notices the device, and calls Mom, who is stuck at the post office because she can't find her keys.

As the weather grows erratic, the Key to the City ceremony is starting. Just as Roger hands the key to it's recipient, the Key-Find-inator zaps it and brings it to him. Due to the rain, Perry is able to escape from the capsule and attack Doofenshmirtz.

Baljeet continues the transfer, as Phineas warns him to surrender. As he realizes that he was fooled by life-sized mannequins, Buford comes and yanks the brain booster off of Baljeet's head, and he returns to normal. Phineas explains that Baljeet was chasing the mannequins while they dug up through the device. Phineas asks if he remembers the mannequins they built earlier. Baljeet says he doesn't. Ferb says "It pays to be on time", prompting Baljeet to get an alarm clock. Realizing his mistake, Baljeet explains that he can't stop the transfer, as he does not remember the controls. Isabella asks if he included a fail-safe. He remembers he did, but he can't find the keys to shut it off.

The Key to the City arrives at Doofenshmirtz's -inator. While he was analyzing how it is more of a decoration, Perry reverses the affect of the -inator, sending all of the keys back where they were and causing it to self-destruct. Doofenshmirtz rants more about the key, then is zapped by lightning. As Linda continues looking for her key, it lands in her hand.

As Baljeet is running around frantically trying to find the key before the transfer is complete, it lands on the key hook. One second before the transfer is complete, Baljeet turns the key and stops the process, saving the Earth.

Isabella comments that they should do something about the helmet. Buford interjects; using the helmet, he created the world's largest wedgie machine. And as Candace was about to bring Mom into the backyard, the wedgie machine pulls the atmospheric device into space along with the helmet. Candace complains that the device was there a minute ago, with Linda saying that "It pays to be on time". She asks if anyone wants pie, and all of the kids run in. As Perry walks in, an annoyed and sad Candace says she's "Going to get an alarm clock".

Songs

 * Taking on the Big Brain

End Credits
Second verse of Taking on the Big Brain.

Whatcha doin'?
None.

Perry's entrance to his lair
Through a wardrobe in the Antique Shop while everything frozen similar to The Chronicles of Narnia.

Background Information

 * http://movies.netflix.com/Movie/Phineas_Ferb/70177007?trkid=2361637
 * It is revealed that Isabella could be no older than 11-12 years old, due to her saying, "I was so looking forward to junior high".
 * Buford reveals that Phineas and Ferb have built over 150 inventions.
 * The decoys that were frozen by Baljeet's tractor beam have a similar appearance to the ones Candace used while singing in Rollercoaster: The Musical!.

Continuity

 * Second time Doofenshmirtz builds an inator to find a key ("Ask a Foolish Question").
 * Second time Doofenshmirtz sings Gitchee Gitchee Goo ("I, Brobot"), but this is the first time he's forgotten the lyrics.
 * Fourth time one of Phineas and Ferb's inventions/big ideas goes bad ("Day of the Living Gelatin", "Escape from Phineas Tower", "Lotsa Latkes").
 * Candace wears the same swimsuit as she did in "De Plane! De Plane!" and "Atlantis".
 * The skyscraper from "The Doof Side of the Moon" is seen again at the dark side of the moon. This might mean this episode happened before "Moon Farm". The reason is currently mentioned in Ferb's line for that episode.
 * This is the fifth episode in Season 3 and eleventh overall episode that Doofenshmirtz is seen in his underwear. ("Lights, Candace, Action!", "Tip of the Day", "Bubble Boys", "Phineas and Ferb Hawaiian Vacation", "Nerds of a Feather", "Run, Candace, Run", "Bullseye!", "Monster from the Id", "The Remains of the Platypus")
 * This is the second time someone's brain grows big, the first being Doofenshmirtz's and Perry's in "Phineas and Ferb Hawaiian Vacation".
 * Second time an even smarter version of Baljeet is seen. ("Phineas and Ferb The Movie: Across the 2nd Dimension")
 * Another time that someone questions how long their summer vacations is. ("The Curse of Candace")
 * Third time Flynn-Fletcher Antiques appears. ("Phineas and Ferb's Quantum Boogaloo", "Escape from Phineas Tower")
 * This is the second time Buford says something about a wedgie machine.("What Do It Do?")
 * The Tallest tower from the dark side of the moon was seen again. ("The Doof Side of the Moon", "The Mom Attractor")
 * This is the second time Phineas and Ferb don't build inventions, Baljeet and Buford do. First is Baljeet; he tries to stop Phineas, Ferb, Isabella, and Buford. Then Buford; he used the helmet to make the world's largest wedgie machine and try to stop Baljeet, and give him a wedgie. ("Phineas and Ferb Interrupted", "What Do It Do?")

Errors

 * Ferb and Baljeet say that playing cards orginated in India, but they are both wrong, as playing cards actually originated in China.
 * When Doofenshmirtz catches Perry, his shirt starts out white, but when he is putting his pants on, it turns black.
 * Baljeet's pocket disappeared and reappeared throughout the episode.
 * In the scene where Baljeet sees the stuffed models of the gang, it's shown Ferb before Isabella but when the camera jumps to the backyard it's the opposite, and their gestures are different.
 * Phineas and Ferb had already created an atmosphere on the moon in the episode Moon Farm when they grew grass there for the cows to eat, unless that was after the episode.

Allusions

 * Circus Maximus - The episode title is an allusion of Circus Maximus, an ancient Roman chariot racing stadium and mass entertainment venue.
 * The Adventures of Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius - The plot of this episode is similar to "Sheen's Brain," in which Jimmy's invention causes Sheen to grow so smart that he attempts to take over the world.
 * The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe - Perry's lair entrance is the same as when Lucy enters the wardrobe and into Narnia.
 * X-Men - Phineas and Ferb's helmet resembles Professor Xavier's helmet in Cerebro.
 * Rolie Polie Olie - The episode title resembles Gloomius Maximus, the main villain of Rolie Polie Olie.
 * Spaceballs - Dark Helmet's plan is similar to Baljeet's plan.
 * The Time Tunnel - Baljeet's evil plot to remove the atmosphere is very similar to the finale of The Time Tunnel when androids threatened to move the oxygen to their planet.

Cast

 * Vincent Martella as Phineas
 * Ashley Tisdale as Candace
 * Thomas Sangster as Ferb
 * Alyson Stoner as Isabella
 * Maulik Pancholy as Baljeet
 * Caroline Rhea as Mom
 * Dan Povenmire as Dr. Doofenshmirtz
 * Jeff "Swampy" Marsh as Major Monogram
 * Richard O'Brien as Dad
 * Dee Bradley Baker as Perry
 * Bobby Gaylor as Buford