Phineas and Ferb Get Busted!


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

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 missing bolt 473 from their "Flying Car of the Future Today" landing tower, already completed and under testing, strangely enough. Candace drags her mom into the backyard to bust Phineas and Ferb, when Candace 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", and Candace says: "There it is. 'I see it.' right on cue. Wait, what!?"

Even stranger, with Linda still in shock, Phineas asks her if she likes it. He had asked her that morning if they could make the car fly, but Linda was angry with them because she assumed they would remodel their toy car! She then realizes Candace has been right all summer. Perry walks in and merely chatters. Phineas then turns up with bolt 473, upon which the the car park tower crashes through the house: bolt 473 was a crucial structural component, confirming Phineas’ concern.

Linda and Lawrence send Phineas and Ferb to Smile Away Reformatory School to destroy their imaginations and make them conform. Baljeet is also on the bus because he was kicked out of summer school because his grades were too high, and after all, "school is school". While there, Phineas and Ferb's hair gets cut (Baljeet had precut his hair and wore a wig), and they are forced to watch a movie to break their spirits and destroy their imagination.

Candace, tired from doing all the fun stuff she wasn't able to do while Phineas and Ferb were around, is watching the Morty Williams Show with Stacy. On the program, they show how the Sergeant has been treating Phineas and Ferb. She realizes she wants her brothers with her, after Stacy sings a sad song, Little Brothers, about the good moments of Candace with her brothers. Jeremy suddenly shows up, and Candace convinces him to help break her brothers out of school.

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. They don't do anything so she tells them how much she loves them and they return to normal form. Before they can escape, they run into a giant spider-like robot that 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."

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 misson 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.

People 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.

People present in Perry's dream:


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


 * Lawrence Fletcher
 * Himself
 * Major Monogram
 * SS SN

Background Information

 * Produced during the Season 1 time period as the 28th episode, but broadcast in Season 2 as the 45th episode for both Disney XD and Disney Channel US. The Disney XD premiere was on February 16, 2009 and the Disney Channel US premiere was on March 13, 2009. It is listed on iTunes as season 1.
 * Isabella and Buford are absent in this episode.
 * 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 (although it also shows every so often under the name of "Phineas and Ferb Get Busted"), 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.
 * When the episode originally aired on Disney XD, the title card for the High Definition 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.
 * This episode uses the title sequence from Season 1.
 * This episode has an extended title "The End?", as reported in Phineas and Ferb World.
 * 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."
 * 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.


 * 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)
 * Premiered in Asia during February 23 to 27, 2009 along with other Season 2 episodes. (Exact premiere dates per episode are unknown.)
 * 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.
 * Goof: 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.
 * Goof: 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.

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.
 * 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.
 * "The Flying Car of the Future-Today" is likely a reference to the beginning of the movie Westworld.

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
 *  designates a character that did not appear in this episode