Greece Lightning

This is a chariot race, there are no rules!

Phineas and Ferb have a chariot race with Buford and Baljeet, Isabella and the Fireside Girls, and Candace. Meanwhile, Dr. Doofenshmirtz creates Norm, a robotic man designed to destroy platypuses, like Perry.

Episode Summary
Phineas, Ferb, and Candace are at the museum with Lawrence, learning about Greek history. He tells the kids about Asparagus, the greatest warrior in all of Greece. He used his golden chariot to win every race and turned the Minotaur to stone with the head of Medusa. After Phineas jokes about how Medusa reminds him of Candace, he decides to start a chariot race in Danville.

In that same museum, Perry sneaks away and encounters Major Monogram hiding in one of the statues. He tells Perry that Dr. Doofenshmirtz built a machine to rid the world of platypuses and that he's hiding out at an abandoned theater.

Back at home, Phineas and Ferb plan the route for the chariot race. It'd start at home, through the streets of Danville and over to the park. They'll then pass by Paul Bunyan's pancake house, and finish at the museum.

Lawrence tells the boys he's going to watch 12 hours of gladiator movies, and when Isabella shows up, Phineas tells her to spread word of the chariot race they're about to have and bring gladiator gear for the occasion.

Perry goes to the abandoned theater and gets captured as usual. Doofenshmirtz then shows them a film about the enemies of the Platypus, the biggest enemy being humans. So for that reason, he built a giant robot man named Norm to take out Perry. Perry escapes, but Norm gives chase.

Meanwhile, the chariot race is about to start. The chariots will be pulled by rocking horses Ferb installed with a lawnmower engine. The first team is Phineas and Ferb. Isabella and two of her Fireside Girls, Katie and Holly, are the second team. Buford and Baljeet are the third team. They made another chariot for Candace in case she wants to show up. After handing out the maps, Baljeet wants to know the rules, but Buford tells him there's no rules in a chariot race.

Candace sees the race is ready to begin and tries to tell her dad, but he's too busy watching gladiator movies to notice. Django starts the race, and Candace decides to stop it herself. But the helmet that was placed on the doorway falls onto her, and she accidentally knocks over the columns and starts her own chariot.

Buford tries some underhanded tactics, ramming into the other racers with spiked wheels, a bowling ball catapult which knocks away Candace's cell phone when she tries to call her mom, and even holding Baljeet and using the helmet on his head to cause sparks to fly due to it scraping the streets at high speed. Isabella and her Fireside Girls retaliate by throwing a rope at a lamppost and attaching a hook to Buford's chariot, forcing him to cut himself free with Baljeet. They go through the park with Buford chopping the trees down and the chariots split up a three way road.

Perry, still being chased by Norm, heads to Paul Bunyan's and causes the robot to run into the Babe statue. The ox's head falls onto Norm's. When he sees Phineas and Ferb's chariot, he goes into pet mode where the boys pick him up.

Norm still chases him though, and the boys mistake him for the Minotaur. Candace's chariot goes through a carwash and a fish market and soon all the racers are back on the same road heading towards the museum. Candace takes the lead and eventually wins the race, while Phineas and Ferb are cheered on for an exciting downtown chariot race.

Candace is still determined to bust the boys when Norm appears and walks towards the platypus statue. Candace tells him off, and around the same time Perry lowers himself and turns off the robot. Everyone thinks that Candace turned the robot into stone, causing everyone to panic.

Doofenshmirtz comes in and turns the robot back on, but Perry puts a platypus cap on his head, causing Norm to chase him.

The boys thank Candace for defeating the Minotaur, but Candace refuses to believe she has the power to do that until she accidentally walks into stone statues, making her panic. Phineas tells Ferb he can look now, but he's not taking any chances as he keeps his hands over his eyes. Then Phineas sees Perry, but still, Ferb does not want to look.

Songs

 * My Chariot
 * Paul Bunyan's Pancake Haus

The "Too Young" Line
None.

Perry's entrance to his lair
Perry does not enter his lair. Instead, Major Monogram shows up in the museum inside of a replica of the Discobolos statue. It is a replica because the original doesn't have any clothes on and the version in this museum has a skirt.

Evil Jingle
Doofenshmirtz Abandoned Theater!

Background Information

 * While racing, they pass a lady with red hair, a yellow coat, white shirt and a green skirt, that almost looks like Linda, or at least has her color scheme.
 * First time Norm appears.
 * This episode and "Leave the Busting to Us!" were voted # 7 by viewers for the Top 10 episodes in the "Fan Picked Phineas and Ferb Week" that aired on the Disney Channel during the week of the premiere of Phineas and Ferb The Movie: Across the 2nd Dimension.
 * When the movie played to the part where it showed the friends of the platypus, they showed a blender.
 * Lawrence says that the greatest warrior in all of Greece was called Asparagus (although he pronounced it differently) which is a vegetable.
 * This is the second episode that they went to the Museum. First was "It's About Time!".
 * When Perry enters Doofenshmirtz's Evil Abandoned Theater, the elevator music version of Gitchee Gitchee Goo can be heard.
 * As Norm chases Heinz Doofenshmirtz he says, "Secretly, I'm very lonely." This was also said by Bobbi Fabulous' hand when he told Phineas and Ferb to talk to the hand. ("Dude, We're Getting the Band Back Together")
 * After the race, while in the museum, the kids chant, "Phin-e-as and Ferb! Phin-e-as and Ferb!", just like they did in ("Lawn Gnome Beach Party of Terror").
 * When the "Greek" letters on the Chariot of Asparagus replica are read backwards, they say "Chariot of Asparagus."
 * Linda is only mentioned in this episode.
 * This is the third episode Linda is absent in. (the others being "Are You My Mummy?" and "The Ballad of Badbeard").
 * This is the second episode that Lawrence appears without Linda. ("Are You My Mummy?")
 * Isabella normally feels a disturbance when someone else says "Whatcha doin?" even if she's not around. But after Lawrence says it to the boys, Isabella walks up to them as if nothing happened. This is probably because he says it casually, or because he is their father after all. She may also appear to not mind if he uses it like Phineas.
 * Ginger is seen without her beret and sash again. First was in "Rollercoaster".
 * This marks the first time that Perry meets Major Monogram in person instead of via video screen.

Errors

 * When Perry and Doofenshmirtz were in the theater, Perry reached out for popcorn even though his hands were latched to his chair. This could be explained if he somehow was able to slip out, but in the next shot his arm is trapped again. (However, this may have been for comical effect.)
 * When Norm says "Let's invite our wives next time", the muzzle on the ox head is gray.
 * Ironically, Gladiators were Roman, not Greek. Ferb said this in the next episode, correcting the error.
 * When Buford uses Baljeet's head to cut the rope from his chariot, his shorts turn grey.
 * When Candace gets dragged through the car wash, her hair is much shorter than normal.
 * When Isabella walks up to see what the boys are doing, she greets their dad with, "Nice hat, Mr. Flynn." Lawrence is a Fletcher, not a Flynn. However, Isabella might not have known that he is Phineas' step-dad even though she knows Ferb is his step-brother, or it could have just been a mistake.
 * Buford' chariot wheels have spikes on them. But in scenes after and before he spike Phineas' chariot wheel the spikes are gone.
 * The boy in the theater couldn't have bought a ticket because it was a private screening and it was Doofenshmirtz's Abandoned Theater. (His presence may have also been for comical effect.)
 * The most correct plural for platypus would not be platypuses (which is most accepted), platypi, or platypeople. with the word's Greek etymology in consideration, the most correct, albeit largely unused, plural form of platypus would be platypodes.
 * Along the race, Isabella's bracers appears and disappears almost every moment. Also, sometimes bracers covers just the wrist, then almost reaches her elbows.
 * At race's end, almost before going upstairs you can see Norm's head with horns and nose gray instead yellow.
 * Isabella's pleats on her dress are sometimes missing, most notably when she is in her gladiator gear. Also, when Phineas hands her the map, her belt is missing as well, but when Candace shows up, the belt is seen again.
 * What happened to Isabella after the chariots crashed?
 * At the end when Ferb was covering his eyes, worried that he would turn to stone by Candace, his hand was abnormally large.
 * When Norm runs through the door in the museum as he is chasing Doofenshmirtz, as makes the hole in the upper part of the frame, another white area suddenly appears above the frame.
 * Theseus actually killed the Minotaur.
 * Despite what the film says, no species of badgers or vipers are indigenous to eastern Australia or Tasmania, the natural range of the platypus.
 * When Phineas and Ferb's chariot gets damaged by Buford's, Phineas has no right thumb.
 * During the song, when you see between Buford and Isabella's wheels, Buford's chariot has no spikes.
 * Medusa was slain by Perseus, and Theseus slayed the Minotaur, not the non-existent Asparagus. The mistake was probably supposed to be a joke.

Continuity

 * Doofenshmirtz brings up the tennis ball machine he used once. ("Ready for the Bettys")
 * This is the second episode showing Phineas and Ferb's attachment to cupholders. ("Ready for the Bettys")

Allusions

 * Grease - The title is derived from the song "Greased Lightning" from the classic movie and musical "Grease". The spikes on Buford's chariot wheel may also be derived from the race scene of this movie.
 * Hercules - Some of the figures on a vase in the museum at the episode's beginning resemble the muses from the Walt Disney animated movie "Hercules". The "use the head" scene is also parodied.
 * Roger Ebert's Little Movie Glossary - Candace hits a Fruit Cart, as referenced in Ebert's Glossary.
 * Ben Hur - The spikes on Buford's chariot wheel may be derived from the movie "Ben Hur"
 * Toy Story 2 - Baljeet telling Buford to literally "use his head" is probably an allusion to a famous scene in Toy Story 2, when Rex the dinosaur's head is used to smash open a vent cover.

Cast

 * Vincent Martella as Phineas
 * Ashley Tisdale as Candace
 * Thomas Sangster as Ferb
 * Caroline Rhea as Mom
 * Alyson Stoner as Isabella
 * Dan Povenmire as Dr. Doofenshmirtz, Additional Voices
 * Jeff "Swampy" Marsh as Major Monogram, Additional Voices
 * Richard O'Brien as Dad, Additional Voices
 * Dee Bradley Baker as Perry
 * John Viener as Norm
 * Vicki Lewis as Lulu
 * Bobby Gaylor as Buford
 * Maulik Pancholy as Baljeet, Additional Voices
 * Gwendoline Yeo as Fifi, Additional Voices
 * Alec Holden as Django
 * Additional voices: Corey Burton, Jennifer L. Hughes


 *  designates a character that did not appear in this episode