Phineas and Ferb Get Busted!

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, which is already completed and under testing. Upon arriving home in Vivian Garcia-Shapiro's car, Linda Flynn is ushered into the backyard by Candace in yet another attempt at getting Phineas and Ferb grounded. At first, Linda asks her daughter whether she ever gets tired of the exact same routine everyday trying to get her brothers busted, to which Candace begins to reconsider the purpose of her life. However, when Linda's attention is drawn to the tower, she stands there, stunned that Candace had been telling the truth.

That is when Phineas and Ferb fly past Linda and Candace in the flying car, which was modified to what it was from Linda's station wagon. Linda's shock transitions to anger upon seeing this, and when the boys land the car on the tower's landing pad, she orders them to come down. Once the boys are on the ground, Linda scolds them for modifying her car to be able fly without her permission. Phineas testifies saying that he had asked her if he could do so during breakfast. This, however doesn't diminish Linda's anger as she'd thought he had been referring to their toy car. When she declares that she hasn't seen anything more dangerous than what her boys are doing, Phineas tells her they would engage in such endeavors every day. The guilt that strikes Linda upon hearing this is overwhelming, knowing she'd countless times disregarded Candace when she tried to expose it to her. She makes a solemn apology to her daughter.

Lawrence Fletcher comes out to see what is happening. When Linda asks him if he had known about this, he at first stutters nervously, before answering 'no'. Candace asks Linda how she'll punish the boys, suggesting several methods of her own. Lawrence agrees that a punishment may be needed, but intends to lessen its severity for the fact that no harm had been done. However, when the absence of bolt 473 in the tower is confirmed by Phineas as he finds it in the grass, a massive flaw in structural integrity of the tower reveals itself. The tower topples over and collapses, landing on and crushing the Flynn-Fletcher house. Though the station wagon saves itself by means of an auto-parking feature, the damage caused to the house is the final blow to Linda and Lawrence.

Phineas and Ferb shortly thereafter find themselves on a bus due to depart for the Smile Away Reformatory School. Linda explains to the boys that she along with their father had felt it was best to send them there for their own safety. The school's warden who is present for the departure reassures Linda that her boys would "be in good hands". Meanwhile, on the bus, the boys see that Baljeet is present, having been sent there as well because his high grades got him kicked out of summer school. When the bus leaves, Candace rejoices now that the burden of trying to bust Phineas and Ferb is finally off her shoulders. She runs off to enjoy the other aspects of her life with Stacy and Jeremy, but soon later starts to miss the bustling of construction equipment in the backyard.

Phineas and Ferb arrive at the school, which Phineas comments "does not look the way it did in the brochure". After they're checked in, their hair is shaved personally by the warden into crew cuts. They then are formed up with several other students as he explains that the goal of the school is to destroy the dangerous elements inside them, which he perceives are "unacceptable levels of creativity, imagination, and unbridled enthusiasm". When he notices that Phineas and Ferb are far out of the formation and converting one of the bunk beds into a Ferris wheel much to his disdain, he punishes them by sending them off to the bathroom to clean the toilets.

Candace, still at home, expresses that she misses her brothers to Stacy, who in turn begins to sing about it. The song imparts a poignant feel upon Candace, who tears up as the memories of the best times she'd had with Phineas and Ferb return to her. She tells Stacy to stop with the song just as it's ending, and Stacy reacts with irritation, telling Candace, "You've just got everything you've ever wanted.", and leaves on the note of uttering, "call me when you get over it." Candace, now left alone hopes that turning on the television would help get her mind off her brothers.

However, it does the exact opposite as she falls upon a story covered by Morty Williams regarding the Smile Away Reformatory School. It showcases the school's brutal methods of teaching and reveals its goal. The realization of how her brothers are being treated hits Candace hard, and she makes the decision to break them out. Jeremy, who entered the house through the large hole left by the collapse of the landing pad, decides to come along and help her, much to her excitement.

Linda and Lawrence at the same time, make the decision to have the boys taken out of the reform school upon the realization that the severity that their punishment was worse than it should've been. They choose to get to the school by means of the flying car, but are impeded when they discover that it's gone.

The car had been taken by Candace and Jeremy and is nearing the reform school. However, because of Candace's lack of knowledge of its controls, it crashes into a tree tip and careens into the ground, coming to rest at the edge of a cliff into a ravine. Although Candace and Jeremy are only shaken, the car is damaged beyond working condition. They are forced to walk the rest of the way.

After several failed attempts to get into the school, the last one involving a group of giant wooden idols of the warden reminiscent to the Greek Trojan Horse, they find themselves in a dumpster full of mostly shaved hair. At first, the task of accessing the school seems hopeless, but when Candace finds Baljeet's wig in the dumpster, she formulates a plan to enter the school posing as Morty Williams covering a story, along with Jeremy posing as a cameraman.

They manage to deceive the sergeant and he lets them in. However, when they get to Phineas and Ferb, their souls are already broken and the boys are unwilling to escape. Candace deceives the sergeant into getting himself locked in a janitor's closet before snatching her brothers up and running to flee. At the same time, Linda and Lawrence had managed to get to the school when they see Candace and Jeremy fleeing with Phineas and Ferb. Linda and Lawrence as well are deceived by the disguises and are puzzled as to why they see Morty Williams running off with their children.

As soon as they reach the damaged flying car at the edge of the gorge, Candace ushers them to fix it as she pulls the toolbox from the trunk. Unfortunately, the toolbox had been keeping the car balanced and the vehicle falls into the ravine. After another fleeting but unsuccessful attempt at getting her brothers working again, Candace breaks down and confesses to how proud she'd been to have Phineas and Ferb as brothers, expressing her deep regret of having them turned into what they are now.

This snaps Phineas and Ferb out of their emotionless state and they begin to formulate a plan to flee. However, the warden manages to catch up to them with a pack of attack dogs and corner them at the cliff. When all hope of escape seems lost, a giant robotic spider emerges from the ground with Perry and Dr. Doofenshmirtz fighting over the controls. They briefly tangle before Perry pulls a lever on the control panel and drives the spider back into the ground, knocking the warden over the cliff in the process.

Linda and Lawrence appear to Candace's relief, just before the events of the episode take a turn for the outrageous. She turns towards Phineas and Ferb to see them juggling corn dogs, then finds out that her parents are actually marionettes being controlled by a giant marionette Baljeet under the control of a Talking Zebra. When Jeremy makes a marriage proposal to her, she realizes that none of the events of the day were real and that she is in a dream. She forces herself to wake up and finds herself in bed.

At the breakfast table, she describes the dream to her family. When she announces that she saw Perry as a secret agent, Ferb points out that it could feasibly explain his disappearances. The family takes a glimpse of the platypus before an assault team breaks into the house and takes them into custody. As Perry watches them being carried out, Major Monogram appears and informs him that his cover has been blown and that he must be relocated to another host family.

Perry wakes up on Phineas' bed and realizes that what he'd just seen happening was a dream. Phineas wakes up and notices distress in the platypus. He comforts Perry before going back to sleep. A few moments later, Perry drifts back into sleep as well.

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?
None.

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 every day. At that moment, an O.W.C.A. S.W.A.T. team rushes inside their house and kidnap the Flynn-Fletcher family. Francis "Major" Monogram then walks in and tells Perry that his cover's been blown and he'll have to relocate. 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
 * O.W.C.A.|

Background Information

 * Isabella and Buford are absent in this episode. Technically though, the only characters to appear in real life are Perry and Phineas. It is also the first 2-part episode without Isabella. She would not appear later in "The Lake Nose Monster", "Phineas and Ferb Hawaiian Vacation", and "Nerds of a Feather" among 22-minute episodes.
 * 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 third 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 mean the certain death of the shows overall plot, considering that Candace would have finally realized that busting her brothers would have unpleasant results.
 * Even though, in real life, it was shown for about 10 seconds, it may take place after "Cheer Up Candace" since Baljeet's Puppet is shown. And that episode was the only one (so far) to show it in the real world.

Production Information
"Phineas and Ferb Get Busted" was written by Bobby Gaylor and Martin Olson as a story, but the storyboards were adapted and constructed by Jon Colton Barry and Piero Piluso. Robert F. Hughes and Zac Moncrief as well are credited for additionally writing for the episode. Dan Povenmire, the show's co-creator and executive producer, directed the episode.

The episode is titled "At Last" in several different countries, such as the United Kingdom, Latin America as well labels the episode name in its end credits for the episode, despite entitling it "Al Fin;" however, "Al Fin" literally translates to "At Last."

Geraldo Rivera guest starred as the voice of investigative talk show host Morty Williams. Clancy Brown, known for his work in The Shawshank Redemption, provided the voice of the drill sergeant. "Phineas and Ferb Get Busted" was originally broadcast in America as the premiere of season two on Presidents' Day, February 16, 2009 on Disney XD, at 4:30 PM Eastern/Pacific Time. It was rated TV-G and followed by first season reruns aired in a marathon.


 * 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 as of that time 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, the United Kingdom, Australia, and New Zealand. It aired in Spain as "¡Por Fin!" (At Last!)
 * For Latin America, the title was "Al Fin", which is Spanish for "At The End". It was broadcast in 2008, many months before the U.S. premiere.
 * For Brazil the title was: "Finalmente"(Finally).
 * Holland under the name: "Eindelijk!"(Finally!).
 * Note: When it aired in Disney XD United States on November 9, 2010, the title card as "At Last!". Also, on the Friday, December 3rd, 2010 airing of the episode at 12:00 P.M., the title card read "At Last!", as well as the Friday, December 24, 2010 broadcast at 11:00 A.M. on Disney Channel. It is unknown why the card would remain unchanged, because in the episode's original airing, the title was only unfixed in high definition, while this error was also shown in standard definition. The credits also cited the episode as "At Last!"
 * 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)

Reception
When the episode broadcast on Disney Channel on March 13, 2009, it garnered a total of 3.7 million viewers, 1.4 million of them ages 9–14. It was the series second most watched telecast at the time, behind only "Flop Starz," and was the top-rated in Kids 6-11 in almost 6 months, ranking in Phineas and Ferb's top four most watched in the category. Moreover, it was the day's most watched in Tweens 9-14 and Kids 6-11 and the most watched for cable television in total viewers.

Matt Blum of Wired wrote about the episode, "if it’s any indication, the second season will be even more brilliant than the first season was." Blum as well praised the appearance of Clancy Brown as a guest actor. One of the songs in the episode, "Little Brothers" was voted #4 on Phineas and Ferb Musical Cliptastic Countdown.

Errors

 * When the Flynn-Fletcher family is extracted from the house, Phineas complains that he hasn't finished his cereal when it was shown that he was having eggs and bacon. However, it is feasible as this took place in a dream, even though he may have intended to have some later.
 * During the recollection of Candace's busting attempts:
 * 1) One of them was about the time they carved her head into Mt. Rushmore even as she never tried to get them in trouble for that.
 * 2) She mentioned they're "getting the band back together", despite teaming up with them for that day.
 * 3) Candace said they built the time machine, but they actually fixed it.
 * 4) It was said Phineas and Ferb promoted a boxing match, but it's actually a thumb wrestling contest.
 * When Phineas and Ferb are being brainwashed, you can see that Ferb's hair is semi-transparent.
 * When Candace and Jeremy are at the Tri-State Dance Contest, the rose they are holding in their teeth appears to shorten and lengthen its stem as they move.
 * In its first appearance the robot spider is seen to have four legs. But in later shots it has eight legs.
 * When Perry pulls the lever he is holding Doofenshmirtz's nose, but in next shot he is not holding it.
 * When Phineas builds the Ferrisbed, it goes through Ferb's head.
 * When Candace and Jeremy land in the dumpster at one point the outline of Jeremy's shoes are brown when they should be white. In the same scene Jeremy's undershirt is green.

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 appearance 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.
 * In Linda's recollection of busting attempts, practically all previous P&F episodes are mentioned ("Rollercoaster", "Flop Starz", "Candace Loses Her Head", "The Magnificent Few", "Tree to Get Ready", "Raging Bully", "Lawn Gnome Beach Party of Terror", "It's About Time!", "S'Winter", "Lights, Candace, Action!", "One Good Scare Ought to Do It!", "I Scream, You Scream", "Journey to the Center of Candace", more mentioning to be heard)
 * The title of this episode is parodied as "Candace Gets Busted" in the last Season 2 episode.
 * The Talking Zebra from "The Ballad of Badbeard" returns in this episode, which actually is Candace's dream.
 * The beginning of My Undead Mummy can be heard while Phineas and Ferb search for their missing bolt at the start of the episode.

Allusions
Escape from Alcatraz - The Smile Away Reform School is based off Alcatraz, also Candace and Jeremy trying to rescue Phineas and Ferb is a refrence to Frank Morris escaping Alcatraz while using a crafted head in his prison cell bed.
 * Stray Cat Strut - 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.
 * Cool Hand Luke - The line "Drink of water boss?" as well as the punishment boxes come from the movie Cool Hand Luke.
 * A Clockwork Orange - 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. (Coincidentally, the lead actor of the movie adaptation of A Clockwork Orange, Malcolm McDowell, is the voice actor of Phineas and Ferb's Grandpa Reg.)
 * Avatar: The Last Airbender - 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.
 * 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.
 * Jaws - 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.
 * Space Needle - 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 Blues Brothers - 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.
 * Animaniacs - Both Young Phineas and Ferb are wearing clothes similar to Mindy in the Buttons and Mindy segments.
 * Back to the Future - 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!)
 * Evel Knievel - Candace water-ski jumps over some London double-decker buses. In 1975 at London's Wembley Stadium, Robert "Evel" Knievel jumped his motorcycle over thirteen red single-decker buses at Wembley Stadium. Most people know that Knievel crashed heavily but do not know that the buses he jumped were not the classic double-decker style.
 * Full Metal Jacket - The Sergeant is similar and based off Sergeant Hartman, also the scene where Phineas, Ferb, Baljeet, and the rest of the other boys's hair shaved into crewcuts is similar to the opening scene where Joker, Pyle, and the other men having their head shaved.
 * The Simpsons - This episode is a parody of The Simpsons episode, Krusty Gets Busted.
 * Full Metal Jacket - The Sergeant is similar and based off Gunnery Sergeant Hartman, also the scene where Phineas, Ferb, Baljeet, and the rest of the other boys's hair shaved into crewcuts is similar to the opening scene where Joker, Pyle, and the other men having their head shaved, and all the bunk-beds strongly resemble the ones in the film, and the Seageant yelling no to Phineas and Ferb before the two do the creativities is similar to Gunnery Sergeant Hartman yelling at Private Joker, Gomer Pyle, and the other recruits.
 * Dallas - The scene where Candace wakes up and realizes that busting her brothers, and trying to bust them out was all a dream is a reference to Pam Ewing waking up discovering that her husband Bobby is killed was all just a dream, Perry also had the same reference.

From Disney meida

 * The Lion King - 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.
 * Smile Away takes a nod from Camp Greenlake from the book and movie Holes.