"The Nineteenth Hole is a Shallow Grave" is the nineteenth episode of Fillmore! It originally aired on November 1, 2003.
Summary[]
Something's down at the X Middle School Open - professional golfers are failing at games, and foul play is suspected. Normally, Fillmore would be eager for an undercover job like this, but something in his past - something involving mini-golf - is making him hesitate.
Parodied crimes: Point shaving
Plot[]
Act One: Under The Windmill's Shadow[]
After thwarting a comic book thief and returning it to its owner, Biggie, Fillmore watches the school's mini-golf tournament on TV with the rest of the Safety Patrol despite not liking the game. When Vallejo's favorite player and the favorite to win, Cuzzy Shotwell, makes a suspiciously bad play that costs him the match, he orders an investigation. When questioned, Cuzzy refuses to talk, but the Safety Patrol still suspects foul play. While inspecting the course and confirming it isn't rigged, Fillmore has a flashback to a game during his delinquent days that troubles him. Fillmore confirms to Vallejo that someone is rigging the matches, and the latter decides to send Fillmore to compete undercover in an upcoming mini-golf tournament when Ingrid mentions he is a natural at the game. Though he objects to the decision, Fillmore agrees to play, but he refuses to tell Ingrid his history with the game.
Act Two: The Obstacle Of Memory[]
Playing under the alias "Buena Vista." Fillmore easily advances in the tournament with Danny as his caddy. However, in the middle of the game, Fillmore hesitates when he has another flashback and the tournament is rained out for the day. Afterward, Fillmore is approached by two goons who try to bribe and threaten him into throwing the tournament, and Fillmore agrees to talk if it's with their boss. When the time comes for the meeting with the boss, the Safety Patrol pulls an ambush, but the person meeting with them turns out to Ham Beaumont, Folsom's nephew and president of the Mini-Golf Happy Squad, a group that volunteers to play Mini-Golf with the elderly; Ham was led to believe by an anonymous call that "Buena Vista" was constantly winning against the elderly and he came to peaceful convince him to go easy on them. Cuzzy suddenly appears and tries to tell them something, but he clams up when Biggie appears and implies that he's responsible while gloating that their chances of stopping him are ruined
Act Three: Three Strokes To Redemption[]
Folsom takes the Safety Patrol off the case for the fiasco with Ham and Fillmore trudges off in frustration. The Safety Patrol looks into Biggie and learns he has the biggest comic book collection in the school. To expand his collection, he's been running bets on mini-golf tournaments while rigging the tournaments to ensure he never loses. With the Safety Patrol out of the way, Biggie has put out his entire fortune on bets and is on the verge of winning it all. Ingrid talks to Fillmore and shares what she's learned. She also tells him that even though the case has been closed, they can still stop Biggie if "Buena Vista" wins the tournament fairly, which would make Biggie lose his massive wager and ruin him. Fillmore is still hesitant to play and admits why. He reveals that during his delinquent days, he attempted to join the school's Mini-Golf team, but he was denied because of his behavior problems. Since he couldn't join the team, Fillmore decided to destroy it and challenged the whole team to a match, betting everything they had. Knowing that the key to Mini-Golf is mostly mental, Fillmore played mind games with the team to throw them off and win. The team lost so badly they were too crushed to ever play again while Fillmore took their stuff, something Fillmore regrets. Ingrid tells Fillmore than even if he messed up, it would be another mistake to let Biggie get away with his crimes, convincing him to play. Fillmore makes it all the way to the tournament's final hole and is on the verge of winning when Biggie tries to sabotage his putt. Ingrid stops him and Fillmore makes the winning hole. Biggie tries to protest that Fillmore entered under false pretenses, but Cuzzy, inspired by Fillmore's courage, comes to his defense and admits that Biggie had been threatening him to lose, With Cuzzy's testimony, the Safety Patrol arrests Biggie. Afterward, Fillmore reaches out to all the former Mini-Golf team members to apologize and give them back their stuff, including the Mini-Golf trophy he won, and asks them for game just for fun.
Trivia[]
Fillmore's code name "Buena Vista" is a refence to the street where they The Walt Disney Studios are located
