The Tag

The Tag is the twenty-sixth episode of season two of The Amazing World of Gumball. It is the sixty-second episode overall.

Synopsis
Gumball and Darwin get caught in the middle of a trash can feud between Richard and Mr. Robinson

Plot
One morning, Richard struggles to cram his trash bag into his overfilled trash can. After several failed attempts, he tries to sneak the trash bag into his neighbor's can, then Mr. Robinson suddenly pops out, catching him in the act. He refuses to share his can with Richard, who claims that can isn't his property. They get into a squabble, until Richard accidentally punches Mr. Robinson, who then promptly gets into a fistfight with him.

Doughnut Sheriff places both men under house arrest, with ankle trackers attached. Richard and Mr. Robinson explain their situation to their respective families, blaming each other for their arrest. Afterwards, Richard asks Gumball and Darwin to pull a prank on Mr. Robinson.

The boys sneak into the Robinsons' house and take canned butter from their groceries, and already they have second thoughts about pulling a prank. They choose to compromise between obeying Richard and going ahead with the prank, which is spreading butter all over the floor instead of the whole house. Mr. Robinson literally falls victim to their prank, and the boys become guilty. They plead Mr. Robinson to allow them to compensate for their prank, and Mr. Robinson has an idea to get back at Richard.

Richard takes a bath, when he realizes his tub is somehow full of melted cheese. He is pretty pleased with that peculiar event, until he discovers all of his melted cheese are missing from the fridge. He wonders how Mr. Robinson has managed to bypass his ankle tracker (referred to as "tag") when taking his melted cheese, even though he doesn't realize the connection between the "magic tub" and Mr. Robinson's prank.

Next, Richard attempts to vandalize Mr. Robinson's car. Gumball and Darwin hold their father's tagged leg inside the house while he stretches across the front yard. However the boys fail to hold onto his leg, causing him to hit the car and setting off his ankle tracker. Again Doughnut Sheriff comes to the Watterson house and gives a stern warning. Gumball and Darwin hope the feud is over after these pranks. Mr. Robinson, from inside his house, notices the mark on his car left by Richard, and gets enraged.

Mr. Robinson attempts yet another prank, which is stinging Richard with a wasp on a long makeshift stick, when Gumball and Darwin intervene and demand he stop feuding with their father. He refuses, but the boys successfully coerce him with resetting his alarm clock and turning on young people's music. He concedes, and asks Gumball to deliver his letter to the post office. Soon, Richard reads the letter from Mr. Robinson, promising a surprise for him. He suspects it may be a trick, but looks for the surprise anyway, on the off chance it may be a nice one. He is rewarded with painful stings from Mr. Robinson's wasp stick. The men get into a tug-o-war with the wasp stick, injuring each other. Gumball and Darwin see their feud doesn't seem to be ending anytime soon.

Later, Richard and Mr. Robinson wake up together, and discover they are locked inside a trash can, along with a camcorder and a cake. The camcorder plays a tape of Gumball delivering a puzzle for the men to solve before the police arrives. Unfortunately, Richard accidentally eats the whole cake, which contains the literal key to escaping the trash can. Mr. Robinson gets upset, and gets into yet another fight with Richard. Their fight rocks the locked Robinsons' trash can, causing the Wattersons' adjacent, empty trash can to roll away.

Gumball and Darwin check on the men's progress, and discover the aforementioned trash can is speeding down the street. They give chase, and attempt multiple times to stop the runaway trash can. Eventually the chase ends with the trash can getting run over many times in the middle of a street. At first the boys are devastated, but soon they find Richard's nacho chip bags, and are relieved that their father and neighbor aren't in that trash can.

Meanwhile, Richard and Mr. Robinson evidently has had a civil conversation inside the locked trash can. They resolve peacefully, only to go back to accusing each other upon the trash can being unlocked by Doughnut Sheriff. Doughnut Sheriff then tases both the quarrelsome men.

Main Characters

 * Gumball
 * Darwin
 * Richard
 * Gaylord Robinson

Supporting Characters

 * Doughnut Sheriff

Minor Characters

 * Nicole
 * Anais
 * Margaret Robinson
 * Mr. Small
 * Marvin Finklehimer
 * Hexagon Lady
 * Hector (cameo)
 * 3D Cube Employee
 * Purple Moose
 * Orange Woman
 * Cupcake Woman
 * Mr. Fitzgerald
 * Charlie
 * Lumpy Old Woman
 * Neck Beard
 * Plaid Old Man
 * Orange Woman
 * Principal Brown

Trivia

 * Coincidentally, this episode aired on Logan Grove's birthday.
 * Both Nicole and Anais appear in this episode but don't have any lines.
 * This episode reveals that Richard never went to college.

Continuity

 * This was Mr. Robinson's fourth major role in an episode. The first three were "The Debt", "The Poltergeist" and "The Car".
 * This is the fifth time Mr. Robinson's car has been damaged. The other times were in The Debt, The End, The Goons and The Car.
 * This is the second time Mr. Small wears his rollerblade clothes. The first was in "The Bet".
 * This is the second episode which Nicole appeared, but with no speaking role, the first time was in "The Party"

Cultural References

 * The song that played on the "young people music" channel that Gumball and Darwin threatened to tune Mr. Robinson's radio to is a parody of Baby by Justin Bieber.
 * The scene where Richard and Mr. Robinson were locked in a box and forced to solve a puzzle to escape is a reference to the Saw film series.
 * Darwin's "magical rollerskating method" is similar to that of Kira in the film Xanadu.

Goofs/Errors

 * Before Gumball jumps off the trashcan, his tail disappears.