Show Off

Summary
It is time for the Elwood City dog show and Killer is facing off against Sebastian Winkleplotz, the snobbish, championship-winning poodle. At stake: the Read family's honor. Can Killer's coach, Pal, transform her from combative canine to sophisticated show dog?

Plot
Kate, who is dressed up as a princess, is seen talking to a mirror on the wall, when she notices something strange happen with the mirror. Pal, dressed up as a jester, comes in to the room where Kate is, and is just as shocked as Kate is when he sees the mirror. They both decide to use the mirror in "the queen's room" instead. Meanwhile, Killer and Sebastian Winkleplotz are seen in the mirror bickering with each other.

Show Off

After the title card, Kate and Pal are seen outside the Reads' house. Pal is showing Kate how to bury a wallet, when he notices Amigo doing push-ups in the Molinas' driveway. Curious, Kate and Pal proceed to go over to see Amigo, and ask what he is doing. Amigo explains to them that he must look his best for the upcoming Wiegel-Bandolik Dog Show, but Pal starts laughing at the thought of Amigo being in a dog show. Pal then stops laughing, and realises that Amigo is serious about the dog show. Kate then says that Amigo is a very handsome dog, and she also says that both Pal and Amigo could win. Pal isn't so sure at first, but he changes his mind and decides to do it for Arthur.

Later, Pal comes into Arthur's bedroom while Arthur is drawing at his desk, and gives him a pamphlet for the dog show. Arthur decides to enter Pal in to the dog show after Pal strikes a heroic pose.

At the dinner table, Arthur tells his family that he's planning to enter Pal in to the dog show. Meanwhile, Kate is counting the number of laps that Pal runs before he eats his dog food. After holding back one piece of dog food, Pal accidentally knocks over the dog food bag while D.W. is complaining about how her food was prepared. D.W. then offers Pal some bacon, but he refuses. He runs to the front door, where Buster comes in with leftover roast beef. Buster offers Pal some, but he refuses, confusing Buster. When Pal runs in to the den, he is relieved that he held back, but notices some crumbs on the rug.

The next day, Arthur and Alberto are seen entering Pal and Amigo at the sign-up counter for the dog show, while Pal and Amigo are complimenting each other. Just then, they meet two other dogs, Beasley and Sebastian Winkleplotz, the latter of whom tells Pal and Amigo that they won't win, because they are mutts. Meanwhile, Arthur and Alberto are shocked to learn that the show is for "purebreds only". Alberto says that Amigo is a mix of bulldog and boxer, but Arthur isn't sure what breed Pal is, but it's most likely not "pure". As Arthur and Alberto leave with Pal and Amigo, Winkleplotz tells the latter two to "have fun rolling around in garbage".

After finding out that they can't compete in the dog show because they're not purebreds, Pal explains to Kate the whole story when they, along with Arthur, D.W., and Mrs. Read are visiting Grandma Thora at her house. After Pal says that he doesn't know what a purebred is, Killer comes in and explains to Pal what that means, which means that a dog only has one breed in them. She then starts to talk about how her parents were in dog shows, but they hated it. Kate is then surprised to learn that Killer is a purebred, a 100% Jack Russel Terrier.

Later, in the Reads' yard, Kate, Pal, and Amigo all try to persuade Killer to participate in the dog show, but she doesn't want to. However, she soon changes her mind after being insulted by Sebastian Winkleplotz when he was walking by with his owner.

After Killer shows a pamphlet for the dog show to Grandma Thora, she decides to enter her in for the dog show. After Killer gets extensive training, Pal is seen talking to Kate the night before the dog show about how Killer doesn't seem like a show dog. That night, Pal sneaks some of the leftover roast beef, but he saves it for later.

On the day of the dog show, all of the participants perform very well. But while Grandma Thora is running with Killer, Sebastian Winkleplotz gets out a toy mouse, and Killer goes after it and chews it up, costing her points. Kate thinks that the show is over, but Pal figured that Winkleplotz would try something sneaky, which is why Pal brought "a secret weapon": roast beef. After Pal throws the bag of roast beef in to the competition area, Winkleplotz wants it. After the judge picks up the bag of roast beef, he gets mad, and claims that he hasn't had a decent piece of meat in weeks. Everyone is shocked when he attacks the judge.

After the dog show, Kate can't believe that Beasley, the dachshund, won the dog show, but Pal is just glad that Sebastian Winkleplotz didn't win. Amigo comments that the prize was terrible, and Killer says that "dog shows are ridiculous, but if there was a contest to see which dog had the nicest personality, that would be different", after which everyone looks at Killer. Killer thinks that the others don't think she has a nice personality, but they say that do think so, to humor her. Killer then asks them who wants to get the ball from her, but everyone walks or crawls away. The episode ends with Killer telling them to come back.

Characters

 * Killer
 * Sebastian Winkleplotz
 * Pal
 * Amigo
 * Kate Read
 * Arthur Read
 * Thora Read
 * Alberto Molina
 * D.W. Read
 * Buster Baxter
 * Beasley

Trivia

 * Alan Cumming guest stars as the voice of Sebastian Winkleplotz.
 * Moral: Never change who someone is for your own benefits.

Episode connections

 * Mr. Morris had a flashback of the 1967 dog show in "April 9th."

Errors

 * At one point, Grandma Thora gasps as Killer chases the mouse toy; it is clearly Francine's gasp, as it is a reused sound effect.
 * At one point, Sebastian Winkleplotz, the standard poodle, refers to his owner as "human".