A Vicious Cycle

A Vicious Cycle is an episode of Happy Tree Friends, the fifth episode of Internet Season 4, and the 83rd episode overall.

Plot
Cub is riding a green metal tricycle in front of his house when the camera dramatically zooms in to the bushes, where the scene quickly changes to night and a flipped out Flippy covered in scratches pops out from the bush. A police siren attracts his attention and he turns to see policemen Lumpy and Disco Bear emerge from the police car, wanting to arrest him.

Fliqpy pushes Cub off the tricycle and holds it over his head as an attempt to use it as a weapon. However, before he could do anything, a bolt of lightning strikes the tricycle and instantly reduces Fliqpy to a pile of ashes, which is then blown away by the breeze. Cub, Disco Bear, and Lumpy stare intently at Cub's tricycle when Pop suddenly bursts into the scene, carrying a bowl of nachos and several bottles of beer, and he invites the officers in for a snack.

As Pop and the policemen are eating in the living room and watching TV, Cub happily rides his tricycle inside the house and blocks the view of the television, leading Pop to scold Cub and put the tricycle outside. When the two bears return to the den, the room suddenly goes dark, the tricycle bell is heard, and a small light can be seen advancing towards Disco Bear and "leaping" at him, causing him to scream in pain. Lumpy turns on his flashlight and all they see is Disco Bear's decapitated head, which is severed at the top, exposing his brain. Several nacho chips are seen embedded in his brain.

Pop then goes down to the basement and turns the power back on, but when he arrives at the top of the stairs, he is shocked to see Cub's tricycle. The tricycle, now possessed by Fliqpy, pushes Pop down the stairs, breaking his bones and knocking him into the electric power panel, which electrocutes him and ultimately decapitates him.

Inside the living room, Lumpy is enjoying the blood-covered nachos inside Disco Bear's disembodied head, when all of a sudden the lights turn off again. Lumpy turns on his flashlight once more and sees the tricycle with Pop's head on the seat, the bell still ringing. Lumpy, still clutching Disco Bear's head full of chips, runs into the hallway closet to hide. The tricycle slowly rolls by the closet, oblivious to the fact that Lumpy is inside. However, Lumpy blows his cover by making a loud crunching noise as he devours another chip. The tricycle skids to a stop, opens the closet door, and attempts to tackle Lumpy, but Lumpy tries to fight back by holding the pedals. Unfortunately for the moose, the tricycle spins around and hits Lumpy's face five times, decapitating and killing him.

The scene then goes to Cub playing happily and contentedly on the tricycle. He rings the bell, which appears to have been stuffed inside an eyeball.

Moral
A wheel that turns gathers no rust.

Deaths

 * 1) Fliqpy is struck by lightning and burns to dust, though his spirit continues to live in the tricycle.
 * 2) Disco Bear is shredded and decapitated by the tricycle. (offscreen)
 * 3) Pop is knocked down the stairs by the tricycle and is electrocuted. He is decapitated soon after this.
 * 4) Lumpy's head is torn off after being hit multiple times by the tricycle.

Injuries

 * 1) Fliqpy was bruised and scratched (offscreen, probably from a victim or the policemen).
 * 2) Pop breaks his arm and leg while falling down the stairs before dying.

Goofs

 * 1) The description for the teaser misspells "Look" as "Ook".
 * 2) The design of Flippy's beret changes three times.
 * 3) Lumpy's antlers change places a few times.
 * Cub, Disco Bear, Lumpy and the police car disappear when the lightning strikes Flippy.
 * 1) Cub was able to ride the tricycle without touching the pedals, even before Flippy possessed it.
 * 2) When Disco Bear steps out of the car, he is shown much taller than he is supposed to be.

Trivia

 * This episode and Pet Peeve are released in the same month (October). A similar occurrence also happened last year with the episodes Breaking Wind and All In Vein, which were also released in October.
 * Rudy (The winner from the Halloween Video Bomb contest) makes an appearance in this episode.
 * This is the first time that Fliqpy interacts with Cub, as well as the first time that Disco Bear and Pop interacts.
 * This is the first regular episode where Cub survives while Pop dies and the second in all of the episodes.
 * This is the first Halloween episode that Disco Bear appears in, meaning that Splendid is the only main character who hasn't appeared in a Halloween episode yet.
 * This is the third episode where Flippy isn't shown in normal mind state.
 * This is the first Halloween episode to not feature the paper ghost's wailing at the end.
 * There are no female characters in the episode just like in the previous episode, Pet Peeve.
 * The opening scene in this episode is a reference to the film Child's Play, only Flippy's spirit goes into a tricycle instead of a doll.
 * This entire episode may also be a reference to the Stephen King novel, Christine, by having a mode of transportation getting possessed by supernatural forces.
 * This is the first time Ellen Connell voices Cub, since Wrath of Con, back in 2009.
 * This episode is similar to an episode of The Grim Adventures of Billy and Mandy, Tricycle of Terror, and an episode of Codename: Kids Next Door, Operation T.R.I.C.Y.C.L.E. Both episodes also featured a possessed tricycle.
 * Disco Bear is the first character other than Lumpy to be a policeman.
 * Oddly, Flippy doesn't try to kill Cub (though this may be because he was just trying to escape from the police).
 * Lumpy drinking beer as a police officer in charge shows his stupidity in the episode.
 * Fliqpy's death is similar to Flaky's death in the "Bat" option of her Smoochie and Toothy's deaths in Stealing the Spotlight and Easy Comb, Easy Go.
 * This is the first Internet Season 4 episode where Cub survives.
 * This is the first time Fliqpy kills Lumpy onscreen. (His kill in Keepin' it Reel was offscreen)
 * This is the fourth time Disco Bear has a job.
 * This is the first episode since Easy Comb, Easy Go that Disco Bear has a starring role. This is also the first episode since Sea What I Found that he appears without females, and coincidentally, Lumpy, Pop, and Cub appear in both.
 * This is the first time since A Change of Heart that Lumpy and Disco Bear interact.
 * This is the first episode since Just Desert that Cub survives.
 * This is the first time since Class Act that all the four main bear characters (Pop, Cub, Disco Bear and Flippy) appear. Pop is the only main bear character to not see Flippy.
 * This is the first Halloween episode where the first death has no blood or gore involved (a lot like In a Jam; coincidentally, Flippy's death is similar to Russell's death in that episode).
 * This episode is Pop's first regular episode death since See You Later, Elevator.
 * Lumpy's injury before death is similar to his snout injury in All Flocked Up.
 * This is the second Halloween episode without females, the first being Can't Stop Coffin.
 * This is the first episode where someone tries to stop and catch Flippy when he is flipped out.
 * Interestingly, this is the first episode where Flippy's actions cause police attention.
 * The way Pop falls down the stairs is similar to how Mime did in Home Is Where the Hurt Is and Giggles in Idol Curiosity.
 * Disco Bear seems out of character in this episode, instead of being "funky and cool", he seems to be calm and normal. However, this can be due to the nature of his job in this episode.
 * Disco Bear's scream is the same from when he used a hose filled with gasoline in Who's to Flame?.
 * Cub is much out of character in this episode: he didn't cry after being pushed by Fliqpy and wasn't scared when the lights went off or when Disco Bear was found beheaded.
 * Although for his age, he simply doesn't understand the concept of death.
 * This is Disco Bear's only starring role without Giggles, Petunia, or Flaky.
 * Pop's death is kind of similar to Petunia's death in Stayin' Alive.
 * This is the second Halloween episode after All In Vein where Lumpy dies.
 * Just like Out of Sight, Out of Mime, Flippy is flipped out for an unknown reason.
 * This episode marks another instance where a character speaks English. In this case, After Flipqy is killed, Pop says "Hey, way to go!" (or possibly "where'd he go?"). Another instance where Pop speaks English is when he is about to turn the power back on; he says "Mm-hmm, here we go."