Happy Tree Friends: False Alarm (episode)

"Happy Tree Friends: False Alarm" is a video game that was released June 25, 2008 on PC and XBOX Live Arcade. A brand new episode, broken into two parts, was featured along with the game. The first part is shown prior to game play and the second part is shown upon completion of the game.

Starring roles

 * Nutty

Featuring roles

 * Lifty and Shifty
 * Sniffles
 * Cuddles
 * Petunia
 * The Mole

Plot
Nutty happily walks down the road and eats a large lollipop in one bite. He giggles as the sugar courses through his system, but he is soon saddened that his sugary treat is gone. He is beckoned into an alley by Lifty and Shifty, both wearing trench coats and their trademark grins. The greedy duo offer Nutty an entire dump truck full of candy, which Nutty eagerly accepts, tossing them a wad of cash to seal the deal. Nutty opens his arms wide as the dump truck opens and the mountain of candy begins tilting towards him.

We suddenly cut to an emergency room where Sniffles, a doctor, looks at an x-ray of Nutty's stomach, which has been pierced by candy canes and other various candies. Later, a bandaged Nutty sighs happily as he has made a full physical recovery. He becomes confused, however, as a door closes on him and he finds himself locked in a padded room. From a security monitor, we see Nutty go through various episodes of sugar withdrawal including laughing maniacally, crying uncontrollably, screaming in distress, and making an ice sculpture of a candy cane with a chainsaw. Eventually, Nutty kicks the door down and emerges a changed squirrel, now sporting a full head of hair, a tie, no more lazy eye, and no longer wear candy as a wardrobe. He and Sniffles shake hands, happy at the progress Nutty has made.

Nutty walks down the street again, and is once more beckoned by Lifty and Shifty who stand in an alley. Once more they offer Nutty candy, but this time he refuses, having been rehabilitated. Undeterred, they show Nutty some video games and some controllers, which seem to capture Nutty's interest. Later, at Nutty's house, we seem him playing video games with the same interest he had in the candy he once loved.

Time goes by and Nutty remains in his house playing video games, not even going outside to collect his mail. After about a year of playing, Nutty now has gaming controllers, rather than candy, decorating his body. One day, his video game console breaks down and Nutty grows agitated. He exits his house and is blinded by the sunlight. He sees Lifty and Shifty's van, filled with video game equipment, but before he can reach them to get a new console, they drive off.

Nutty, desperate to feed his addiction, spots Cuddles driving his car and runs out into the street to stop him. When Cuddles stops, Nutty runs over, throws Cuddles out of the car, and steals it to chase after Lifty and Shifty, ala Grand Theft Auto. During the chase he swerves to avoid hitting The Mole, who crosses the road pushing a shopping cart. Because of this, Nutty accidentally crashes into Petunia, who is riding a bike delivering papers. Hitting her causes Petunia's intestines to splatter on the windshield. The pieces of intestines resemble Tetris pieces, and Nutty tilts the car in order to get one piece to fit in with a corresponding hole.

Because of this distraction, Nutty doesn't see that Lifty and Shifty's van has come to a stop in front of him. He crashes into the back of the van, forcing Lifty and Shifty through the windshield of Cuddles' car. The brothers are decapitated and their mutilated heads slide on the ground, resembling Pac-Man and one of the ghosts. The crash also causes a flaming barrel to fly into the air and land on The Mole, who is standing nearby. The barrel tilts over and begins rolling towards Nutty.

Being reminded of Donkey Kong, Nutty jumps over the barrel and grabs a mallet. He runs at the barrel and begins smashing it with the hammer, unknowingly killing The Mole in his efforts. Ready to claim his prize, Nutty opens the doors to Lifty and Shifty's van, only to find that all the video game equipment has been destroyed in the crash. Saddened, Nutty spots a candy cane lying on top of a pile of games and picks it up. He licks it and begins jumping and laughing maniacally as he shoves the candy cane in his mouth, once more addicted to sugar. As the episode ends, his lazy eye returns.

Deaths

 * 1) Petunia is hit by a car and cut in half at the waist, sending her organs and intestines everywhere.
 * 2) Lifty and Shifty fly through a car's windshield, decapitating them and mutilating their heads.
 * 3) The Mole is crushed to death when Nutty repeatedly hits a barrel he's in with a mallet.

Injuries

 * 1) Nutty is impaled and crushed by a truck-load of candy.
 * 2) The Mole has a burning a barrel land over him, possibly giving him burns and/or a concussion.

Goofs

 * 1) When The Mole is stuck inside the barrel and Nutty notices it, his eye is the same Pac-man eye the other characters have. In the next shot, it's back to normal.
 * 2) There is no possible way that The Mole could have made it from the point where Nutty swerved to avoid running him over, to the construction site before Lifty, Shifty, and Nutty.
 * 3) Judging by the fact that he didn't stop playing his games to even get the mail for almost a year, it's highly unlikely that he even ate, use the bathroom or paid electric bills within that time period which would result in him dying from starvation, exploding, or not receiving electricity required to play the video games.

Trivia

 * There are multiple video game references in this episode, including:
 * 1) Grand Theft Auto: When Nutty hijacks Cuddles' car.
 * 2) Paperboy: When Petunia is riding a bike, delivering papers.
 * 3) Tetris: When Petunia's intestines splatter on the car's windshield, they resemble Tetris blocks.
 * 4) Pac-Man: Lifty and Shifty's mutilated, decapitated heads resemble Pac-Man and a ghost.
 * 5) Donkey Kong: The way Nutty hops over the flaming barrel and runs at/hits it with a mallet.
 * 6) Whack-A-Mole: When Nutty hits The Mole with the mallet.
 * This is the second episode with Nutty in a starring role where he doesn't die. The first was Nuttin' but the Tooth.
 * This episode contains one of four instances in the series that Nutty can be seen without candy adorning his body. The other three instances are in Nuttin' Wrong with Candy, Chew Said a Mouthful, and A Sucker for Love, Pt. Two.
 * It is never explained how The Mole made it to the construction site before Nutty, Lifty and Shifty.
 * All the background music in this episode was originally used in Chew Said a Mouthful.
 * This marks the second time a character's guts have slid down a window, resembling Tetris pieces. The second time was in Chore Loser.
 * Ironically, despite being made for an XBOX Live Arcade game, most of the controllers Lifty and Shifty have resemble the controllers to Nintendo systems (most notably an NES controller, a SNES controller and a Wii Remote, as well as handheld systems that resemble a Game Boy and a Game & Watch).