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"Maxin' and Relaxin'" is the first episode in Season 6 (and the one-hundred and fifty-fourth episode overall) of Regular Show. It first aired on October 9, 2014.
Synopsis[]
Mordecai wants to get a mix tape from his parents' house, but is afraid that his mom will embarrass him in front of CJ.
Plot[]
We open on Mordecai driving CJ home after a dinner/movie night, both singing to Tag Team’s Whoomp! (There it is!) that was playing on the cart’s radio. Making light conversation, CJ reveals she did a color guard routine to the song in the ninth grade. Mordecai tells her of the mix tape he made with the song in the seventh grade, titled Maxin’ and Relaxin’ and boasts about his mix tape making skills. He absently mentions that the tapes were at his parents’ house. To his abject terror, CJ eagerly suggests going with him tomorrow to get them so she could meet his parents, in particular his mom. Suddenly breaking out in cold sweat, Mordecai can only agree as CJ thanks him for the night and leaves the cart.
In Pop’s lounge, a sullen-faced Mordecai tells Rigby that he can’t let CJ meet his mom. Rigby shrugs him off, saying his mom was “totally cool” but Mordecai claims she’d always embarrass him whenever he had a girl over (which prompts Rigby to question how many times he'd actually had a girl over.) Mordecai flashes back to his teenage years when he’d invited a girl named Daphne Gonzales over for a study session. Before they can start, his mom kicks the door to his room open, snack tray in hand. She begins dancing to the mix tape that was playing while encouraging him to do the same. Extremely flustered, Mordecai yells at her to leave. His mom obliges, but not before tearfully thanking Daphne for being the first girl her son’s ever brought home and whipping out a camcorder to capture the moment. Daphne flees and Mordecai, completely red-faced, assumes the fetal position on his bed at the horror of it all. Back to present time, Mordecai dejectedly lists the handful of girls he had over, none of whom lasted a day with his mom.
Later that night Mordecai calls his dad, William, to inform him of his visit with CJ. Reluctantly, Mordecai asks him if he could keep it from his mom. His father makes no promises, stating he hadn't lied to his wife in twenty five years, but does tell him that she had Punchersize class scheduled for tomorrow night. Jumping at the opportunity, Mordecai arrives with CJ the next day at the specified time. They briefly chat with his dad, who introduces himself and tells CJ that unfortunately Mordecai's mother is not home at the moment. A "disappointed" Mordecai offers to get the mix tape and go, only to have his mom burst into the room still holding dumbbells. As it turns out her husband did tell her about the visit so she took the afternoon class instead. After embracing her stunned son and a friendly introduction to CJ, it is decided (albeit somewhat one-sidedly) that the two would stay over for dinner.
While waiting, Mordecai leads CJ up to his old room to look for the mix tape. He apologizes for his mom being weird but CJ says she thinks she's sweet. While CJ checks out the room he grew up in, Mordecai searches his closet though to no avail. Before long his mom's heard calling him from downstairs. Mordecai leaves for the kitchen where the older woman asks him if CJ is a vegetarian. He impatiently tells her she isn't, not happy that he was called down there for that and offhandedly suggests she should "just be normal" and not go too crazy. His mom tells him not to worry and offers to show him the cream pie dessert she made for them, which Mordecai discovers has his girlfriend's name spelled out with berries on it. Mortified, he acts immediately, scoffing down the part of the pie with the berries despite his mother's protests. Unfortunately for him, mom has a backup; a CJ jelly, which she explains while Mordecai backs away ever-so-slowly that she got the likeness from by looking up pictures of CJ on the internet. Rushing back to his room in a panic, Mordecai urges a confused CJ to leave with him. It proves fruitless however as he's interrupted by his mom calling them down for dinner.
Two and a half hours later, Mordecai's parents are chatting up a storm with CJ, mostly concerning embarrassing stories about their son, while Mordecai tries to remodel his side of the table with his fists. His mom brings up Mordy Moments, a home video she’s made with different footage of him as a kid. Mordecai is immediately blindsided with a traumatic flashback of his parents showing the tape to his Aunt Maxine and Uncle Steve. The tape features such memorable moments as Mordecai becoming tangled up in a wet slip slide, getting a major wedgie and falling onstage when the harness rope connected to his Peter Pan pants failed, being covered in spaghetti as a toddler and having his pants fall down in the middle of playing in a marching band, subsequently tripping over them, falling flat on his face and getting his saxophone mouthpiece stuck in his beak. His audience’s laughs echo in the background as he sinks off the coach and slams his fists on the floor in humiliation.
Mordecai snaps out of his daze only to hear his mom announce that they could stay for a bit longer, eat CJ’s special dessert and watch the tape, to a sequence of dramatic stings. William wonders where he’s put the tape and his wife reminds him it’s in the basement, at which point Mordecai practically launches himself out of his seat to offer to look for it.
Leaving the others behind, Mordecai runs down to the basement and easily locates both the mix tape and Mordy Moments in a box of his old stuff. Muttering a quick apology to his mom, he tries to break the video cassette with his forehead, which does nothing but give him with a sore forehead. In frustration he throws the tape to the ground. It bounces directly into a VCR and begins to play. The TV emits an eerie glow of static and several ghostly figures fly out. Startled, Mordecai tries to escape but is blocked by the figures, which turn out to be three versions of himself from the video. They snatch up Maxin’ and Relaxin’ and tie their adult self to a chair. Present Mordecai calls out to CJ and his mother for help but the version of himself in the Peter Pan costume scoffs at the idea of mom wanting to help him after tonight. Together the specters remind him of how he’s treated her courtesy of a mix tape they put together themselves.
Seeing his actions that night replay before him, Mordecai admits he hasn’t been all that nice to their mom. But he argues that of all people his past selves should understand since they’re the ones stuck in those embarrassing moments when she put them on tape. In a rather touching scene, the Peter Pan version of himself explains that they’re not stuck like this because of Mordy Moments, they’re stuck like this in his own head. With help from his younger selves, Mordecai recalls all the times his mom was there to make him feel better after those moments had passed. With each memory one of his past selves is freed; the slip slide version from his entanglement, the marching band version from the saxophone stuck in his mouth and the Peter Pan version from the harness rope. Present Mordecai begins to regret acting like a jerk to his mom. The slip slide specter advises him that CJ does think he’s cool, but “girls don’t dig guys who are jerks to their moms”. Freed from his chair, present Mordecai thanks his past selves for their help and they vanish into thin air. Moments later both Mordy Moments and the Maxin’ and Relaxin’ tape materializes before him.
Mordecai emerges from the basement just as his mom walks by with the CJ jelly. With a concerned look she asks him if he found Mordy Moments. Mordecai holds it up and she brightens, telling him that everyone’s waiting in the living room. She pauses though and offers that they don’t have to watch the tape if he doesn’t want to. Nervously, she asks if the tape was embarrassing for him and if she embarrassed him. Mordecai assures her that she doesn’t and apologizes for acting like a jerk earlier that night. His mom responds by saying that her “little boy” could never be a jerk. The two reconcile and walk back together.
In the living room CJ's impressed by the special dessert, stating it is like looking into a jelly mirror. This prompts Mordecai’s mom to declare that CJ is a keeper. Meanwhile, Mordecai puts in the tape and gives a light-hearted introduction, much to the delight of his small audience. He joins them next to CJ, who happily tells him this is way cooler than listening to a mix tape. As the video starts, Mordecai's past selves, who've been secretly watching over the scene, disappear for the last time. From outside the house, Mordecai can be heard laughing with his parents and CJ at the home video.
Characters[]
- Mordecai
- Mordecai's Mom
- Mordecai's Dad
- CJ
- Rigby
- Water Slide Mordecai
- Peter Pan Mordecai
- Band Mordecai
- Uncle Steve
- Aunt Maxine
- Daphne Gonzales
Locations[]
- Park
- Mordecai's Parents' House
Trivia[]
- CJ reveals that she was in color guard in the 9th grade.
- She once performed a routine to "Whoomp! (There It Is)"
- Mordecai's parents are revealed to be named William and Hillary.
- It's confirmed that Mordecai is an only child.
- Mordecai's mom has a slightly different design from her first appearance (TV: The Thanksgiving Special). She now has no blue feathers anywhere on her head and her hair is styled differently.
- She is also now voiced by Katey Segal, replacing Jennifer Hale.
- This is Rigby's second Minor role the 1st being Picking Up Margaret in this case he only appears in one scene
- This is the last episode to be released on any official DVD release of Regular Show.
- William is revealed to be either an architect or engineer, judging by the fact has blueprints on his desk, framed photographs of skyscrapers and blueprints on his office wall, the presence of a drafting board in the corner, and a large pot containing rolled up blueprint paper in the corner of his office.
Pop Culture References[]
- The song "Whoomp! (There It Is)" by Tag Team can be heard at the beginning of the episode. The song had previously been referenced by Jebediah Townhouse, when catching Mordecai and Rigby in a failed escape attempt in "The Previous Owner". (TV: Terror Tales of the Park III)
- The paper Mordecai's mom held that says 20th Century Mom on it is a reference to 20th Century Fox (currently named 20th Century Studios).
- During Mordy moments, Mordecai is shown in a play that tells the story of Peter Pan.
Production Notes[]
- There was a scene cut from the episode when Mordecai's mom said she'll make her prized meatloaf, Mordecai points out that she stole the recipe from someone named Mrs. Winkelmann. This causes Mordecai's mom to gasp in shock and brandish a knife at Mordecai and tell him "I didn't steal anything from that witch!!", before putting it away and disappointedly asking “Why’d you have to bring that up?”. Based on the storyboard, this scene was meant to take place before Mordecai asks his mother to “be normal”.[1]
- Starting with this episode, the Regular Show title screen has the subtitle "A CARTOON NETWORK ORIGINAL" below it.
- However, the subtitle was removed once Season 7 started airing, but came back later in that season.
Goofs[]
- Before Mordecai's past selves disappear while everyone is watching Mordy Moments, Mordecai's middle school self is taller than his high school self