After the hilarious “Best Burger” and the heartwarming “Father of the Bob,” “Tina Tailor Soldier Spy” is slightly disappointing. As an episode that features Tina’s name in the title, you’d expect it to be an instant classic, as Tina episodes generally are. While well-plotted, though, this one isn’t particularly funny, and it’s not hugely emotional either, despite being based around my favorite relationship in the show, that of Tina and Louise.
The episode opens with Tina leaving her Thundergirls troop, deciding that she’s too old for it (as Louise points out, 13 years old is basically 40 for a girl scout troop). However, Tina is pulled back into the Thundergirls by Ginny, her old troop leader, who suspects that there is a mole in the troop working for their rival, Troop 257 (a lot of the episode is made up of puns on the word “mole”). Upon finding out about Tina’s mission, Louise decides to infiltrate the troop as well, making all of the Thundergirls turn on each other before Tina forces her to leave.
Louise then goes to Troop 257, attempting to find out who the mole is through them. The troop is revealed to be tough and ruthless, which Louise is (obviously) drawn toward.
There’s also a subplot where Linda has her hair dyed blonde that’s not terrible, although it’s disappointing considering how on fire Linda has been throughout season five, and the way it plays on the dumb blonde stereotype is off-putting.
Tina finally discovers who the mole is by giving all of her troop’s members different cookie leads and then seeing which location Troop 257 shows up at. In the end, everything goes back to normal, with Linda’s hair going back to black and Tina rejoining the Thundergirls. Linda figures out that Louise is jealous of the Thundergirls because of all the time that Tina spends with them, bringing us back to Louise’s love for her sister. As much as I love their relationship, it’s been covered better in other episodes.
“Tina Tailor Soldier Spy” isn’t bad, but it’s underwhelming, with one of the most interesting storylines we’ve seen this season ultimately becoming meaningless in the end.
Rating: 6/10
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Memorable lines and moments:
“I like your hair. It matches your teeth.”
“Ginny? What are you doing in our alley pretending to be the trash?”
“No, Tina. You just got out. Now you’re going back in? You’re like the Brett Favre of Thundergirls.”
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“Where’d you say you moved from, again?” “New York, New York.” “Oh, my cous–” “Not the one in New York. New York, New York, Michigan.”
The way Tina says “Son of a bitch” made me laugh more than anything else in the episode, possibly because you hear her curse so rarely. This makes “Tina Tailor Soldier Spy” the second episode in a row where my favorite line-reading involves the phrase “Son of a bitch.”
“So, who was it?” “Let’s just say, it rhymes with Tina.” “It’s you?” “No, it’s Rena.”
“Jeez, I thought Tina took this Thundergirl stuff seriously. You guys are intense.” “Yeah, you’re like Linda Hamilton when she does all those angry pull-ups.”
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