Double Date Trouble

"Double Date Trouble" is the twenty-second episode of the Donkey Kong Country television series, and it aired on December 13, 1998. During the episode, Donkey Kong tries to multi-task when he must guard the Crystal Coconut, spend the day with Diddy Kong, and spend the day with Candy Kong on a date on the same day, putting his relationship, his friendship, and the fate of the Kongo Bongo at stake.

Plot Synopsis
The episode begins with Diddy and Candy Kong arguing over who should spend the day with Donkey Kong. Candy explains that she should be with him for the day because today is her first day off of work in weeks, but Diddy replies that he has planned to spend time with him already. Despite their arguing, Donkey Kong enjoys being popular. However, he is soon put up to choosing who to spend his day with, and he does not know who to pick. Before he picks anyone, Cranky Kong's hologram appears and angrily demands the ape to show up in his cabin. Donkey Kong slowly heads out of the treehouse, trying to get out of his situation with Diddy and Candy. Once he is gone, Candy and Diddy begin to sing about what Donkey Kong will do with them and why he should spend his time with them.

At the Kremling hideout, King K. Rool asks what General Klump's plan is for getting the Crystal Coconut from the Kongs (whom the crocodile king refers to as "banana-munching mammals"). Klump tells him that getting a plan is his "top priority," but King K. Rool simply tells him to "keep it simple." A few moments later, General Klump hesitantly asks King K. Rool if he has any suggestions. King K. Rool commands him to simply see what they are doing, so Klump heads off to spy, after being a little more hesitant.

Donkey Kong arrives at Cranky's Cabin, where he tells himself that he cannot choose between spending the day with Diddy or Candy. When the ape meets Cranky, he shows him a broken booby trap on the pathway to his cabin and requests the ape to fix it. Donkey Kong tries to fix it without question, but he is unable to get the switch to set off the trap to work. Cranky explains that it has "rusted out" because of all the rain, meaning that the trap can no longer ward off enemies. Therefore, King K. Rool can easily steal the Crystal Coconut if he learns that they have little defense. The two apes know someone has to watch the Coconut, so Donkey Kong suggests that Cranky Kong watches it because he is busy today. Cranky instead commands him to head to Bluster Barrelworks before the factory closes for the weekend to pick up a new Trigger Barrel. Donkey Kong decides to do this, but then falls off the bridge, landing on the bridge on the trees below. Before the ape heads off, Cranky reminds him to not stop for anything. Donkey Kong obeys, even though Cranky does not have a good feeling about it.

On the way to the factory, Donkey Kong swings along the vines in the jungle, until he notices Candy Kong. At the sight of the ape, he loses his attention on the jungle's obstacles and smashes into a tree. When he hits the ground, he notices Candy right in front of him. Candy invites him to hang out with her for a special lunch, but before Donkey Kong can explain his endeavor, she leaves, hoping that he will show up at her cabin. Donkey Kong does not know what to do after this, especially because Diddy Kong also wants to spend the day with him.

Donkey Kong swings through the jungle again, thinking that Diddy will understand his problem. After hearing a call from Diddy, the ape hits into a tree again and falls to the ground, where he meets Diddy. Donkey Kong tries to explain that he will be with Candy this afternoon, which causes Diddy to become very depressed. The ape explains that he would like to spend the day with him, though, but before he can finish telling him about spending the day with Candy, Diddy rushes off to start up the television so they can watch movies together. Donkey Kong realizes that he has really gotten himself into a bad situation, but then remembers about the Trigger Barrel he needs to get and rushes to the barrelworks factory.

Bluster Kong has just closed his factory as Donkey Kong arrives. The ape tries to persuade him into letting him get two Trigger Barrels, but Bluster Kong refuses, stating that his mother had told him to do the morning shift and operate a machine as a result of Candy's day off. Bluster does not want to make him two barrels and tells him to come back on Monday so Candy can make him the barrels, but Donkey Kong announces that it is an emergency and that the Crystal Coconut is an open target without the traps. Bluster Kong still refuses and heads into his barrelcopter, while General Klump is spying the ape nearby. The crocodile learns that the Crystal Coconut is an open target as a result and tells King K. Rool the news.

Donkey Kong eats as many bananas as he can outside of Bluster Barrelworks to gain strength that he can use to tell Cranky about what has happened. Suddenly, he remembers Diddy and Candy and becomes more worried. When he finishes his last banana, he imitates Cranky for when the old ape learns about him not being able to get the Trigger Barrels. As the ape begins to walk around, he slips on one of his banana peels and slips through the doors of the barrelworks factory. Now inside of the factory, he finds Candy's work station, where there are several buttons controlling a nearby machine. Donkey Kong decides to make some Trigger Barrels with it, so he turns on the device. As the machine creates many barrels at an increasingly fast speed, the ape heads out to talk to Diddy and Candy (after he slips on more of the bananas outside).

Meanwhile, King K. Rool announces to his Kritter army that they are about to launch their largest attack ever. When he declares that they will take over the whole island from the Kongs, one of the Kritters begin to disagree, as their plans to attack the apes have failed many times. General Klump explains what the plan is to them as commanded by the crocodile king (although he makes the explanation a little too complex). The king tells him to simplify it, so he simply tells them that they are "going to Cranky's Cabin to steal the Coconut."

Donkey Kong makes his way to Candy Kong's condo, where Candy is glad to see him. The ape explains that he cannot stay long, but Candy tells him that she has already made a twelve-course meal. She begins to name all of the courses, all of which seem to involve bananas. Before she is done speaking, Donkey Kong pretends to head out to get salt and pepper. He races to his treehouse, where Diddy is looking for a good station to watch on the television. Donkey Kong tells him that he cannot stay very long, but Diddy Kong tells him that the "Super Monkey Movie Banana Rama" is about to begin, with twelve non-stop hours of movies. To buy time with Candy, the ape announces that he needs to get some "banana chips" and heads out, going to Candy's place.

When he arrives, he notices that he has brought some banana chips to Candy's condo, which does not make Candy happy, as she has already began baking a twelve-course meal. Candy reminds him about the salt he was going to get, so the ape runs off again, making his way to the treehouse, where Diddy Kong is watching television on his tire swing. Immediately after Diddy notices him and asks where the banana chips are, Donkey Kong leaves to get them. Throughout the rest of the afternoon, the ape races from place-to-place, trying to spend time with both Candy and Diddy.

Eventually, the tired-out Donkey Kong heads back to Bluster Barrelworks, where he is stunned to find barrels everywhere. He stops the machine, but then wonders how he is going to get the Trigger Barrels to Cranky on time. He decides to try out "Bluster's Rocket Delivery Service," so he enters Cranky's address into the machine and heads to push the red button on the wall to send the barrels. On the way to the button, he hits into a barrel, which rolls into a pile of other barrels. One of the barrels lands on the ape and traps him inside so he cannot get out or even send the barrels.

Cranky Kong, who has already set up everything to put in new Trigger Barrels, wonders where Donkey Kong is. Soon, Diddy Kong comes marching over and complains to Cranky about how Donkey Kong has been missing as he was trying to watch movies with him. He is followed by Candy, who asks where the ape is when they should be having lunch together. When the three Kongs realize that Donkey Kong had been multi-tasking all along, they begin to argue, but Cranky puts a stop to the argument and heads inside the cabin with them. Using the Crystal Coconut, Cranky finds the location of Donkey Kong, seeing him trapped inside of a barrel. Cranky transforms into his hologram form and head to rescue Donkey Kong, leaving Diddy and Candy to protecting the Crystal Coconut. Diddy is fascinated by how he turned into a hologram.

King K. Rool and his troops march through the jungle, heading to Cranky's Cabin. Meanwhile, Donkey Kong is still trapped inside of a barrel, stating that he only needs a single banana to escape. While Cranky tries to find out how to free the ape, Diddy and Candy continue to guard the Crystal Coconut. Suddenly, they hear an army of Kremlings marching to the cabin and begin to panic. Diddy thinks up a plan and leaves Candy with the job of watching the Coconut. Diddy uses the Crystal Coconut to transport himself to Bluster Barrelworks, where Cranky is explaining to Donkey Kong that he cannot send the Trigger Barrels by hitting the red button because he is only in hologram form. Even after the explanation, though, Donkey Kong asks Diddy's hologram to push the button, which he cannot do in his current state. To continue the explanation that his hologram cannot push the button, Cranky begins to sing a song about it. At the end of the song, Diddy tells Cranky that the Kremlings are invading and that Candy is the only one stopping them. The two Kongs quickly exit their hologram form and travel back to the cabin, leaving Donkey Kong to help himself.

The Kremlings make their way to the pathway leading straight to Cranky's Cabin, which King K. Rool finds to be completely safe. Candy Kong decides to use a record player with 117 sound effects to scare them off, or, if the sound effects do not work, opera music. Before the Kremlings break into the front door of the cabin, Candy plays a recording of a shooting sound, so Klump and King K. Rool panic.

Meanwhile, Bluster Kong makes his way into the barrel factory to find Donkey Kong cooped up in a barrel. Bluster decides to leave him in the barrel until Monday as a punishment for messing in his mother's factory, without listening to Donkey Kong's explanation. Using his head, the ape thinks up a plan. He asks Bluster who is going to buy his barrels. Bluster replies by saying that someone will buy them, but then Donkey Kong explains that Cranky ordered all of them and will not pay even a dime for them if he does not get same-day delivery. With that, Bluster sends the barrels, including the one holding Donkey Kong.

The Kremlings are stilled scared by the sound effects, so Klump tries to come up with a new plan. Inside the cabin, Diddy Kong appears back from his hologram form and is frightened by the sound effects as well, until he hears that it is coming from Candy. As Cranky praises Candy for her great thinking in using the sound effects, the sounds change to farm noises, and the crocodiles realize that they have been "dooped." The Kongs are out of ideas and admit defeat, until they notice a rocket flying overhead.

The rocket drops dozens of barrels from Bluster Barrelworks that fall towards the Kremlings. Some Trigger Barrels also land beside the cabin to be used as switches for the booby traps. The barrel that Donkey Kong is in also lands by the cabin, breaking and freeing the primate. He sets off all of the traps and scares off the Kremlings. Krusha and Klump are also sent away by the booby traps, which cause the wooden boards on the bridge to swing to a vertical angle, along with King K. Rool, who says "I'll be back" in a low voice before being flung into the air.

When the Kremlings are all gone, Diddy and Candy congratulate Donkey Kong for helping them. However, Cranky Kong is not too content, as he only wanted two Trigger Barrels, but got many instead. After that, Donkey Kong hands him the bill for the barrels from Bluster, which he states to be due in thirty days. The episode ends with Cranky Kong shouting at the ape as he looks at the bill.

Featured Songs

 * "That's Why He'd Rather be With Me" (sung by Diddy and Candy)
 * "Holograms" (sung by Cranky and Diddy)

CRANKY:
 * ''You can be here, you can be there, anywhere,
 * ''You can go any place you wanna go, don't you know?
 * ''You're just an image of yourself, floating in the air,
 * ''Can't lift a thing, and you can't even comb your hair.
 * ''A hologram is like a telegram,
 * ''You can send it anywhere,
 * ''But you never go nowhere.
 * ''You gotta realize your limitations when you're just thin air!

DIDDY:
 * ''[Diddy says something unintelligible]

CRANKY:
 * [spoken] Hold on a second, there, I'm not finished! Now, where was I? Oh, yeah!
 * ''You can't peel bananas that you wanna eat,
 * ''You can't feel the ground with your own two feet!

DK:
 * [spoken] You can't even eat bananas?!

CRANKY:
 * [spoken] No! How many times do I gotta tell you?

DIDDY:
 * ''[Diddy says something unintelligible]

CRANKY:
 * ''A hologram is like a telegram,
 * ''You can send it anywhere,
 * ''But you're not really there!
 * ''You can't touch anything...
 * [spoken] How much longer should I sing?
 * Don't you understand? Holograms can't push red buttons!