Monsters at Work Episode 3 recap: The Damaged Room

Monsters at Work Episode 3, “The Damaged Room,” begins with Phlegm damaging a room, as you might expect based on the episode’s title! As it turns out, Phlegm is nursing a cold, resulting in his acidic phlegm shoots out during a sneeze, burning a giant hole in a child’s bedroom wall.

The damage to a kid’s—or “Giggler” as they’re known at Monsters Inc., now—is a big deal because it could alert their parents to the presence of monsters. Celia calls in code 418 and sends a work order to MIFT. It’s the perfect opportunity for Tylor to get hands-on experience fixing something for real in his new MIFT job.

Using the thunderstorm outdoors to mask the sound of their tools, MIFT works steadfastly to repair the hole. But they meet several hiccups along the way, from Duncan’s interference to Cutter leaving for her lunch break. Plus, Val won’t stop prattling on about her and Tylor’s time at Monster’s University. Tylor doesn’t remember any of the incidences she mentions.

Frustrated that he can’t take a lunch break, Tylor kicks a soccer ball out the door, accidentally causing it to deactivate. When he reaches his breaking point with Val, the noise draws the child’s parents into the bedroom to check on her. Unable to retreat through the door, Tylor, Val, and Duncan have to hide in her room. Thankfully, the kid’s parents are stupid and believe Duncan’s obvious act.

Once the work is done, and the coast is clear, Tylor asks Val why it’s so important that Tylor remembers their university interactions. Val was quite a loner at school, and Tylor was the only person who ever really spoke to her, even if it was just to ask, “is this seat taken?”

MORE: Monsters at Work Season 1 premiere recap: Tylor settles in

Once Cutter is done with her lunch break, she fixes the door, and the monsters retreat to safety. Tylor and Val make amends. It turns out he does remember that interaction. Val replied, “You picked the best seat in the house.” And while they’re no longer university friends, they can be work buds!

Monsters at Work Episode 3 recap: Mike and Sulley take care of another human baby

Ready for some Monsters Inc. callbacks, Monsters at Work Episode 3 has plenty! When MIFT arrives to fix the hole in the wall, they realize they need to take the baby out of the room, so they don’t wake her up accidentally. If she started crying and her parents came in, it’d be game over.

While MIFT works, Mike volunteers to watch over the baby, who he names Snore. Mike doesn’t trust Sulley to do it because of how attached he got to Boo, and Mike promises he can do his job because he’s immune to Snore’s cuteness.

Of course, Mike’s promise doesn’t last. He bonds fast with Snore and even makes her a monster disguise similar to the one they designed for Boo in the film so he can take her along to a baseball game featuring his favorite team.

At the game, Mike almost gets into a fight with a big monster rooting for the opposing team because he’s loud and won’t stop belittling little Snore. But before they can come to blows, three baseballs arc across the field and knock the other monster out, leaving Mike to collect a ball struck by his favorite player.

Back at Monsters Inc., Mike returns Snore to her bed after singing her a sweet lullaby to say goodbye and lull her back to sleep. He even leaves her with his special baseball from the game! I wonder if that might come back up later?

In the Monsters at Work Episode 3 post-credits scene, Mike tries to teach his class about the whoopie cushion. He doesn’t understand how it works until he accidentally sits on it, and it makes a long fart noise, as one would expect, but the class doesn’t find it funny. One student actually exclaims, “you killed it!”

The fact monsters don’t find farting sounds funny makes sense if you think about it. They revel in disgusting stuff, from drinking drool to eating rot dogs and inhaling “stale air.” The fact they think the whoopee cushion sound is a creature dying is pretty amusing.

Monsters at Work airs new episodes Wednesdays on Disney+.