| Series Name | |
| Season 5, Episode 2 | |
 | |
| Air date | September 22, 1990 |
| Written by | David Cohen & S.H. Schulman |
| Directed by | John Paragon & Paul Reubens |
| Episode Guide | |
| previous Conky's Breakdown |
next Front Page Pee Wee |
Mystery is the 2nd episode of Pee-Wee's Playhouse season 5.
Episode Plot[]
Pee-wee plays with a bilboquet (ball-and-cup) game but fails, so Yvonne plays one later when she visits. Conky shows home movies of his family. Pee-wee's things are mysteriously disappearing - one of his suits, his cereal bowl and spoon, the connect-the-dot dots, his scrapbook - and he questions his friends about the disappearances, with accompanying music by a mysterious organist. A man named Busby - apparently new to the neighborhood - ends up borrowing these items without Pee-wee's permission, and decides to return them before Pee-wee can find out about their disappearances. Busby learns that in order to make friends, he should just be himself and not be like another person. The episode ends when Pee-wee boards his Scooter Eject to say goodbye to everyone and says "I'll see you all around!" He then asks the organ player who he is. The organist replies, "It's a mystery!"
Characters[]
- Pee Wee Herman
- Conky
- Globey
- Ants
- Conky’s Family (debut)
- MM-1200 (debut)
- KC-200 Jr. (debut)
- Unnamed Grandfather (debut)
- Unnamed Grandmother (debut)
- Unnamed Mother (debut)
- Corky (debut)
- Mr. Window
- Miss Yvonne
- Clocky
- The Food from the Refrigerator
- El Hombre (last appearance)
- Pterri
- Chairry
- Dog Chair
- Penny
- Magic Screen
- Dirty Dog
- Cool Cat
- Chicky Baby
- Chandelier
- Busby (single appearance)
- Flowers (cameo)
- Floory (cameo)
- Mr. Kite (cameo)
- Fish (cameo)
- The Dinosaur Family (cameo)
- The Organist (single appearance)
Trivia[]
- Miss Yvonne visits in this episode.
- Conky's family is revealed in this episode.
- This is the first and only appearances of Busby and the Organist.
- Late actor Leslie Jordan played Busby and writer Max Robert played The Organist.
- The ominous music The Organist plays is a response to someone’s saying, “It’s a mystery!” similarly to when the secret word is acknowledged.
- The word "around" is said and screamed six times...actually seven, counting the ants forming the sentence "Hanging around."
- When Conky is describing his grandfather, he says the word around, and no one screams (probably out of respect).
- Despite the fact that Conky is present at the interrogation, Herman does not question him, Magic Screen or Globey.
- When Pee-wee goes in the refrigerator, the food is watching a clip from "Big Top Pee-wee", a movie that was made during Season 2's development. The movie was less successful than Big Adventure, only bringing in a return of $15 million. To this day, the movie is considered one of Paul Reubens' biggest theatrical embarrassments.
- The original CBS broadcast ended with a dedication to Max Robert, who wrote for the show, and played the organist in this episode. He died a year after this episode was filmed. The cause of his death is unclear.
- Penny returned is this episode again
- The King of Cartoons, Randy, Cowntess and Jambi didn't appear.
Notes[]
- Secret word: around
- Connect-the-dots: just one dot (aborted since the rest of Pee-wee's dots were stolen)
- Snack: Kellogg's Corn Flakes (aborted because Pee-wee's cereal bowl and spoon were taken)
- Wish: none
- Featured Cartoon: Farm Frolics (1941)
- This is the last episode to feature El Hombre.