Ladybug (Miraculous: Tales of Ladybug & Cat Noir)

"Ladybug" is the twenty-fourth episode of Season 3 of Miraculous: Tales of Ladybug & Cat Noir.

"Ladybug (Miraculous: Tales of Ladybug & Cat Noir)"

Turns out turning Lila into an advanced version of a Hate Sink wasn't enough according to the writers.

Series:	Miraculous: Tales of Ladybug & Cat Noir
Part of Season:	3
Episode Number:	24
Air Date:	February 1, 2020 (US) November 24, 2019 (France)
Writer:	Thomas Astruc Mélanie Duval Fred Lenoir Sébastien Thibaudeau
Director:	Wilfried Pain Isabelle Lemaux
Previous episode:	Félix
Next episode:	Heart Hunter (The Battle of the Miraculous - Part 1)

Plot

Lila manipulates all Marinette's friends, who turn against her and even manage to get her expelled, but an even bigger problem awaits Marinette; she is going to have to face a sentimonster that has taken the appearance of Ladybug.

Why It Became Endangered Species

This episode is very mean-spirited towards Marinette. Lila somehow managed to surpass the actions in Chameleon as she straight up framed Marinette for cheating on a test, pushed Lila down the stairs, and stole a fox pendant she’d received from her grandmother which causes her to get expelled.
Gabriel Agreste/Hawk Moth is also unlikable in the episode for encouraging Lila to protect Adrien from Marinette, as she said Marinette was a bad influence that caused Marinette.
- To be fair, Lila did say to Gabriel that Marinette was a bad influence, which caused the whole episode to happen.
Mr. Damocles is portrayed in this episode as a gullible idiot, which makes him unlikable too.
The entire class (except Adrien) is all boring and doesn’t help make the episode better.
Very poor pacing compared to other episodes.
The scene when Marinette helps her parents with the bakery is just pure filler and doesn't contribute anything to this episode.
Lots of animation errors in this episode.
- Gabriel’s ring is on his ring finger instead of his middle.
- When Hawk Moth lets go of Cat Noir, his Cataclysm disappears.
- When Gabriel keeps the Peacock Miraculous, his right eye doesn't match with his left eye.
- While Mayura creates the Ladybug sentimonster, her sclera are miscolored white.
- When Marinette and the others enter the locker room, Tom's shirt is colored white.
- When Scarlet Moth asks his scarlet army to take Ladybug's and Cat Noir's miraculouses, his scarlet butterfly-shaped light mask is slightly crooked on his face.
- The same mistake happens to Scarlet Zombizou's and Scarlet Dark Owl's light masks during their brief appearance.
- When Rose, Juleka, Mr. Damocles, and Caline are de-akumatized, their scarlet akumas disappear instead of reverting to normal white butterflies.
- When Reflekta is de-akumatized, her scarlet light mask is off-model.
- Despite the scarlet light mask vanishing from Marinette's face because of Catalyst's health problems, the scarlet villains can still be seen with their light masks briefly before getting de-akumatized.
- When Gabriel takes the Peacock Miraculous from Nathalie, it can be seen in its "Activated" state, rather than the camouflaged mode it is supposed to be in. This could be caused by the Miraculous being broken, however.
- After Ladybug tricked Mayura out of hiding on L'Arc de Triomphe, the last leaf of her Hand Fan is on the top instead of the bottom.
- Despite Tom already having been akumatized before the events of this episode like Caline, Rose, Juleka, and Mr. Damocles, he wasn't akumatized by Scarlet Weredad, as he can be seen standing frozen behind his daughter and to the side of Scarlet Dark Owl.
There are several Plot-Holes:
- How did Lila manage to get into Marinette’s locker?
- Why didn't Mr. Damocles check the CCTV to see if Lila was pushed down the stairs?
  - On top of that, he should’ve checked if she had any cuts, bruises, or any other injuries.
- If Marinette had a fine record, why did Mr. Damocles just expel her? If someone, in reality, had good behavior, but did those things that Marinette did, they would just get suspended for a few days, not get expelled.
- When Lila said she had a rare disease that caused her to lie, Mr. Damocles didn’t even ask her for a doctor’s note. Let’s see Lila gets out of that one.
- If Adrien knew the truth, he could have told Mr. Damocles and/or Marinette's parents about the truth.
Wasted potential: Gabriel Agreste/Hawk Moth comes dangerously close to akumatizing Marinette into a supervillain called Princess Justice with the power to expose the truth, only to have to stop midway because Nathalie/Catalyst got sick and Gabriel stopped to aid her. Marinette even got close to removing her earrings. Not only do we not even get to see what the supervillain forms even look like, refusing to turn Marinette into an akumatized villain is a wasted opportunity for several reasons (Not to mention it showcases how Marinette has plot armor):
- Hawk Moth had no idea how close he was to getting Ladybug's earrings, nor did he know he was akumatizing Ladybug herself. If the akumatization process finished, Hawk Moth would've had Ladybug under his control, her earrings, and learn about her connection to Wang Fu.
- Not only that if the akumatization had finished, then Adrien would have to fight his closest friend and even if he managed to deakumatize her he would've discovered her identity. Possibly Adrien would have blamed himself for Lila's lies getting out hand and depending on how far he dove himself into his guilt Adrien would've been akumatized to risking the loss of his Miraculous.
- Then, just like Ladybug, Adrien too would be traumatized upon fighting his akumatized lover to the point of having nightmares but would also better understand his partner's fear.
- Or if Adrien wasn't akumatized he would have likely reprimanded Lila for her actions as Cat Noir, renouncing his friendship with her permanently as she didn't only endanger Marinette as his friend but also his lover and the whole world with her deception.
The plot about Marinette getting expelled and the sentimonster Ladybug have no relevance to each other.
Continuity error: At the start of the episode, there is a flashback to unseen events during/before "Befana". In the flashback, when Adrien is talking to his father, he mentions how Marinette "made the hat I wore at your show". However, "Befana" takes place before "Style Queen", which is when the show happened. Therefore, during this point, the fashion show hadn't occurred, and therefore Adrien was referencing events that hadn't happened yet.
Depending on your view, Adrien telling Lila to come up with another lie to prove Marinette’s innocence was a bit frustrating since it would’ve been better if he’d told her to tell the truth.
- He could also stand up to Lila for Marinette or just tell Mr. Damocles the truth to prove Marinette's innocence.
Sub-par ending: Even though Marinette is allowed back into school after her innocence was proved, Lila gets away with her actions scot-free, she also tells Marinette that their feud isn’t over. To add salt to the wound, she even gets rewarded by participating in Adrien’s latest photoshoot, and even Sabine (Marinette’s mom) is happy to see that Lila’s “disease” doesn’t stop her from achieving her dreams.
Overall, this episode shows how much of a Karma Houdini Lila is.

Redeeming Qualities

Good animation and voice acting as usual.
Marinette, Adrien, and Alya (to an extent) are the only likable characters.
The concept of Hawk Moth trying to akumatize the students at Collège Françoise Dupont was decent, but was unfortunately poorly executed.
The plot about Nathalie/Mayura trying to create sentimoster Ladybug was better than Marinette getting expelled.
Adrien snapping at Lila telling her to prove Marinette's innocence was a satisfying moment, even if it was by lying.
Despite the sub-par ending, Marinette is allowed back into school when Lila lies about her "disease".

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