->''"Rabbits are not what they seem to be. Welcome to Night Vale."''

Coverage of the ongoing effort to construct a drawbridge in Old Town Night Vale. Plus the radio station's pledge drive, horoscopes, and the Fire Department vs. Sheriff's Secret Police softball game.

!!Tropes present in ''The Drawbridge'' include:

* AnonymousBenefactor: The radio station receives a large sum of money from "a certain anonymous world leader." He is referred to only as "El Presidente", but is implied to be the president of Guatemala.
* TheBadGuysAreCops: During last year's annual charity softball game between the fire department and the secret police, the firefighter's entire bullpen was assassinated during the game. No one even investigated the murders.
* BlatantLies: There are no cars anywhere. In fact, they aren't even real.
* EpicFail: Constructions crews have attempted to build the base supports of a drawbridge with corrugated cardboard, non-dairy creamer, ceramic bowls, and furniture upholstery -- in the middle of the desert without a waterway in sight, no less. Unsurprisingly, all these attempts have completely failed.
* {{Foreshadowing}}: Cecil casually mentions [[spoiler: WZZZ and the monotone female voice (later revealed to be Fey) that recites random numbers]]. This becomes the main plot point of "Numbers".
* GranolaGirl: Juanita Jefferson.
* IncompetenceInc:
** The construction crews and engineers hired to build the eponymous drawbridge have no idea what they're doing, hence the aforementioned EpicFail. They're taking suggestions from ordinary citizens, but only the ones that don't use cursive or long words.
** The Daily Journal, which, having previously fired all its writers to save money, has now decided to cut costs even further by ditching print newspapers altogether and just ''pretending'' to sell products.
* KillerRabbit: Implied in the opening.
* PointlessCivicProject: The eponymous drawbridge, which, even if City Council had any idea how to actually build it, serves no purpose since it's being built in the middle of a desert. Also the Clock Tower, which supposedly keeps perfect time, but this can't be verified, because it's invisible, and its location constantly changes at random.
* {{Scandalgate}}: "Drawbridgegate."
* ShownTheirWork: WZZZ may seem like just standard Night Vale weirdness, but similar numbers stations have been around since at least World War II, and many still operate today.
* SitcomArchNemesis: This episode gives us Cecil's first mention of Steve Carlsberg.
* SuspiciouslySpecificDenial: There is NO staticky hum coming from the dog park. And if there were, it would definitely NOT be a deeply coded message. And it certainly wouldn't be telling listeners to bring it precious metals and children.
* TheseAreThingsManWasNotMeantToKnow: Cecil refuses to read Leo's horoscope out loud, only saying that it's better if you don't know.
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->''"Today's Proverb: Lost? Confused? Lacking direction? Need to find a purpose in your life?"''