Taylor decides to drop synchronized swimming and goes into drama, but then she decides to quit drama, forcing her parents to remind her of the "Otto Motto", which is "never give up". But then Greg points out that Katie is a habitual quitter, which leads her to consider taking up something and sticking with it. Meanwhile, Katie is cleaning Oliver's closet and discovers his "attainment board" filled with shirtless male models and athletes (along with his friend Cooper Bradford). Then she and Greg discover he is taking ballet classes, and everyone starts wondering if he might be gay.
Tropes:
- Ambiguously Gay: Oliver. He keeps an attainment board with shirtless celebrities in his closet, he studies ballet, and he very convincingly acts the part of Eyo's lover when he shows Taylor how to rehearse for the play they're studying. (As Greg says, he's either as good an actor as Ian McKellen or he's as gay as Ian McKellen.)
- Armored Closet Gay: Angela, a lesbian, speculates that Oliver's unpleasant personality could be the result of his keeping his sexuality a secret from everyone.
- Bait-and-Switch: All of the "hints" of Oliver's sexuality turn out to have non-gay explanations: his attainment board represents people he wants to be like, not people he wants. The ballet lessons are because Harvard has a ballet program with a desperate shortage of male applicants, and he can use it as a back door into his dream college.
- Ballet Episode: Actually the first episode of a three-season-long ballet arc for Oliver.
- The Cameo: Cooper Bradford doesn't appear in the flesh but he's shown on Oliver's attainment board. This is also the first time he's described as Oliver's best friend.
- Rhyming Names: One suspects that the "Otto Motto" wouldn't be nearly as much of a thing if it didn't rhyme.
- Stereotype Flip: You'd think Katie and Greg might be upset or at least disappointed that Oliver might be gay but they honestly seem excited by the idea, and are instead disappointed that he turns out to be straight after all. This marks the beginning of a series-long running gag where Katie continually expresses hope that Oliver might be gay so they can go on a mother-son gay cruise together.
- Title Drop: The "Otto Motto" is mentioned frequently.
