Dark Secret: Is this AItF episode a holiday episode? Then you know it's going to either feature a high-decibel argument or revelation of dark secrets, and this one has plenty of both ... this time, when it is revealed Mike is now unemployed, having lost his job as a professor at the local college for participating in a protest march. (It's revealed he went along only because Gloria was the main one opposed to a new nuclear plant being built.)
Foreshadowing: Further strain on the troubled marriage of Mike and Gloria is evident, and this latest chapter causes raised tensions.
George Jetson Job Security: Mike reveals that he was fired from his teaching job at a local college for participation in a protest march.
Honor Before Reason: Deconstructed; Mike's attitudes in the aftermath of losing his job as college professor ultimately seal the fate of his and Gloria's already rocky marriage.
Special Guest: Rob Reiner and Sally Struthers, reprising their roles as Mike and Gloria; both are billed as "Special Guest Stars" in the opening credits. This episode marked the final time all four members of the original cast — Carroll O'Connor, Jean Stapleton, Reiner and Struthers — appeared together.
Thanksgiving Episode: One of two in the full "Archie Bunker Show" history, and the first since "The Little Athiest" (back in Season 5 of AItF).
