The best of friends... or not.
Friend ConThe Greens attend Farm Con where the kids help Bill form a fast friendship with Chip, but little does he know, Chip is only using the friendship to ruin the family's reputation.
"Friend Con" contains examples of:
- Air Quotes: Chip does them when commenting against BigTech's technology.
- Animation Bump:
- The animation used with Chip's titanium tooth whenever he is speaking is much more improved, such as when he just shows his teeth, and the reflection in it when Bill is about to eat the bad sandwich.
- Bill's mouth movements when he is rendered unable to speak are also much more fluid and exaggerated.
- Bait-and-Switch: Usually, Chip loses a tooth at the end of each appearance. This time, he has an unbreakable titanium tooth, and it indeed doesn't break. And it's the only one he has left after all his other teeth fall out.
- Befriending the Enemy: The Greens encounter Chip once again since their last encounter with him in "Reckoning Ball", and Bill is even pulled into a fast friendship with him. Unfortunately to them, Chip is still evil, and is only using Bill to further his revenge.
- Bitch in Sheep's Clothing: Chip acts nice and cheerful around the Greens, but underneath all that, he's furthering his revenge.
- Borrowed Catchphrase: When Gramma spots the Farm Con swag stand, she utters Cricket's "bingo-bango."
- Bottle Episode: Most of the episode takes place inside the convention center, with a brief scene of the back alley as Chip kicks the kids out.
- The Bus Came Back: Chip returns since his Fake Defector reveal back in "Reckoning Ball".
- Call-Back:
- When deciding to set up a friendship between Bill and Chip, Tilly brings up the events of "Reckoning Ball".
- Chip plots to take over Bill's speech so he can ruin the reputation of the Greens, which is what Bill ultimately predicted in "Supermarket Scandal" when he ate the fake produce.
- Captain Ersatz: One of the guests at Farm Con is Dr. Ned, "The horse who can talk (but chooses not to)."
- Chekhov's Gunman: Bill mentions an old friend named Joe whom he hasn't seen for a long time. When looking for a new friend for Bill, Tilly first looks at a tall man with bushy eyebrows, but thinks he's not right for the job. Later, that man turns out to be Old Joe.
- Double-Meaning Title: The episode title is short for "Friend Convention", and metamorphically refers to conning a friend, which is what Chip does to Bill.
- Dramatic Irony: Crossed with False Friend. The audience knows Chip is using his friendship with Bill (he even said so at the end of "Reckoning Ball"), but Bill and the children don't.
- Everyone Has Standards: Cricket doesn't gloat when Chip loses all of his teeth sans the titanium tooth, stating "I had nightmares about that".
- False Friend: Chip becomes one with Bill to tempt him into trusting him so he can ruin his speech.
- Foreshadowing: There are several hints toward Chip's true nature.
- When we first see Chip, he is picking up someone's tomatoes at the Farmer's Market. Remember the tomato war at that very place?
- Chip is shown to be as distasteful at BigTech like Bill, even commenting on their technology replacing normal things. He is actually tailoring himself to be like Bill, so he can get close enough to him to replace him for his speech.
- Twice when Chip is talking to Bill, the background music is accompanied by an eerie glissando.
- During the Good-Times Montage, Bill is shown looking at "pitchspoons", while Chip looks at the "pitchsporks". Not intentionally, but the points in the pitchsporks could allude to his true wicked self.
- Good-Times Montage: Between Bill and Chip as they hang out at Farm Con together.
- I Need to Go Iron My Dog: "I gotta go water the fields, if you know what I'm sayin'."
- Insignia Rip-Off Ritual: After Bill learns the truth about Chip, he takes his hat back from him to signify the end of their friendship.
- Internal Reveal: Cricket and Tilly suddenly overhear Chip confessing to his Mooks his true nature of befriending Bill, leading them to realize he tricked them and he's still evil. Of course, the audience knew that already, if they've seen the Cliffhanger of "Reckoning Ball" to begin with, though.
- Laser-Guided Karma: Chip gets hit in the mouth again, but when his platinum tooth doesn't fall out, he laughs. And then all the rest of his teeth fall out. Looks like he's going to have to get a mouth full of platinum teeth.
- Mid-Season Twist: The Greens realize Chip is still evil since the events of "Reckoning Ball".
- Near-Villain Victory: Chip comes within two seconds of having Bill's reputation ruined, everyone in Big City turned against him, and the Greens banned from Big City forever, but the kids and Gramma arrive just in time to foil his plans and fix everything.
- Oh, Crap!: This is Cricket and Tilly's reaction when they overhear Chip talking to his Mooks about his true intentions, realizing he's still evil.
- Smash Cut: When the kids are caught by Chip after overhearing his true intentions, Tilly leaps forward to fight, then it instantly cuts to them being kicked out through the back door and beaten up.
- Spot the Imposter: Chip comes out as Bill to give a lousy speech and ruin his reputation when the kids stop him and the real Bill steps onstage, creating confusion as to which is the real Bill Green. Spoofed when a photographer asks "Which one do I shoot?" Then Bill's old friend Joe steps up to identify the real Bill.
- Toilet Humor: Chip excuses himself from Bill by saying he needs to "water the fields".
- Unwitting Pawn: Bill is this to Chip, who is only using their "friendship" to assume his identity and destroy the family's reputation in front of everyone at Farm Con.
- Very Special Episode: This episode deals with false friendships.
- Walking Spoiler: Chip is the Wholesome Foods CEO, and he got the position because he tricked the Greens into forgiving him.
- We Will Meet Again: Chip says this to Bill after his plans have been ruined and will get his revenge sometime soon.
- Wham Episode: The Greens are now fully aware that Chip tricked them into forgiving him, and he's still their enemy since then.
- What You Are in the Dark: Chip manages to put on a facade of niceness when helping an old lady with her tomatoes, and also when "befriending" Bill. It's not until he's all alone that we see who he really is.
- Would Hurt a Child: Chip manages to attack Cricket and Tilly in an instant, to the point of stealing their necklaces and kicking them out of Farm Con. He even says so himself:Chip: Aw, man, I love being mean to kids.
Anyone wanna get their skull slimmed? Buy one for $100!
FlimflammedWhen Cricket finds a $100 bill, he is tempted to invest in it by a mysterious con artist, resulting in a pyramid scheme.
"Flimflammed" contains examples of:
- Aesop Amnesia: Cricket somehow forgot it's wrong to scam which he learned back in "Wishing Well", and was able to use said moral to tell Itchaboi was a scam in "Bad Influencer".
- Animation Bump: The way Cricket's mouth is shaped when he sings, "I got a hundred dollaaaaaas!" just before Joe appears is much more exaggerated than in past seasons.
- "Blackmail" Is Such an Ugly Word: When Gloria furiously tells Cricket that he conned her with the skull-slimming product, Cricket replies that "con" is such a strong word. He reasons that he never told her that people didn't want any, and she didn't ask if people did. So, he concludes, that they probably conned each other? This is the final straw for Gloria's thin patience.
- Cake Toppers: Cricket spends the $200 he conned from Gloria on a wedding cake with bride and groom figurines that both look like Cricket.Cricket: Well excuse me if I wanted to feel special on my big day!
- Cassandra Truth: When Tilly and Gramma warn Cricket he's been scammed, and later on when he did the same to Gloria, he does not believe them at first.
- Con Man: John (or is it Pete?), the man who gives Cricket the Skull Slimmers.
- *Cough* Snark *Cough*: After Cricket reveals he sold Gloria the Skull Slimmers for her to sell, Gramma coughs "Scam!"
- Dramatic Drop: A shocked Gloria does this with Cricket (who she was strangling at the time) when he tells her that he doesn't have her money anymore.
- Hurricane of Euphemisms:Gramma: Wake up, boy, ya been flimflammed!!
Cricket: What's that now?
Gramma: Bamboozled! Hoodwinked! Scammed. - Innocuously Important Episode: While this episode is a Very Special Episode nonetheless, the part where Gloria needs money to pay her rent becomes important in "Chipwrecked".
- Mundane Object Amazement: Cricket is gobsmacked after receiving a $100 bill. "I didn't know money went this high!"
- My God, What Have I Done?: Cricket's reaction when he realizes he scammed Gloria out of her rent money and he only made it worse for her.
- Nightmare Face: Gloria's face when she goes through the fence after Cricket.Gloria: COME HERE, CRICKET!!!
- Open the Iris: Cricket's eyes go as wide as dinner plates when he is given $100.
- Ponzi Scheme: After Cricket failed to sell the Skull Slimmers, he ends up roping Gloria into selling them herself, paying Cricket $200 for them, twice what he paid.
- Rage Breaking Point: Gloria completely loses it when she realizes Cricket conned her.
- Satchel Switcheroo: John is about to give Cricket a bag full of money for his "Skull Slimmers Plus" when he "accidentally" drops it and switches it with a bag full of napkins.
- Say My Name: "CRICKET. GREEN."
- Small Role, Big Impact: John is only seen in this episode to date, but him teaching Cricket how to scam is what perfects his swindling in future episodes; although Cricket did scam a few times before, John told him what he should say to the people he's scamming.
- Title Drop:
- By Gramma when she realizes he's been conned.
- By Cricket when he apologizes to Gloria for scamming her.
- By Cricket again after John is arrested.
- Tranquil Fury: Gloria is demanding that Cricket give her the money she gave him back, but he admits that he spent it already. This causes the already irate Gloria to have her dialogue towards him to be dripping with cold fury.
- Unusually Uninteresting Sight: When Bill sees Gloria go after Cricket, he just shrugs and assumes Cricket probably deserves it.
- Very Special Episode: Likewise with its sister episode, this episode deals with money conning and learning to be aware of it.
