Dorien: Oh excuse me, I was up early this morning.
Sharon: Wan'ed to get 'ome before your 'usband wake up?
— Sharon Theodopolopodous taking the mick out of Dorien Green.
- Date First Aired: 28/09/1991
With money tight, Sharon has taken a job, but Tracey seems reluctant to follow, despite Sharon and Dorien's encouragement. Tracey admits to having little confidence, having never been allowed to work during her marriage, but Sharon volunteers her to do some voluntary work for Siobhan, the editor of the prisoners' dependents newsletter. Sharon then goes with Tracey when she goes to apply for a receptionist job but is worried about the application form, which makes her realise how few qualifications and little experience she has. Sharon gets the job by lying on the application form.
Tropes In This Episode:
- Agony of the Feet: Sharon's feet are in pain after working at her new job.
- Apology Gift: Sharon gets Dorien some fresh strawberry pavlova to make up for reading her Secret Diary.
- Big "SHUT UP!": Tracey and Dorien give one to Sharon when they aren't talking to her.
- Blatant Lies: Sharon gets her typist job by bullshitting that she has loads of experience, seven O Levels and can type 180 words a minute.Tracey: Well that's dishonest!Sharon: No Trace, that's confidence.
- Book Dumb:
- For a while, no one thought Sharon would learn how to read.
- Whenever Tracey brought her report cards home, her parents would remark at least she still had her looks.
- Brief Accent Imitation: Tracey briefly adopts an upper-class accent to sound posher.
- Call-Back: Tracey is once again using Garth's word processor for work.
- Captain Obvious: Chris tells Darryl he's only depressed because he's in prison.
- Caught with Your Pants Down: Sharon once caught her dad masturbating in the bath.
- Cheating with the Milkman: Chris brings up the possibility of Tracey having an affair with a double-glazing salesman.
- Continuity Nod:
- Darryl recalls meeting Dorien during the events of "Love On the Run".
- Siobhan remembers Sharon's last prison visit ending poorly, recalling the previous episode, "Just Family", where Tracey (disguised as Sharon) got into a fight with Darryl's mum.
- Deadpan Snarker: After Chris tells Darryl he's only depressed because he's in prison, Darryl snarks he thought it was because of the E numbers.
- Dumb Blonde: Tracey worries she's turning into one.
- Fan Disservice: Sharon mentions having to shave her hairy bits that shouldn't be hairy.
- Foreshadowing: Chris' brief scene of interest in Dorien leads to the two of them hitting it off three episodes later in "Poetic Justice".
- Gasshole: Prison tea gives Sharon wind.
- Malaproper: Tracey calls herself a mental leopard instead of a mental leper.
- Noodle Incident:
- Sharon once walked in on her dad playing with himself in the bath.
- At school Sharon was once voted "Girl Least Likely to Learn to Read".
- Dorien once woke up after sex to find the man had written "2/10" on her bum.
- Offscreen Crash: Tony breaks something from Siobhan's China cabinet off-screen.
- The Oldest Profession: Sharon comments Dorien could be a prostitute and have Tracey as her pimp.
- One-Shot Character: Siobhan.
- One-Word Title: The title of the episode is "Confidence".
- Picky Eater: Sharon admits to Dorien this is why she doesn't like bananas.
- Pizza Boy Special Delivery: Chris warns Darryl that Tracey may fall victim to this, only with a double-glazing salesman.
- Really Gets Around: Sharon thinks Dorien is like this because she's trying to fill a void in her life.
- "The Reason You Suck" Speech: Tracey gives one to Darryl for making her dependent on her and then getting himself locked up.
- Secret Diary: Sharon finds and reads Dorien's.Dorien: Oh God, Sharon, I must be so transparent. Am I that easy to read?Sharon: No. But yer diary is.
- Ship Tease:
- Chris starts developing feelings for Dorien.
- Chris also nearly admits to Darryl that he has fantasies about Tracey in lingerie.
- Shout-Out:
- Dorien writes an essay about Sigmund Freud.
- A poster of Bart, Homer and Lisa from The Simpsons is visible in Siobhan's house.
- Sharon is a fan of Spitting Image.
- Speak in Unison: Tracey and Dorien tell Sharon to shut up at the same time.
- Take That!:
- Sharon mentions the ring she left in the paper was more obvious than Bruce Forsyth's wig.
- Darryl asks if Tony Adams has been nicked again.
- Darryl says accountants are the only people that can rob legally.
- Darryl makes a comment on the size of Des' ears on Neighbours.
- Sharon thinks Fergie has poor dress sense.
- Tracey says her age makes her feel like Barbara Cartland.
- Title Drop: By Tracey:Tracey: I've got no confidence.
- Troll: Sharon to the receptionist:Receptionist: Has your friend left?Sharon: Yeah. Yeah, you frightened her off. She said she couldn't work here coz she could never match your example. She thought you were so intelligent and efficient.Receptionist: You're joking.Sharon: Course I am, doll.
- Unusual Euphemism: Sharon uses the word "syrup" when talking about wigs.
- Wardrobe Malfunction: Chris fantasises about this happening to Tracey.
