The Belcher family takes an unexpected road trip with Nat the limo driver. Back at the restaurant, Teddy gets a little too into a fantasy.
Just the Tropes:
- Ambiguously Bi: One of the very first things that Teddy does when left alone in the restaurant is smell Bob's apron and say, "100% Bob. That's the smell. That's the stuff!"
- Butch Lesbian: Nat is revealed to have an ex-girlfriend. As for the "butch" part, her streetwear is seen for the first time, which includes a button-down and a bolo tie.
- Continuity Nod: Gene's fear of snakes makes a return.
- Crazy-Prepared: Louise apparently had a phony teenage boy journal pre-prepared in case she ever needed to fool Tina.
- A Day in the Limelight: Nat has appeared twice before as a major character, but it's here we learn the most about her personal life and she (literally) drives the plot for the episode.
- Deconstruction: Of your typical "Road trip of love" story. After delivering Steve the snake back to Theresa, Nat blurts out a proposal. Theresa flatly says no, because they broke up for a reason in the first place and bringing the snake back doesn't fix that. They do hug, though, which Linda considers just as sweet.
- Dissonant Serenity: After his close encounter with Steve, Gene basically goes numb from the shock, and is uncharacteristically calm for the rest of the episode.
- Food as Bribe: Louise gets Gene to come back to the limo with the snake by promising her secret stash of candy.
- Given Name Reveal: Nat's name is revealed to be short for Natalie, making her full name Natalie Kinkle.
- I Just Want to Be You: Played with. Left to his own devices in the restaurant, Teddy starts pretending to be Bob. Then it escalates to Teddy carrying out imaginary conversations where he marries Linda with Bob's blessing, and then adopts Bob. It's just as creepy as it sounds.
- Jar Potty: In the flashback to the Belcher's last road trip, Gene is peeing in a bottle.
- Meaningful Name: The Madness Castle drives people to madness alright... over how overpriced and boring it is.
- Namesake Gag: The Madness Castle was built by Jonathan Madness.
- Prefers Proper Names: Bob lampshades Nat's constant usage of "Robert" by calling her "Natalie" in return.
- Rage Breaking Point: When Bob finds out the animal sanctuary run by Nat's ex is just a large collection of snakes instead of the cute monkeys and baby lions he was imagining, he completely snaps.
- Road Trip Episode: The Belchers go on a ride they won't soon forget.
- Sanity Slippage: Teddy goes completely mental while the Belchers are away.
- Secret Diary: Louise plants a fake diary for Tina to read. It's supposedly from a teenaged boy who writes about how big his butt is.
- Shout-Out:
- The Store Next Door is "You Walkin' to Me? Physical Therapy".
- When Nat tells the Belchers about her ex-girlfriend's animal sanctuary, Tina asks, "She bought a zoo?"
- Nat claims that one of the exotic pets at the sanctuary used to belong to a member of The Big Bang Theory cast, "but not the one you think."
- When Gene runs out of the car upon seeing Steve, the limo is parked outside There Will Be Suds Custom Soaps and She’s Got Sweaty Davis Thighs Work Out Studio.
- As the snake crawls on Gene, he screams "Britney Spears, give me strength!"
- The Madness Castle resembles Christine McConnell’s haunted house exterior
. The Bizarrchitecture of the interior is similar to the Winchester Mystery House. - The animal sanctuary is named Shaw-Shank-tuary.
- Bob names the baby garter snakes Lucy and Ricky and the Fonz, even lampshading that the last one doesn't fit the theme of the other two.
- Stalker without a Crush: Zigzagged; Teddy fantasizes about marrying Linda, not so much because he's in love with her, but rather because he wants to be Bob, or at least take his place (in a non-violent way, admittedly), because he idolizes him so much. It gets really creepy when he's left alone in the restaurant, feeling free to play out his fantasies. It's not helped when Bob and Linda find Teddy asleep in their bed.
- Suspiciously Specific Denial: Before the trip, Bob makes Louise promise she won’t ask to stop at any weird roadside attractions. Louise promises, saying she definitely did NOT Google their trip route and there’s NO attractions on the way, especially NOT a place called the Madness Castle. Unsurprisingly, Bob is not reassured by this.
- Vomit Chain Reaction: In the flashback to the Belcher's last road trip, Tina throwing up in the car leads to everyone throwing up as well (with Gene only throwing up because everyone else was doing it).
- Why Did It Have to Be Snakes?: It's only when they get inside the limo that the Belchers learn that she is also carrying a snake named Steve to the animal sanctuary. Gene, having previously established a fear of snakes, freaks out and bolts, but he's eventually persuaded to return to the limo, and he sits in the front passenger seat where Steve can't reach him. When they stop at the Madness Castle, the snake gets in the front seat and Gene once again panics. When they reach the sanctuary, it turns out to be almost all snakes. Gene by this point is just resigned to be surrounded by snakes everywhere he goes.
