"Oh, good. The bait's here."
Louise's plan to get revenge on Halloween for a candy transgression hits a snag when the Belcher kids meet a mysterious elderly woman at a hotel. Meanwhile, Bob, Linda, and Teddy donate blood.Tropebreak Hotel-oween:
- 13 Is Unlucky: The room Roger died in was Room 313.
- AB Negative: Bob's blood type happens to be O-, the universal donor type, which is what Teddy and the phlebotomists use to guilt trip him into donating blood.
- Teddy is literally type AB, though he never specifies whether he's AB+ or AB-.
- Unlike many fictional examples, Bob and Teddy are the only characters confirmed to have a rare blood type. Linda's blood type is confirmed to be A+, while the Belcher kids' blood types depend on whether or not Linda is an O-carrier.note
- Afraid of Blood: Bob's storyline is him being taken to give blood, which he hates to do because he can't stand the sight of it. The phlebotomists have so much fun talking with Linda and Teddy that they leave Bob alone, and as he tries to leave his IV gets caught on the chair and is pulled off, spraying some of his blood on his clothes and on the floor, causing Bob to faint.
- Afraid of Needles: As if donating blood wasn't already an ordeal for the hemophiliac, Afraid of Blood Bob, he also despises needles.
- All for Nothing: Dolores realizes she held a grudge for fifty years over a misunderstanding.
- The Bait: When the kids deliver the hamburger to Dolores, she says "The bait has arrived." She meant the burger, to lure Roger's spirit, but the kids think she meant they were going to be the bait, and beat a hasty retreat.
- Bait-and-Switch: It seems at first like Dolores is summoning the ghost of her lover because she misses him, however it’s soon revealed that she’s doing so in order to send him to hell for cheating on her.
- Bloody Hilarious: Bob tries to leave the Blood Mobile because the phlebotomists are ignoring him and takes the bag with him. However, the IV tube gets caught on the chair and ends up pulling out the needle, spraying his shirt with blood.
- Book Dumb: Linda calls her A+ blood type the first A+ she ever got.
- Bread, Eggs, Breaded Eggs: In one of Roger's letters to Dolores, he mentions how he loves "her smell", "her neck parts", and "the way her eyes light up when he smells her neck parts."
- Bring My Brown Pants: Gene implies that he wet his pants after Dolores’ creepy chanting scares them.Louise: You know what makes everything better?Gene: Dry underwear?
- The Caper: Louise's original plan was to use the snail costume in order to steal candy from a couple who stiffed her two Halloweens ago and didn't make up for it the following year, and to make matters worse for her, they took away the single piece of candy they already gave her after she raised a commotion about them not remembering owing her extra candy. They never get to do it after their adventure with Dolores made Louise reconsider her grudge.
- Chekhov's Gun: The hotel manager mentions that he's allergic to bee stings. This later gives Tina a clue as to what happened to Roger.
- Comically Small Bribe: In order to keep Bob quiet about their incompetence, the phlebotomists give Bob extra cookies. Lucky them he accepts, because they could've been fired for incompetence and potentially even sued had Bob suffered any lasting damage.
- Dirty Old Woman: Dolores is not shy about how attractive she found Roger back in the day, nor about how much Roger's ability to throw peanuts and catch them in his mouth turned her on. Gene also finds some love letters of hers that were "definitely not PG-13".
- Disproportionate Retribution: Gene thinks taking the last slice of pizza is worthy of being banished to Hell.
- "Eureka!" Moment: Tina has one when Gene mentions bees, making her think of the hotel manager’s bee allergy and realize that Roger must have been allergic to peanuts.
- Fainting: Bob starts to swoon anytime someone even mentions anything to do with blood or needles.
- Halloween Episode
- I Need a Freaking Drink: Gene, when Dolores’ letters and pictures get stolen.Gene: Now I really need a ginger ale. Antonio, make it a double!
- I've Heard of That — What Is It?: After the phlebotomists tell Bob that his blood might save the life of a boy who might go on to save the rainforest, Teddy has this to say:Teddy: Wow, Bob! You just saved a boy who will save the rainforest! [To Linda] What's the rainforest?
- Jerkass: Knowing that Bob is squeamish when it comes to blood and needles, Teddy still not only messes with him about it (with even Linda telling him to stop) he also tells the phlebotomists about his universal blood type which forces Bob to do something he clearly isn't comfortable with. It's downplayed with the phlebotomists too, but even though they can see Bob's visible discomfort, they still refuse to take no for an answer and guilt trip him into donating blood and then they have the audacity to belittle him about his nerves.
- Karma Houdini: While Louise’s revenge plan was disproportionate, the couple distributing Halloween candy do not appear in the present and thus never make amends for forgetting the promise they made or for punishing Louise for their mistake. This ties into the episode’s moral about letting go of grudges.
- My God, What Have I Done?: Dolores feels awful when she realizes she held a fifty-year grudge on Roger for no reason.
- Mystery Episode: The second half of the kids' plot turns into one when someone steals the photograph and papers Tina was using to prove Roger didn't ditch Dolores on purpose.
- No Sympathy: Teddy absolutely doesn't care about Bob's problem with needles and more or less forces him to donate blood once he finds out Bob is O-. He even "discretely" mentions Bob's blood type so the people at the donation van can get him inside.
- Ominous Latin Chanting: Dolores makes quite the first impression by doing this as the kids try to deliver her burger.
- Plot Allergy: Tina theorizes that Roger died of an undiagnosed peanut allergy, due to him having eaten Thai food and nuts from the hotel bar.
- "Shaggy Dog" Story: Louise never does go through with her revenge plan, having learned from Dolores about how holding grudges can ruin one's life.
- Shout-Out:
- The title is a reference to the Elvis Presley song "Heartbreak Hotel."
- In the opening, the Store Next Door is Someday Bloody Someday Gory Calendars, and the Exterminator Van is for She's Super Squeaky Pest Control.
- The Burger of the Day is "The Night-pear on Elm Beet Burger."
- Two of Tina's costumes in the past were "Sixteen Handles" and a Ghostbuster.
- Two of Gene's past costumes are Baby Gaga and a cat with a guitar and a name tag reading "Stevens".
- Two of Louise's past costumes are a carton of beetle juice and Blade Bunner.
- Roger was dressed as Spartacus when he died, leading to an I Am Spartacus gag when Dolores asks if anyone has seen him.
- Dolores herself went as Melanie Daniels from Alfred Hitchcock’s The Birds.
- Spooky Séance: Dolores is holding a séance to summon the spirit of her late boyfriend Roger, who died in that hotel room on Halloween fifty years ago. Tina thinks it's romantic, but Dolores is actually doing it so she can then cast Roger's spirit to Hell for cheating on her.
- Too Soon: Dolores says this when Louis makes a dead joke about Roger, before stating it isn't when she remembers Roger's death was decades ago.
- Trojan Horse: Louise's plan hinges on all three of them wearing the same costume (a snail) so she can sneak into the house and get the extra candy without the couple finding out. When they are spooked by Dolores and Gene leaves the shell part of the costume behind, they have to return to get it, since the plan won't work without it.
- Wholesome Crossdresser: The person disguised as Jeannie whom Dolores blames for sleeping with Roger was, on close inspection, revealed to have been a man; specifically, a male doctor, judging from the pager in his belt, leading Tina to conclude that the reason he left the party with Roger was to try to treat his allergy, proving that he was innocent of cheating.
