"You can do it if I'm with you, Tina."
Tina: All I can say is that before I got this crystal, I was The Cooler. And then yesterday I wasn't. I was The Furnace!
Gene: The Her-nace.
In order to help with anxiety about an upcoming oral report, Mr. Frond lends Tina a crystal his new girlfriend alleges has special powers. Louise and Gene devise a plan to use the crystal to make cash; meanwhile, Bob and Linda buy a box of imperfect produce and try to use it all before it goes bad.
Tropes:
- Ambiguous Gender Identity: When Louise calls Tina her favorite sister, Gene takes noticeable offense.
- Call-Back: Tina's stage fright resurfaces.
- Comically Missing the Point: Louise notes that Frond's crystal could make them some "paper" (i.e. cash). Gene adds on that that could make some money, too.
- Covert Pervert: Well, "covert". When patting down Jimmy Jr. for the crystal, Tina uses it as an excuse to feel him up.
- Does Not Like Spam: Teddy refuses to eat the pickled vegetables, albeit primarily because he's aware they were made from nearly-expired produce.
- Freeze-Frame Bonus: Even before it's revealed that she stole the crystal, Tammy can briefly be seen passing by the Belchers' lunch table, with Gene conveniently blocking where the crystal would be.
- Hypocrite: Tammy has the gall to accuse Tina of stealing the crystal from her.
- Laser-Guided Karma: The alumni Tammy wanted to impress leaves the auditorium right before Tammy's oral report, rendering her actions throughout the episode moot.
- The Load: Tina has developed a reputation of completely flopping on oral reports.
- Magic Feather: The crystal is implied to be this, giving Tina and Frond confidence simply because they believed it would.
- Mundane Utility: Tina and Tammy plan to use the crystal for their oral reports, Peter Pescadero and Jimmy Jr. use the crystal to perform better, and Rudy uses it to ask Chloe Barbash to be his science partner. On the other hand, Gene uses it to get the corner piece of the school's mac and cheese, while Zeke uses it to balance a pencil on his upper lip.
- Oh, Crap!: Everyone reacts this way when it's discovered that the crystal is missing, and later when it breaks.
- Out-of-Character Moment: Both plotlines.
- Bob is willing to use nearly-expired produce to avoid a net loss, when previous episodes established that he's always prioritized top-quality food even if it was a detriment to his wallet.
- Tina suddenly has stage fright again, even though the series has gone to great lengths to show her having overcome this and performing confidently.
- Overly-Nervous Flop Sweat: Tina sweats when she has stage fright, leaving stains on her pits, as well as getting phlegm on her throat. Zeke also claims the pressure is making his sweat on his upper lip.
- Polyamory: Discussed Trope; both Gene and Louise joke that Bob has a mistress and is using the farmer's market as a cover to go see her.
- Screw This, I'm Outta Here: Tammy runs away after the crystal falls and shatters.
- Shout-Out:
- The Exterminator Van is "The Bugly Truth".
- Tammy references Reality Bites during her and Jocelyn's report, calling it her dad's favorite movie (as well as his laptop's password).
- The first Burger of the Day is the You Had Me at Hellokra Burger.
- When commenting on Tina's report, Gene says "She went from scaredy-cat to She's All That."
- The boutique owned by a Wagstaff alumni is called "Mary, Queen of Skorts". Tammy also says that she could get under her wing and be the Anne Hathaway to her Meryl Streep
- Skewed Priorities: Mr. Frond is too focused on texting his new girlfriend to care about Tina's stage fright.
- Stupidly Long Filler Sound: The very first scene of the episode opens on Tina's trademark moan.Gene: Did someone switch Tina to white noise?
- Throw the Dog a Bone: Mr. Frond somehow manages to keep his date at the end of the episode.
- Trivially Obvious: Ms. Jacobson's reaction to Tammy and Jocelyn's oral report."Thank you. That was...an example of what happens when I don't vet report topics."
- We Need a Distraction: Tammy has Jocelyn trip in the cafeteria so she can steal the crystal from right next to Tina.
