Bob goes on the hunt for the perfect Valentine's Day gift, while Linda runs a speed-dating service in the restaurant.
My Tropey Valentine:
- Act of True Love: How Linda views what Bob went through, pointing out he acted on a garbled memory of what he thought was a romantic date with Linda and even took the kids out of school to help him. Linda feels putting all that effort and hinging on a memory he wasn't even sure of to get her a meaningful Valentine's Day gift is itself the greatest gift he could give her.
- Alliterative Name: The girlfriend Bob had before Linda, down to having the exact same initials as Bob—Barbara Bunkley.
- Berate and Switch: Linda after Bob brings home the love tester.
Linda: So you're telling me you let the kids play hooky to run all over town to hunt down some expensive thing you remembered from a date we didn't even go on?
Bob: Yes.
Linda: That... is... so romantic!
- The Bore: Bob's Valentine's Day gifts to Linda are incredibly underwhelming. They're basically hearts in the form of a pancake, steam on a mirror, or dirty laundry. He's never picked up on Linda's gentle dissatisfaction until now.
- Call-Back:
- Gretchen becomes more interested in Mike when she learns he's a mailman. Her interest in mailmen (well, mailmen with good routes) was previously mentioned in "Lobsterfest".
- Mort wearing a toupee was previously hinted at in "Full Bars". Here, we see what he looks like without it.
- Didn't Think This Through: The kids tell Bob they know what gift Linda wants for Valentine's Day in order to get him to bail them out of school. However, they don't check with each other to make sure have the same gift in mind, which exposes their scheme when Bob asks what she wants and they all point at different items.
- Disappeared Dad: This episode reveals that Bosco is a father but isn't a major part of his kids' lives.
- Dumb Blonde: Barbara Bunkley, the actual woman Bob spent that V-Day with.
- Dysfunctional Family: Bosco is revealed to have an ex-wife and at least two kids, but between his divorce and the fact that he views contacting his kids as an easy way to be disappointed, it's clear his family isn't exactly in the best shape compared to the Belchers.
- Evil Is Petty: Hugo goes out of his way to prevent Bob from getting the love tester as a gift for Linda and only lets him have it if Bob pays $500. When Bob realizes his mistakes, Hugo refuses to pay him back.
- Foreshadowing: The fact that Bob couldn't even remember when the date took place shows it didn't go exactly as he thought.
- Given Name Reveal: While Gene's name is usually short for Eugene, a throwaway line from Louise is the first (and only) time he's been called such.
- Hunting the Most Dangerous Game: Sergeant Bosco claims to belong to a secret society that hunts humans for sport.
- Jerkass Has a Point: While he takes his philosophy to the extreme, Bosco isn't wrong when he tells Linda that just seeing good things people have in common isn't enough to see if people are compatible and that they should learn to accept even the bad things about their significant others.
- Lyrical Dissonance: The song Bob and the kids sing in the car.Belchers: (cheerfully) Buckle it up, buckle it up, buckle it up or you'll die!
- Not So Above It All: As Bob and the kids go to drive to the mall and get heckled by a bunch of angry drivers:Bob: Eat it, you losers!
- Oh, Crap!: The instant Bob sees a second "BB" carved into the machine, he realizes he screwed up.
- Pet the Dog: Ron genuinely tries to help Bob find the love tester behind Hugo's back. While Hugo still ruins the plan, it's only because of an unfortunate oversight.
- Sanity Ball: Even someone as dim as Teddy knew right off the bat that Linda broke the law by taking Bosco's gun and tried to warn her to stop.
- Second Love: Much like Bob was this for Linda, this episode reveals that Linda was also this for Bob, as he had a girlfriend one year before meeting Linda.
- The Unreveal: It seems like we'll finally learn Linda's maiden name (or at least the first letter) when Bob claims the two carved their initials into the love tester machine. Right after that, it turns out that Linda wasn't involved at all, and thus her maiden name (Genarro) wouldn't be revealed until Season 12 (nine years later).
- Warts and All: Bosco believes in an extreme version of this trope.Bosco: I'd make everyone say the worst thing about themselves, the most embarrassing, darkest secret. If the other person can stomach you for another second, then maybe you have a chance together, maybe.
