"Licorice tornado? Yeah!"
"So while we're stuck on the tour learning how humidity affects nougat, Gene sneaks off and becomes bffs with the founder's grandson."
—Louise
Gene tries to prove he's not just a quitter by lobbying to get the recipe of his favorite candy reverted, while Teddy wrangles Bob into illegal golf-ball collecting.
Like Tropes for Chocolate:
- And Your Reward Is Edible: In the end, Gene gets a huge box full of the surplus original formula Chunky Blast-Offs.Tina: Look at that thing. There's enough candy in there to last you 'till your twenties.
Bob: I give it a month.
Louise: I give it a week.
Gene: And I will spend that week in this box. Please forward my mail to this address. - Bad Liar: Bob quickly pinpoints that Linda just wants to visit the candy factory to buy candy for herself at the gift shop. Linda's attempts at claiming she's going to support Gene are unconvincing.
- Big Eater: Bob, Louise, and Gene himself are all aware that Gene's giant box of original Chunky Blast-Offs isn't going to last long. Sure enough, it's gone by next episode.
- Bittersweet Ending: The formula for Chunky Blast-Offs doesn't get reversed, but Gene does get a large box of original Chunky Blast Offs that were leftover, so he gets to enjoy his favorite candy once again.
- Cloudcuckoolander's Minder: You know Ferdie is out there when Gene plays this role to him.
- Don't Celebrate Just Yet: Gene celebrates when he convinces the executives to return to the original Chunky Blast-Off formula... which is swiftly followed by everyone reversing their decision when they see how much it would cost.
- Hard Truth Aesop: You may do your best, give it your all, and still fail, like what happens to Gene when his best speech and all his hard work still not manage to change his favorite candy, but even at times like this, be proud of your effort and that you did your best.
- Hypocrite: Discussed when Gene reveals how Ms. Twitchell told him he gives up too soon. Also played with, in that Gene's way of accusing her of hypocrisy is a bit unusual.Gene: She's the divorcee, not me... not yet.
- Know When to Fold 'Em: Gene's arc is that he does this too often, and that he needs to learn when to see things through.
- Last-Minute Project: Gene makes a popsicle stick model of the Parthenon for class. Or rather, he hastily glues a handful of sticks together.
- Manchild: Ferdie Spratt may be the nominal owner of the candy factory, but he behaves more like a kid hanging around his dad's office.
- Nepotism: Ferdie only has a position in the candy factory because he's the last descendant of the factory's founder.
- One Last Job: Teddy treats wanting to dive into the deepest part of the water hazard to fetch all the golf balls lost there as this and convinces Bob to help him by saying that all he has to do is to hold the air hose for him. He however forgot to mention the ski masks and arm padding for guard dogs to Bob, although thankfully neither end up being necessary. In the end, they walk away with 3 large bucketfuls of golf balls, but seem to lose most of them when a guard spots them, forcing them to hijack a golf cart and drive it down a set of stairs to escape him.
- Out of Focus: Louise and Tina play rather minor roles in the episode until they formulate a plan to sneak Gene into the boardroom. Linda also plays a very minor role, chaperoning the kids when they visit the chocolate factory but not playing any part besides that (even in that case, she only appears briefly before the kids break off to do their own thing).
- Overly Long Gag: Literally; Teddy spends an awful lot of time gagging and trying not to throw up after swallowing too much of the scummy water in the water hazard.
- Platonic Declaration of Love: Bob and Teddy give one to each other as they prepare to drive a golf cart down a flight of stairs.
- Rousing Speech: ...Which proves futile, as the company doesn't change the formula back. The executives actually are inspired by the speech, but it's just too expensive.
- Sarcasm-Blind: Louise sarcastically remarks that Gene never has candy in his backpack. Tina tries to tell Louise that he does, completely unaware of Louise's blatant snarking.
- Shout-Out:
- The title is one to Like Water for Chocolate.
- In the opening, the store next door is Brush It Again, Sam repurposed toothbrushes, while the exterminator van is No Country for Old Mice.
- The Burger of the Day is the Citizen Kale Burger.
- Linda calls Gene "Erin Choco-vich."
- Surprisingly Realistic Outcome: Despite Gene's Rousing Speech convincing everyone to return Chunky Blast-Offs to the original formula, they reject it once they find out that doing so would cost them around 15-20 million dollars.
- Sweet Tooth: Not just Gene, but also Linda, who takes the opportunity to raid the factory gift shop for candy.
- They Changed It, Now It Sucks!: In-Universe; Gene hates the new formula for Chunky Blast-Offs and the fact that the astronaut in the packaging is now wearing sunglasses and looks creepy and tries to get the company to change it back.
- Walk and Talk: Invoked when Ferdie says that deals are not made in boardrooms anymore, but while walking down hallways and at urinals.
