"We're going to dinner!"
"It's bad. All of it is bad. But is it "shut down" bad? Is it "get a half-day" bad?"
—Louise
Louise and Gene turn Tina's Thanksgiving-themed erotic fiction into a school play and attempt to make it so bad and offensive Mr. Frond will shut it down so they can get a half-day at school. Meanwhile, Linda starts to obsess over a potato that looks disturbingly similar to her dead grandfather.
The Trope-ducers:
- Achievements in Ignorance: Zeke wasn't even aware of an audition going on; he just followed his friends onstage and got the job. Played with in that Louise invoked this because the fact that he wasn't intending to audition meant he was likely no good for the play—i.e. perfect for her plan to get the play shut down early.
- All for Nothing: Gene and Louise realize they and the rest of kids will have remain to clean up the mess of turkey flesh and blood, which was caused in a misguided attempt to go home early. Louise realizes that not only is it very karmic, but even Worth It to see Tina get that Big Damn Kiss with Jimmy Jr. at the end of the play.
- Be Yourself: The moral of the play was about accepting yourself and your own flaws, which Tina improvised upon seeing the turkey heads explode.
- Big Damn Kiss: Tina and Jimmy Jr. get one at the end of the play. This alone convinces Louise and Gene that not getting a half-day was worth it.
- Bloody Hilarious: While having the costume turkey heads explode into a ton of turkey guts and blood isn't something the audience of the play that got showered with them would consider anything but shocking and gross, Tina emphasizing her solo by throwing turkey guts at people when she's singing about "having guts" and the audience members happily catching them turns the situation into this both in-universe and real life.
- The Bore: Mr. Frond's Thanksgiving plays are incredibly dull and boring, which is one of the reasons why Louise wants to put on her own play.
- Comically Missing the Point: Of her own song. While peeling potatoes, Linda's singing about how she's peeling and trying not to fart, then adds she'll let out a little one and it'll be her secret. While Bob is right next to her and can hear everything.Linda: Oh my God!Bob: I know, I have to live with you.
- Companion Food: Linda grows increasingly attached to "Grandpa Potato," and even wants to bring it to the play so "He can see his grandkids." At one point Bob expresses worry for Linda's mental health.
- Did Not Think This Through: Louise knew Frond would react badly to the finale, but she severely underestimated how badly the rest of the audience would react. Plus, any mess they made would be a mess they'd have to clean, which there inevitably was considering she planned to use real blood and guts.
- Does This Remind You of Anything?: Tina talks about reclaiming the word "quirky" as if it were a much more offensive word.
- Dude, Not Funny!: In-universe, Bob tries to joke that they could make a bowl of mashed potatoes for "Grandpa Potato," and after having to explain it to Linda (that old people like mashed potatoes and it is a potato), Linda and Teddy tell Bob it was in poor taste.
- Everyone Has Standards:
- Bob has a tendency to turn objects into a Companion Cube and give them voices, but he grows disturbed by Linda's obsession with the potato because she starts treating it like it is her grandfather. This may verge into Hypocritical Humor which would explain why Bob brings the potato to the play after feeling bad for hurting Linda's feelings.
- For as much of a lover of carnage and chaos Louise is, when she actually goes through with her plan to shower the audience in blood and turkey guts she realizes too late how disturbing such a feat truly is.
- Her Code Name Was "Mary Sue": Tina's "Quirky Turkey" story is inspired after Tammy and Jocelyn made fun of her for being "Quirky." She initially tries to deny the main turkey is based off her before admitting there are parallels to the incident with the "Q" word.
- It Kind of Looks Like a Face: Linda is distracted by a potato she insists looks like her late Grandpa Bert. A photo is provided later on for comparison—as it turns out, the resemblance is rather uncanny.
- Jerkass Has a Point: While she goes way too far to get it, Louise isn't wrong when she points out that the kids are supposed to get a half-day off school since it's on the official school schedule. Frond making the students stay behind to watch his crappy play is probably an abuse of power.
- Laborious Laziness: Louise and the others really spend a lot of time and effort on sabotaging the play for only a half-day off school.
- Laser-Guided Karma: Louise splatters several adults, including her own parents, in turkey guts. She not only doesn't get her half-day off, but Mr. Frond makes her spend the time cleaning up. She actually acknowledges that she deserves it.
- Malaproper: Gene believed the King James Bible was the Ving Rhames Bible. Bob corrects him, but his brief chuckle beforehand indicates he found it funny.
- My God, What Have I Done?: The kids who were in on the plan to get a half-day feel really awful after implementing the finale.
- Non-Indicative Name: Bob notes that Tina's Thanksgiving story doesn't sound so much like the "erotic fanfiction" the title implies. Tina proceeds to explain how it still could be considered erotic, making Bob regret saying anything.
- Noodle Incident: That time Bob threw out a piece of toast that looked like it said "Wow."Teddy: That was a dark day.
- Ow, My Body Part!: Bob and Linda avoid the majority of the turkey guts due to where they're seated, but they still get hit by some of it, leaving Linda shouting her usual catchphrase.
- Pyrrhic Victory: Louise and Zeke both lampshade that the kids got everything they wanted but aren't feeling that good about it.
- Sanity Slippage: Bob genuinely worries about Linda's mental health when it's implied she really believes the potato actually is her grandpa.
- Shaped Like Itself: Mr. Frond says all of his plays have music because it makes the whole thing more musical.
- Shout-Out: When Tina is freaking out about the show being a fraud, Zeke says, "Save the drama for the stage, Tina-see Williams!"
- Springtime for Hitler: Louise's hopes for "The Quirky Turkey" are quite similar to that of the Trope Namer—namely, to make it awful by both casting terrible actors (while simultaneously rejecting the actually-good actors) and adding offensive content to the point Mr. Frond will shut it down and end school early. Later played with when Louise gets exactly what she wants but realizes too late that bathing the audience in blood and turkey innards was going way too far.
- Stylistic Suck:
- Mr. Frond's Thanksgiving plays tend to be extremely boring and badly acted. The one play briefly shown consisted of kids singing off-key and listing off the foods they plan to eat for Thanksgiving with flash cards. The one that he was going to run before the Belcher kids pitched "The Quirky turkey" involved an 88-stanza poem about the Pilgrims.
- "The Quirky Turkey," a story about a skinny-legged turkey with glasses mocked by the other turkeys and in love with the "Cutest pig on the farm." The turkey is spared when all the others are killed for Thanksgiving dinner. Louise and Gene purposefully try to make it into an awful play by casting bad actors (Jimmy Jr., Zeke, Tammy, and Jocelyn) and coaching them to sing as badly as possible. During the end credits, the kids turn out to be pretty good singers when they actually give a crap.
- Surprisingly Realistic Outcome: Louise offhandedly mentions that it wasn't easy to actually secure the turkey guts. As she lampshades, nobody's going to sell that stuff to a nine-year-old child no questions asked.
- Thanksgiving Episode: Notably, this is the first one the show's done that didn't involve Bob's plans to have a perfect Thanksgiving being hopelessly derailed by whatever antics his family sucks him into (primarily since the episode doesn't take place on Thanksgiving, but the day before).
- Throw It In!: In-universe; Tina's song at the end is completely improvised. It winds up saving the day (well, as much as it can after a giant explosion of turkey guts).
- T-Word Euphemism: Tina refers to "quirky" as the "Q-bomb".
- What the Hell, Hero?: Tina's outraged when she learns Louise and Gene were only using her because they thought her story was awful.
- Whole-Plot Reference: From the Pop-Culture Pun Episode Title to its Springtime for Hitler plot, this episode is basically "Bob's Burgers does The Producers".
- Worth It: Gene and Louise agree that while they'll have to stay and clean up the mess they made during The Quirky Turkey, it was totally worth it because Tina got a Big Damn Kiss with Jimmy Jr.
"I wished I was someone else
But it takes guts to be yourself
Now I got the guts
I got the glory
I like my scrawny stuff
And I'm here to tell my story!"
But it takes guts to be yourself
Now I got the guts
I got the glory
I like my scrawny stuff
And I'm here to tell my story!"
