Poster by Tara Billinger
Max Premiere Date: 6/8/2023
Written by: Jessica Lamour
When a fire threatens to shut down the Grassy Knoll, a desperate Abe spearheads a campaign to rebuild the town's beloved greasy diner. Meanwhile, Candide takes Scudworth on his first ever boozy work retreat.
Tropes in this episode:
- As Himself:
- David Tennant appears to narrate Joan’s artsy ad.
- The homeless woman who taught Joan the meaning of Snowflake Day and who may or may not be Mandy Moore makes a return.
- Blood Oath: Abe and Joan make a blood path never to keep secrets from each other… which Abe breaks when he sees JFK and Harriet kiss and doesn’t tell Joan for fear of worsening her Psylly Legs.
- Death as Comedy: The owner of The Grassy Knoll's wife died in the fire from last episode. In the chaos, she ended up getting batter-fried. The clones thought her funeral was a memorial for the restaurant and her corpse was a snack bar, including Abe.
- Hard-Work Montage: Subverted. Confucius plays music for a fundraising montage, then we cut to him getting a check for $100k from his rich foster mom.
- Le Film Artistique: Joan's fundraising ad, which doesn't directly mention the Grassy Knoll.
- No Sparks: JFK and Harriet act on their mutual sexual tension... and react with a "Meh..."
- Nostalgia Filter: Joan's chronic illness Psylly Legs causes her legs to kick uncontrollably when she experiences too much nostalgia about her past. It can be fatal.
- Plot-Mandated Friendship Failure: Joan is upset with Abe because they kept a blood oath not to keep secrets and he saw JFK and Harriet Tubman making out without telling her. Dealing with her potentially-fatal illness was higher priority and once that stopped being an issue, the two confessed before Abe could. And of course, Joan herself is keeping a significant secret from Abe.
- Pop-Culture Pun Episode Title: The title of the episode is based off the title of the sitcom Saved by the Bell.
- Protagonist-Centered Morality: The owner of the Grassy Knoll just wants to sell his land to Mr. Big Corporation and move on with his life, while Mr. Big wants to build sustainable, low price condos on the plot. Joan delays the sale and rallies the teens into rebuilding it against the owner's will for her benefit. Lampshaded when she writes up flyers which explicitly state the fundraising for it is against his wishes. He frames up the suit he would have worn in his new life labeled as his shattered dreams but Joan and the kids couldn't care less.
- Saving the Orphanage: The plot of the episode involves Joan attempting to rally her friends to rebuild the Grassy Knoll before Mr. Big Corporation can build condos on the site, exploiting a "Goonies clause" in the contract that the place's owner signed.
- Signs of Disrepair: When the Grassy Knoll is burned down, the sign reads "assy Knoll"
- Take That!: One symptom of Joan's Psylly Legs has her express a desire to watch A Christmas Story. Abe insists to her that that movie isn't as good as she remembers it to be.
