B Plot: Lacey tries to raise money for Wes Humboldt's widow with a charity draw, but everyone thinks it's a scam. Emma wonders if people would be willing to do the same for her once she realizes Oscar cancelled their life insurance.
C Plot: Karen and Davis find a rum still in the woods but decide they need to test just how illegal it is by making their own bootleg rum with it.
Tropes referenced:
- Bait-and-Switch: When the fight's over, Wanda asks if anyone wants to buy the fighting cage, so Ike decides that he can use it for his chickens. But instead of keeping the chickens in the cage, he wraps the cage around his house to keep the chickens out.
- Bookends: The episode begins and ends with Hank accidentally punching someone while playing a boardgame with Brent at the gas station, punching Brent during Battleship in the cold opening and Wanda during Hungry Hungry Hippos in the tag.
- The Boxing Episode: When Wanda suggests that Brent turn him punching Hank into an event to entertain the whole town, Brent complains how the boxing trope has been done a thousand times on every lame sitcom... of which this is not. Wanda then suggests making it a cage match instead of a boxing ring, which Brent calls a "refreshing new wrinkle."
- …But He Sounds Handsome: Wes' Widow reports to Karen and Davis that someone stole her rum still, which is the only thing Wes left her when he died. Not wanting to admit that they confiscated the rum still with a story like that, Davis laments that they'll probably never catch the "dirty, handsome punks" who stole it.
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The Character Died with Him: It is revealed in this episode that Wes Humboldt, owner of the liquor and insurance store, had passed away. His actor died of cancer in 2015. - Comically Missing the Point: Karen says that her itchy uniform feels like it's burning and claims that it's like wearing asbestos. Davis points out that if it was made of asbestos it wouldn't burn.
- Department of Redundancy Department: Wanda warns Brent and Hank that if Brent doesn't punch Hank back, it'll rot their souls like a case of soul rot.
- Embarrassing Nickname: At the start of the fight, Wanda introduces Hank as Hank "The Septic Tank" Yarbo, which he doesn't appreciate. Brent can't tell if Wanda's nickname for him, Brent "The Cement" Leroy, is supposed to be insulting, though he does know that Wanda classifying his weight as "Let's go swimming but keep our t-shirts on" is most definitely an insult.
- Everyone Calls Him "Barkeep": Wes' widow is called Wes' Widow in almost every instance. The one exception is when she notes with annoyance that she has an actual name, so Brent calls her "What's Her Name."
- Fantasy Sequence: Hank imagines his and Brent's game of Battleship as a battle between himself as a pirate and Brent as the vaguely Nazi-like commander of a navy ship wielding a lightsaber. Hank calls Brent "Fatbeard", and when Brent is distracted by the fact that he doesn't have a beard, Hank punches him in the face. Unfortunately, Hank accidentally punched Brent in real life as well, kicking off the A Plot.
- Good-Times Montage: Davis says that everyone has their favourite Wes memories, leading into a sequence of various people in the liquor and insurance store ordering their favourite liquor from Wes. Except for Oscar, who wants to know if he left his gloves there.
- Here We Go Again!: Subverted. Hank gets so excited when beating Brent at Hungry Hungry Hippos that he accidentally punches Wanda in the face. Instead of holding off on revenge like Brent did, Wanda just punches Hank back and steps on him while he's lying on the floor.
- I'm Standing Right Here: Davis accuses Lacey's charity fifty-fifty draw of being a "Nigerian-email-shell-game-con," then remembers that he and Karen left the rum still in the woods. He orders Karen to go get it, then whispers that he'll stay and keep an eye on "that swindler Lacey." Except Lacey is still standing right beside him and asks "How far away do you think I am?"
- Implausible Deniability: Wanda tells Lacey that she has no cash to buy a fifty-fifty ticket even as people are shoving handfuls of cash at her to place their bets on whether Brent will punch Hank or Hank will slap Brent first.
- Involuntary Charity Donation: Wanda secretly convinces Brent and Hank to weakly punch and slap each other at the same time, so she gets to keep all of the money because nobody bet on a tie. But because Lacey's charity failed to raise much money for Wes' Widow, Lacey tells everyone that Wanda set up the whole cage fight as a separate fundraiser, forcing Wanda to donate all her winnings to Wes' Widow to avoid looking heartless.
- Irony: When Lacey comments on past fundraisers in town, examples include Tina setting up a dunk tank to raise money for drought victims, Helen throwing a pastry bake sale to fight diabetes, and Ike burning down a barn to raise money for a barn raising.Lacey: I don't even get how burning a barn raises money.
Emma: It's complicated. - Lampshade Hanging: When Lacey asks Wanda how she put up the fighting cage so fast, Wanda says that lately she feels unrestrained by the limitations of real life.
- Laughing at Your Own Jokes: Wanda calls the eventual showdown between Brent and Hank "Slap-Punch-A-Loser," a play on Lollapaloosa. While she finds the name hilarious, it's always met with confused silence by everyone else.
- Lawyer-Friendly Cameo: Lacey makes fun of the song "Ironic" by Alanis Morissette, prompting a woman who appears to be Alanis Morissette to complain about how overdone it is to make fun of that song. Lacey starts to ask if that really is Morissette, but Karen points out that it's a woman named Shirley who's simply a big fan and likes to dress as Morissette. Lacey's not entirely convinced.
- Mondegreen Gag:
- Lacey thinks that Karen, Davis, Oscar, and Emma were giving a toast "To fallen friends," referring to Wes' passing. Emma says they were actually saying "To fall and friends," a celebration of autumn and friendship.
- When Oscar calls Davis to tell him "there's a fight in a cage in the cornfield," Davis mishears it as Oscar saying he "has mice full of rage on his windshield."
- Playing Both Sides: Oscar tries to encourage Hank by saying that he put $20 on Hank slapping Brent first. Hank worries that'll make Brent mad and he'll punch Hank back harder, so Oscar admits he also bet $50 on that outcome.
- Shout-Out: Lacey asks Wanda how she knew her fighting cage would attract a crowd, so Wanda dryly notes, "It's a sporting event in a cornfield." Though Wanda outright refuses to say "If you build it, they will come."
- Showdown at High Noon: As people start getting excited over whether Brent or Hank will attack the other first, a scene of Brent and Hank at The Ruby is treated like an Old West showdown, with dramatic music cues as Brent enters and gasps from the crowd as Brent and Hank keep trying to psyche each other out.
- Unfortunate Names: Brent threatens Hank by drawing a face on his hand and calling it "Mister Fister". Wanda thinks that he should reconsider that name, but it's not until Hank uses the name later that Brent realizes how bad it sounds.
- Verbal Backpedaling: Brent wants to know why Hank called him "Fatbeard" while he was fantasizing. Hank corrects that he said "Batbeard", as in Batman with whiskers, an explanation Brent finds satisfactory.
- Who's on First?: Fitzy complains to Wanda about people betting on Brent and Hank.Fitzy: I had to wait five minutes at the Foo Mart because Won Hu was betting on who would slap who first.
Wanda: So, who put money on who?
Fitzy: Eventually. - Wouldn't Hurt a Child: Brent can't even hurt a child in his imagination. After Hank tricks Brent into slapping him to get out of the punch, Brent argues that a slap is not a punch, seeing as doctors slap babies' butts when they're born but you'd never see a doctor punch a baby. Brent's subsequent Imagine Spot features a doctor holding a baby upside down with his fist drawn back, but after a long pause the doctor looks to the camera and asks if they're really doing this. Brent then remarks that he can't even imagine a doctor punching a baby.
