A Plot: Karen is excited to finally go hunting with the guys during deer season, but their "hunting" trip doesn't involve any hunting. When Hank hears Brent call him "emotionally delicate," he vows to prove he's tough by actually killing something.
B Plot: Horrified by the prospect of "Bambi burgers," Lacey tries to get out of cooking deer at Pioneer Days by luring all of the deer into town where it's illegal to shoot them.
C Plot: Wanda is saddled with playing pioneer woman Jane T. Wright at the Pioneer Days play, so she does research in order to rewrite the script.
D Plot: Having been banned from Pioneer Days, Oscar wears a disguise to sneak in.
Tropes referenced:
- Accidental Murder: When Hank finally crosses paths with a deer he can shoot, he realizes he doesn't have the nerve to kill it, and drops his gun... which misfires upon hitting the ground, spooking the deer into the path of an oncoming truck, which sends it flying into a wheat thresher.
- Cassandra Truth: Oscar ends up saving the fair by driving the deer away, but since he was masked (because he wasn't supposed to even be there), nobody believes him when he takes credit for it.
- Comically Missing the Point:
- Karen is surprised that the guys never shoot anything during hunting season and wonders what they do in the woods. Brent says that he takes pictures and Davis likes to track animals just for fun. Karen asks what about Hank, and Brent says that they're not going to shoot Hank either.
- Lanny explains to Lacey that they have to hunt the deer to control the population. Nate thinks it's to keep the population down in case deer get the right to vote and try to rise up against humans, but Lanny frustratedly reminds him that's not the issue.
- Continuity Nod: Brent brings his old "Snapmaster" camera from "Picture Perfect" on the hunting trip, but Karen makes him use her phone's camera instead.
- Description Cut: Normally Karen plays Jane T. Wright at Pioneer Days, but with her out of town, Emma assures that Wanda is happy to play the part. Cut to Wanda asking Emma why she has to be in the dumb play.
- Flashback Cut: Once he learns that he's been banned from Pioneer Days, Oscar asks what the organizing committee has against him. A flashback to last year's Pioneer Days shows Oscar yelling at the organizing committee over some minor complaints, calling them a bunch of "jackass simpletons" and questioning if they even have one brain between them.
- Funny Background Event: When Lacey seeks Oscar's help in saving Pioneer Days, a fawn walks behind them drinking from a bottle of alcohol.
- Gone Horribly Right: Lacey's plan to lure all of the deer into town where they can't be shot leads them right to Pioneer Days, where the deer start ruining the festival and nobody can do anything to stop them.
- Have a Gay Old Time: Wanda tries to dispel the illusion that pioneer women were saintly and never did anything without their husbands' help by revealing that Jane T. Wright opened a cathouse for the widows of Dog River to live in after their husbands died. Wanda assumes that "cathouse" means "brothel," but Karen points out that Wright just took in a lot of stray cats as well as widows, making it a literal cat house.
- Hypocrite: Brent tries to assure Hank that they're tough because even though they can't kill a deer themselves, they'll happily eat deer someone else killed, and overcoming that hypocrisy is a sign of strength.
- Instantly Proven Wrong: Brent says that just because Dog River is a farming town doesn't mean everyone likes to kill things. Ike and Zeke then walk past, proudly declaring how much they love to kill deer. Brent concedes that there are some people in town who like to kill things.
- Irony: Oscar saves Pioneer Day by trapping the deer in the cage that was meant to keep them out of Emma's caulibarb patch. Oscar triumphantly asks Lacey "How's that for larceny?"
- Mistaken for Gay: Karen's photos of Brent posing sexily in the woods get Brent an offer to appear in "Out & Outdoors," an outdoors magazine for gay men. Brent is extremely flattered.
- Mondegreen Gag:Fitzy: There's no foolproof way to lure a deer.
Lacey: Caulibarb!
Fitzy: You can call it "Barb." You can call it "Dave." Deer still won't come. - My God, What Have I Done?: Hank has an emotional breakdown after being involved with killing a deer, claiming he's murdered Bambi.
- Mythology Gag: Pioneer woman Jane T. Wright is named after Janet Wright, who played Emma in the live action series. Wanda questions why Emma doesn't play her, seeing as they look alike, but Emma says she would never dream of stepping into her shoes.
- Offscreen Inertia: Emma takes Farmer Lawson's suspenders to replace a belt on her old thresher machine, causing Lawson's pants to fall down. Later, during the demonstration of the machine, Helen yells at Lawson because it's been two hours and his pants are still around his ankles.
- Portmanteau: Emma has invented a new crop called "caulibarb", which is part cauliflower, part rhubarb.
- A Real Man Is a Killer: Hank wants to kill a deer in order to prove he's manly, but Brent thinks that he's just being silly. Brent illustrates by pointing out a bug splattered on his car's windshield and notes that killing that bug didn't make him a badass all of a sudden.
- Sarcasm-Blind: Wanda goes to borrow a book from Oscar, but when he sees her pioneer woman costume, he asks if she's dressed as Aunt Jemima. She says that she's there to check his syrup, so Oscar says it's in the fridge and goes to leave.
- Shout-Out:
- Wanda has an Imagine Spot featuring a John Wick pastiche where an assassin who tried to retire and become a farmer fights off other assassins with a pitchfork.
- Oscar disguises himself as The Lone Ranger to get into Pioneer Days, although with a lobster bib and other tossed together elements. When Oscar sees Farmer Lawson with his pants down, Oscar mocks him for looking ridiculous.
- Upon seeing all the deer that have been lured into town, Wanda wonders if this is "some kinda Hitchcock thing."
- Stealth Hi/Bye: Oscar sits in a lawn chair in his yard, forced to guard Emma's caulibarb.Oscar: Stupid garden. [mocking voice] "Go protect my caulibarb." If you didn't invent it, the deer wouldn't eat it. Ever think of that? [looks around] Oh, right, I'm alone.
Lacey: [suddenly behind Oscar] Oscar!
Oscar: [startled gasp] Thought I was alone! - Verbal Backspace: When the deer lured to town by Emma's caulibarb start ruining Pioneer Days, Lacey laments to Oscar that it's all her fault. Emma walks up and wonders what's with all the deer, but Lacey says that all they can say for sure is it's not her fault.
