"Sorry about that crack I made at the Ruby which, although it was funny, may have seemed insensitive... although it was funny."
A Plot: Davis is revealed to have lost his sense of smell when he was a child. Later, he has an accident that causes him to regain it. Unfortunately, this newfound sense proves too much for him, especially around Karen.
B Plot: Brent realizes he doesn't pay enough attention to other people's lives, so he vows to start doing so. However, this gets him into more trouble.
C Plot: After Lacey challenges and is beaten repeatedly by Hank in Scrabble, she thinks he's a savant and vows to coach him. She soon discovers that he really can only beat her and is terrible against anyone else.
Tropes Referenced:
- Brick Joke:
- Early on, Hank, being unfamiliar with Scrabble, asks if it's anything like KerPlunk, a game he likes. The final scene of the episode shows Lacey beating Hank at KerPlunk for the third time in a row, as Hank complains that he's usually good at the game.
- A rather quick one, but Lacey plays "ojime" during Scrabble and defines it as "a carved bead used as a clasp". In the next scene, Emma complains that her sweater won't stay closed. "I need some kind of ojime."
- Cat Up a Tree: One in the Leroy's yard annoys Oscar.
- Does This Remind You of Anything?: Davis refers to Brent as a "smellophobe" in a way that hearkens to homophobia, racism, or other bigotry.
- Don't Explain the Joke: In the Cold Open, Brent mocks Wes wearing all denim clothes by asking if he "fell out of the denim tree". Wes doesn't get it, and the joke is explained twice over.Brent: It's just, y'know, you're wearin' the jean jacket there, and the jean shirt... the jeans. [beat] It's like you fell out of the denim tree.
Wes: Oh, denim tree. Like there's a tree that grows denim, and I climbed up it, and exchanged the clothes I was wearing for denim clothes, and then I fell out of it.
Brent: ...In essence, yeah. - Disappeared Dad: Wes's father died pulling a Heroic Sacrifice in the Korean War. The townsfolk never told Wes about this and he's heartbroken when Brent reads about it in a history book and mentions it in front of Wes, not knowing it was supposed to be a secret.Oscar: We told him he joined the circus, you jackass!
- Failed a Spot Check: Others point out to Brent that he does this a lot, prompting him to try and pay better attention.
- "Flowers for Algernon" Syndrome: Davis wants to lose his sense of smell again after being suffocated by the smell of Karen's perfume, as well as encountering other bad smells like the men's bathroom at Corner Gas. He ends up compromising by wearing cologne.Davis: The smell's not so bad when it comes from you.
- Idiot Savant: Lacey thinks Hank might be one after he keeps beating her at Scrabble. Turns out that he can only beat her, and even then it's mainly by sheer dumb luck. For example, he adds an S onto one of her words, which makes it just long enough to hit a Triple Word Score space.
- Injury Bookend: Davis lost his sense of smell by being hit in the head with a ball. When he wants to re-lose it, Oscar suggests getting hit in the head with another ball. Later, Oscar hits Brent in the head with a ball, mistaking him for Davis. This causes Brent to go deaf in one ear.
- It's All About Me: Lacey tries to reassure Hank after his "disastrous" Scrabble loss to Emma, but she doesn't bother to hide that she's more concerned about how embarrassing it is to her, since she was his Scrabble coach.
- Mutual Disadvantage: Lacey, a tournament-winning Scrabble champion, loses to Hank every time, when he can't beat anyone else. However, Lacey ends up beating Hank every time at KerPlunk, a game he claims to be very good at.
- Pop-Cultural Osmosis Failure: Emma refers to Oscar as a "Trekkie"... meaning he's a fan of Neil Diamond.
- Sense Freak: Davis after regaining his sense of smell, before "Flowers for Algernon" Syndrome sets in.
- Shout-Out:
- After Oscar suggests that Davis needs to get hit in the face with a ball again in order to re-lose his smell, Davis says it won't work because "this isn't Gilligan's Island".
- Lacey says Hank has "a beautiful mind". Hank says it's "like in that movie"... by which he means Weird Science, obviously.
- After the above example, Lacey suggests that Hank needs a Scrabble coach, and he references both Cheers and Coach.
- Unsportsmanlike Gloating: Wanda calls Lacey a poor winner, and a Flashback shows Lacey gloating after beating Wanda at thumb wrestling.Lacey: Trash talk is part of thumb wrestling.
Wanda: I beat you twenty times in a row, then you beat me once!
Lacey: Yeah. In your face. - Unusual Euphemism: Davis thinks that "Oscar's got a cat up his tree" is a euphemism for something.Brent: For what?
Davis: I dunno, it just sounded like a euphemism. I didn't wanna be left out. - We Want Our Jerk Back!: When Brent tries to be more attentive and stop ignoring everyone around him, he ends up unintentionally saying hurtful things and quickly gains a reputation as a horrible monster looking for any angle he can work to maliciously drive someone to tears, so he goes back to being oblivious to everything outside of his own little world.Brent: Born-again ignoramus. It's just way easier.
