"Nothing is what this town expects from us, and that's exactly what we deliver."
A Plot: Emma and Brent have a contest to see who can go the longest without their respective vices; Brent with coffee and Emma with knitting. Brent struggles to stay caffeine-free while Emma passes the time with Oscar. Ultimately neither one of them can hack it.
B Plot: In order to garner more respect, Davis and Karen begin a police ride-along program. However, this backfires when the town takes advantage and it becomes more of a taxi service.
C Plot: Lacey receives an electronic organizer in the mail as a gift. Having no use for it, she gives it to Hank, who lets it run his whole life, planning every minute of his day.
Tropes Referenced:
- Addiction Displacement:Brent: I think I figured out how to beat this caffeine thing: Booze.
- Ambiguous Syntax: Though due in part to Hank being The Ditz:Hank: What's that?
Lacey: It's a late birthday present from my cousin.
Hank: Oh, I'm sorry to hear about your cousin.
Lacey: The present's late. My cousin's fine. - Brick Joke:
- Early in the episode, we see a montage of Brent's alarm clock going off and him repeatedly hitting the snooze. He then wakes up and remarks, "I dreamt I had an alarm clock. I should get one of those." Later in the episode, his newly-bought, real alarm clock goes off and he smashes it to pieces. "Oh. Right. That's why I don't have one of those." He later smashes Hank's organizer when it beeps while he's passed out at The Ruby.
- Karen goes to the bar for a beer during her shift and Paul is concerned about her Drinking on Duty. She explains that Davis and Hank accidentally drove off to do ride-alongs without her, so she has nothing better to do. In a later scene at the bar, Paul offers her a beer and she says, "No thanks, I'm off duty."
- One of Davis' failed plans for gaining community respect is to dress up as a dog mascot and try to entertain schoolkids, who all run away scared. In The Tag, Hank feels bad after Brent smashes the organizer and he loses all of the ride-along appointments, and makes it up to the cops by dressing as the dog mascot for kids (to equally horrible results).
- Calling Shot Gun: Hank does this when being taken for a ride-along, kicking Karen to the backseat, before asking if he can borrow Davis' gun if an emergency comes up. Later, Karen attempts to get her seat back this way but is told by Davis to "grow up", and then tells Lacey to do this in order to get Hank kicked out of the car.
- The Cameo: Ben Mulroney makes two quick appearances, both in response to Oscar complaining about how often he's on television; the first has him juggling while riding a unicycle, and the second has him coming to someone's aid in lieu of a doctor.
- Captain Obvious: One piece of trivia Oscar tells Emma while he has a Foreign Culture Fetish for Ukraine is that Canada has the second-largest Ukrainian population. He then asks her to guess which country has the most and, missing her sarcasm, is delighted to state that it's Ukraine.
- Circular Reasoning: When Hank is disappointed by the lack of action he experiences during the ride-along, Davis justifies the lack of crime as due to their presence. Karen decides to compare it to a man claiming to exterminate alligators from the city and uses the pre-existing lack of alligators as proof he's done his job.
- Damned by Faint Praise:Lacey: Everybody deserves a vice, Emma.
Brent: Exactly.
Lacey: Sex... drugs... coffee... Let Brent have at least one of those.
Brent: I can never tell if you're on my side or not. - Description Cut: Emma remarks that knitting never hurt anyone, which then cuts to an old woman who somehow managed to drive a knitting needle clear through her arm and out the other side.Old Woman: Now how did I do that?
- Dreaded Kids' Party Entertainer Job: Davis once attempted to do a presentation for schoolkids in a dog outfit, but they all ran away crying. Hank tries to do the same thing in The Tag.
- Exact Words: When Davis first puts up a sign-up sheet for ride-alongs, before it gets used as a taxi service, he asks Karen to pick the cream of the crop. This turns out to be Hank, who Karen refers to as the cream because he was the only one who signed up for it. Later, when she's frustrated after Hank calls shotgun, Davis retorts with "You picked him."
- Foreign Culture Fetish: Oscar develops one for Ukraine, much to Emma's dismay; she ends up forfeiting the contest right before Brent can because she can't stand spending any more time listening to him.
- Forgetful Jones: While off of caffeine, Brent's too tired to keep his thoughts straight, forgetting why he's holding napkins twice in the same conversation after Lacey asked him to fetch her some.
- Gasshole: Brent admits to being one.Brent: [to Emma] I'll tell you what, Mom. You quit your vice, and I'll quit mine.
Wanda: What vice? Belching?
Brent: That's not a vice, that's a gift. - Instantly Proven Wrong: At one point, Brent manages to wake up, come to work, and brag to Wanda that he no longer needs caffeine to keep his mind working. Wanda then points out he's at work on his day off.
- Leaning on the Fourth Wall: A great example is this exchange when Hank gets an electronic organizer:Hank: I got my whole day mapped out! 1 PM: Hang out at Corner Gas. 2 PM: Eat chips. 4 PM: Hang out at Corner Gas.
Wanda: Can you rebook to 5? That's when I get off.
Hank: [looking directly into the camera] I don't think it's a good idea to keep bouncing Corner Gas around the schedule. - Metaphorgotten:Wanda: Well, well, good morning, Sleeping Beauty.
Brent: I know, I'm late.
Wanda: What's the matter? The prince didn't show up to give you a kiss?
Brent: I slept in.
Wanda: Pea under the royal mattress keep you up all night?
Brent: Okay, I get it.
Wanda: Were the Seven Dwarves too noisy as they cobbled your new shoes?
Brent: I think maybe you're mashin' a couple fairy tales together there.
Wanda: Ah, tell it to your pumpkin, Rapunzel. - Must Have Caffeine: Brent's entire plot during this episode.Lacey: You want some decaf?
Brent: Decaf?! The caf is what I need! The caf is the whole point of this! I'm not just jonesing for some hot, brown liquid, with or without caf. I need the caf!
Lacey: [gives him a glass of milk] You need therapy.
Brent: [stares at the glass of milk] That's not caf. It's for a calf... - Not So Above It All:Hank: [seeing bubble wrap on the counter] Hey, bubble stuff! I love bubble stuff! [snatches it and starts popping]
Lacey: [laughing] How old are you? [Beat, snatches it back] Okay, leave some for me. They're my bubbles. - Police Code for Everything:Davis: You're about to witness a 10-13: Car Won't Start.
Hank: Is it safe? - Ring-Ring-CRUNCH!: Brent does this to his new alarm clock, reminding himself of why he didn't have one before. He then does the same to Hank's organizer.
- Schedule Fanatic: Hank's organizer causes him to become one. It gets so bad that while he's at the bar he has an alarm go off every few seconds to tell him when it's time to take a drink.
- Sesquipedalian Loquaciousness:Wanda: Are you proposing a bet, a competition to mutually eliminate maladaptive impulses?
Brent: What do you say, Mom? Up for a little mutual mallard adaptive thingy?
