Recap / Corner Gas S 5 E 11 Top Gum

"What are you doing?" "Hangin' out at Corner Gum."

A Plot: Hank and Oscar’s gumballs start selling like hotcakes when Karen joins as a partner. However, she feels unappreciated and goes on her own, using a fancier gumball machine. An all out war then breaks out for gumball supremacy.

B Plot: Inspired by Emma, Brent tries his hand at water divination, but is embarrassed by his findings.

C Plot: Wanda sells a house to Lacey and Davis, who plan to flip it and make a profit when Davis suddenly has second thoughts. After he comes back around, both he and Lacey get a little too particular about who they want to sell to.

Tropes referenced:

• Asbestos-Free Cereal: Hank and Oscar start advertising their gum as "cruelty-free" in order to imply that Karen's gum was tested on animals. In response, Karen starts advertising her gum as "fair trade" in order to imply Hank and Oscar use child labour.
• Ask a Stupid Question...:
  Hank: [seeing Lacey dragging a gumball machine out of the Ruby] Whoa whoa whoa whoa! Where are you going with that?
  Lacey: I'm taking it for a walk.
  Hank: Hmm.
  Lacey: I'm throwing it out, Hank. The knob's broken.
• Buffy Speak:
  Lacey: You know, I've always wanted to fix up a house and then sell it again like on those flippy shows.
  Davis: Well, the fact that you called them "flippy shows" makes me think it's not a good idea.
• Captain Obvious:
  Oscar: You've never run a business in your life!
  Hank: Like you have.
  Oscar: Yeah. It's called Corner Gas. Number one gas station in town.
  Hank: Well uh, gumball business is very different. For example: instead of gas, it's gum.
• Dowsing Device: Emma claims to have the ability of water divination and is going to help a farmer find water. Brent makes fun of her at first, but when the farmer's pretty niece remarks how cool it is, Brent claims he can do it, too.
• Embarrassing Nickname: After his dowsing finds sewage instead of water, Brent starts being called "Crap Man".
• Fish out of Water: Despite having lived in Dog River for several years now, Lacey can still fall into this. Case in point:
  Lacey: What's that house like, anyway?
  Wanda: Well, it's in a good neighborhood. Well, the only neighborhood.
  Everyone laughs.
  Davis: "Close to downtown".
  Everyone laughs again.
  Lacey: "Walking distance to bar and restaurant."
  Only Lacey laughs. The others go silent and stare at her.
  Lacey: What? You have to be from here to make a small town joke?
  Wanda: So it would seem.
• Flashback Cut:
  • Parodied:
    Hank: [to Lacey] Hey, remember what chewing gum was like when we were kids?
    Cut to Hank and "Lacey" as kids
    Kid!Hank: Good gumballs, eh Lacey?
    Cut back to the present
    Lacey: Hmm. I didn't grow up here, Hank.
    Hank: Oh. Who am I thinkin' of?
  • A second one doubles as a Description Cut for Emma. She claims her dad taught her water divination, but the flashback shows he couldn't get it to work, gave up, and handed the rods to her. When it suddenly "works" for Emma, her dad declares her a witch.
• Give a Man a Fish...: Hank tells Oscar about his plan to start a gumball business:
  Hank: There's an old saying: Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day. But teach a man to feed a fish and 'round and 'round we go.
• Jingle: Hank tries to come up with one for his gumball machine. It's pretty weak.
• Late to the Punchline:

  Oscar: Your business is gonna tank. Maybe you should be selling suckers.
  Hank: Nah, the sticks would get stuck in the dispenser... oh, that was an insult.

• Let's You and Him Fight: Wanda tries to instigate a bidding war between Lacey and Davis for the house in order to drive up the price. It backfires big time when they both realize they can team up on the house and save a bunch of money.
• Malaproper: A Running Gag has Brent constantly forgetting the "divination" in "water divination", with errors such as "water deviation" and "water devastation".
• Punny Name: Hank and Oscar get a gumball machine and name it "Corner Gum". Karen gets one of her own and names it "The Chewby".
• Rhetorical Question Blunder: After Wanda claims she can handle selling Bernie's house because she handled his garage sale and successfully sold a toaster:

  Lacey: That's hardly the same as selling a house.
  Wanda: A toaster's just a house for bread. Am I wrong?
  Lacey: Yeah.

• "Shaggy Dog" Story: All three plots end on elements of futility: Brent's attempt to impress Jennifer is derailed when she introduces him to her boyfriend, Hank and Karen's gumball war becomes moot when Oscar goes on his own and opens a much larger setup at the Foo Mart, and after finally finding the perfect couple to buy the house, Lacey and Davis discover they just turned and flipped it to someone else.
• Shout-Out: The episode title is a reference to Top Gun.
• Start My Own: Karen and her gumball machine.
• Witch with a Capital "B":
  • Brent: My mom's a witch.
    Karen: Oh, I know. The other day she just about bit my head off.
    Brent: No, I said "witch".
  • And shortly thereafter:
    Karen: [pointing at Brent] So I guess that makes you a son of a witch!