Recap / Corner Gas S 5 E 19 Final Countdown

A Plot: It's half an hour before midnight when Brent officially turns 40. To help celebrate, Wanda has planned an elaborate fireworks display that goes dangerously wrong when Oscar and Davis help out.

B Plot: Karen tries to keep the peace (and get a birthday card signed) as Lacey and Emma duel over who should be baking Brent's cake.

C Plot: Brent's plans for a special night go awry when he discovers that a bottle of vintage scotch he was saving for just this occasion has gone missing, thanks to Hank.

Tropes referenced:

• '80s Hair: A Flashback Cut that shows how Hank used Brent's scotch for jungle juice also reveals that he had an impressive mullet.
• Batman Gambit: Brent knew that Hank would discover the scotch he bought and waste it all, so he bought a second bottle and "hid" it in an obvious place specifically for Hank to find (and then a third bottle after he accidentally broke the second bottle when hiding it).
• Birthday Episode: Brent's birthday is what connects all the plots together.
• Blasé Boast: Lacey tries to pass off her cake as "okay, I guess" but she is clearly proud of her work re-creating Corner Gas in cake form.
• Butt-Monkey: Karen is constantly ignored when trying to get anyone to sign Brent's birthday card.
• Caption Humor: Wanda describes the time according to the US Naval Observatory's Master Atomic Clock. At that exact moment, the words "US Naval Observatory's Master Atomic Clock" and a running clock time show up on the screen.
• Comically Missing the Point:
  • Hank hits up the Ruby to replace the scotch he stole from Brent 20 years ago:
    Hank: I'm in a bind. Give me all of your forty-year-old scotch.
    Lacey: I don't have any! [jokingly] I've got some old cooking sherry I use to capture flies.
    Hank: How old is it?
    Lacey: It's got flies.
  • It turns out Emma discovered Brent's hidden bottle of 20-year-old scotch shortly after he bought it.
    Brent: Mom, have you seen a bottle of scotch in the basement?
    Emma: Oh, that? I threw it out. It was over 20 years old.
    Brent: IT'S SUPPOSED TO BE OLD!
    Emma: It was bad. I tried it. It tasted like old wood.
    Brent: [seething] It's supposed to taste like old wood.
• Double Speak:
  Davis: We have a situation. There's a small shipment of consumer-grade explosives set to go off in a densely populated area.
  Fitzy: Brent's fireworks across the street?
  Davis: Major fire hazard. We need a field team on it right away.
  Fitzy: Don't call the field hockey team. Again.
• Fatal Fireworks: As the result of fireworks testing, Wanda sets herself on fire, Oscar ends up losing part of his hearing for a bit, and the Ruby almost goes up in flames when Oscar gets the "bright" idea to dry wet fireworks in the oven. A Flashback Cut even shows Oscar about to use fireworks strapped to a young Brent's back to get a kite stuck in a tree.
  Oscar: It's hard to believe he's already forty.
  Wanda: It's hard to believe he made it to forty.
• Green-Eyed Monster: Emma becomes jealous of Lacey's elaborate "backup cake" and tries to improve her cake as a result.
• Mondegreen Gag: To be expected after the fireworks mess up Oscar's hearing:
  Davis: Wanda is a-scared! Wanda is a-scared!
  Oscar: Walter has a beard! Walter has a beard!
• Overly Narrow Superlative:
  Brent: Have you seen Hank?
  Lacey: He was just in here looking for scotch. I should warn you, he drank yours.
  Brent: No, he only thinks he did, but I outsmarted Hank... which isn't that hard, I admit.
• Screw This, I'm Outta Here: Hank is riding in Brent's car when Brent brings up the scotch he bought twenty years ago. Hank doesn't want to have to tell Brent that he ruined it back then (or so he thinks), so he pretends a dog is in the road, causing Brent to hit the brakes. Hank then bolts out of the car and goes running down the street.
• Serious Business: Wanda is adamant that Brent's fireworks get set off at exactly midnight and not a second sooner.
• "Shaggy Dog" Story: Lacey and Emma bicker all episode over who has made the better birthday cake for Brent. When it comes time for Brent to try them, he just mashes the two pieces together and eats the resulting combination. He then implies he likes one cake better than the other, but can't tell which.
  Wanda: Okay, that's just gross.
  Brent: Nope, that's delicious. [beat] ...At least half of it is.
• Shout-Out: The countdown clock that appears in various scenes is an homage to 24. Kiefer Sutherland even appears in a cameo to drive the point home.
• Sure, Let's Go with That:
  Brent: I can't imagine a better birthday present to myself.
  Lacey: Really? Not a car, or a rare edition of some comic book, or-
  Brent: You mean like Issue 181 of The Incredible Hulk, first appearance of Wolverine as Weapon X?
  Lacey: Yes, that is exactly the one I was thinking of.
• Terrible Artist: No one can tell that Emma drew Brent on her cake.
• The Cameo: Keifer Sutherland shows up for a quick gag, along with his mother Shirley Douglas.
• Way Past the Expiration Date: Emma discovered Brent's hidden bottle of 20-year-old scotch, and upon noticing its age, chucked it in the garbage assuming it was expired. Even Brent admits that the replacement he gets from Wes for $450 is "nasty-tasting".
• Writer's Block: Hank actually does agree to sign Brent's birthday card for Karen... but hasn't a clue what to write and passes the card off.
• Verbal Backspace:
  Brent: I know Hank too well. So I bought two bottles of scotch.
  [Flashback Cut shows Brent accidentally knocking a bottle off a dresser and breaking it.]
  Brent: So I bought three bottles of scotch...