In the 400th episode, the guys recount to each other stories of their first true love; Quagmire's story parodies Cast Away, Joe's story parodies Dirty Dancing, and Peter's story parodies a hodgepodge of Meg Ryan movies.
Tropes:
- All Just a Dream: Peter's story ends with the revelation that Meg Ryan never actually pulled him into the movie. He'd just fallen asleep while masturbating in the theater and dreamt everything.
- Alternate Catchphrase Inflection: When Peter says "Shut up, Meg," it's usually to make fun of his daughter due to her being a Butt-Monkey. When he and Meg Ryan are undergoing a Relationship Upgrade in In the Cut, however, he says it tenderly right before they start to kiss.
- Big "WHAT?!": Quagmire over Helen Hunt ending up with Paul Reiser.
- Bittersweet Ending: Quagmire eventually manages to get off the island after four years of being stranded there and find his way back to his fianceé Helen Hunt. Unfortunately for him, she's since moved on with Paul Reiser, whom she got back together with after they starred in a Mad About You reboot on Spectrum Originals together. Heartbroken, Quagmire walks off into the rain, though he's able to forget about her when portable pornography is invented five years later.
- Chekhov's Classroom: During lunch, Helen points out that Quagmire has no beard and lacks the ability to spear a fish. Quagmire's narration notes that will be very important later.
- Does This Remind You of Anything?: Joe's original dance partner Dancy needing to pull out of the talent show to get jaw surgery for her TMJ is treated a lot like her getting an abortion. A coat hanger is even involved.
- Hope Spot: The storm clouds break up a bit, making Quagmire think he'll make it out unscathed. Seconds later, however, his plane is struck by lightning and he crashes into an uncharted island.
- Idiot Ball: As Quagmire flies right into the storm, he says it's impossible for him to do anything to even try to avoid it.
- Leaning on the Fourth Wall:
- Cleveland tries to fool Donna into thinking he's telling his first true love story to the other guys by having them pretend to laugh along to the story. However, she doesn't buy it since she "[doesn't] see any shimmering."
- When Joe offers to tell his story next, a disappointed Peter remarks he's going last tonight.
- Cleveland's story gets ignored in favor of Peter's. He later claims he likes just sitting there and listening to others talk, acknowledging how he's often treated as an extra in these vignette episodes.
- Product Placement: FedEx is featured prominently in Quagmire's story.
- Relationship Upgrade: Throughout Peter's story, he and Meg Ryan are just friends. It isn't until In the Cut that they finally decide to make things official and get together.
- Running Gag:
- It's mentioned several times in Quagmire's story that he can't spear a fish with a stick.
- Peter interrupts Quagmire's story by pranking him with a snake nut can; once while Quagmire is opening a discarded FedEx package he thinks contains a jar of peanut brittle in it and then again when he opens one of the packages, thinking it contains a sailboat. Peter tries pranking Quagmire a third time by leaving a fake jar of peanut brittle out into the ocean, but the latter isn't fooled.
- One of the staff members at the Jewish senior camp can only say, "Joe, come quick! It's Dancy!" He later shows up saying that exact phrase in Peter's story.
- Self-Deprecation: Cleveland's request to tell his own first love story is rejected by Peter.Peter: If it wasn't good enough to tell in one of the 88 episodes of your show, maybe it's not good enough for us.
- Series Continuity Error: This episode claims that the blind girl Chris was dating is his first love, even though several previous episodes have seen him dating other girls before her.
- Suspiciously Specific Denial: Quagmire names the volleyball after Rita Wilson, who he refers to in various glowing terms. Quagmire's narration then stresses that he's not just saying this so that Tom Hanks won't prevent this parody of one of his most beloved movies.
- Take That!:
- This episode wastes no time taking potshots at Spectrum Originals. Quagmire briefly interrupts his story to rant about how no one watched the Mad About You reboot on there. Joe also claims he couldn't find anything relating to Spectrum Originals on the Internet.
- While embracing Meg Ryan in the ending to Sleepless in Seattle, Peter states this is their last chance to see Brooklyn before Lena Dunham is supposed to get there.
- Tempting Fate: Quagmire says he'll be marrying Helen once he finishes his flight over Plane Crash Sea.
- The Television Talks Back: During a showing of When Harry Met Sally..., Meg Ryan breaks the fourth wall for a moment to talk to Peter.
- Trapped in TV Land: At some point, while Peter is watching When Harry Met Sally... in the theater, Meg Ryan breaks the fourth wall to talk to him and then pulls him into the movie. He then proceeds to hop across other Meg Ryan movies to be with her.
- Whole-Plot Reference: To Cast Away, Dirty Dancing, and several movies in Meg Ryan's filmography (namely, When Harry Met Sally..., Sleepless in Seattle, You've Got Mail, and In the Cut).
