While shadowing the principal at her sons' school, Jessica thinks that Eddie's being a bad influence on Evan when Evan pulls a prank and disqualifies himself from a fencing competition, only to learn that she is the bad influence because Evan knew he couldn't defeat one of the other competitors and didn't want to tarnish his perfect record. Marvin offers to help Grandma Jenny catch a mouse in the garage, but Louis becomes convinced they're gossiping about him and asks Emery to help catch them in the act.
- Bad "Bad Acting": In The Tag, Lou decides to perform the one-man show he thought Grandma was gossiping about for his family and friends. His acting is so insufferable that it leads to them drinking.
- Caught on Tape: Louis tries to prove that Marvin and Grandma are gossiping about him by having Emery hide a tape recorder under his shirt. However, Emery's nervous heavy breathing muffles all of the sound in the recording except for his own voice.
- Comically Missing the Point: Once the fencing match is over, Eddie offers to help Evan lighten up by giving him a forged key to the principal's office. Eddie meant it as a way of setting up another prank, but Evan interprets it as a way to monitor his own grades without having to wait for report cards to arrive.
- Commonality Connection: At the fencing match, Eddie's principal reaches out to Eddie and un-punishes him for Taking the Heat, because now that he's spent an extended amount of time with Jessica and felt frustrated enough to yell at his pets after school, he can understand why Eddie feels the need to occasionally act out.
- Confusing Multiple Negatives: Evan apologizes for using a double negative when he admits the truth to Jessica and says he tried disqualifying himself because he can't not have a perfect record.
- Important Haircut: A referenced example; when Evan confesses to trying to disqualify himself from the fencing match and hides in the boy's locker room, Jessica (inspired by Mulan) attempts to give herself one so she can pass as a boy, but fails to actually cut anything with a fencing sword.
- Incredibly Obvious Bug: When Louis wants Emery to spy on Grandma and Marvin, he tapes a tape recorder under his shirt; not only is there an evident indentation, Emery actually pauses mid-conversation to check that it's turned on.
- I Need a Freaking Drink: Alcohol is quickly passed around via Marvin's flask when Louis shows off his Bad "Bad Acting".
- Musicalis Interruptus: As Evan's fencing match against the opponent he dreaded starts, "Be A Man" from Mulan starts playing in the background...and suddenly cuts mid-chorus as Evan immediately loses the match.
- Plot Parallel: In a pep talk Eddie gives to Evan, he compares Evan's situation to his favorite movie (and the Title Drop source) Mulan; namely, that Mulan wasn't built for fighting but still chooses to go to war in place of her ailing father mirrors how Evan knows he won't win against one particular opponent but needs to be brave enough to fight, putting honor (both his own, and that of the opponent that worked so hard to challenge him today) above his perfect record.
- "Shaggy Dog" Story: After finally catching the mouse towards the end of their plot, Grandma accidentally lets it loose inside Marvin's house because she wanted a better look at it.
- Taking the Heat: Wanting Evan's record cleared so that he can participate in the fencing match, Jessica orders Eddie to tell the principal he talked Evan into using the fart noise device during class, which is instantly believed due to Eddie's reputation.
- Talking to Themself: Louis's one-man show "Two Lous" has Louis play both himself and his reflection/inner voice.
- Toilet Humor: The prank that Evan uses to try and get suspended from fencing is borrowing a device Eddie won at the local arcade that plays fart noises, and activating it repeatedly during class.
- Unsportsmanlike Gloating: When Evan loses the competition to the female opponent he was afraid of, she says he'll beat her next time; when Evan denies it, the girl's demeanor immediately shifts as she says he's right and she'll beat him again next time, but she was trying to sound civil.
