Charlie comes back into the picture after years of radio silence, forcing Marnie to reassess some of her life decisions — like whether or not she should still be married to Desi.
"The Panic in Central Park" episode contains examples of the following tropes:
- A Day in the Limelight: The episode is pretty singularly focused on Marnie. Hannah only appears in its final moments, while Jessa and Shoshanna don't appear at all. Similarly to "One Man's Trash", it plays like a standalone short film.
- Amicable Exes: Marnie and Charlie reconnect after their turbulent breakup years ago, if only for a short while.
- Awful Wedded Life: Marnie's marriage to Desi is already on the rocks, mere months after they tied the knot. The episode begins and climaxes with them fighting.
- The Bus Came Back: Charlie makes his first appearance on the show since being Put on a Bus in season two.
- Dances and Balls: Charlie takes Marnie to a snooty party in Manhattan, where he's closing a drug deal.
- Drugs Are Bad: Charlie has become a drug dealer and addicted to heroin since losing his company, which Marnie doesn't approve of.
- Homage / Literary Allusion Title: To the 1971 Al Pacino film The Panic in Needle Park.
- Manic Pixie Dream Guy: A rare male example of the trope. Charlie, quite surprisingly, plays this role for Marnie. It comes with a major dark side.
- Mistaken for Prostitute: Marnie is mistaken for a prostitute at the fancy party Charlie takes her to. She goes along with it.
- Riches to Rags: Since his last appearance, Charlie has lost control of his lucrative app business, now living in squalor and selling drugs while addicted to heroin.
- What the Hell Is That Accent?: Marnie's reaction to Charlie's new accent. His exclusive association with Latinos has given him affects of their way of speaking.
- Wham Episode: Charlie comes back and Marnie has a day-long affair with him, discovers he's a heroin addict who's selling drugs to support himself, and decides to divorce Desi.
