The Ricardos and Mertzes get lost when going off the highway, and stop for directions. They find out the way back to the highway goes through the town Bent Fork, where cousin Tennessee Ernie lives. Ricky decides they'll go so fast that Cousin Ernie will never even know they were there. This backfires when they are stopped for speeding, and Lucy ends up in jail for 48 hours for arguing with the town sheriff. Cousin Ernie comes to help bust Lucy out of jail and get the whole group to Los Angeles.
Tropes for this episode include:
- Always Identical Twins: Teensy and Weensy are "two watermelons in a patch" according to cousin Ernie. Even he can't tell them apart.
- Everyone Has Standards: The group immediately protests when they learn that Ernie could offer himself to his ex Teensy, the Sheriff's daughter, and marry her so they can all go home. Ernie reassures them he'll be fine with it.
- Giftedly Bad: Subverted; it's revealed that the sheriff's daughters are actually pretty decent singers and dancers. Ricky even smiles at their talent before explaining the problem: he's not a Hollywood performer so he can't guarantee they would be stars.
- Hated by All: Ernie reassures Lucy that the sheriff makes everyone mad, even his own neighbors.
- Heroic Sacrifice:
- At first, Ernie offers to propose to Teensy so as to free everyone and put the sheriff in a good mood. This backfires because he mistakes Weensy for Teensy, and both girls become affronted, turning him down.
- After everyone is tied up, Ernie told the others to leave him behind while they run for it and get back on the road. That ends up working out.
- Idiot Ball: Ricky told Lucy and the others that they're going to pay the fine for speeding and leave Bent Fork. Lucy, however, decides to argue with the sheriff. This lands her in prison for 48 hours.
- Irony: The whole plot happens because the group decides to speed through Bent Fork so as to avoid Ernie. It turns out Ernie believes they got arrested coming to see him because the sheriff hates his guts.
- It's All My Fault: Ernie says that he blames himself for his cousin and her neighbors getting imprisoned. He believes they were only coming to see him, and they ended up in jail. Feeling guilty, everyone reassures him that it wasn't the case at all. It really wasn't.
- Papa Wolf: The sheriff's redeeming quality is that he cares about his daughters. He is angry at Cousin Ernie for breaking up with Teensy, and is willing to do anything to make them get back together. When that fails, he switches plans to convince Ricky to take the girls to Hollywood.
- A Simple Plan: When they're caught for speeding, Ricky tells everyone they're just going to pay the fine and go. Lucy, however, argues that they weren't going at 40 miles per hour but 30, and can't help but get riled up.
- Zany Scheme: Cousin Ernie of all people comes up with two of them:
- When he finds out Lucy is in jail, he hands nail files to everyone and explains if they sing and file at the same time, the sheriff won't hear it. This almost works...but the sheriff decides to let Lucy free because he liked the song, and finds out the ruse. He locks everyone up for a few days afterward.
- When it seems everyone is locked up in a few days as Blackmail for Ricky to take the sheriff's daughters to Hollywood, the girls ask if they can dance with them one last time. Ernie whispers to Ricky and Lucy to use a square dance as a distraction to tie everyone up, and they can make it out on the road. This one ends up working like a charm.
