The Riccardos and Mertzes take a pit stop at Ethel's hometown. It's revealed that the folk there, including her family, mistakenly thinks that Ethel is the one making a movie in Hollywood. Her friends and husband get cut out of a newspaper photo of her, as well as a show for the locals. Lucy plots revenge, with a Zany Scheme.
Tropes for this include:
- Acquired Situational Narcissism: Ethel starts basking in the attention in her hometown, to the point that she refuses to let Ricky or Fred perform in the show that's being thrown.
- All Part of the Show: Rather than teach Ethel a lesson about shutting out her friends for fame, she goes along with the newspaper men praising her "company" for putting on a hilarious act.
- Ambiguous Syntax: Lucy carries through a sign announcing a "man-eating tiger." Shortly afterward, Ricky comes through, carrying an edible tiger sculpture.
- He Cleans Up Nicely: Fred wears a tuxedo with a nice cut for the show.
- Hidden Depths:
- Ethel is actually a good singer. She also shows that she's a decent soprano for "My Hero," revealing she's an opera aficionado.
- Fred is playing piano when Lucy asks him to pause and listen to the news article about the "solo" performance.
- Lucy is shown to be great at miming acts, as shown with the rope trick and her pretending to sew onstage.
- Impossibly Tacky Clothes: While Fred and Ricky wear tuxedos, Lucy decks out in a frilly showgirl outfit. Even with the black and white, you can tell it is meant to be more gaudy than elegant.
- Literal Metaphor: When the men talk about leaving Ethel there due to her overflowing ego, Lucy says they should instead be "right behind her." They carry on a series of comedy acts literally right behind her, luring the audience's attention away from her and turning a serious musical recital into a farce.
- Stating the Simple Solution: Ricky and Fred threaten to leave Ethel after hearing about the "solo" performance. Lucy decides she has a better plan: upstage Ethel's show while promising to be "right behind her".
