Dale begins to doubt that his son, Joseph, is biologically his — and concludes that aliens from outer space inseminated his wife rather than the obvious culprit, John Redcorn.
Tropes:
- Armor-Piercing Question:
- Hank balks at Dale's belief that Joseph is a half-alien hybrid, until Dale asks what other explanation there could possibly be for who Joseph's real father is. Hank opts to indulge this nonsense rather than tell him about John Redcorn.
- After Dale gets him worked up on all this alien business, Joseph has a simple question that sets Nancy off.Joseph: Is Dad my real dad?
- Bait-and-Switch: During a conversation between him and Hank in the diner, it appears Dale has finally deduced the truth about his son...but no, it's another of his crazy conspiracy theories about how the aliens impregnated Nancy with Joseph to give him a constant distraction because of some cosmic truth that he was about to find out.
- Dirty Coward: Thinking he's angered a powerful half-alien hybrid whose real father will one day wreak havoc on the human race, Dale insists he'd make a wonderful pet, while saying Nancy would do well in manual labor.
- Horrible Judge of Character: Par the course for Dale, he assumes Nancy's headache was genuine and that John Redcorn had no malicious intent.
- Insane Troll Logic: Dale's conspiracy theory behind Joseph's parentage, which naturally involves aliens. Joseph later contributes to it at the end of the episode where he suggests that the aliens might've abducted Dale at an earlier point and used his genetic material to impregnate Nancy.
- Jerkass Has a Point: Dale cruelly tells Hank that the reason he can't relate to Bobby must be because Hank is a crappy dad. Hank's look of dismay implies he agrees with Dale's assessment.
- Lying to Protect Your Feelings: While out looking for Bobby and Joseph, Hank delicately acknowledges how he'd rather spare Dale's feelings than tell him the truth about his wife fooling around with another man and how that led to Joseph.
- "Not So Different" Remark: While patching things up on the ride home, Hank observes that Bobby had his own idiot Gribble to deal with.
- Oh, Crap!: Hank when it appears Dale has figured out the truth about Nancy and John Redcorn.
- Rhetorical Question Blunder: Hank tries to reassure Dale that he is Joseph's real father by asking who did assorted things for the kid. It mostly works, though it turns out John Redcorn did teach Joseph how to tie his shoes and ride a bicycle.
- Right for the Wrong Reasons: Dale actually correctly deduces that he’s not Joseph's biological father... And thinks that aliens impregnated Nancy instead of John Redcorn.
- Shout-Out: When Joseph runs away to join his biological alien parents, he hopes that his alien dad doesn't freeze Dale in carbonite and sell him for spice.
- You Are Better Than You Think You Are: Hank reminds Dale that he is Joseph's real father on the basis of being there for a variety of milestones and special occasions, as well as teaching him various skills.
