"The Agony and the Extra C" is an episode in the tenth season of Married... with Children.
In this episode, Kelly and Bud visit Jefferson in hospital, who is due for a surgery. Jefferson recounts to them the story of his attempt at getting a tattoo on himself with help from Al and the other "NO MA'AM" members as a surprise present for Marcy on her birthday, which goes wrong and culminates to him being in hospital in the first place.
Tropes in this episode include:
- A Simple Plan: Jefferson's "surprise birthday present" plan falls apart because of this trope, with the drunk tattoo artist making sure of it due to giving Jefferson an Embarrassing Tattoo in his drunken stupor.
- Ass Shove: The episode ends with an illustrated X-ray image of Jefferson's posterior, shown with a boot right in the middle, implying that Marcy reacted to Jefferson's attempt of a tattoo for present by kicking him so hard as to have a boot she was wearing lodged in his backside.
- Birthday Party Goes Wrong: Played for Laughs. Marcy had planned out the events she wanted to have on her birthday after she came home from work and told Jefferson all he had to do was to sit pretty at home with NO contact with Al and the other "NO MA'AM" members. Jefferson, coaxed by Al and the other "NO MA'AM" members, didn't follow through, and the rest is history.
- Comically Missing the Point: While the "NO MA'AM" members are racking their brains over what Jefferson can get for Marcy's birthday at the strip bar, one of the strippers suggests getting a tattoo. Al backs up said stripper's idea, though Jefferson misunderstands him initially.Al: Jefferson, you gotta get one of those.
Jefferson: Oh, I don't know, Al. It's hard enough that Marcy has to support me. Having another mouth to feed—
Al: Not the girl, you beer nut! I'm talking about a tattoo. - Driven to Suicide: Played for Laughs. The hospital patient who's lying in bed next to Jefferson unplugs his life support at one point while Jefferson is still telling the story just so he won't have to hear any more of it.
- Embarrassing Tattoo: A two-fold example.
- Jefferson attempts to get Marcy's name tattooed on his forearm as an anniversary present for her, only for the drunk tattoo artist to end up applying the tattoo on his butt.
- Moreover, Jefferson's initial plan is for the tattoo to read "I Love Marcy". Unfortunately, the drunk tattoo artist inadvertently writes "I Love Mary". When they attempt to fix the tattoo without Marcy noticing, it ends up getting changed to "I Love Marty".
- Funny Background Event: During Marcy's instruction to Jefferson about how she wanted her scheduled birthday with him to be spent, she made it clear to order him NOT to meet with Al and the other "NO MA'AM" members, who happened to be sneaking into the backyard of the D'arcy residence behind Marcy, waiting for her to leave so as to start their rendezvous with Jefferson.
- How We Got Here: The whole episode is presented this way, as it starts with Jefferson beginning to recount the incident that eventually led to his hospitalization to Kelly and Bud and concludes after he finishes the story.
- Screw This, I'm Outta Here: Attempted. Kelly and Bud try to sneak away during Jefferson's story-telling at one point, but Jefferson notices them before they can completely get away and beckons them back for the rest of the story.
- Tempting Fate:
- The story that led to Jefferson's hospitalization began with Marcy telling him to just sit tight at home before she returned home from work and ordering him NOT to have any contact with Al and the other "NO MA'AM" members for any of their usual wacky stunts. The moment Marcy was out the door, Al and the other "NO MA'AM" members met with Jefferson for their usual shenanigans.
- After the drunk tattoo artist claimed to have finished his work, all of the "NO MA'AM" members checked Jefferson's forearms for any signs of tattoo, but they found nothing. Thinking that the tattoo artist lied, Jefferson sat down — and immediately jumped up in pain, which clued everyone in as to where the tattoo was.
- Whole Episode Flashback: Barring occasional shots of the present setting in the hospital, the entire episode is presented this way.
