Sue Casa, His Casa is the 3rd episode of the 5th season of Married... with Children.
When Bud gets his driver's license, Al tries to add Bud on his insurance(at Jim's Fish, Chips, and Insurance) but cancels his policy when he hears how much it'll cost. He then gives Bud and Kelly the car keys despite lacking any insurance. When Bud crashes into an SL5 Mercedes, Al decides to sue the driver after Bud claimed that the accident wasn't his fault.
Tropes
- Ask a Stupid Question...: Marcy relays an exchange about this to Al after the crash.Marcy: The funniest thing just happened. I found this car phone in my driveway and a cop asked me if I thought it came from the Mercedes or the Dodge. (laughs uproariously, points and Al, then laughs even harder)
- Bait-and-Switch: Al at first showing concern for his kids after they crashed his car into an oncoming driver.Al: (hears his car crash because of Bud and Kelly) Was that my car?
Peg: (goes to see) Yeah...
Al: Are the kids hurt?
Peg: No.
Al: Then I'll have to do it myself. (pulls a bat out of his closet, walks outside) - Blatant Lies: The Bundys do this as part of their lawsuit against the Mercedes driver. They fake being injured from the crash, explaining Peg's neckbrace as "sex whiplash."
- Book Ends: The beginning of the episode has Al crying over paying so much in bills while Peg just wants to go to the movies. The ending has Al facing a huge $50,000 lawsuit over the car crash while Peg just goes to the movies.
- Courtroom Episode: Because of Bud and Kelly, Al's car is crashed and now has to go to court to fight off just whatever amount he has to pay for the damages. Or rather, Al thinks he has to fight it off.
- Deus ex Machina: According to the "Where Are They Now?" Epilogue, Al didn't have to pay the $50,000 he owed to the court because the driver who hit Al paid off the driver Bud hit.
- Didn't Think This Through: Al for giving his keys to Bud and Kelly without supervising them. Even Peg calls him out for this, calling him "The Dalai Lama of Morons". It never occurred to him even if the car was only worth $100 he would be required to pay if they crashed into someone else.
- Dissimile: After Bud orders Al to put on a curly Bon Jovi wig while he's driving with him to look cool, Peg compliments him on it, saying, "Gee, Al. You look like Tarzan...if he were old and gay!" To this, he quips back, saying, "Trust me, Peg. If you were Jane, he would be."
- Dumbass Has a Point: While Al couldn't afford to put Bud on his insurance, Peg correctly points out canceling the policy then giving the car to two ungrateful, irresponsible kids is the dumbest thing he could've done.
- Epic Fail:
- Peg wore a neck brace to court, and the judge pointed out that Peg was not involved in the car crash (though Peg does explain that it's "sex whiplash" because Al was so excited about the lawsuit that he lost control of himself in bed).
- The Bundys attempt to pass Kelly off as being blinded by the accident by having her wear sunglasses, use a cane and have Buck as a seeing-eye dog. The other driver's lawyer isn't fooled, and gets Kelly to not only point out his client but correctly describe the suit he's wearing. Al and Peg both look like they want to Head Desk after Kelly's testimony.
- Et Tu, Brute?: After Bud is terrorized and bullied by the other driver's lawyer into squealing the truth (but also unnecessarily implicating Al for everything), Al gives him a facial reaction that screams this trope.
- Head Desk: Al and Peg's expressions after Kelly completely screws up her testimony all but imply this trope.
- Here We Go Again!: At the beginning, Al chose to forgo getting car insurance because it's expensive. In the end, he gets hit by a car and gets booted out of a hospital (where an attractive blonde nurse was waiting for him) after he refused to buy any medical insurance.
- Idiot Houdini: Bud, who crashed Al's car into a $100,000 Mercedes, doesn't end up owing anything in court while Al owes $50,000 to repair that Mercedes. And Bud doesn't even agree to take responsibility nor Work Off the Debt. Kelly too for that matter since while Bud might've been driving, Kelly was covering his eyes which resulted in the crash.
- Instantly Proven Wrong: Right after Al refuses to buy auto insurance from Jim's Fish, Chips & Insurance, he declares "Al Bundy takes guff from no one!!"
- Peg, Kelly and Bud: (simultaneously) Cheap! Cheap! Cheap! Cheap! Cheap! Cheap! Cheap! Cheap!
- Never My Fault: Bud initially claimed that the accident wasn't his fault, even though it was. He was playing "Eyesies-Closies" with Kelly while he was driving.
- Prison Rape: The other driver's lawyer implies that this will happen to Bud if he perjures himself.
- Screw This, I'm Outta Here: Al tries to flee his court-ordered debt of $50,000 due in one month for Bud's car accident by fleeing to Alaska. Unfortunately, he doesn't get very far because he got run over and flew into a yard with an angry Doberman in it.
- Shockingly Expensive Bill:
- The episode opens up with Al crying over just how intensively expensive his bills are, with Peg and Kelly simply annoyed with just how cacophonous he is (increasingly) growing, such as crying, banging his head on the table and begging god to just smite him as he writes B-U-N-D. (before the Y!)
- The episode's plot starts when Al tries to add Bud to his auto insurance policy. He balks at the huge increase he'll have to pay with Bud on his policy, and ends up cancelling it.
- When Al loses the lawsuit, he's curled up wondering how he can possibly pay the $50,000 he now owes the other driver.
- Smug Snake: Al comes off as this by casually and rather arrogantly demanding a jillion dollars from traffic court for his car being smashed when the evidence shows that Bud drove Al's car straight through a Mercedes so that as Peg stated, it cut through the Mercedes completely like scissors does to paper.
- Skewed Priorities: Peg cares more about going to the movies from start to finish of this episode than the lawsuit.
- Spanner in the Works: The Bundys' attempt to defraud the driver Bud and Kelly hit utterly fails due to this. They bring in Marcy as a witness, but she degenerates into ranting about Steve leaving her. They have Kelly testify, but as usual she completely botches her part in the plan. When Bud testifies, the other driver's lawyer intimidates him into revealing the entire scheme and blaming Al as the leader.
- The Stool Pigeon: The Lacerated Lacey type. The other driver's lawyer intimidates Bud into believing that young, fine-looking boys like him will get raped in prison and tells him to confess if he doesn't want that to happen to him. Bud blurts out that the car collision was his own fault but also admits to the judge that Al instructed his whole family to lie to the court.
- Surprise Car Crash: Though Al might not have been completely surprised given which two idiots he just lent his car to about 30 seconds ago.
- Troubled Fetal Position: What Al is reduced to (plus crying) when the court mandates he pay $50,000 to the car Bud hit.
- "Where Are They Now?" Epilogue and Bittersweet Ending: It should count as a Downer Ending, but given the Crapsack World nature of this show it's an ambiguously bitter one. Peg and the kids went to the movies, while Al got hit by a car off-screen in the midst of trying to flee to Alaska to escape his debt. It's given out all in text at the end:
- Peggy enjoyed the movie
- Kelly met a new boyfriend
- Bud ate Raisinettes 'til he puked
- Buck narrowly avoided getting run over by a car.
- And Al did not. He was flown 40 feet in the air and landed in the yard and dog bowl of a Doberman named Bluebeard. The driver paid off Al's debts to the Mercedes owner whom Bud smashed with Al's car, but now that leaves Al's medical bills unpaid for because he doesn't have medical insurance (which also means that he missed out on being cared for by a Sexy Nurse).
- Your Mom: When Al argues with his auto insurer Jim, part of the conversation goes like this:Al: You know Jim, you don't hurt me when you insult my wife.Peggy: Well, what did he say?Al: Nothing I haven't said myself.
