Orel gets his hands on "maturity juice."
When Shapey shoots Orel's eye with a BB gun, Orel is admonished instead because as the older sibling, he needs to be more responsible and mature. To learn more about adulthood, he and Doughy spy on the adults in Forghetty's pub, ultimately concluding he needs alcohol to be more mature.
Tropes present:
- Alcohol Hic: Orel does this when being told he's acting like a child.
- Angrish: Clay speaks in this after a heated argument with Bloberta.
- Awful Wedded Life: The Jointsons are utterly miserable in their marriage.
- Birthday Hater: Orel dreads his twelfth birthday after becoming "mature."
- Call-Back: The "lost Commandment" in the bathroom reads "Thou shall not masturbate."
- Can't Hold His Liquor: It doesn't take much alcohol for Orel to start acting funny.
- Domestic Abuse: "Mature" Orel mistakes Shapey for his wife and hits him.
- Drunken Montage: There's a montage where Orel gets progressively miserable as he drinks.
- Freeze-Frame Bonus: Orel complains that the way Bloberta is treating his wounds hurts him. She's using a spray can labelled "Sgt. Scrapes' Extra Harsh Cut Scrubber."
- Go to the Euphemism: Clay enters the bathroom saying he has to "powder his bladder."
- Growing Up Sucks: What Orel gleams from the adults.
- Hypocritical Humor: This exchange between Orel and Clay:
- Clay: You have to behave more like an adult around here.Orel: But I'm only twelve!Clay: That's no excuse.
- Kids Raiding the Wine Cabinet: How Orel gets his hands on alcohol.
- Leitmotif: Scenes with "mature" Orel play "Sadder than Sad," the song from Forghetty's pub.
- Not Now, Kiddo: Clay won't deal with Orel's problems until he has his first highball.
- Pet the Dog: As awful as Clay and Bloberta are as parents, they at least had enough decency to throw Orel a surprise birthday party and invite all his friends. Too bad Orel's too drunk to appreciate it.
- Skip of Innocence: When a "mature" Orel talks to a young child about loneliness, she decides to "go and skip," contrasting her with Orel.
- Spoof Aesop: Being an adult is synonymous with self-harm.
- Sympathetic Adulterer: When Doughy takes offense to Principal Fakey cheating on his wife, Orel justifies it by saying he's an adult, so he must know what's correct.
