After going golfing early in the morning, against Laura's protests, Rob discovers he's become sick — right in time for the family dinner party planned for that evening. Despite how he feels, Rob is determined to power through, lest he draw down his wife's anger. How long can the mild-mannered writer fight his entire body?
This episode includes examples of the following tropes:
- Catch Your Death of Cold: Laura protests Rob going out golfing early in the morning, saying that it will ruin him for the party that evening. Rob does indeed come down with the flu. However, in the end Laura says that according to the doctor, he probably actually caught the flu before that morning's excursion.
- Evil Uncle: Downplayed; Uncle Harold is sharp-tongued and most of Laura's family dislikes him. When Millie asks why she wanted him at the party anyway, Laura outright says she thinks he gets invited to family gatherings because the family feels sorry for him. After Rob collapses during "charades" and Laura finds that he's feverish, Uncle Harold quickly excuses himself, even palming off the job of calling the doctor on someone else.
- Exhaustion-Induced Idiocy:
- The sick and exhausted Rob agrees to pick up ice cream for Laura on the way home. When she sees it, she points out that licorice ice cream doesn't go with apple pie. Rob apologizes, saying it looked like chocolate through all the cold fog. The problem is, she asked him for vanilla.
- At the party itself, he gives two relatives cocktails. Unfortunately, he put all the ginger ale in one glass and all the alcohol in the other one without realizing it, to the shock of the relatives.
- Headbutt Thermometer: Laura kisses Rob on the forehead at the end of the episode. When he asks if she meant the kiss as a sign of affection or as a way of taking his temperature, she answers it's both.
- Oblivious Guilt Slinging: While they're taking Rob's temperature, Millie begins talking about the difference between men and women and how childish men are. Eventually, the subject comes around to Rob going golfing early in the morning and being afraid to tell Laura that he's ill, and the possibility that he caught the bug from being out golfing. At that point, Rob takes out the thermometer, determined to act lively despite himself.
- Plot-Induced Illness: The plot is caused by Rob getting a virus right before a party Laura planned.
- The Power of Love: When Laura calls the office, sick, worn-out Rob adopts a bright and energetic tone as he assures her that the golf game didn't ruin him and promises to pick up some ice cream and come home to help her with the party. After it's over, Sally remarks on the oddity of a phone call from Laura clearing up his ailment and passes it off as being love. Rob corrects her; it's fear.
- Punny Title: The title is a pun on the phrase "the life of the party."
- Silent Treatment: When Millie finds out Rob is sick and hiding it, he explains that the virus won't bother him half as much as Laura giving him the cold shoulder for two weeks if he ruins the family dinner.
- Soup Is Medicine: Sally and Buddy try to give their sick coworker soup to help him feel better and get into an argument about whether they should reheat it or not.
- Tempting Fate: While still at the office, Rob says that the terrible way he's feeling doesn't necessarily mean he's sick because he doesn't have something else. At this point, he suffers a coughing fit. When Sally asks him what symptom he doesn't have, he tells her that he was going to say he wasn't coughing.
- Working Through the Cold: Rob tries to feign healthiness so that Laura won't either scold or spurn him. It works well enough for most of the evening, but he eventually collapses during "charades."
