Original air date: 11/16/1992
Election results are in and Philip fights to remain cool amid lies by Judge Robertson, which prompts Will to confront the outspoken incumbent. Chaos ensues when the judge dies after Will tells him to drop dead. Uncle Phil must give the eulogy at the funeral, where to Will's and Uncle Phil's surprise, everybody hated him and are glad he died. After the funeral, Philip gets a call from the Governor and is appointed Superior Court Judge.
Tropes:
- And There Was Much Rejoicing: After Robertson dies, (almost) everyone has this attitude.
- Bad Boss: One of the people who speaks at Robertson's funeral was the late judge's former gardener, whom not only did Robertson stiff on the landscaping bill, but tried to have deported.
- The Bad Guy Wins: Subverted, Robertson successfully wins the election after his manipulation and slandering of Phil. But loses it quickly after dying of a stroke. Not only is everyone happy about his death, but Phil takes over his position.
- Description Cut: Phil rejects resorting to Robertson's kind of mudslinging, expressing absolute certainty that he will be rewarded by the voters for his focus on the issues. One cut later, it's reported Phil got trounced at the polls.
- Extremely Protective Child: Will doesn't take it well when Robertson slanders and gleefully insults his uncle Phil and yells at him to "drop dead", which he promptly does.
- Gone Horribly Wrong: Will's cousins try to shake him of his guilty funk by angrily condemning him for Robertson's death. Instead of fighting back, Will feels even more guilty than ever.
- Hypocritical Heartwarming: As ever, Will gladly makes jokes about Phil's weight. When Robertson does that, though, Will gets pissed.
- I Wished You Were Dead: Will tells Judge Robertson to drop dead while calling him out for slandering his uncle, and lo and behold, he does just that.
- Karmic Jackpot: After all the crap that he had to put up with throughout the election and the repeated insistence that his focus on playing clean was wrongheaded, Phil gets appointed to Superior Court Judge.
- Landslide Election: Phil gets crushed by Robertson at the polls. The initial report describes it as an overwhelming win, with Trevor later noting it was such a large margin that the race was called very quickly.
- The Mistress: The woman who speaks at Robertson's funeral turns out to be this. Even she doesn't have much of anything positive to say.
- Miscarriage of Justice: The first person to speak at Robertson's funeral was a man whom the judged convicted of a crime he didn't commit, and thus showed up "to make sure he's dead!"
- My God, What Have I Done?: Will is extremely guilt-ridden after Judge Robertson dies, believing himself to be at fault.
- "The Reason You Suck" Speech: Will delivers a big one to Judge Robertson for slandering his uncle, which then results in him telling him to "drop dead".
- Rhetorical Request Blunder: Will outright tells Robertson to drop dead, which the guy does. Panicked, Will has this kind of reaction.Will: Come on, man! If I told you to jump off a bridge, would you do it?
- Rule of Three: Will does this twice in the same joke: He gets the mail to lighten the load off Geoffrey and tells Hilary she got her monthly edition of Self Magazine, Shape Magazine, and Sassy Magazine, then jokingly claims Carlton got Elf Magazine, Ape Magazine, and Sissy Magazine, and finally gives Uncle Phil the bill for Self, Shape, and Sassy.
- Shaming the Mob: After the wrongfully convicted man, the stiffed gardener, and The Mistress badmouth the judge, Will calls out the funeral's attendees for showing up just to celebrate the fact that Robertson died, adding that for all his flaws, Robertson was still a human deserving some dignity in death and partially quotes Shylock's speech to drive his point home. Averted when the wrongfully convicted man asks Will who he is (to call the out like that), and when Will sheepishly admits to "killing" Robertson, the room erupts in clapping and cheering. "Tough room," Will admits to Philip.
- Speak Ill of the Dead: Almost everybody at Judge Robertson's funeral.
- Villain with Good Publicity: Deconstructed. While it's been a well-known fact that Judge Robertson's character is a facade, this episode shows how paper-thin it is. Everyone who is shown to like him is either a sycophant who profits from his victory in some way or just a reporter who finds an easy story in the image he portrays. The funeral shows everyone who knows him despises the guy for good reasons. While hilarious to watch, it really emphasizes how little someone pulling this image really has.
