Rita is so convinced that she and Lyosha are together, she even started packing food for him. Lyosha... just wants to find a way to get away from her, before Rita starts insisting on them marrying; and if Alexei tries to dump her, her father likely would kill him. Unfortunately, Timur has no idea for his situation. But then Timur comes up with a plan: provoke Rita into dumping Lyosha on her own initiative. The simplest option is to cheat on her. But Alexei thinks that she would tell her father, and he would kill Lyosha for that. Timur suggests another plan: provoke Rita into cheating on Lyosha, then dump her for that; but Alexei finds a reason for Rita's father to shoot him even in that situation, which makes Timur realise that Alexei has issues not so much with Rita, as with her "killer father", and must talk wit him instead, and explain the situation before it goes violent. When Alexei insists that even this would result in him dying, Timur gets fed up, and says that he's either paranoidal, or seeking excuses to not dump Rita. Alexei decides to indeed just tell Rita as is... only for Rita's father to appear, just like in his visions (indeed with as shotgun; he just bought new one, and wants to brag). Naturally, he doesn't take the risk. And then Pavel leaves the shotgun with Rita for a time being, so it wouldn't be safe even in his absence. Not knowing what else to say, he panics and... says that he loves Rita.
Gleb, Sophia and Polina have to somehow divide two patients. Suddenly, Polina and Sophia volunteers to work together. When they leaves, Bykov warns Gleb (who thought that it's just a sign of them being best friends) that this is a very dangerous situation: soon, Sophia would tell Polina everything about Gleb, every single dirty secret, even most humiliating ones. Gleb asks Sophia to cut up a little on time she spends with Polina, and, more importantly, the information she shares with her. Sophia claims that she never shared any of their secrets... which is actually a lie; she already shared one particularly embarrassing story about which he specifically asked to keep it secret: that one when Gleb failed to perform in bed after getting wasted in a karaoke-bar. Later, Sophia listens music through her earphones, quietly mumbling in music's rhythm. When Gleb calls her out on this, saying that "we are not at karaoke-bar!", Polina fails to hide a short burst of laugh, which Gleb notices. Gleb immediately realises that Sophia lied about not sharing his secrets with Polina (especially since Polina, after trying to quietly leave, explodes with laugh the instant she exits, loudly enough to still being heard). Now, Gleb would only forgive Sophia if she would share some of Polina's secrets: this would ensure that Polina wouldn't try anything funny, out of fear of mutually assured destruction. Sophia reluctantly tells him one she just remembered — Polina's sex with Timur, which happened twice already. Polina decides that it was Timur who told this to Gleb, and calls him out on being exactly the same sleazy asshole she remembers; she thought that they may start anew, but now she no longer wants to see him ever again. Timur doesn't know why she acts this way, but notices the most important part: that she indeed considered to start anew. Now, he just needs to prove his innocence. Sophia sees that Polina now blames Timur, and reveals that it was her who told Gleb. Polina takes it rather well, and feels relived that it was not Timur.
Phil now thinks that Katia would certainly dump him. Timur points that it was partly his fault: he was way too quick to reveal the information about his parents, instead of waiting a little longer until she would trust him enough to take even this hit. He also thinks that not all is lost yet, and Phil should call her and invite to a serious talk. Meanwhile, Phil's fathers, for the first time in many years, have a conflict so strong, it may cause divorce, so Phil has to rush to the USA to help them. Kupitman agrees to let him go. Phil calls Katia to inform her that he should cancel their meeting, since he needs to visit his parents before it's too late. Suddenly, at the last moment, Katia appears in his house, and tells that she would go with him. She wants to make up for her previous behaviour, and to meet Phil's parents; if they raised such a good man, it means that they are not as bad as she thought before. And... she loves him.
Kupitman, just before accepting new patient, decides to drink a little — and notices that someone drunk a little from one of his bottles; subtle, but enough for him to notice. But who? He asks the patient whether he was visited before that, and patient remembers someone fitting Bykov's description. Kupitman, to show how rude it was, demonstratively takes Bykov's food and starts eating it in front of him — only for Bykov to point that the smell of alcohol can't disappear after just fifteen minutes (exact time since his visit to Kupitman), meaning that it was not him. Also, it was not Bykov's food, it was Lyosha's. Kupitman decides to leave his office, and see who would visit it in his absence, expecting that the thievery wouldn't be one-time event. And indeed, the thief soon shows up again... and it's Kisegach. Or is she? When he tries to demonstratively steal some snacks out of her office, ignoring presence of potential sponsors, Kisegach angrily reveals that she was searching for Kupitman himself, to discuss his vacancy; with attitude like this, it would be in February instead of Summer, at best. But when Kupitman returns, turns out that someone stole even more of his cognac. Kupitman decides to just hide in closet and catch the thief red-handed, but falls asleep and fails to intercept the thief. Kupitman decides to install new locks in his office — only to learn that the "thief" was... Lyuba. She needed something to pay their alcoholic electrician, who only takes the payment in booze. Kupitman agrees to forgive her, on condition that the next time, she would warn him: it's not about cognac, it's about trust!
This episode provides examples of:
- Defying the Censors: By the time the episode aired, depiction of anything even remotely positive about homosexuality in production marketed towards minors (and The Interns has rating 16+) was already banned in Russia, so the plot dedicated to teaching that homosexuals may actually be good parents and raise their son well was a major risk. It was indeed suggested
to ban this and another episode, but it never went anywhere. - Diabolus ex Machina: In Alexei's "explanations" why he can't safely dump Rita (or force her to dump him), every single time it resulted in her father, Pavel Nicolaevich, appearing out of nowhere with loaded shotgun, and, after ridiculous Pre-Mortem One-Liner, killing him with one blast; in sole case where father doesn't do this because Alexei started with talking with him, he gets shot by Rita instead. Timur calls him out on how idiotic those scenarios are.Timur: "Eat the buckshot"? Really? I have two questions for you: first, why you watch so many C-movies, and second, how Rita's father is related to it?
- Entertainingly Wrong: Polina is right that someone sold her secret (her sleeping with Timur) to Gleb... but it was not Timur, whom she accuses of bragging about his sexual achievements, but Sophia, with whom she shared this secret.
- Failure Is the Only Option: Every single hypothetical scenario of breaking up with Rita somehow results in him being killed by Rita's father (a hunter with a shotgun) or even Rita herself. When he gathers enough courage to actually try, Rita's father appears with a shotgun for real, then leaves it with Rita. Alexei decides to not test his luck.
- Heel Realisation: After much thinking, Katia realises after all that she indeed was prejudiced, and decides to go with Phil to his parents, to visit his parents; she doesn't know them, but she knows Phil, so if they managed to raise such a good man, than they should be good people, too.
- Imagine Spot: Throughout his discussion with Timur how Alexei can break up with Rita, Lyosha imagines several iterations of him dumping (or provoking her to dump him) Rita... and being shot with a shotgun by her father. In the sole example where Pavel doesn't shoot at Alexei, Rita does that instead.
- Instantly Proven Wrong: Sophia tries to deny sharing information about Gleb's embarrassment incident (that one which involved karaoke-bar), despite just shortly before Polina almost chocked trying to hide her laugh after hearing comment about karaoke near Gleb. Then Polina, who just quietly leaved, explodes with a laugh right outside of on-call room, loudly enough to still being heard.
- Poor Communication Kills: Had Lyuba informed Kupitman about needing to borrow some of his booze (their electrician only accepts alcohol as a "payment" for his work), Kupitman wouldn't lost his vacancy due to conflict with Kisegach (whom he mistook for a thief). He's not even angry at taking his alcohol by itself, but specifically Lyuba not warning him.
- Put on a Bus: Phil's fathers may break up; after so many years, they had a conflict so strong, they are on the brink of divorce, and Phil desperately needs to rush to the USA to help them mend their relationship. To Phil's surprise, at the very last moment Katia decides to return and go with him, to see his family and learn first-hand that yes, gays are people too. The two then leaves together, temporarily disappearing from the series.
- Running Gag: Every single plan how to dump Rita which Timur suggests to Alexei somehow results in him (in Alexei's Imagine Spots) being shot by Rita's father with a shotgun. The one where he tries to talk with father instead, results in Lyosha being shot by Rita. And by the end of the episode, he shows up with that gun for real, though just to demonstrate it: he really, really likes his new shotgun; then he leaves that shotgun with Rita.Timur: I'm starting wanting to shoot you myself! Stop bringing up that shotgun!
- Shotgun Wedding: Played With. While no threat gets actually made, since Pavel thinks that Alexei genuinely loves Rita and wants to be with her, Lyosha believes that this is exactly what goes on: either he marries Rita, or her father (a hunter) would kill him with a shotgun. He's so stubborn on insisting on that, Timur (who thinks that he's exaggerating) quickly starts being annoyed.
