Lincoln has a David Steele-themed party for his twelfth birthday, but he spends it on the lookout for his stolen present.
"Present Danger"
- Bait-and-Switch Silhouette: At the construction site, Lincoln thinks he sees the thief, but it turns out to be a decoy made of traffic cones, a hat and a trenchcoat.
- Berserk Button: For Lola, it's messing with her ride, to the point that she chases the Loud men as soon as she realizes Lisa had modified her ride to be Lincoln's spy car.
- Birthday Episode: This episode celebrates Lincoln's 12th birthday.
- Conspicuous Trenchcoat: The comic thief wears one of these and a fedora.
- Cool Car: Lisa retools Lola's ride into a gadget filled spy car for Lincoln.
- Destroy the Security Camera: Gus offers Lincoln to use the security camera's at the arcade to see who stole his present, but it turns out they're all blacked out. When they watch the footage, they find out someone deliberately sabotaged the camera's with plunger arrows.
- Foreshadowing: Rusty isn't present when the gift is revealed to be stolen, and during the card game. Turns out, he's the thief.
- Heir Club for Men: The first David Steele comic book is passed down between generations of Loud men when they turn 12. Leonard first got it when he was 12 and passed it down to Lynn Sr., who then passes it down to Lincoln.
- Manly Tears: Both Lynn Sr. and his father tear up when Lynn Sr. tries to give a speech for Lincoln's birthday. Later, they end up crying again when the David Steele comic book goes missing.
- Race Against the Clock: The comic thief gives Lincoln 20 minutes to find him, or else he will supposedly destroy the stolen comic.
- Red Herring: Based on what he is able to see on the security camera footage, Lincoln pinpoints Scoots, Flip and Chandler as the likely suspects to be the thief. They're all innocent.
- Right-Hand Cat: The thief that stole the comic is seen with one on his lap when he contacts Lincoln to challenge him to a game. However, the cat is clearly not amused at being stroked and tries to claw him. Later, after Lincoln finds out the thief is Rusty and asks him about the cat, Rusty claims the cat has simply been following him all day for some reason.
- Running Gag: Lincoln stepping into people's food while pretending to be David Steele.
- Secret Ingredient: Gus claims his garlic knot recipe has one, and that people are trying to steal it. However, the ingredient is just garlic; something everyone should be able to figure out.
- Shout-Out: To James Bond. David Steele's theme song is based heavily on Bond theme songs, his Rogues Gallery is all based on various Bond villains, and Rusty copies Bond's Arch-Enemy Blofeld, complete with the Right-Hand Cat.
- Sticky Shoes: Lisa makes a pair of magnetic shoes for Lincoln to use on his mission.
- Suspiciously Specific Denial: Gus, when Lincoln catches him in the act of playing David Steele.
- Themed Party: Lincoln has his entire birthday party in David Steele style, with himself dressed as Steele and his friends dressed as various villains.
Luan beats out Mrs. Bernardo for a role in the Dairyland play and is worried that she might get jealous of her for doing so.
"Stressed for the Part"
- A Day in the Limelight: For Luan.
- Bad "Bad Acting": The second Heidi auditionee, who recites her lines in a dull, robotic monotone.
- Cathartic Crying: After being rejected for the role of Heidi Heifer for the fourteenth time, Mrs. Bernardo comes into class in tears, having been up all night crying.
- Continuity Nod: The Dairyland Hotel has been completed since the events of "Hurl, Interrupted".
- Given Name Reveal: Mrs. Bernardo reveals her first name is Kate.
- Imagine Spot: Luan imagines Mrs. Bernardo assaulting her for "stealing" the role of Heidi.
- Pie in the Face: Luan accidentally does this to Benny. Humorously, when she sees the aftermath, she thinks he did it to himself.
- Shout-Out: Mrs. Bernardo claims that she was once involved in a lauded production of Kats in 1989. She also specifies that it's spelled with a K for legal reasons.
- The Other Marty: Cheryl plays the Dairy Godmother in the rehearsal, but is out of commission before the first performance, so Mrs. Bernardo replaces her in the role.
- There Can Only Be One: In Luan's Imagine Spot of Mrs. Bernardo assaulting her for the role of Heidi, Mrs. Bernardo exclaims, "There can only be one Heidi!"
- Throw the Dog a Bone: Mrs. Bernardo gets cast in the Dairyland production as the Dairy Godmother, with Cheryl out of commission.
- Vomit Discretion Shot: Luan turns Green Around the Gills while she goes on a teacup ride with Mrs. Bernardo. She pukes in a garbage can the next time we see her.
