When Felix comes home devastated after a disastrous date with Gloria, Oscar takes him in hand to cure his fastidiousness so he can reconcile with his ex-wife.
This episode includes examples of the following tropes:
- Angst Coma: Oscar "cleans" his room by dumping the mess onto Felix's bed, hoping the exposure to messiness will make him more tolerant of Gloria's normal housekeeping. It drives him catatonic.
- Book Ends: The episode begins and ends with Felix flubbing a date with Gloria.
- Creepy Cleanliness: The episode plays Felix's fastidiousness a lot more like a mental disorder. He knows it's keeping him from achieving his dream of winning Gloria back, but he just can't help himself. In fact, it goes back to childhood. Little Felix was so neat that his grandfather (played by Tony Randall) told him: "There are two things people don't like — a dirty old man and a clean young boy!"
- Food Slap: When Felix comments on her weight during dessert, Gloria throws the hot fudge sundae at him.
- Pop-Culture Pun Episode Title: The title refers to What Makes Sammy Run?
- Pygmalion Snapback: Invoked. Oscar attempts to help Felix change into a less finicky person so that he can win back Gloria, only to traumatize him into becoming like Oscar. On the advice of one of Dr. Cunningham's colleagues, he sprays seltzer in Felix's face, which reverts him to his old neatnik self.
- Water Wake-up: When Felix comes out of his coma and starts acting like Oscar, one of Dr. Cunningham's colleagues diagnoses it as a temporary dissociative episode and recommends throwing water in his face. Oscar sprays him with seltzer, shocking him back to normal.
- You Are Fat: At the end, Felix flubs another date by remarking on Gloria getting a hot fudge sundae even though her dress is tight. Understandably, she didn't react favorably.
