Liz's ex, Dennis, comes back into her life after he saves a man from being hit by a subway. Meanwhile, Jack tries to convince Tracy to become a Republican, and an old television star regales Kenneth with stories of the good old days.
This episode contains the following tropes:
- Attention Whore: Dennis relishes the attention he gets from his heroic deed, and milks it for as long as he can.
- Bilingual Bonus: The first appearance of Sabor de Soledad, Liz's favorite cheese snack, whose name means "Taste of Loneliness" in Spanish.
- Bread, Eggs, Breaded Eggs: When Tracy's speaking to Jack:Tracy: I get it. The Republican Party means less taxes, more guns, and getting rid of the gun tax.
- The Cameo: Mike Bloomberg, who was then the mayor of New York, makes an appearance to present Dennis with a medal.
- Category Traitor: Tracy fears that he would be considered such if he became a Republican.
- Heel Realization: Liz starts to have second thoughts about getting back together with Dennis after she joins him in bullying Toofer.
- The Knights Who Say "Squee!": Kenneth is delighted to meet Bucky Bright, a former television star who had long since faded into obscurity.
- Mundane Afterlife: When Tracy dreams of purgatory, it manifests as a grey waiting room with easy listening music playing in the background.
- Near-Death Experience: Tracy dreams he has one, where he ends up in Purgatory after stabbing his boombox and meets with the ghost of Richard Nixon.
- Officer O'Hara: This trope's firefighter counterpart is lampooned, as Dennis complains that the firefighter's test is biased against the Irish.
- Strange Minds Think Alike: A flashback shows that Liz and Dennis met at a screening of The Hours, when they made the same lousy joke.Liz and Dennis: They should call this thing The Weeks!
- Wacky Marriage Proposal: Dennis' proposal to Liz isn't particularly wacky, but it is impulsive, and in public to boot. She says no.
