The full moon is causing Wishbone to go into a digging frenzy. Meanwhile, Oakdale is being visited by football star Daryl "Moose" Johnston, whose Super Bowl ring goes missing. This mystery reminds Wishbone of The Moonstone by Wilkie Collins.
Tropes
- Adaptational Romance Downgrade: In the novel, Godfrey is part of a Love Triangle, competing with Franklin for the affections of Rachel. In the episode, Godfrey never expresses any romantic interest in Rachel, who seems to have already chosen Franklin in this version.
- As Himself: This episode features NFL player Daryl "Moose" Johnston as himself. Considering he played for the Dallas Cowboys, and Wishbone was filmed in the DFW Metroplex area, appearing in this episode probably wasn't too much of an imposition on him.
- Bowdlerize: In the novel, it's opium that influences Franklin to steal the Moonstone in his sleep. The episode just calls it "sleeping potion," presumably to avoid referencing a drug. That said, Dr. Candy does administer the opium to Franklin as a sleep aid, so calling it "sleeping potion" is not incorrect per se.
- Composite Character: Dr. Candy absorbs the role of Ezra Jennings, who is Adapted Out. Naturally, this also means that Dr. Candy never loses his mind in this version.
- Iris Out: Used to transition to a flashback when Sergeant Cuff explains how Godfrey was the one who stole the diamond.
- Later-Installment Weirdness: It's pretty remarkable that Wishbone apparently goes crazy once a month, and this late in the series is the first we're hearing about it.
- Lunacy: The full moon compels Wishbone to bury things, apparently.
- Missing Time: Wishbone doesn't remember his digging bouts:Wishbone: How did I get so dirty? And why am I so tired? Whoa...
- My God, What Have I Done?: Rachel has this reaction when Dr. Candy recreates what happened the night of the theft and gives Franklin a draught to help with that. It turns out Franklin was sleepwalking that night, and he does it again, taking out the case with the diamond while mumbling about keeping Rachel safe. Rachel says she saw him do it and was angry at him for loving a diamond more than her. She apologizes to his sleeping form for having misjudged him.
- Reasonable Authority Figure: Sergeant Cuff points out that everyone in the house the night of the theft is a suspect but doesn't move to make accusations while analyzing Rosanna or Godfrey's possible motivations. Instead, he gathers the evidence such as that the suspect must have smudged drying paint; when Franklin shows him his own nightgown stained with paint but says he doesn't know what happened that night, Sergeant Cuff helps recreate the events with a sleeping draught. This ends up clearing Franklin's name since he was sleepwalking when he removed the Moonstone from the cabinet, and Sergeant Cuff points out that someone must have taken it from him after Franklin collapsed on the floor.
- Sleepwalking: As in the novel, Franklin Blake accidentally steals the Moonstone while sleepwalking.
- Spared by the Adaptation: The episode leaves out all the novel's deaths, which sort of undermines all the talk about the Moonstone being cursed.
- Rosanna doesn't commit suicide after hiding the evidence that Franklin is the most likely suspect for the crime. Instead, she goes away, and her "Dear John" Letter is a mere Anguished Declaration of Love.
- There is no reference to Lady Verinder dying, although she does stop appearing in the episode after the point where she died in the novel.
- The Brahmins steal the diamond back from Godfrey like in the novel, but there is no mention of them killing him.
- Since Ezra Jennings is Adapted Out, his death is obviously omitted as well.
- Unrelated in the Adaptation: For obvious reasons, the episode neglects to mention that Franklin and Rachel are cousins. As for Godfrey, he is not mentioned to be either her cousin or her suitor.
- Voiceover Letter: Rosanna's parting letter is narrated this way.
- Wham Shot: A photograph reveals that Wishbone stole the Super Bowl ring.
- What the Hell, Hero?: Joe ends up scolding Wishbone for taking the Super Bowl ring and burying it, causing a great deal of trouble. Wishbone says, "I feel so guilty. And dirty."
