- Employee Accountability
- Hiring Practices
- Perimeter Security
- Social Intelligence
- Information Security
- Professionalism
- Workplace Safety
- Confidentiality
- Morale
- Chain of Command
Tropes:
- Bavarian Fire Drill: "Employee Accountability" warns against these, noting that people being careless and assuming non-employees are just part of the company can be dangerous.
- Butt-Monkey: The animated segments are constantly making fun of Lydia, whether it's outing her as a bad employee or playing her as overly panicky.
- Censored for Comedy: Since these are professional training videos, Mike is bleeped when he gets colorful, despite it being clear what he's actually saying."Come on, Lydia, we all know that's bullsh*t."
- Continuity Nod / Continuity Porn:
- One of the cake pops in "Employee Accountability" resembles the half-burned pink teddy bear from ABQ.
- Walt and Jesse's RV drives by in a security camera feed in "Perimeter Security". The toy pig from Breaking Bad's "Madrigal" also shows up. Additionally, Mike takes out Madrigal's power grid by letting balloons float into an overhead power line.
- "Workplace Safety" has Mike and two employees waiting in a refrigerated truck filled with Los Pollos Hermanos food while he's wearing a fur-lined trapper's hat to keep warm, just like in "Bullet Points".
- Lydia is shown wearing mismatched shoes in "Morale" due to her stress, similar to her doing this in Breaking Bad's "Fifty-One".
- Walt, Jesse, and Gus show up in "Chain of Command", having a disagreement while Mike mediates the meeting.Jesse: No way, bitch!!
Walt: I am the danger. - Walt and Jesse also appear in "Confidentiality", as shady employees that Mike is keeping secret.
- Jack Welker appears in "Hiring Practices", when Mike is doing a background check on Todd for criminal history.
- Corpsing: In-universe example: Mike begins chuckling while reading some of the "disclaimers" that Madrigal provides for its training videos, despite his attempts to keep a straight face.
- Creator Cameo: Two Madrigal executives in "Social Intelligence" bear shocking resemblances to Peter Gould and Vince Gilligan.
- Food as Bribe: Mike's infiltration to Madrigal in "Employee Accountability" almost gets busted when the receptionist gives him a shifty look. She lets him go when he bribes her with cake pops.
- Hypocritical Humor: Much like his secret employer Gus, Mike stresses the need to respect the management and keep a courteous and professional relationship with your coworkers, even if — and, in his case, usually if — this means saying nothing at all. For almost the entire series, he's complaining about the memos he's been getting from Madrigal higher-ups telling him to tone down the scare tactics, calling them unnecessary bullshit and refusing to read their disclaimers seriously; he also openly bickers with Lydia (a manager at the same level as him) and often singles her out as a bad employee.note
- Paper Destruction of Anger: In "Information Security", Mike speedreads a Madrigal letter to him, then uses it to demonstrate proper document disposal with a paper shredder.
- Only Sane Man: Like the previous web series, the teacher (Mike) is almost always the only sensible person in these videos and accompanying cartoons.
- Sadist Teacher: Unlike the other videos in the 'Employee Training' series, Mike is openly contemptuous both of some Madrigal executives (especially Lydia, who usually winds up portraying the 'bad employee' in the cartoons) and the viewer, whom he indicates are dumb enough that they'll only learn things if he spells them out in cartoons.
- Stab the Salad: In "Workplace Safety", two Madrigal employees find out they're locked in the back of a cooler truck with Mike when the door jams. Mike pulls a gun on them and they raise their hands in surrender. He was actually aiming to Shoot Out the Lock, and everyone leaves scot-free.
- Voice-Only Cameo: Lydia Rodarte-Quayle can be heard angrily admonishing Mike off-screen during a couple of the videos.
