"My butt is dry. And strong."
"So the ghost is a thirteen year old boy? That's interesting. To all of us."
—Tina
Tina starts "dating" a ghost the family trapped in a shoebox, while a ghost hunting duo invade the restaurant.
Tina and the Real Tropes:
- Beta Bitch: Jocelyn, who has appeared since Season 1, finally settles into her current role as Tammy's lackey. She goes along with practically everything Tammy does (to the point of contradicting herself) and barely has an opinion of her own.
- Be Yourself: The lesson given at the end of the episode, though with the added note that this doesn't justify being an awful person.
- A Bloody Mess: The "bloody" writing on the mausoleum wall was done by Tina with ketchup.
- Big Sister Instinct: Inverted. Louise is younger than Tina, but she forgoes trick-or-treating (which she spent the whole episode looking forward to) in order to get revenge on Tammy and make her sister feel better.
- Brutal Honesty: As everyone is talking about how they should be themselves, Tammy voices it's okay for her to be a horrible, obnoxious person. Everyone immediately tells her no, it isn't, and she needs to stop being a bitch.Zeke: Fix yourself!
- Captain Obvious Reveal: In-universe; when Louise reveals that she made up Jeff, Linda is shocked, but Bob remarks that he thought it was pretty obvious.
- Cessation of Existence: Zeke and Jimmy Jr. believe this, though Zeke wants to believe otherwise, which leads to him getting attached to Jeff.
- Chekhov's Gun: Louise takes some of the bugs infesting the restaurant and places them in the shoebox, causing them to swarm Tammy when she opens the box.
- Cloudcuckoolander: The first exterminator Bob calls being this or being in league with the con artists is the entire reason the main plot of the episode happens to begin with: instead of doing his job, he gets some vague feeling about a "presence" in the basement and runs off to fetch the "ghost experts" described below despite Bob's protests.
- Comically Missing the Point: When Louise admits that she made Jeff up, Gene thinks she made up his name but that the ghost itself was real.
- Con Artist: The so-called ghost experts are really just a couple of guys who try to con Bob out of a few meals in exchange for their "services". Bob doesn't put up with it and forces them to pay.
- Dead All Along: The ghost hunters try to claim they've been dead for twelve years to avoid paying their tab at the restaurant. Linda falls for it, but Bob immediately places his hands on them, exposing their (very obvious) lie.
- The Ditz: Linda and numerous Wagstaff students genuinely believe "Jeff" is real.
- Falling-in-Love Montage: Perhaps the first time in any media where one of the romantic parties is an empty shoebox.
- Fridge Logic: In-universe; Louise questions how a ghost, let alone one trapped in a box, can write messages on a mirror.
- Fun with Homophones: When the exterminator says he senses a “presence” in the Belchers’ basement, Gene thinks he’s talking about “presents”.Gene: I always thought there should be Halloween presents!
- Gasp!: The rest of the lunch table gasps when Tina announces that she and Jeff are an official couple.
- Lame Pun Reaction: Bob lampshades how every exterminator in town is some terrible pun.Bob: Let's try "Beetle Knievel"... what is wrong with the exterminators in this town?
- Mama Bear: When Linda learns that Tina was "dumped", she vows to kill "Jeff" again.
- Nobody's That Dumb: Even someone as boy-crazy as Tina knew from the start that "Jeff" was probably made up, though it took her a day to be 100% certain. If anything, she just enjoyed having some imaginary company, even if it was just a Companion Cube. Even still...Tina: Oh my God, I'm on a date with a box.
- Outgambitted: Louise made up the ghost as a joke, but didn't expect Tammy would hijack the scenario to steal "Jeff", nor did she anticipate Tina catching wise and coming up with her own scheme.
- Relationship Labeling Problems: When the security guard at the butterfly exhibit asks Tina what Jeff is, Tina says they might be friends or more than friends, but they're just "enjoying it right now without labels." The security guard doesn't question it at all. Later, Tina announces she is actually dating Jeff.
- Sarcasm Mode: Jimmy Jr. brushes off Tina's attempts at making the mausoleum a date. Louise promptly snarks that he was all over Tina.
- Shout-Out:
- The ghost hunters, Don and Phil, have the same first names as The Everly Brothers.
- Gene's Halloween disguise is based on Turner and Hooch; he's Turner on one half, and Hooch on the other. "Half dog, half Hanks, all cop."
- Louise is disguised as Ryan Gosling in the movie (well, the trailer) Drive (2011).
- Gene wants Jeff to watch Kitchen Nightmares with him.
- Spooky Séance: Linda and the kids hold one in order to trap the ghost that’s haunting their basement.
- A Taste of Their Own Medicine: Louise decides to teach Tammy a lesson by tricking her into thinking Jeff is real and humiliating her in front of her friends, just like Tammy did to Tina.
- Too Old to Trick-or-Treat: Tina and the other eighth-graders spend Halloween night undergoing a teenage rite-of-passage - giving up trick-or-treating to break into a mausoleum.
- Wondrous Ladies Room: While in the girls’ restroom to comfort Tina after her breakup with Jeff, Gene comes out of a stall commenting on how nice it is.Gene: Each stall has a tiny metal mailbox!
