Tina attempts to reunite an elderly woman with an admiral who met her at a dance decades ago. Meanwhile, Bob starts hanging out with "cool chefs", but the late-night partying starts taking a toll on his health.
Secret Trope-mirer:
- Artistic License – Military: Played for Laughs. Bob claims he received the cheese from the Swiss Navy—Switzerland, being landlocked, has no navy.
- Blatant Lies: When Bob's friends show up at the end looking for him, Linda hysterically cries out that Bob is dead.
- Chekhov's Gag: In the opening scene, Louise refers to her parents as elderly. Later, the kids disguise Bob as the elderly Admiral Wilcox to try and appease Meryl when they think the real Admiral Wilcox is fake.
- Comically Missing the Point:
- When the kids find that the pearl necklace is missing, Gene laments that Joel will never be able to pull it off.
- Louise tells Tina that she thinks things are more romantic than they actually are, like how she legitimately thought a dog was chasing a squirrel not for attacking but because they were into each other. Tina still insists they were into each other.
- When Meryl claims Admiral Wilcox's letter gave her goosebumps, she shows Tina her goosebump-laden arm. Tina checks and thinks she might have shingles instead.
- Continuity Nod: Louise refers to her parents as elderly. That's not just a Louise-typical insult, as she makes a crass remark about Bob being eighty years old at one point.
- This isn't the first episode to show Linda being okay with Bob getting with another woman for the sake of that woman's happiness.
- Dramatic Irony: After meeting Admiral Wilcox, Meryl refers to Bob (who'd disguised as the admiral after the kids assumed Admiral Wilcox wasn't real) as "too old" for her. Bob is half her age.
- Elder Abuse: Joel remorselessly takes advantage of Meryl's senility to get birthday checks from her. Every week. It's the point that Louise suspects he stole Meryl's pearls by inventing the admiral so she'd have a reason to take them out, and even though she was wrong about that she wasn't wrong to suspect Joel of being willing to do that. Joel doesn't show any regret for his exploitation of his aunt until Sergeant Bosco appears at his apartment, at which point he immediately has a Villainous Breakdown as he pathetically sobs he'll give the checks back.
- Fun with Homophones: When Tina reads a letter from a gym, Meryl assumes it's from someone named Jim and says she doesn't know any Jims.
- Gilligan Cut: At the end of the episode, the kids find that the pearls were in Meryl's purse. Tina asks if they should tell Sergeant Bosco, but Louise says he's probably forgotten about it. Cut to Bosco, having evidently not forgotten, arriving to interrogate Joel.
- Jerk with a Heart of Jerk: Joel visits his great-aunt every week... solely to collect a $25 check by lying that it's his birthday.
- Laser-Guided Karma: Thanks to the kids, Sergeant Bosco later arrives at Joel's apartment about the pearl necklace they assumed he stole. As a result, Joel thinks he's there about the checks he conned his great-aunt into giving and hysterically sobs that he'll never do it again and even promises to tear up the checks!
- Life of the Party: Bob starts partying every day at midnight with his new chef friends. He consistently comes home hungover and tired, forcing Linda to step in.
- Opposite Day: Louise and Gene pull this on Linda to try and stay up late. Poor Linda gets so confused that she has to get a pen and paper to keep track of what she's saying. Bob's reaction indicates they've done this before.
- Paper-Thin Disguise: When Admiral Wilcox turns out to be real, Bob covers his tracks by claiming he has a similar name and got confused. Even though his outfit is so obviously fake, not even Admiral Wilcox can tell, outright calling Bob by his "title".
- Perma-Stubble: Bob retains stubble for most of the episode, to show just how exhausted he is after consecutive nights of partying.
- Punctuated! For! Emphasis!: Sergeant Bosco whacks the Belcher kids in the head with his notebook multiple times when they try to tell him Joel took Meryl's pearls.Bosco: Don't. Waste. My. Time. I'm. A real. Police. Man.
- He even does it again to Joel after the latter thinks he's there to arrest him for the checks.
Bosco: Stop. Crying. Stop. Crying.Joel: I'm not crying.Bosco: Stop. Crying.Joel: I'M NOT CRYING! - Real After All: After being convinced that Admiral Wilcox was a scam Joel made up to steal Meryl's pearls, and coming up with an elaborate scheme to ensure Meryl isn't heartbroken, the kids are blindsided by Admiral Wilcox arriving for the dance he promised.
- Strong Family Resemblance: When Bob's hair is powdered white in his admiral disguise, he looks uncannily like his father Big Bob.
- Stupid Crooks: Near the start of the episode, Joel mentions having collected a birthday check in front of Tina. He then does it again one week later despite Tina once again being right next to him, which serves no purpose other than to expose the fact that he's scamming Meryl.
- Sympathetic Adulterer: Linda is perfectly okay with disguising Bob to dance with Meryl, even after Gene notes that Meryl might want a kiss.
