Recap / Corner Gas S 3 E 06 Mail Fraud

"Don't rush me, woman! I'm on the information super-roadway-thingy!"

A Plot: Brent goes on vacation, but Lacey notices that he doesn't actually go anywhere, hanging out on a beach chair just outside the gas station/cafe area. When she attempts to figure it out, Lacey ruins everything as both Hank and Wanda get angry at Brent.

B Plot: Karen makes sure to sign Davis up to bring main course to the potluck dinner, as she's fed up about how he always "just" brings napkins. In an effort to keep him on main course, Karen ends up biting off more than she can chew.

C Plot: Oscar attempts to start using email, which is a comedy of errors and immediately becomes an annoyance to Emma. She devises a plan with Davis to get him off of it.

Tropes Referenced:

• Analogy Backfire:
  Karen: It's not fair. He's gotta cook this year. No Get-Out-Of-Napkin-Free Card.
  Wanda: How do you get out of a napkin?
  Lacey: You know, if you're gonna use a Monopoly analogy, it should be a Get-Out-Of-Kitchen-Free card.
  Wanda: I think it was a mistake to go down the free card road at all.
• Artistic License – Geography: In-universe.
  Hank: Is Aruba near Cuba?^note They aren't very close. Aruba is some 806 miles (1,297 kilometres) south of Cuba.
  Lacey: They don't arrange countries phonetically.
  Hank: It'd be cool if they did, though. Then Canada would be next to ... "Granada."
  Lacey: It's Grenada.
  Hank: Yeah, right! And we live in "Ca-nay-da."
• The Catchphrase Catches On: This episode provides an early example of the word "staycation" before it was popularized in the late 2000s. Some people credit Brent Butt with its popularity.
• Crazy-Prepared: Davis has spare napkins in his car.
• Description Cut:
  Karen: If there's one thing I have, it's jelly molds.
  [Cut to Karen at the store]
  Karen: How much are these jelly molds?
• Humble Pie/Kafka Comedy: Karen's quest to keep Davis stuck with main course has her end up having to work extra hard to help other people with jelly molds, sweet potato pie, and cupcakes. On top of that, this extra activity causes her to forget to bring what she signed up for, the napkins. Meanwhile, Davis just ends up getting Emma to make his main course for him in exchange for a favor, and he also has spare napkins in his trunk. The potluck hails him as a hero.
• Hypocritical Humor:
  Oscar: What ever happened to good old face-to-face conversation?
  Emma: Well, if you feel that strongly about it—
  Oscar: Sssh! Commercial's over. [Turns back to the TV]
• Karma Houdini: Not only does Davis still not have to make anything for the potluck (Emma provides his main course in exchange for helping with Oscar), he gets extra praise for having napkins, too.
• Literal-Minded:
  Lacey: Well, where are you going? Somewhere sunny, I assume.
  Brent: Not necessarily.
  Lacey: Well, what's with all the sun stuff? Sunscreen, sunglasses...
  Brent: I packed tennis shoes. Doesn't mean I'm going to Wimbledon. [Beat] I didn't actually pack tennis shoes. That's just an example.
• Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: Lacey's inability to accept Brent's actions (see Principles Zealot below) leads to Hank and Wanda turning against him.
  Lacey: I didn't mean to ruin it.
  Brent: It's not your fault. You just hounded me and everyone until our bubble burst and the good times came crashin' down. It's no biggie.
• Principles Zealot: Lacey, as usual. She won't give up figuring out why Brent pretends to go on vacation without actually going anywhere.
• Short-Distance Phone Call: Oscar and Emma have an e-mail argument about who's going to make lunch. They're in the same room and taking turns writing e-mails on the same computer.
• Technologically Blind Elders: Oscar has no idea how email works. He thinks it takes as long to send as regular mail and that you can just use a person's home address to send one.
• Voiceover Letter: One of Brent's staycation rules is that he can't talk directly to anyone, so if someone wants to communicate with him, he starts talking in "verbal postcards".