"And it's a Casio. They make good stuff."
A Plot: Brent tries to avoid taking Hank to meet their favorite comic book writer (Peter Moore, played by Ron Boyd), but is forced to bring him, and things goes awry...because of Brent making a fool of himself.
B Plot: Karen's finished her training for a promotion, and Wanda decides that Lacey's recent donations to the thrift store will make the perfect celebration gift. Lacey's annoyed by Wanda's cheapness, so Wanda spites her by buying the rest of her donations and wearing them herself, which leads to Lacey spreading a rumor that Wanda's destitute and not just incredibly cheap.
C Plot: Davis persuades Oscar and Emma into buying a new home alarm system, which causes more emergencies than Davis bargained for.
Tropes referenced:
- Break-In Threat: Played for Laughs. Davis is trying to sell alarm systems, so he breaks into Oscar and Emma's bedroom one morning with coffee. ("This could have been a burglar bringing you coffee!") They buy an alarm system just to make him leave them alone.
- Clothing Switch: Wanda buys up all of Lacey's old clothes from the thrift store just to spite her. Of course, since there is quite a height difference between the two, the clothes are way too long for Wanda.
- Description Cut:
- Davis claims he didn't make a big deal about making officer second class, but a cut shows him prominently displaying his certificate at his house and using it to impress women.
- Lacey insists her group gifts don't suck, but a cut proves they do, as Emma is unimpressed by a gaudy gift Lacey picked out and the rest of the group does not want to be associated with it.
- Gift-Giving Gaffe: Lacey has a penchant for this, as mentioned in Description Cut above and further proven when Karen has a rather unenthusiastic reaction to the teapot she bought. Karen also turns against Wanda's gift when she finds it comes from a thrift store.
- Heroic Sacrifice: Hank gives up his chance to get a signed comic, saying his name is Brent, when the actual Brent comes across as too crazy for Peter Moore to want anything to do with him.
- Hypocritical Humor: Brent and Hank spot two guys at the Peter Moore signing who look very similar to them and mock them for being such nerds. Those two do the same to Brent and Hank, with both pairs completely missing that, a) they are dead ringers for each other and b) they're at the same geeky comic book signing.
- I Resemble That Remark!:Lacey: You don't need help! You're just cheap.
Wanda: Well, if that's the way you feel, then I will just take back this 27 cent tip I was going to leave. - Informed Poverty: Lacey convinces the town that Wanda's incredibly cheap because she's a charity case, which annoys Wanda to no end.
- Insistent Terminology: Karen insists Davis can't call her "Rookie" anymore now that she got a promotion. Davis switches it to "Senior Rookie", but attempts to shorten it back to "Rookie" by claiming it saves time.
- Loony Fan: When Brent fails to get Peter Moore's autograph at the signing, he stalks him to his hotel. Peter has to hide to get away.
- Brent: [chasing after Peter Moore in the hotel lobby] I'm not crazy!
- Magic Feather: When Davis takes away the original home alarm system and Oscar becomes paranoid, Karen decides to give him a replacement security system that's really just a calculator taped to the wall.
- Oblivious Mockery: Wanda is with Brent at the gas station, teasing the type of people who would go see comic book writer Peter Moore:Wanda: Oh, come on! They're all middle-aged guys with glasses and no wives and no girlfriends and you're going, aren't you?
- Reading the Stage Directions Out Loud: Davis reads the exact words for the alarm system sales pitch straight from a card, including saying "Smile assuredly" and "You should now be inside the customer's home".
- Running Gag: Oscar and Emma not being able to make it out of their house in time, and thus setting off their new alarm system.
- Self-Fulfilling Prophecy: Brent doesn't want Hank to come meet Peter Moore, believing Hank's awkwardness will cause them both great embarrassment in front of the guy. When they meet Peter, it does lead to great embarrassment for them, but only because of Brent's awkwardness.
