"Refugee" is the eleventh episode of Cougar Town's fifth season.
When Bobby's boat is stolen, he and Jules team up to find it, reforming their old crime-solving duo that they used to do when they were married, "Blacktop and Gumshoe". When they investigate the crime scene, they spot Jerry, and chase him down. They take him back to Jules house to interrogate him. Jerry denies taking it, but after questioning him, they receive a call from the actual thief, who tells them to come to the boatyard the next day. They find his boat back there, and Chick reveals he did it as a prank.
Meanwhile, Travis and Laurie are redecorating her condo. Despite everyone's warnings of how easily it can turn into a fight for a young couple, they insist that they can do it without any fights. However, Laurie doesn't like Travis's decorating, and when Travis leaves to get lunch, Laurie changes everything around, which starts a fight over who's decorating style is better. The fight leads them to start moving everything around, until they realize that they actually like how they've rearranged everything during the fight.
When Andy is having trouble at work with his new boss, Grayson teaches Andy a technique for "flipping power dynamics" to use on him. The technique is successful, so Andy decides to try it on Ellie to get her to do stuff for him. It works like a charm, but when Ellie realizes what happened, she goes to Grayson to teach her the technique and get her power back from Andy. They start using the technique on each other, and when Grayson confronts them, they use it on him. Later, he tries again, and they reconcile by making fun of him.
This episode contains examples of:
- Aww Look They Really Do Love Each Other: Ellie and Andy, by the end.
- Also Laurie and Travis.
- Chick tried to invoke this with Jules and Bobby, forgetting that they weren't together anymore.
- Chekhov's Gun: Jules and Bobby find a day-old shrimp at the crime scene, and after bringing the boat back, Chick offer them shrimp.
- Couch Gag: "Another Blacktop and Gumshoe mystery."
- Foreshadowing: At the beginning of the episode, Laurie and Jules talk about how well Chick is doing despite his Alzheimer's diagnosis. At the end of the episode, it's revealed that Chick forgot Jules and Bobby aren't married anymore.
- Meaningful Name: Jules and Bobby call themselves "Blacktop and Gumshoe" because Jules has black hair, and Bobby always steps in gum.
- Noodle Incident: Most of the "Blacktop and Gumshoe" cases seem to be this.
- Shipper on Deck: Chick towards Jules and Bobby, when he forgets they aren't together anymore.
- The Stinger: We see a flashback to Grayson's seminar on picking up ladies six years ago, which has Tom (and three others) in attendance.
- Wham Line: From Chick: "Your marriage to Bobby. I love you two together, I don't wanna see you get divorced."
- And in-universe, from Chick's perspective, Bobby's response is this: "Chick, Jules and I have been divorced for years."
