Dan has been having a terrible evening in a Dinner Theater where the actors slaughter Romeo and Juliet. After getting thrown out because of his rants, receiving a ticket for loitering, and suffering slight abuse by two of the actors, he swears revenge on the Theater and vows to put it out of business no matter the cost.Elise takes some part in the operations after one of the actors whips Chris's face with a fencing foil.
This episode provides examples of the following tropes:
- Bad "Bad Acting": The actors are really that bad.
- Chris's idea of finding a distraction is to yell "Wow! Look! Something distracting! This must be the most distracting thing I've ever seen!".
- Bound and Gagged: Part of what Elise did to Ty.
- Cool Mask: Dan wears a white mask while stalking the theatre. It looks reminiscent of both Cyrano de Bergerac and The Phantom of the Opera. Elise dons a Domino Mask.
- Cross-Cast Role: One of the actors crossdresses as Juliet and Ophelia.
- Discussed Trope: Elise's out-of-character moment.
- "Eureka!" Moment: One of The Weird Sisters mentioning they can't have a theater company without actors is what gives Dan the idea on how to proceed with his revenge.
- Evil Laugh: Dan.
- Extreme Omnivore: Chris stops for a moment when he learns that the soup is cut with soap... And then gleefully starts eating it again. There are consequences.Chris: My stomach hurts. But I do feel clean inside.
- Flynning: Dan and the last comedian, in the end... sort of...
- Gratuitous Iambic Pentameter: Dan indulges in it from time to time.
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Genius Bonus: The Episode, as fit, contains a lot of these. The Shout-outs to the Bard may well be missed / By anyone who hasn't read his plays.- Romeo and Juliet:
- "A Plague o'both your houses!"
- "Are you biting your thumb at us, sir?"
- Hamlet:
- When Hamlet's replacement chooses his sword, he briefly mentions that he doesn't want a "Too piratey" one. Hamlet is briefly captured by a pirate in the play.
- "Good night, [Shakespeare Dinner Theatre]. The flocks of Angels sing thee to thy rest..."
- Dan's pouring soda in an asleep Comedians' ear.
- The final duel, in which Dan uses a tipped foil, while his opponent uses a pointed one.
- Macbeth:
- Dan: "Out, damned spot! Out, I say!"
- The three riggers quite clearly reference the three witches.
- Cook: "Bubble, bubble ! Toil and..."
- One actor quotes "The world is a stage", even if that's not what Shakespeare meant when he said it.
- Romeo and Juliet:
- Grappling Gun: Elise uses one.
- Ham-to-Ham Combat: Dan and the last performer get into one of these at the end, but Dan does the most Hamming since his opponent doesn't act a lot...
- "Hell, Yes!" Moment: Dan when he finally wins.
- Insistent Terminology: Dan insists that the actor assaulted Chris with an épée, not a foil. However, it ''is'' technically a foil...
- It's All About Me: The last actor to remain plays it dead straight, to the point that he likes the idea of starring in a "One-man Hamlet".
- It's Personal: Elise intervenes and gets rid of one performer to avenge chris, but doesn't go further once she's put him bound and gagged on a freighter to Guatemala.Elise: Nobody whips my husband's face with an épée!
- Large Ham: Dan, but this time he's got an excuse : it's a theatre.
- Laser-Guided Karma: The last performer set off Dan by accidentally hitting him with a cup of soda. During the climax, Dan throws soup in the guy's face.Dan: How's that for a taste of your own indigestible dreck?
- Leaning on the Fourth Wall: In response to Elise donning a ninja outfit to beat up Ty and helping out Dan, Chris remarks she's been acting weird this week.
- Mood Whiplash: The episode closes on Dan celebrating his victory in theatrical fashion, only to see his car being towed away and having to chase after it.
- Ominous Pipe Organ: Dan triggers some when he acts dark and mysterious and/or hammy.
- Out of Character Is Serious Business: Downplayed, since it's only briefly discussed, but both Elise and Chris find it weird that she support Dan in the end.
- Plausible Deniability: When Dan asks what she did to Ty, Elise says he and Chris are in better legal shape if she keeps the details to herself.
- Produce Pelting: Dan gets some tomatoes thrown at him. One was frozen...
- Screw This, I'm Outta Here: The last performer is driven to quit and flee the building, after getting attacked by the mob.
- Seen It All: The older paramedic is apparently used to seeing people gluing stuffed animal heads to their neck...
- The younger one mentions that it's "the worst case of soda ear [he's] ever seen", although if it were the only one it would still be true.
- Sickeningly Sweethearts: Dan has this opinion of Chris and Elise for having repeated date nights. He insists that them being married means they can't call it a date.
- Subverted Rhyme Every Occasion: Dan's last monologue.
- Thinking Out Loud: Dan monologues and soliloquizes several times. Unlike what would happen in a play, The Weird Sisters immediately notice him.
- This Cannot Be!: Dan's reaction to how the theater would rather do a one-man production of Hamlet than simply shut down.
- Violently Protective Wife: The second that she sees what happened to Chris, Elise breaks into the building, beats up Ty, and has him Bound and Gagged on a one-way trip to Guatemala.
- We Need a Distraction: To sabotage the food, Dan needs Chris to perform a distraction in seven minutes. Dan had wanted him to set fire to some wood, but Chris refuses to commit arson. Instead, Chris simply shouts about how the chefs need to check out "the most distracting thing" outside.
- Ye Olde Butcherede Englishe: The cooks use "Soape".
