Airdate: May 5, 2013
During a softball game between the Drunken Clam and Goldman's pharmacy, Horace ends up getting killed in a freak accident, and when it turns out that Horace owed more to the bank than what his bar was worth, and that the bank plan on tearing down the bar, Peter and his friends, Joe and Quagmire, take it upon themselves to save the bar. In the subplot, Meg accidentally stumbles upon an embalming session during Horace's funeral while looking for the women's bathroom, and, impressed by Meg's lack of squeamishness, the funeral director gives her a part-time job at the funeral home.
"Saving the Clam" contains examples of:
- Accidental Murder: This kickstarts the plot of the episode as Jerome accidentally kills Horace when he makes a successful swing on the ball during what was supposed to be a fun and simple baseball game. Unfortunately for both of them, Jerome accidentally hits Horace on the head with the ball, leading to Horace’s death.
- Body Horror: Chris's face is given to a woman whose own face was mauled by a chimpanzee; we then see Chris's skinless face with muscles and sinew on show.
- Bowdlerization: Two scenes were altered when aired on television (and Hulu streaming), but shown uncut on DVD:
- Quagmire's line "Oh, we are fucked!" after finding out that Jerome is on the Goldman's Pharmacy softball team (and is dedicating his game to Whitney Houston) had "fucked" bleeped out.
- The end where Meg scratches Chris' testicles while he's lying in the casket: On the TV version, Chris' line is, "Oh, yeah. Yeah, that's good. Scratch it. Scratch it. Oh, thank you." On the DVD version, the line is similar, but there's an extra sentence ("Oh, yeah. Yeah, that's good. Don't give up if it rolls away. Scratch it. Scratch it. Oh, thank you.")
- Brother–Sister Incest: Mild. When Chris has to stand in for a corpse, the suit is itchy and he asks Meg to scratch his balls. She does so, and he enjoys it a little too much.
- The Bus Came Back: After not having a prominent role since his first appearance, Jerome makes his big return and officially becomes one of the show's recurring characters.
- Competition Freak: As usual, Quagmire takes a friendly game of sport as serious as a heart-attack.
- Due to the Dead: At the funeral, Jerome is understandably solemn, while Joe delivers a dignified statement.
- The "Fun" in "Funeral": Peter's brief eulogy focuses on The Munsters, while Quagmire runs off crying (which Joe insults him for). Then there's the DUI montage.
- Meg using Chris as a stand-in corpse for someone's funeral and having to scratch his testicles.
- Gone Horribly Wrong: The baseball game in this episode goes horribly wrong when Jerome goes up to bat with Horace pitching. This unexpectedly leads to Horace’s death, which nobody saw coming.
- It's All My Fault: This is how Jerome, the black guy who first appeared in Jerome is the New Black, feels since he was the one who killed Horace (albeit accidentally). At Horace's funeral, Jerome tells Peter that he feels really bad about what happened, but Peter assures Jerome that Horace's death was just an accident and that it's not like anyone could've predicted what happened
- Killed Off for Real: This happens to Horace in his final appearance in the series.
- Horace does make a brief non-speaking appearance during Peter's coma fantasy of everyone that died in Coma Guy.
- Lesbian Jock: Mort's softball team for his pharmacy has only one female player, and it's assumed that she's a lesbian when a woman rooting for her in the stands yells encouragingly, "Get a hit, babe!" and the player knowingly responds, "You know it, babe!"
- Major Injury Underreaction: When Chris gets his face removed after being a stand-in for a dead guy who arranged to donate his face after his death, he merely tells Meg that he's frowning (though she can't tell).
- My God, What Have I Done?: Jerome has that kind of attitude when he accidentally kills Horace during the baseball game. this guilt drives him to take over as the bartender of the drunken clam.
- Oh, Crap!: Horace's reaction to seeing that Mort recruited Jerome.
- Pet the Dog: Peter assuring Jerome that he doesn't blame him for what happened and that Horace's death really was just an accident.
- The Power of Friendship: Joe bails on Peter and Quagmire because he's a cop and has a family to support. Almost immediately, though, he feels guilty about leaving his friends and is wistful about the bar, so he rejoins them.
- Prisoner's Last Meal: A Cutaway Gag is premised around a prison guard asking a Serial Killer what he wants for his last meal. The serial killer, hesitantly, only asks for a salad with the dressing on the side because he "had a big last lunch."
- Shout-Out: A drunken Peter recalls his many adventures, such as Maggie's first word, Mr. Plow, and Bart jumping Springfield Gorge.
- Status Quo Is God: Played with. The Drunken Clam remains open in the end, as it's bought by Jerome. He explains to Peter, Joe and Quagmire that since it was his fault that Horace died (even if it was just an accident), it's seemingly his responsibility to keep the bar open. He also says that as a former professional athlete, he's obligated to invest his earnings into a bar, restaurant or car dealership. Horace is still dead, though.
- Strictly Formula: In the teen party cutaway, Peter cites the '80s movies convention of a tomboy's Girliness Upgrade automatically overshadowing any other potential love interests.
- This Is Gonna Suck: Quagmire's reaction to Jerome being on Mort's team.
