After spending Christmas Eve filming auditions for Foot Doctor: The Musical, VPC decides they've had enough and resolve to stop producing videos. Mister Gandolfini arrives at midnight and gives them a grandfather clock as a Christmas present, and he tries to convince them to reconsider their choices before leaving.
Just as the gang is about to formally dissolve VPC, the ghost of Jenny, a former member of VPC appears to them, saying she gained access to them via Gandolfini's clock and says they'll be visited by their three ghosts of gigs past, present and future to convince them to reconsider their choices. These three "ghosts" turn out to be Joan from Krispy Kreme (who's actually in a coma), William Vanderchild (who appears to them in person), and Ryan's cursed doll Petunia.
Tropes in this episode include:
- All Cloth Unravels: Discussed. Micah says he once got crocheted pants from Gandolfini which got snagged on a hook and unraveled over the course of a mile while running errands.
- An Astral Projection, Not a Ghost:
- Joan from Krispy Kreme (and now Baskin Robbins) appears to VPC as the first "ghost of gigs past," though it turns out she's just in a coma.
- Subverted with the next "ghost", William Vanderchild. Micah wonders if he's dead or doing a Doctor Strange thing, but it turns out William is physically there.
- Audience? What Audience?: Ryan seems confused about Zona mentioning "next season" and wonders if Spring isn't coming.
- Back for the Finale: The three "ghosts" who appear to the VPC crew are Joan (from the first episode), William (from "Student Body President"), and Petunia (from "Cursed!").
- Bait-and-Switch: Petunia as the "ghost of gigs future" transports the crew to a graveyard with their headstones. Turns out the crew has become grave diggers and they got headstones as sign-on bonuses. However, it also turns out that future Ryan is actually dead due to the explosion of their gasoline-covered camera.
- Continuity Nod:
- Ryan's fascination with all presents is a characteristic first shown in "A Freelancers Christmas", where Ryan gets excited that Devin gives him an empty box.
- Gandolfini's poem for Zona says he doesn't care for her, which was first mentioned in "Love Match Supreme Part 2".
- The Cuckoolander Was Right: Turns out Micah's Bat Deduction about Ms. Gwen escaping to the border with illegal fireworks was right, though she does abandon her plans because of the impression VPC had on her.
- Death by Materialism: Jenny says she died because she was burning cash with a bunch of stockbrokers.
- Drinking Game: Micah hands out "Zona Rant Bingo" cards to the team when Zona starts ranting.
- Eskimos Aren't Real: Devin says that nobody can prove that New York exists. When Zona says it does exist, Devin says, "Sure, and so does Mars."
- Given Name Reveal: While talking to himself, Mr. Gandolfini reveals that his first name is Julian.
- His Name Is...: Subverted. Joan tells Zona that, in the event of her death, she has a vault filled with valuables, but purposely doesn't tell her the combination lock before leaving.
- Is This Thing Still On?: One of the pre-recorded messages Mr. Gandolfini's clock ends with, to his embarrassment, him saying "alright, now that I'm done recording I'm gonna go potty."
- Noodle Incident: Ryan says that one time he dropped their camera off a building and stopped a mugging.
- "The Reason You Suck" Speech: Zona's rant gives one to their lives working as VPC, saying the pay is never good and their videos never benefit or help anyone.
- Sequel Hook: Zona breaks the fourth wall to say that they're going to make their movie if the show has another season.
- Soundtrack Dissonance: Happy Christmas music plays while VPC destroys Gandolfini's clock, causing a demon to emerge and attack Owen.
- Take This Job and Shove It: VPC decides they've had enough and tries to unceremoniously stop producing videos.
- Throw the Dog a Bone: In The Stinger, VPC ultimately accepts Mr. Gandolfini's Christmas dinner invitation.
- Unperson: Owen has erased the VPC's former writer Jenny from all of their photos and tells others not to mention her.
- Vague Age: Joan wonders why everything in the flashback of VPC's first gig looks like it's from The '80s and asks how old they are. Devin replies that they'll never tell.
- Yet Another Christmas Carol: The "3 ghosts of gigs past, present, and future" visit VPC and teach them that their work is still meaningful even though their job sucks sometimes.
