'"Let me tell you something, Mac: there are far worse people at the Jersey Shore than the cast of the Jersey Shore!"
— Dennis
Dennis and Dee drag the the rest of the gang to the Jersey Shore in order to relive their fond childhood memories, only to discover that their favorite vacation spot isn't quite how they remembered it. While the twins come face to face with the dark side of the Shore, Mac and Frank get lost at sea and Charlie has a chance encounter with the Waitress.
This episode provides examples of the following tropes:
- Aw, Look! They Really Do Love Each Other: Dennis and Dee are actually pretty nice to each other throughout the episode as they both have fond childhood memories of the Shore. Dennis even refuses to make fun of Dee's braids after Mac and Charlie admit they were waiting for him to jump on it.Dennis: You see, Dee and I have some very fond memories of the Shore, and we're not gonna have you sullying those great memories with all your goddamn insults.
- Bait-and-Switch Comment: Mac's response when Frank goes to buy booze and comes back with the "rum ham".Frank: This is ham soaked in rum. It is loaded with booze.
Mac: Goddammit, Frank, eating your drinks? ...That is genius! - Beach Episode: A particularly dark take on one.
- Big Damn Heroes: The guidos show up in their party boat to rescue Frank and Mac when they're stranded in the middle of the ocean in a rapidly deflating dinghy.
- Boom, Headshot!: One of the junkies who kidnaps Dennis and Dee shoots a doctor in the head at one point.
- Brother–Sister Incest: Charlie Day in the commentary casually mentions that under the boardwalk was their (meaning the twins) first kiss.
- By the Hair: Dee gets one of her braids caught at the top of the drop tower that she and Dennis ride at the boardwalk, causing it to rip out a chunk of her scalp on the way down.
- Cassandra Truth: Mac doesn't believe Charlie's claims that he spent the night with the Waitress at the end of the episode.
- Cloudcuckoolander: Charlie's first reaction on seeing the sea is to ask what's on the other side, and then to wonder how long it would take to swim across.Dennis: Do not try and swim to Europe.
- Continuity Nod: Charlie once again has to be knocked out before he can leave Philadelphia.
- Deus ex Machina: Mac and Frank are not only rescued by a random, if lightly foreshadowed, yacht full of hard party types. But those same rescuers even manage to pluck their long lost "rum ham" out of the ocean hours later.
- Dr. Feelgood: One of the doctors at the hospital Dennis and Dee go to quite openly supplies drugs for their new junkie friend.
- Even Evil Has Standards:
- Charlie may be a Stalker with a Crush who refuses to take a hint, but he's appalled when the Waitress asks if he raped her while she was high on ecstasy.
- Dennis and Dee are both sadistic sexual predators but they're both terrified and cling to each other when they have to watch a doctor get kidnapped and shot in the head.
- Extreme Omnivore: Charlie drinks sunscreen after seeing Dennis and Dee use the empty bottles to hide their tequila.
- Global Ignorance: Charlie doesn't know what's on the other side of the Atlantic Ocean, and Dennis has to warn him that swimming to Europe is impossible.
- A Handful for an Eye: Dee throws sand at her and Dennis's kidnappers, allowing them to make their escape.
- I'm Standing Right Here: While waiting to be seen at the hospital, Dennis and Dee pass the time by making up a tragic backstory for the rather dowdy looking woman sat opposite them, only for her to point out that she can hear everything they're saying. She does admit that they're more or less on the money, however.
- Lost at Sea: Mac and Frank end up stranded in open ocean after getting wasted on rum ham and falling asleep in their dinghy.
- Lyrical Dissonance: Dennis and Dee tagging along with a group of criminals, witnessing a doctor get shot at point-blank range right in front of them and being forced to dig his grave at gunpoint — all scored by The Go-Gos' "Vacation".
- No Party Like a Donner Party: Referenced and played for laughs, when Frank starts planning for this eventuality almost immediately after he and Mac get stranded, culminating in him trying to stab Mac with a knife and accidentally puncturing their dinghy.Frank: There may come a time when difficult decisions must be made, and I'd rather be the one with the knife.
Mac: What difficult decisions? What are you talking about?
Frank: You know, like things you do to stay alive.
Mac: ...Are you talking about killing and eating me, Frank?! - Nostalgia Filter: Dennis and Dee view their childhood memories of the Shore through very rose-tinted glasses at the beginning of the episode, and have their illusions totally shattered by the end.
- Oh, Crap!: Mac when he wakes up in the dinghy and realizes that the beach is nowhere in sight.
- Off the Wagon: Charlie notes that the Waitress is well and truly off the wagon when she admits to being high on ecstasy.
- O.O.C. Is Serious Business: The Waitress is actually nice to Charlie when they bump into each other at the beach, and the two of them spend an enjoyable evening together. Turns out she was rolling on ecstasy the entire time, and is utterly horrified when she wakes up the next morning.
- Perspective Reversal: Dennis and Dee have their rose-tinted view of the Jersey Shore shattered by the end of their misadventures while the cynical Mac and Frank warm up to it after they have a great time partying with the guidos that Mac had previously maligned.
- Pun: When Frank and Mac are getting drunk on the rum ham:Mac: Might you say we're getting... hammered?
- Security Cling: Dennis and Dee spend most of their time with the junkie gang clinging to each other in sheer terror.
- Shirtless Scene: A good portion of the episode has Dennis and Dee wandering round topless. Also Frank and Mac when they're partying with guidos.
- Shout-Out: Frank and Mac losing the rum ham comes right out of Cast Away.
- Skewed Priorities: Frank totally fails to grasp the severity of the situation at first when he and Mac are adrift at sea, and only starts panicking once he realizes they've lost the rum ham.
- Smart Ball: For once, Mac gets to demonstrate his survival skills and thinking rationally under pressure when he and Frank are lost at sea.
- Squick: Dennis, Dee and Charlie's In-Universe reaction when they stumble on two homeless guys having sex under the boardwalk.
- Take That!: Ultimately subverted. Initially, Mac makes a few derisive comments about Jersey Shore. But once a group of guidos show up, they are largely portrayed as helpful and friendly, in comparison to the horrors of pretty much everything else about the Shore.Mac: I don't know why these guys get such a bad rap, they're pretty cool.
- Played straight with Jersey Shore the location, which is depicted as filled with garbage, used needles, crazy murderers, feral dogs, and gross old men having sex under the boardwalk.
- Throw the Dog a Bone: Charlie went scavenging random trinkets on the beach and the Waitress randomly shows up. In contrast to their normal relationship, she seems happy to see him and they spend the evening scavenging more things and watching fireworks together. The next morning it's revealed she was high on ecstasy, that's why she was acting differently and all that magic between them disappeared. But Charlie takes it well, seeing it as a summer fling.
- Trauma Conga Line: Dennis and Dee get the "happiest time of our lives" Nostalgia Filter of Jersey Shore completely broken, as Dee has to go to the hospital after getting part of her scalp ripped off, they accidentally get themselves kidnapped, are whacked out on Angel Dust, witness a robbery, Dennis has to drive with a gun to his head, see a guy get killed and are forced to dig his grave before they manage to escape.
- Vomit Indiscretion Shot: Dennis on the way down the drop tower.
- What Did I Do Last Night?: The Waitress initially asks if Charlie raped her because she can't remember anything due to the ecstasy.
- Yank the Dog's Chain: Subverted with Charlie. It seems like the Waitress has come around after their night together, but in the morning it turns out that she was only so nice to him because she was tripping on ecstasy. However, since her lack of interest has never deterred him before, Charlie doesn't care about that and just appreciates the night for what it was.
- You Are Fat: Dee to Mac at the end of the episode.Dee: Get in the goddamn car, you fat, fat ass! FAT, FAT ASS!
