Hank gets bullied by a boy named Caleb, but when he tells his parents this, they don't see the problem. Meanwhile, Dale and Peggy enter a taxidermy competition.
Tropes
- Bait-and-Switch: Towards the end of the episode, after Hank has exhausted all reasonable means to get Caleb to back off, he approaches his son Bobby (who's close to Caleb's age), to help him rectify the situation, by doing something Hank always told him was wrong. It appears that Hank is going to tell Bobby to beat Caleb up, but it turns out that he just wants Bobby to treat Caleb's parents like Caleb's been treating Hank- acting bratty.
- Belated Child Discipline: After Hank gets Bobby to give Jim and Lila a taste of what Caleb puts Hank through, they decide to start punishing him.
- Bittersweet Ending: Caleb finally gets told by his parents to knock it off and stop bothering Hank, with Jim and Lila realizing they need to stop being hands-off and start disciplining their son. Meanwhile, Peggy and Dale re-create the Declaration of Independence using their taxidermied squirrels, only for the whole thing to burst into flames and cut power to the building when Peggy shows what happens when "Ben Franklin's" kite gets hit by lighting.
- The Bully: Caleb.
- Double Standard: Violence, Child on Adult: Hank is constantly harassed by Caleb, who goes so far as to destroy Hank's lawn with his bike. When Hank actually retaliates and takes the bike, he gets the police called on him, who don't believe that Caleb is out of control and that his parents are enabling him.
- Everyone Has Standards: Losing patience with Caleb, Hank goes to a group of teenagers in the hopes they'll scare him into leaving him alone. When they imply they intend to do bodily harm to Caleb, Hank drops the idea altogether.
- Hands-Off Parenting: Caleb's see-no-evil parents outright refuse to discipline their son in spite of mounting evidence that he's a horrible, insufferable brat, constantly writing his actions off as that of a child prodigy in the making. Naturally, Hank - who belongs to the "love your children, but discipline them when you need to" school of parenting - is less than impressed.
- Hard Truth Aesop: It's hard punishing your kids as a parent, but sometimes it's the only way for them to realize what they did was wrong. You can't be hands-off and let them do whatever they want, as Caleb's parents show; if you do, they'll think they can. By the episode's end, it seems Jim and Lila finally get this and will be more strict with their son.
- Hate Sink: Caleb is a bratty boy who torments Hank by sneaking into his workshop, calling him names, and riding his bike on Hank's lawn.
- Ignored Epiphany: When Hank uses the same excuses that Caleb's parents use on them, they do realize what Hank is trying to do, but instead of finally understanding what Hank is going through, they just keep excusing Caleb's behavior. It is subverted shortly later when they finally discipline Caleb for his rude behavior, albeit under threat of being squirted with some unidentified brown liquid by Bobby otherwise.
- Laser-Guided Karma: By the end of the episode, Hank is finally able to convince Caleb's parents to discipline him and get him to leave him alone by getting Bobby to act to them the way they let Caleb act towards him. When Caleb ignores his dad asking him to stop riding his bike on Hank's lawn, his dad snaps at him to get off the grass, scaring Caleb, and presumably ensuring his parents won't let him act this way anymore.
- Mama Didn't Raise No Criminal: Caleb's parents laugh off any complaints of his bratty behavior, stating that it's his way of "testing" people and making friends. Only at the end of the episode do they see the annoying little bug he's been.
- Moral Myopia: Hank is continuously harassed and taunted by Caleb, but Caleb's parents take no disciplinary action and instead write off their son's behavior as creativity and his way of expressing friendship. Then Hank asks Bobby to deliberately cause trouble for them by imitating their son's behavior as Hank gives the same excuses for Bobby's behavior, and all of a sudden, they find such behavior unacceptable.
- Oh, Crap!: Caleb's expression when his dad yells at him to get off Hank's grass.
- One-Shot Character: Caleb and his parents aren't seen again after this episode.
- Police Are Useless: Unsurprisingly, the police immediately side with Caleb's parents when demanding the bike back, and give Hank zero sympathy to the fact that he's being bullied by a child.
- Riddle for the Ages: Just what was the brown liquid Bobby filled his squirt gun with and threatened to use on Caleb's parents?
- Assuming it's feces, where did it come from?
- Keep in mind the episode's B-plot involved Dale and Peggy collecting dead animals and discarding their entrails...
- Spoiled Brat: Caleb hands down. The reason he gets away with torturing Hank is because his parents think he's a playful little angel that can do no wrong, and let him run amuck as he pleases. It takes Bobby threatening to soak them in some unidentified brown liquid to put their foot down on their son's antics.
- A Taste of Their Own Medicine: Hank gets Bobby to act the same way as Caleb around Caleb's parents. After a day of the same treatment, Caleb's parents finally decide to punish their son.
