The Tuskmon family host a stoop sale to get rid of some stuff, but as Tylor is having trouble letting go of his scaring mementos, a harsh secret is revealed. Meanwhile, Duncan tries to prove that Tylor is the leaky can saboteur, and Val tries to see if she has jokester talent.
This episode contains the following tropes:
- Broke the Rating Scale: Val sneaks into the laugh simulator to see if what she did last episode was a fluke. She makes the robot kid laugh so hard, he literally laughs his head off. Mike is quick to lampshade the situation.
- Continuity Nod:
- Fritz brings his jar of money he earned as the restroom attendant at the C.R.E.E.P. show.
- Tylor owns a Terry and Terri bobblehead from Monsters University memorializing their scaring career.
- The scare cards featured have many of the ones seen in Monsters University during the end credits, including Mike and Sulley's rookie card.
- Film Noir: Parodied. Duncan acts like he's in one of these (complete with a shift to black and white during his monologues) so he gather evidence that Tylor is the saboteur. He fails to find the Monsters, Inc. master key in Tylor's room.
- Foreshadowing: Duncan fixes the broken house phone by plugging it back in for Grandma Tuskmon, after she spent the episode complaining that she can't call the retirement home. But why would it be unplugged? It turns out that Bernard pulled the cord because he didn't want his mom calling the home and learning she wasn't kicked out.
- Heroic Sacrifice: Tylor gives up his scare card collection so his parents could make some money at the sale. He gets over a thousand dollars for it when the MIFT crew puts in bids.
- Instantly Proven Wrong: Duncan is convinced his disguise will prevent people from recognizing him, only for Cutter and Fritz to immediately greet him from across the street.
- Internal Reveal: Duncan learns about Tylor's meeting with Johnny.
- I Warned You: Grandma Tuskmon tells Bernard that she knew people were going to think a "Stoop Sale" sign was literally for the stoop.
- Lampshade Hanging: Mike muses why anyone would be at the company on the weekend, only to wonder why he and Sulley are at the plant on the weekend.
- Liar Revealed: It turns out Bernard pulled his mom out of the retirement home because the family was broke, not because the home kicked her out for being obnoxious.
- Likes Older Women: Played for Laughs. Duncan starts to develop a crush for Granda Tuskmon, even stealing a picture with her and her late husband and cutting a picture of his own head over it.
- Literal-Minded: At least two monsters believe that the "Stoop Sale" sign is actually for the stoop. Grandma Tuskmon laughs as she's proven right.
- My God, What Have I Done?: Tylor begins to feel immense guilt for turning down Johnny's offer when he learns that his family is barely scraping by.
- The Reveal:
- The Tuskmon's are actually broke.
- Grandma Tuskmon used to be a scarer before she got pregnant with Bernard.
- Right for the Wrong Reasons: Duncan suspects that Tylor is hiding something about Fear Co., but he thinks that it's because Tylor is sabotaging the cans, not because Tylor has been trying to hide Johnny's initial scarer job offer.
- Troll: Sulley pokes fun at Mike when he asks if Val is in the laugh class. When Mike says no, Sulley says it explains why she's so funny.
- Unwitting Instigator of Doom: Val walks into the laugh simulator to test if she really has a talent for making kids laugh. Mike and Sulley bear witness to it, but this has some drastic consequences for the next episode.
