Things are not okey dokey ☹️
Mario's stuck in the middle of a mid-life crisis; running a pizza store is, after all, a stressful job. The pressure causes him to abandon ship and refuse to man the shop. When SMG4 learns of the mess, he and Mario's other friends try to snap him out of his funk.
- An Aesop: It's important to keep your mental health in mind when going into a job, especially if it's one you love.
- Achievements in Ignorance: It's not fully confirmed until later in "You Made Mario Do This", but Mario ended up creating two sentient life forms by drawing OCs of him and Luigi.
- The Bus Came Back: Shy Gourmand (a.k.a "Fat Shyguy") makes his first appearance since the "Smash or Pass" video.
- Call-Back: SMG3 reminds us he is a licensed psychologist, something that hadn't come up since at least 2020. SMG4 uses this to get Mario to talk. We also get flashbacks to his old show, complete with his original Mario-like character design.
- The Cameo: Obama is shown in a flashback to be one of Mario's first customers. Also, Isabelle in a background shot. Neither had appeared in some time.
- Didn't Think This Through: Mario thought owning a pizza shop meant eating all the pizza he could want. Instead, he quickly learned it meant having to sell away his delicious spaghetti pizza "children".
- Distracted by the Sexy: Literally. The various Mario enemies who had been torturing Luigi react this way to Mario's OC "Marty" and conclude they can't possibly be mad at someone so sexy, while Mario sets Luigi free.
- Epic Fail: Meggy tries to motivate Mario, even using her "ultimate technique" (turning into Shia Labeouf and screaming "JUST DO IT!!"), but it has zero effect.SMG4: "This… is kinda sad."
- Funny Background Event: At one point during his torture, Buff-Isabelle tries to hit a piñata-fied Luigi.
- Go Mad from the Revelation: When Luigi explains to Mario what running a business is like, Mario – already in a delicate state at best – snaps, rips off all his clothes except his boxers, and runs off screaming.
- I Lied: SMG4 convinces SMG3 to return to the Showgrounds by telling him via Meme Guardian psychic link that Jack Black is signing autographs. SMG3 is not happy about the deception but agrees to help Mario anyway.
- Major Injury Underreaction: Mario screams at Luigi so loudly that the force rips Luigi's skin off. His skeleton is unperturbed, grabs his outer "shell", and re-merges with it while holding a conversation with Mario. Later, he survives an attempted Disruption (dismemberment by yanking off arms and legs) and spends the rest of the episode with comically stretched limbs.
- Mistaken for Servant: After Mario abandons his pizza parlor, the patrons demand Luigi serve them. He politely tells them he doesn't work there… but Mario's chef hat landed on Luigi's head, and the torture begins.
- Never Trust a Title: Zig-zagged. The title is lying but very upfront about it – Mario is shown crying while wearing a smiling mask to cover his face on the thumbnail, which gives you a clear heads-up of what to expect from the episode.
- Offscreen Teleportation: Twice in the episode, SMG3 gets startled by several Glitchy members appearing out of nowhere. The first time, he bumps into Meggy, who is somehow in front of him. The second time, Bob and Boopkins pop up behind him, startling SMG3.
- "The Reason You Suck" Speech: SMG4 gets to narrate the introduction to Doctor SMG3 and uses it to rip Mario a new one.SMG4: (narrating) "Lazy Fat Italian Man Gone Wild! He started his own pizza shop, then realized it involved actual labour! So he had a mental breakdown and is now a lazy loser. Such a stupid, lazy, dumb, ugly, stinky—"
Mario: "Hey!" - Shockingly Expensive Bill: SMG3 charges Mario $999,000 for his services, saying Eggdog will settle up with Mario later. Eggdog is in the background holding a sign that reads, "GIB MONEY PLZ".
- Shout-Out: To Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers as Meggy goes into "Coach Mode". She even pulls out the show's transformation bracelet as she says its iconic catchphrase.
- Spoof Aesop: All you need to solve your mental health problems is to draw an OC of yourself.
