A Plot: When Lainey tries to teach Barry a relationship lesson, the situation morphs and Barry ends up going to school dressed like Boy George.
B Plot: Beverly shaves off Murray's new mustache, which represents his bond with Bill (and their shared love of Magnum, P.I.).
- Brick Joke:
- Randy the car salesman shows up early on when Bill is trying to look more like Magnum, as the car Bill shows off is just part of a test drive, and then again much later when Beverly is attempting to earn Murray's friendship while emulating Charlie's Angels.
- Midway through the episode, when trying to figure out how to apologize to Barry, Lainey considers writing to his hero Chuck Norris for advice. The episode ends with Adam giving Barry a (fake) letter from Norris.
- Heavy Sleeper: Pops comments on the absurdity of Murray remaining completely unconscious when Beverly completely shaves off his mustache overnight.
- Hypocritical Humor: Barry telling Bill that he can't pull off the Magnum look and looks ridiculous, while Barry himself is dressed as Boy George.
- Insecure Love Interest: Barry is willing to change anything and everything about himself in order to keep Lainey, which is how Erica easily convinces him that Lainey's crushing on Boy George and that Barry needs to emulate him to keep her.
- Love Triangle: Beverly loves her husband, but hates his (platonic) love with Bill, especially once Murray starts siding with him over her. She attempts to split them up and even tries to bond with Murray over guy things, but in the end, accepts that she can't replace Bill in Murray's life.
- Odd Friendship: The moral of the episode, as Erica states towards the end, is that sometimes two people just need each other, no matter how odd it may seem (which applies to both the Barry/Lainey relationship and the Murray/Bill friendship).
- Porn Stache: Murray and Bill both grow one to emulate Magnum, though Beverly shaves Murray's off in the middle of the night. A clip of real-life Adam's childhood shows that it was inspired by a 'stache the real Murray once had.
- Race for Your Love: Towards the end, Erica convinces Barry that Lainey is willing to stick with him no matter how badly he screws up, which leads to him running to her house in the rain. Beverly does a similar run when she realizes how important Bill is to Murray and needs to apologize, and actually beats Barry to their house. After they both get there, Bev's words lead to Bill racing to Murray...and Bev, Barry, and Lainey following because Bev was cooking lasagna back home.
- Springtime for Hitler: When Barry realizes the ruse and his feelings are hurt, Lainey attempts to apologize by publicly embarrassing herself with a rap song apology. However, her already-established popularity leads to everyone but Barry loving it, with some listeners even interpreting her lyrics as mocking Barry's dreams.
- Voiceover Letter: In The Tag, as Barry reads the letter that Adam claims is from Chuck Norris, Norris himself is narrating the letter, even when it turns out to be a fake Adam made to prank Barry that insults him and ends by calling him a "douchenozzle".
