Maxwell wants to send Maggie to a convent in Switzerland. Fran accidentally convinces the Sheffields that Maggie should go to a kibbutz
in Israel instead, but then Fran remembers something about her own time on a kibbutz back in the day.
- As Long as It Sounds Foreign: In one of the Flashbacks, an Israeli guy asks Fran what's going on in Hebrew, and she says "Yeah, bagel, bagel, shalom, bagel."
- Commune: The kibbutz, of course.Maggie: A kibbutz? Is that like one of those communes in The '60s?
Fran: Well, sort of, except the only thing we smoked was fish. - Continuity Nod: In "My Fair Nanny", Fran had said that she'd gone through a cornrow period after seeing 10 (1979). Here, we see that was the case.
- Gilligan Cut:Maxwell: Margaret is not going to the kibbutz, and that is final!
[cut to the whole family on the kibbutz]
Maxwell: I have to hand it to you, Miss Fine, this was a brilliant solution to everyone's problem. - It Will Never Catch On: A series of them in the first flashback: frozen yogurt, Cats (of course), Steven Spielberg, Michael Milken, and Fran still being single when she's over thirty. There's also a This Is Going to Be Huge joke regarding Christopher Atkins's post-Blue Lagoon career.
- I Was Quite a Fashion Victim: In the flashbacks, everyone is wearing the most grotesque parodies of late '70s fashion.
- Locked Away in a Monastery: Maxwell's original plan for how Maggie will be spending winter break.
- Make-Out Kids: Maggie and her boyfriend, much to her father's horror.
- Nostalgia Filter: Fran remembers having the time of her life on the kibbutz, but was actually bored out of her mind. It turns out she remembers the overall experience fondly because she lost her virginity there.
- Popular History: In typical sitcom fashion, the flashbacks randomly mix together various elements of The '70s and the very early part of The '80s. The Blue Lagoon has come out, so it's no earlier than 1980. But at the same time, it can't be any later than 1975 because Steven Spielberg isn't famous yet. (But if you ignore the Spielberg and Milken jokes, as well as the appearance of The Virginia Graham Show, the setting basically works out to circa 1980, which is consistent with Fran's age...whatever it is.)
- Primal Scene: Fran walks in on her parents having sex:Sylvia: Would it kill you to knock before you enter a person's bedroom?
Fran: Ma, I'm sorry. I hear sounds of ecstasy coming from your room, I figure you're eating a cheesecake. - The Scrooge: Throughout the episode, Niles is mocked for being cheap:C.C.: Where do you stash your cash?
Niles: Somewhere you'll never get near.
C.C.: Oh, your mattress?
Niles: No. [gestures to Maxwell] His. - Strange Minds Think Alike: By pure coincidence, Niles and C.C. end up vacationing on the same island.
- Take a Third Option: Initially Maggie wants to go on a beach vacation, then switches to wanting to go on a kibbutz. Max has something more medieval in mind. Solution? The whole family goes on kibbutz.
- Unusual Euphemism: Fran lost her "hat" on the kibbutz.Maxwell: I take it you were very attached to this hat.
Fran: Well, not as much as my mother was.
