Stan hates that Francine says I Told You So a lot in response to a lot of his fuckups. His boss Bullock starts assigning extra work to everyone, so Stan wonders if setting him up on a blind date with Francine's best friend Melinda would help. Francine tries dissuading him, saying it's a bad idea. She's proven right when Bullock kills Melinda by accident. Rather than hear Francine say I Told You So, Stan schemes to frame Francine for Melinda's death. But he may have preferred to hear those words after Francine leaves for India on a Redemption Quest, forcing Stan to be a single parent.
Tropes for this episode include:
- Armor-Piercing Question: Francine asks a series of these to Stan, finishing with, "DO YOU KNOW HOW MUCH YOU'VE SCREWED UP MY LIFE?!" All Stan can do is give a meek apology.
- Be Careful What You Wish For: The episode ends with Stan getting Bullock off his subordinates' back by having him adopt Sanjit, and Francine never tells him I Told You So. It also ends with Francine reading him the riot act and not forgiving Stan for his actions.
- Brick Joke: Stan proposes a way of assassinating someone by hiring a little person, hiding them in the airbag of a car, and then strangling the target. Bullock dismisses this by saying it's dumb, but later uses this to try to kill Francine. Stan is impressed that Bullock actually used his idea.
- Can't Take Criticism: Stan. He gaslights Francine into believing she killed Melinda and lets her flee to India just so he won't have to hear her say, "I told you so."
- Chekhov's Gun: A man is seen throughout the episode delivering menus for a Thai restaurant. Francine notices one of them at Melinda's place as a sign that she hasn't been home lately. Stan then takes out one of the menus so that the family will have food when he goes to India to get Francine back
- Damn You, Muscle Memory!: Bullock blames his CIA-honed reflexes for why he snapped Melinda's neck as she snuck up behind him to give a shoulder rub.
- Death of a Child: One of the malnourished Indian kids Francine is teaching gets carried off by a wolf.
- Disproportionate Restitution: Stan thinks that admitting to what really happened and saying he's sorry will make Francine forgive him and everything will go back to normal. He's wrong.
- Dramatic Thunder: One of these happens when Stan declares that Francine won't say "I told you so" as God is his witness. Both he and Klaus are unsettled by the timing, as it's not raining at all.
- Easily Forgiven: Subverted. Stan does not get off easy after confessing his crime to Francine. Even at the end of the episode, she still refuses to speak to him.
- Ethnic Menial Labor: Francine teaches the Indian children English phrases that they'll need to survive, one of which is "Thank you for calling Apple tech support."
- Exact Words: With Francine getting close to calling the police about Melinda's disappearance, Bullock assures Stan that he'll throw her off the trail. Said method of doing so is trying to kill her.
- Flat "What": This is Francine's first reaction when Stan confesses to her.
- Gaslighting: Stan initially tells Francine that she and Melinda had a big fight, which she doesn't remember at all and finds to be out of character for both of them. When this doesn't work, and she becomes concerned about her disappearance, he convinces her that she murdered Melinda while she was blackout drunk, which is why she doesn't remember doing it.
- Hypocritical Humor: Bullock calls Stan's assassination idea "the stupidest idea I've ever heard", yet uses the idea later anyway.
- Insane Troll Logic: Stan somehow thinks that gaslighting Francine into thinking she killed Melinda, severely traumatizing her in the process, is much better off than being called out on his mistake. Needless to say, Francine is not amused when she finds out the truth.
- I Warned You: Or rather, "I told you so." Stan hates it when Francine says this to him.
- Noodle Incident: We see the aftermath of the four instances in which Francine said "I told you so," but no other details as to how they actually happened.
- He drove a London double-decker bus into the house.
- He set the pool on fire.
- He lost a game of chess to a chicken.
- He killed two young men by putting bungee cords around their necks instead of their ankles.
- Police Are Useless: After Roger does a hit-and-run in his Kevin Bacon disguise, the real Kevin Bacon is arrested minutes later despite having been on the other side of the country.Kevin Bacon: I don't think I did it, but (cries) it's clearly me on the tape.
- Skewed Priorities:
- After Bullock murders Melinda, he is at least momentarily remorseful that he ended a life in its prime. However, Stan is more concerned that Francine now has reason to say "I told you so."
- Even as Francine is getting suspicious about Melinda's disappearance, Bullock asks Stan if she has any other single friends because he's really horny now.
- Status Quo Is God: Downplayed; Francine does agree to come back with Stan to the United States after he has Bullock adopt Sanjit, but she does not forgive him. Nor should she. They are cool in the next episode without any explanation.
- Stupidest Thing I've Ever Heard: Bullock says this word-for-word when Stan proposes his "midget assassin" idea.
- Tempting Fate: Stan assumes that when he comes clean to Francine that they'll go home, laugh about it, and all is forgiven. Instead, she screams, "YOU BASTARD!" and punches him in the face.
- Thousand-Yard Stare: Francine has a perpetual one when teaching English to Indian children in a village. It fades into anger when Stan confesses.
- What the Hell, Hero?: Francine punches Stan in the face when he confesses his reasons for the Zany Scheme and expects they are cool now. She's been wracked with the guilt of thinking she killed her best friend, prayed to Ganesha while still being Christian, got ill from diarrhea and food poisoning, and adopted an Indian baby. A little "I'm sorry" is not going to fix all that. The episode ends with her still furious at him.
- Writers Cannot Do Math: Subverted. After thinking she's killed her friend, Francine leaves and says there's six months worth of casserole in the freezer. Cut to an indeterminate amount of time later.Steve: I miss mom.Hayley: Me too. But I sure don't miss her six month supply of casserole. Man, I'm glad we finally finished those.Steve: I just wish dad hadn't added all those noodles to make them last twice as long.Klaus: Well what choice did he have? Freezer burn ruined 90% of them.Roger: Wait, wait, wait a minute, I can do this. Six divided by...carry the noodle...it's two months later![ONE MONTH LATER]
