When a rich friend wants to invest in the restaurant, Bob has to decide if change is really worth all the business.
Trope-Tiki/Con-Tiki:
- Boring, but Practical: Bob initially wants to use the money to upgrade his equipment and buy advertising.
- Both Sides Have a Point: There's logic to be seen in both Bob and Warren's viewpoints.
- On the one hand, Bob has a point in wanting to make standard upgrades to the restaurant and not rely on any gimmicks that may or may not work—despite the tiki theme's initial draw, there's no telling if it would have brought about any long-term success. Plus, it is Bob's restaurant, not Warren's, so even if everyone else likes the tiki theme the fact remains that Warren (however well-intentioned) installed the changes without Bob's knowledge or consent, and is pushing him to keep them. At the very least, Warren should've explained his idea to Bob first before he actually went through with anything.
- On the other hand, the tiki theme works, and it brings in a lot of business. Even if Bob wanted to eventually get rid of the tiki theme, he could have tolerated it for at least a little while to reap the benefits. Also Warren did invest in the restaurant so he did what he thought would get more customers.
- Conspicuous Consumption: To emphasize how much he likes Bob's burger in comparison to other things he's eaten, Warren says it's better than the $1,700 hamburger he once ate in Japan that had caviar in it, was covered in edible gold leaf and he got to eat it inside a hologram.
- Continuity Nod:
- Bob's old friend Warren Fitzgerald, who was first mentioned in "Carpe Museum", makes his first on-screen appearance.
- Gene indicates that he pees in rain boots.
- Distinction Without a Difference:
- When Tina asks if Warren is Bob's rich childhood friend, Louise shoots her down and clarifies that Warren is super rich.
- Warren's compliment to Bob's burger is the exact same as the fake compliment he had prepared in case he didn't like it ("This is a great burger"), despite making a big deal about there being a difference. When Bob points this out, Warren explains that it's different because he actually did like the burger.
- The Dog Bites Back: Bob rubs it in Mr. Dowling's face when Warren verifies that the check for $100,000 is legimate and Bob is its intended recipient, pointing at him and telling him to add "ha!" to his account notes.
- Egopolis: Gene names the nook of the living room he sleeps in New Geneland.
- Honor Before Reason: Despite it attracting customers, Bob wants them to come for his food, not the decor Warren gives the restaurant. So he tries to sabotage it.
- It's All About Me: Bob's at his most selfish in this episode. Not only is he hellbent on reverting the restaurant back to normal despite everyone else (including his own family) loving the tiki theme, but he outright goes behind Linda's back to return the check despite the two normally being extremely upfront with each other.
- Jerkass: Mr. Dowling quickly suspects Bob of stealing a check and calls Warren. He's unbelieving that anyone would willingly give Bob a check of $100,000 and assumes there's another explanation, like a head injury.
- Nice Guy: Rather than Bob's fond memories of him being wildly wrong, or him having changed in the years since high school, Warren Fitzgerald is as decent a guy as Bob remembers him being.
- Not So Above It All: Bob lets Gene watch TV at night because he's the king of New Geneland and when Gene lets Louise sleep there for a night, Bob hides the remote to enforce it.
- Old Friend: Warren Fitzgerald, who Bob met in high school. Tina met him once when she was really young, but Gene and Louise have not and actually thought he was just Bob's alter egonote .
- The Prankster: Bob and Louise team up to dump a cup of water on Warren while he's at the door. Bob mentions that he and Warren did this to each other all the time. Warren in turn gets them back by making them think they ruined a family heirloom in the process.
- Red Herring: The Belchers discuss who the cool leader was among Bob's (two-person) friend group. Bob (and everyone else) thinks it was Warren. Warren, however, thinks that it was Bob, and everything Warren did throughout the episode was because he thought Bob was living the dream and wanted in.
- Spit Take: Bob chokes on his beer when Warren explains just how much money he wants to invest in the restaurant.
- Status Quo Is God: Bob gives back the money to Warren at the end, returning the family to its usual level of limited funds.
- Take That!: This episode could serve as one to the fad of "tropical" themed restaurants like Rainforest Cafe that were all the rage in the late '90s/early 2000s.
- Technician Versus Performer: Bob's the technician to Warren's performer. Bob wants his restaurant to be a success because of his superior cooking and not because of a flashy theme where as Warren argues the theme is what helps entice customers into wanting to eat his burgers in the first place.
- They Changed It, Now It Sucks!: An In-Universe example. Everyone loves the tiki theme. Except Bob, who hates it and states that it doesn't matter what specific theme Warren would've picked, he still would've hated it.
- Your Approval Fills Me with Shame: Bob pretends to like the tiki theme, up until his arch-nemesis Jimmy Pesto offers him a backhanded compliment on the restaurant's new decor ("You're finally doing something right!"). That's when Bob decides to confront Warren about the changes.
