Linda tries to connect with Tina when she chaperones her class to a hotel's heroine conference. Meanwhile, Gene and Louise throw a bachelor party for Bob when he admits to never having gotten one.
The Grand Mama-Pest Tropes:
- Aesop Amnesia: Linda doesn't seem to have remembered the last time she went overboard trying to bond with one of her daughters. Sure enough, this time goes about as well as that time did (read: not at all).
- Amazingly Embarrassing Parents: Linda's attempts at acting cool do not exactly endear herself to Tina and Dillon.
- Bait-and-Switch: It initially seems like Dillon is going to be cold to Tina, especially when Tina introduces herself in an incredibly awkward manner... then the two become good friends.
- Bland-Name Product: The Brewster Courtyard Gardens Hotel is a combination of the two hotel subsidiaries Courtyard by Marriott and Hilton Garden Inn.
- Bratty Teenage Daughter: When Linda sees a fellow mother having a tough time reconciling with her daughter, she fears that Tina may be going down the same path as well.
- Brutal Honesty: Tina does not sugarcoat how Linda heavily embarrassed her.
- Catapult Nightmare: After Linda's crazy nightmare about losing touch with Tina ends with her trapped in a giant scrapbook with Dillon's mom, Linda wakes up with a start, shouting about "scalloping scissors".
- Cringe Comedy: Linda taking the mic from Jocelyn and trying to get Bernadette Baker to change her answer to Tina's question is cringe incarnate.
- Description Cut: Bob's okay with his kids drawing on his face as long as it's tasteful. A cut reveals that curls to his mustache and "Boy Toy" were drawn on him as he's sleeping.
- Dumb Blonde: Even after it's made clear to the students that Linda is Tina's mother, when Tina comments that she's rooming with "someone married to [Tina's] dad", Jocelyn assumes Tina's talking about the bus driver.
- Face Doodling: Gene and Louise draw on Bob's face while he sleeps.
- Frothy Mugs of Water: Bob, Gene, Louise and Teddy down shots of apple juice at their "Dad-Chelor Party".
- Fun with Homophones: Bob and Louise both note how "heroine conference" sounds a lot like something else.Bob: That really isn't the best name.
- I'll Never Tell You What I'm Telling You!: At the hotel, Tina mentions that she's never seen so many girls her age together in one place. Tammy quips that it's because they don't tell her where they hang out, to which Jocelyn adds, "It's not the mall."
- Incoming Ham: The instant Louise goes to open the door...Teddy: BACHELOR PARTY!!!
- Incredibly Lame Fun: Linda's initial idea for a wild and crazy prank is just leaving an open can of soda in the hotel elevator.
- Ironic Echo: Done when Linda finds out she's banned from the hotel.Manager: She is no longer welcome here at the Brewster Courtyard Gardens Hotel.
Linda: But your motto is "You're always welcome at the Brewster Courtyard Gardens Hotel"!
Manager: Not you! Not anymore! - Jerkass to One: Dillon, a girl Tina meets at the hotel. She connects with Tina and is genuinely nice to her, but she's completely abrasive to her mother (which is fair, considering Dillon's mother is a My Beloved Smother to the extreme).
- Loose Lips: Louise accidentally admits that Linda puts Teddy's burger outside if the restaurant closes before he can get there. She justifies it by saying she puts it on a plate.
- Meta Sequel: Gene mentions a possible third Sex and the City movie.
- My Beloved Smother: Dillon's mother tries way too hard to bond with her. Linda does the same to Tina for fear that she'll end up like Dillon. Deconstructed when Linda's methods cause a falling out between her and Tina, with Dillon outright referring to Linda as a smother-mother.
- Noodle Incident:
- What did Gene and Louise draw on Bob's back while he slept?
- Tina implies that she once had a tarot card phase.
- Oh, Crap!: Linda when Mr. Frond catches her dumping shampoo into the water fountain.
- Oh, No... Not Again!: Jocelyn asks why Bernadette would want to go to space if everything's on Earth. Bernadette's exasperated reaction indicates she's heard this one before.
- One of the Boys: Louise is all hyped up for a boys' night out with Bob and Gene.
- Only Sane Man: When Linda plans to sneak back into the hotel to make amends with Tina, Bob points out that even if Linda weren't banned from the hotel Tina probably needs some time to herself without Linda's interference.
- O.O.C. Is Serious Business: Tina snaps at Linda when the latter's antics cause her to be banned from the hotel.
- Paper-Thin Disguise: Linda sneaks back into the hotel wearing a pair of sunglasses, a bandana and a bikini T-shirt that stretches down to her knees. The hotel manager still fails to recognize her afterwards and thinks it's a great costume when Mr. Frond spells it out at the end.
- Persona Non Grata: Linda gets banned from the hotel after Frond catches her dumping bottles of shampoo into the fountain.
- Poke the Poodle: Linda's initial pranks at the hotel include spelling out messages in fries and sending a can of soda for a ride in the elevator.
- Pop-Culture Pun Episode Title: To The Grand Budapest Hotel.
- Reasonable Authority Figure: Frond and the hotel staff don't punish Tina or Dillon for sneaking out of their room, understanding that Linda pressured them into doing it and making it clear that only Linda will be punished for the ensuing chaos.
- Sequel Episode: In a sense, this episode is one to "Mother Daughter Laser Razor". Both episodes feature Linda going overboard in trying to bond with one of her daughters, which goes extremely poorly and leads to a brief falling out, and also features the Belcher daughter finding common ground with a teen whose own mother is even worse than Linda in the My Beloved Smother department. The B-plot follows Bob, Gene, and the remaining daughter through their own day of well-intentioned but poorly-planned hijinks.
- Shout-Out:
- The exterminator's van is When a Stranger Crawls.
- One of the films the kids consider for movie night is Bachelor Party, which inspires the B-plot.
- Stag Party: Bob didn't actually have a bachelor party before his wedding, prompting Louise and Gene to throw him one. Despite their good intentions, it goes crazy. Even after the plan gets completely derailed by Linda's ban from the hotel, Bob and the kids both make reference to the bachelor party, complete with Bob calling Linda his fiancee to avoid confusing Bernadette.
- Suspiciously Specific Denial: When Tammy gloats about how nobody tells Tina where they hang out, Jocelyn adds that it's not the mall.
- Throw the Dog a Bone: Tina genuinely connects with Dillon, finally giving Tina a break from her luckless status when it comes to making friends.
- Toilet Humor: Tina is chosen to ask a question to Bernadette because she's the only one in the class whose question wasn't "How do you use the bathroom in space?" Although Linda's aside comment to Tina reveals they very nearly did use that question.
- Unwitting Instigator of Doom: Dillon's mom psyches Linda out by instilling the fear that Tina will automatically start drifting away from her, setting off the whole conflict between mother and daughter.
- What the Hell Is That Accent?: While in disguise, Linda uses a voice that makes her sound like Kermit the Frog.
