Recap / Corner Gas S 3 E 15 Block Party

A Plot: Dog River is celebrating its centennial by running an anniversary contest. Hank decides to participate by making a scale model of the town out of LEGO, which is actually quite good. However, Hank drains the town dry of Lego blocks and is forced into drastic measures to make his masterpiece perfect.

B Plot: Karen reveals that she once competed in a particular sport at a national level, and placed within the Top 5, but is too embarrassed to say what sport it was. She becomes a bit of a laughingstock (especially to Lacey) when she is forced to admit it was static apnea, a.k.a. holding your breath underwater. The town comes around, however, when it finally sinks in just how good Karen was, and everyone tries to coax her into a demonstration.

C Plot: Wanda claims she doesn't want anyone to make a big deal about her birthday, but when they actually don't, she takes matters into her own hands.

Tropes Referenced:

• Bait-and-Switch Comment:
  Emma: If people make a fuss over you, it just shows they care.
  Wanda: That's sweet of you.
  Emma: Oh, I don't care, but others might.
• Birthday Hater: Subverted. Wanda continuously rants about hating birthdays and demands that nobody throw her a big surprise party, but then feels unloved when people actually listen to her and don't throw her one. She ends up throwing her own and pretending that she was surprised, while still insisting that she "hates this stuff".
• Brand X: Averted. The Lego name is used several times.
• Cannot Convey Sarcasm: Lampshaded.
  Davis: Hey, the provincial horseshoe champ's coming to this thing. Nice celeb.
  Karen: Are you really excited, or are you being sarcastic?
  Davis: I don't know. Give me some time.
• Captain Obvious:
  Brent: She can hold her breath for like six minutes. That's over five minutes. That's almost seven minutes!
• Description Cut:
  • While discussing the renaming of Main Street to "Centennial Street" in honour of Dog River's 100th anniversary:
    Emma: The point is, every town has a Main Street. No one really cares if we change it.
    [100 years ago]
    Mayor: And so today, we dedicate the town's biggest street to Dog River's founder, Harold Main. [unveils Main Street sign] Your name will live in this town forever.
    [Present day]
    Lacey: Ah, you're right. Who cares?
  • Later in the episode, after Hank burns down a shed to maintain the accuracy of his Lego model of Dog River:
    Hank: It's just a shed. No one's gonna miss it.
    [100 years ago]
    Harold Main: [putting the finishing touches on a building] The first structure of the new town!
    [The camera pans out, showing he's talking about the shed.]
    Harold Main: [proudly] Someday a fine community will grow from this shed.
    [Present day]
    Brent: [smiling] Yeah, you're right. Stupid shed.
    Hank: Hate that shed!
• Dissimile:
  Brent: I like "juggernaut". It's like an astronaut, only with jugs.
• Double-Meaning Title: The centennial celebration is a "block party", and the title doubles as a reference to the Lego blocks.
• Every Man Has His Price: Davis finally convinces Karen to demonstrate her static apnea by bribing her with cash.
  Brent: How'd you talk her into it?
  Davis: Money. She finally went pro!
• Immediate Self-Contradiction:
  Oscar: She's been keeping it secret. But I got the inside scoop.
  Brent: What sport?
  Oscar: I don't know.
  Brent: When did she quit?
  Oscar: Not sure.
  Brent: Yeah, you've really got your ear to the ground.
• Insistent Terminology: Brent explains that they aren't "Lego blocks", but "Lego bricks" because they have "nubs" on them. Even he seems confused by it, though.
  Brent: My nubby brick-blocks!
• Kaiju: Brent pretends his hand is one — appropriately named "Handzilla" — that has come to wreck Hank's Lego model of Dog River.
• Manchild: In a subtle gag that's fairly easy to miss, when Brent complains about Emma giving his Legos to Hank without his permission, she tells him, "You haven't played with those things in months."
• Medium-Shift Gag: Hank has Legos on his brain so much that he has a dream sequence where the gas station and characters are all in Lego form.
• Milestone Birthday Angst: The town's centennial party has Wanda complaining about the arbitrariness of milestone celebrations, cluing everyone in to the fact that her 40th birthday is upcoming. Wanda repeatedly tells everyone not to throw her a party, even when it's clear that no one is even considering the idea. Ultimately subverted, because it seems she was only telling everyone not to throw her a party because she'd already planned her own "surprise" party for herself so it would go exactly how she wanted.
• Mundane Made Awesome: Everyone initially laughs off Karen's static apnea career as it is "just" holding your breath underwater, but after everyone goes through a montage of In-Universe Fridge Logic, everyone realizes competitive level static apnea is actually pretty impressive and really want to see her do it.
• Old Shame: Karen sees her static apnea career as this, refusing to tell people about it.
• Pun: All of the air and water jokes to make fun of Karen. Lacey gets so into it she starts using them when Karen's not around.
• Serious Business: Hank insists that his Lego scale model of Dog River be accurate to the last detail. After it's complete, Brent points out that the shed behind the town hall is missing. Since Hank doesn't have enough Legos left to build a model of the shed, he burns down the actual shed rather than suffer the inaccuracy.
  Brent: Maybe you can build a shed out of Tinkertoys.
  Hank: [angrily] Tinkertoys?! What planet are you from?!
• "Shaggy Dog" Story: After all the work Hank put into making his Lego model of Dog River perfect down to the last detail, nobody even saw it. Just as Hank was about to take the covering off and show it to everyone, they all ran off to go watch Karen's static apnea instead.
• Shout-Out: When providing an example of partners who don't keep secrets from each other, Davis references Batman and Robin.
  Karen: Are you saying if we're Batman and Robin, I'm Batman?
  Davis: Dream on. I'm Batman.
  Karen: But you just said Batman doesn't keep secrets, and I was keeping a secret, so...
  Davis: What goes for Batman goes for Robin. Try and keep up.
• Stealth Insult:
  Hank: Man, all the good stuff's been done.
  Brent: Well, if all the good stuff's been done, that kinda leaves your niche wide open.
  Hank: Yeah. Thanks, Brent. Always there to pick me up.