A Plot: Heavy winds blow the "F" and "E" from the "CAFE" sign on top of the Ruby. The F is located on Oscar and Emma's lawn, but the E remains missing, so Davis decides to make a replacement as a surprise.
B Plot: Wanda makes some demands as a gas station employee, but Brent denies her. Feeling disrespected, Wanda goes on strike, forcing Brent to hire Hank as a replacement.
C Plot: Karen judges the town jam contest and selects Fitzy's Grandma jam as the winner. This comes as a surprise to everyone, as Emma is the perennial winner of the contest. Emma goes into a funk, while Oscar gets angry at Karen for turning his wife into a "loser".
Tropes referenced:
- Anything You Can Do, I Can Do Better: In The Teaser, Oscar keeps trying to "top" Lacey's stories.Emma: Stop topping.
- Ask a Stupid Question...:Davis: [Revealing a big white F under a sheet] Is this your F?
Lacey: No. Of course it's my F! - Bad Boss: Brent was never an exceptional boss to Wanda to begin with, but he's downright mean to Hank during his scab work.
- Book Ends: The mother and daughter appear in The Teaser and The Tag, respectively, both times being offended by Lacey.
- Cannot Tell a Joke:Lacey: Maybe you should put out an "APB" on my "F 'n' E". [She snickers]
Davis: That's a lot of paperwork.
Lacey: That was just a little letter humour. - Creator Cameo: Norm Hiscock, the writer of the episode, plays the guy who accosts Lacey at the junkyard.
- Curse Cut Short:
- After Lacey's Innocently Insensitive moment below, the mother and daughter abruptly leave to look for another place to eat. Lacey then says "Aw sh—", but the opening credits cut her off.
- Also when Wanda changes her chant at Brent's suggestion:Wanda: "No more service! No more gas! While Brent sits around, scratching his—"
[Brent quickly steps on the gas bell to stop her.]
- Description Cut: Fitzy claims he can't judge the jam contest because he bit his tongue, but a cut shows he hurt his tongue sticking it in a running fan on a dare.
- Despair Event Horizon: Losing the jam contest seems to be one for Emma, who slips into a deep depression which causes her to break plates on purpose while doing the dishes, destroy her own garden, and vandalize the Ruby's wash room. The only thing that snaps her out of it is the reveal that Fitzy's Grandma copied her recipe to make the winning jam.
- Donut Mess with a Cop: Oscar scoffs at Karen being the judge of the jam contest and questions her qualifications.Oscar: What kind of experience do you have tasting jam?
Karen: I'm a cop! What do you think my donuts are filled with?
Oscar: Jelly!
Karen: ...Oh. Right. - Dramatic Curtain Toss: Played for Laughs. Davis admits he only put a sheet over Lacey's missing F for dramatic effect.
- Entertainingly Wrong:
- Paper Boy: Excuse me, are you the owner of this caf?
Lacey: [Dismissively] Look, I already told your manager I'm not gonna pay you until you learn how to throw a paper? 'K?
Paper Boy: No, I think I know where your E is.
Lacey: Oh! - Subverted by Hank:Wanda: I'm sick of being taken for granted. And I'm sick of my wobbly stool!
Hank: You should see Doc Russell about that.
Wanda: Hilarious.
Hank: No, I'm serious. He's also a carpenter. He makes stools.
- Everybody Calls Him "Barkeep": Karen is shocked to learn that "Helen Jensen" from the jam contest is Fitzy's Grandma, as everyone just knows her as Fitzy's Grandma.
- Failed Dramatic Exit: When Lacey sees the "E" that Davis made her, she mistakes it for her original E, insults Davis for hiding it from her, and attempts to take it and storm off...but it's too large to handle on her own, so she asks Davis to help.
- Innocently Insensitive: Oscar's "Get the F off my lawn!" and Lacey's "I'm looking for my F 'n' E!" are mistaken for swears by a mother and daughter.
- Laser-Guided Karma: After wrongly calling Davis a thief and then convincing him to set up the "E" he made without admitting her own mistake, The Tag shows that the new E is too small and Lacey has to root around in a dump for the original.
- Last-Second Word Swap: Done intentionally by Oscar on Lacey and Karen to stop them from saying the word "jam" in front of Emma.
- Never My Fault: When Davis constructs a new "E" for Lacey's sign, Lacey mistakes it for the original and berates Davis for hiding it. When she learns the truth later, she tells Davis that he doesn't need to apologize for the earlier confusion.
- Sesquipedalian Loquaciousness: Wanda's chant when she goes on strike:Wanda: Restitution! Remuneration! I demand indemnification!
Brent: Wow! You do a lot of crosswords, huh? - Shout-Out: Emma's scrawling of "BAD JAM" on the fence is a reference to "RED RUM" from The Shining. Oscar sees it and exclaims "Oh my God. I've married Cujo!"
- Stealth Hi/Bye: Davis pulls one on Lacey, then later Lacey pulls one on Davis, both in Davis's garage.
- Strike Episode: For Wanda.
- Title Drop: By Oscar when he sees the kids in the page image above.
