After watching a scary movie, Baby learns that there's a monster under the bed, but the rest of the family doesn't believe him. One night, Earl and Fran leave Robbie and Charlene in charge of babysitting, and the monster sends all three children underground. They learn that the monster lived in their location, before their house was built over his home. Baby comes up with a solution: Just move the house a little over from where it is.
Includes examples of
- An Aesop: That adults should believe what children tell them.
- Aesop Amnesia: After Fran tells Earl that that lesson is the stupidest thing she's heard, Earl asks Baby if he sees anything scary outside. The Baby sees a giant squash, none of the other Sinclairs bother to look out the window and Earl decides that he was wrong for learning to trust whatever kids tell them.
- Anti-Villain: The monster is trying to eat the kids, but he's shown to otherwise be a pretty reasonable, if somewhat grouchy guy. He actually did do the hard work of spending years getting a permit to dig up to the Sinclair home showing he's a perfectly law-abiding citizen otherwise. He's only after the kids out of revenge for their house being built right on top of his. Once Baby proposes simply moving the house out from over his, the monster agrees to it without any issues.
- A Truce While We Gawk: The police prepare to storm the monster's lair, when the news crew covering the story play a commercial for their sponsor, Fluff Candy. Everyone stops what they're doing to watch the commercial. Once the ad is over, they get back to it.
- Ax-Crazy: The police chief is completely nuts and itching for a firefight with the monster. Howard appears to want such a situation as well, and is dissapointed when it doesn’t come.
- Boring, but Practical: The monster spent eighteen years working on getting the permit to dig up to the Sinclair home.
- Both Sides Have a Point:
- Nobody's hands are clean in the dispute with the monster. Yes, the monster is trying to kill and eat the kids, but he is justified to be angry that the builders of the Sinclair home either didn't care or didn't check (or both) if somebody was living on the property already. That said, the kids had nothing to do with it since it happened before they were born. The police chief also simply escalates the situation out of being an adrenaline junkie.
- Even before the monster is revealed, it's not unreasonable for the family to believe Baby is just having nightmares. He did stay up late watching a scary movie which is not exactly productive for a child his age, and his behavior all week isn't inconsistent with his usual rambunctiousness. Even at the end of the episode, it's easy to dismiss him as having the simple overactive imagination and fears of a young child - and who really pegged a giant squash monster being real anyway?
- Cassandra Truth: Nobody believes that there is a monster under the baby's crib until it's too late.
- "Could Have Avoided This!" Plot: The monster's threat would've never happened if the builders had cared enough to see if somebody was already living on the property (provided they weren't just ignoring him as it's implied). The monster also could've saved himself over a decade of bureaucratic hell if he had simply gone to the Sinclair home to speak to them himself.
- File Photo Gag: During the newscast of the situation, a photo of the monster is shown, taken at the monster's graduation and has him smiling goofily.
- Here We Go Again!: the monster squash from the beginning makes a path towards the Sinclair house in the last shot.
- Hope Spot: Lampshaded. The police chief speaks to the monster and has him remember enjoying hot cocoa with his dad. Miraculously, it works and the monster is genuinely touched by the chief's apparent empathy. However, the chief then begins threatening the monster with death, ruining the attempt at peace.
- Hypocritical Humor: The monster is briefly able to be talked down by the police chief, who then flies off the handle and begins threatening him to escalate the crisis into a full-on battle. When he hangs up, the police chief complains the monster is "clearly unstable" and loads up on his guns.
- Kaiju: The movie baby watches at the beginning features a Mad Scientist creating a giant killer squash. The ending reveals that not only is the squash real, but the Sinclair's house is directly in its wake.
- O.O.C. Is Serious Business: Fran figures out something has happened to her children when she notices freshly made pizzas having been left untouched.
- Pintsized Powerhouse: The monster is short and squat and about a third of Robbie's height, but he effortlessly thrashes the boy after losing his temper.
- Police Are Useless: The police chief is completely nuts and itching for a firefight with the monster. All he does is antagonize the monster to the point that brute force will surely be needed to resolve the crisis.
- Punch-Clock Villain: When he's not threatening the children's lives, the monster is a normal, if grouchy guy who is content to live out his life without bothering anybody. The police chief also is a clearly unstable lunatic, but he accepts the peaceful resolution to the crisis since it'll get everybody home at a decent time.
- Real After All: It's not until Charlene is dragged into the basement that the episode reveals there really is a monster under Baby's bed.
- Stating the Simple Solution: Baby's solution to everyone's problems is to simply move the house just enough from the monster's.
- Take That!:
- The episode has a weary satire on the average American's bloodlust and eagerness to watch mind-numbing material on TV, whether it's corny advertisements like Fluff Candy or a gunfight like the cops try to instigate.
- It also satirizes bloodthirsty cops who do nothing to help the community and are just on the job for the adrenaline and to satisfy their bloodlust; and only escalate situations instead of resolving them.
- There's also a critique of the greed of corporate builders like the ones who built the Sinclair home and didn't check or care (or both) that somebody was already living there.
- Taking You with Me: The monster threatens that if the police storm his home, he'll take the kids with him.
- Would Hurt a Child: The monster tries to eat the Sinclair children.
