Stewie starts hitting the gym with Peter after Joe's infant daughter beats him; Chris starts to date Connie D'Amico (who only goes out with him to mold him into a popular kid).
This episode contains examples of:
- Armoured Closet Gay: One of the jocks in Connie D'Amico's gang bullies "gay nerds" with each taunt sounding more and more homoerotic until finally he stands up and shouts at the high school pep rally, "I'm gay, alright!?".
- Ambiguously Bi:
- Lois' bisexuality is presented when she appears aroused while rubbing sunscreen on Bonnie.
- Meg is also hinted as being a lesbian or bisexual, when she asks Connie if she can think about her in the tub later, somewhat contradicting her faux-lesbianism in "Brian Sings and Swings".
- Beg the Dog: Connie tries to turn Chris into one of the popular clique, only for it to backfire onto her when he surpasses her and becomes a Jerk Jock. When Connie asks Meg for help dealing with him, she expectedly reads her the riot act for all the crap she's given her, which Connie can't even remember. Meg ultimately only helps her because Chris' behaviour annoys her as well.
- Bowdlerization: The following scenes were changed between the TV version and the DVD version:
- When Peter shows off the new, buff Stewie, Peter refers to Suzie (Joe's baby) as a "lesbo" in the TV version. On DVD, he calls her a "little dyke".
- Peter and Brian at Chris' popular kids party: On the TV version of Peter leering at Connie, he comments, "Look at the shape of that body", which turns out to be a clue in finding One-Eyed Willie's gold. On the DVD version, Peter instead says, "I'll bet she's so tight, you'd have to call the city to get inside."
- The sequence of Chris' humiliating video (mimicking the famous scene of Buffalo Bill from Silence of the Lambs) was changed between the TV and DVD version. "Would you fuck me? I'd fuck me. I'd fuck me so hard" had "fuck" changed to "do" and Chris's gut was digitally added in the TV version to cover up his crotch.
- Bread, Eggs, Milk, Squick: Three examples in Peter's speech about how does he know baby Susie Swanson could be a lesbian. He claims that Susie Swanson is a lesbian because she has a short haircut, stubby legs and doesn't respond to his advances.Peter: Let's see that little dykenote Susie Swanson beat him up now.Brian: Wait a minute. How do you know she's gay?Peter: Short haircut. Stubby legs. Doesn't respond to my advances.
- Breaking the Fourth Wall: Peter breaks the fourth wall when he says "What are you lookin' at? It's a cartoon!"
- Bring My Brown Pants: Stewie accidentally craps his pants while attempting to lift weights.
- Butch Lesbian: Peter believes Susie Swanson is this after seeing her beat up Stewie for taking her Barbie. He also notes that Susie has a stereotypical short haircut and stubby legs for a lesbian.
- But for Me, It Was Tuesday: When Connie decides she and Meg must work together to get payback at Chris, Meg rightfully points out she’s in no obligation to help her after Connie bullied her for years. Yet Connie is in denial over her wrongdoings and replies “What are you talking about?”
- Dirty Old Man: Peter is this toward the teenage Connie as he openly lusts after her and he asks her if she's going to "shower before dessert". Then he lays on top of her and snaps at the audience with, "Whaddaya lookin' at? It's a cartoon!". He also claims to have made lewd advances toward Susie Swanson (Joe and Bonnie's baby) in his attempt to prove her straight instead of lesbian.
- Enemy Mine: After Chris kicks Connie out of the popular clique, she asks Meg, her favorite punching bag, to help her in taking Chris down and rejoining the cool clique. Meg then shows Connie the self harm scars on her arm for every big bullying incident Connie made her go through, tells her that she will in no way help her, and finally yells at Connie to "fuck off!" Right after that, Meg gets impaled by a javelin, and when Chris starts making fun of her, it prompts Meg to tell Connie "oh, he's going down."
- Even the Girls Want Her: Meg is implied to have a crush on Connie, despite how awful she is.
- Faking the Dead: It is revealed that Joe's son, Kevin Swanson has been killed in Iraq, although it turns out he was Missing in Action and returns in "Thanksgiving".
- Flight: Stewie briefly flies after his muscles sag due to his steroids wearing off and he jumps out the window to escape Brian (whom Stewie had tormented earlier in the episode).
- Forgotten First Meeting: Lois should know who Connie D'Amico is, since she helped Meg get revenge on her on the episode, "And the Weiner Is..."
- Intimate Lotion Application: Lois rubs sunscreen on Bonnie at a garden party after Bonnie requests it. Bonnie doesn't wear a bra and clearly enjoys Lois' rubbing until Lois' hands stray a little bit too down to Bonnie's panty. While this is happening, the pervy Quagmire cuts a hole in the fence to peep.
- Ironic Echo: "There's a toll in the hall now."
- Kick the Dog: Lois does the worst as a parent when she loses patience with Meg after comforting her and leaves her a Sylvia Plath book and a bottle of pills and leaves the room, citing "Whatever happens, happens." She also packs Meg's lunch bag with Chris's sandwich crusts, an orange peel, and a picture of herself eating a turkey leg to taunt Meg.
- Love Father, Love Son: As of this episode, all of the Griffin men have achieved popularity at James Woods Regional High School and have dated the school's popular girl, Connie D'Amico. Peter, under the guise of Lando Griffin, had done so in "Let's Go to the Hop", and Stewie under the guise of Zack Sawyer in "[McStroke]". Chris, however is the only one to maintain his identity after his makeover.
- Major Injury Underreaction: Meg gets hit in the arm with a javelin, but she only lets out a minor scream and then resumes talking normally.
- Nice Job Fixing It, Villain: Meg had absolutely no intention of helping Connie, but then Chris hit her with a javelin.
- Popular Is Evil: Connie is already the Alpha Bitch, and Chris becomes a Jerkass after she makes him popular, exiling her from the in crowd and taking over her job bullying the less popular kids.
- "The Reason You Suck" Speech: Meg delivers one to Connie when the former comes to her (of all people) for help:Meg: (shows Connie her scars) You see this, Connie? This is from when you called me "Sticky ass cow" in sixth grade. This one is from when you made a plaster cast of my vagina Freshman year! You want my help? You can go fuck yourself!
- Self-Harm: It has been hinted on numerous occasions, particularly at the end of "Sibling Rivalry", that Meg has emotional problems and responds by cutting herself, but in this episode, we actually see her scars. Apparently, there is one for every prank that Connie has played on her, and Meg remembers what pranks go with which scars.
- Shout-Out:
- During the first scene at Connie D'Amico and Chris' party, Peter holds up a coin with holes in it, a reference to the Spanish doubloon that the character Mikey Walsh uses in the film The Goonies to locate One-Eyed Willy's hidden treasurenote
- After Stewie is introduced to the steroids, he picks up the barbell and says "I have the power". This is a reference to the cartoon/film hero He-man, where he lifts his power sword over his head and says "I have the power".
- At one point, Stewie flies and lands on a mailbox and says, "And now here's something we hope you'll really like." This is a reference to The Rocky And Bullwinkle Show.
- Stewie sings a song and pronounces the word "body" like "bah-dy", like how John Mayer sings it, referencing his song "Your Body is a Wonderland".
- When busted for drunk driving, Santa Claus asks if the arresting officer is Jewish, the same as Mel Gibson did when he was also arrested for drunk driving.
- The video of Chris Griffin that is played in the school, where he uses lipstick and dances, is a reference to the film The Silence of the Lambs, in the scene where Buffalo Bill, the transsexual serial killer, performs the same dance. The song played is "Goodbye Horses" by Q Lazzarus.
- The cutaway Distracting Trumpet eventually starts to play the song "Feels So Good" by Chuck Mangione.
- Brian claims Stewie looks like Lou Ferrigno's poop. Ferrigno was a bodybuilder and on the live-action tv show The Incredible Hulk (1977).
- When Meg is crying upstairs while Chris has his party going on downstairs Lois gives her a bottle of Ambien, a sleeping pill with a reputation of strong side effects, and a Sylvia Plath book. Sylvia Plath was a depression era novelist/poet who committed suicide and wrote significantly depressing works.
- Brian and Lois watch Lady and the Tramp and Michael Vick. Vick was a sports star convicted for torturing dogs to make them fight.
- Suddenly Shouting: The Distracting Trumpet cutaway gradually made the mobsters yell at the top of their lungs.
- Take That!:
- Peter and Stewie watch Spike TV which bills itself as a channel for men.
- Stewie curses Johnson and Johnson, one of the major producers of children's hygiene products, and makes a shampoo called "No More Tears" with the claim that it will not hurt a baby's eyes.
- Three-Way Sex: After openly cheating on Connie and dumping her at his party, Chris takes two girls with him up to his room for a threesome.
