VPC tries filming a commercial for Barber Tom, who is suffering from multiple illnesses. Barber Tom has a seizure in the middle of the shoot and he's taken to the hospital. Zona tells the gang they have to stay home for a couple days because they might have been exposed to at least one of Tom's diseases.
Micah is the first to show symptoms of illness, and Ryan vows to heal him with the power of soup. Owen tries to escape because he has a date planned for that night, and Devin is tasked with stopping him. Eventually the whole gang falls ill, with the exception of Zona who tries to finish editing their ad for Barber Tom.
Tropes in this episode include:
- Amusing Injuries: Barber Tom drops scissors on his foot. He remarks that it's okay because it's his prosthetic leg, but then he remembers that that's his other leg and yells out in pain.
- Bait-and-Switch: Ryan sneezes twice while cooking soup and he's worried because he thinks the recipe only calls for one sneeze.
- Bee Afraid: Downplayed. Devin sends a box of bees to scare Ryan so he stays in the house.
- Black Comedy: Barber Tom is ridiculously unsanitary and unwell, suffering from multiple illnesses. However, when he dies, the doctor seems to blame it on the fact that he just watched Zona's ad. Tom's sister subsequently dies after watching a memorial video Zona made for Tom.
- Brick Joke: Devin says she knows that Owen pretends to be Ratatouille while cooking ramen, which is shown in The Stinger.
- Comical Nap Drool: In one of the ad footage clips which Zona watches, Barber Tom suddenly falls asleep and starts drooling.
- Continuity Nod: In The Stinger, Devin says they don't have heat, a fact which was first established in "Wheel of Challenges".
- Deadly Nosebleed: Barber Tom appears to voluntarily make his nose bleed as proof that he isn't unwell, and he does die by the end of the episode.
- Fat Slob: Barber Tom is fat and very unsanitary.
- Imagine Spot: While they're coming down with their illnesses, Micah and Ryan are shown in their ideal state and then reality. Micah sees himself playing beautiful music on a recorder and Ryan sees himself cooking beautiful food, while the reality is the opposite.
- Infection Scene: A Cutaway Gag shows how VPC tries to take care of Barber Tom during his seizure, as he bites Micah's arm and some slimy substance somehow gets on Ryan's hands.
- Matryoshka Object: In The Stinger, Owen pretends to be Linguini from Ratatouille, wearing a chef's hat with a rat controlling him. However, that rat also has a chef's hat with a tiny Owen controlling him.
- Never the Selves Shall Meet: In a Cutaway Gag, Devin warns Zona not to make contact with an eyepatch wearing lady believed to be Zona from the future.
- Schmuck Bait: Owen sees a pair of Spanx on a small table and he says it's either a trap or a miracle. He goes to check if it's his size and Devin traps him.
- Sick Episode: Almost everyone in VPC falls sick after they try to help treat Barber Tom.
- Soup Is Medicine: Discussed. Ryan vows to heal Micah with the power of soup, which he apparently learned from his grandmother. However, Ryan also comes down sick and his cooking skills fall apart.
- Transformation Sequence: Ryan's transformation into a soup chef is presented as one with Animesque music.
- Word, Schmord!: Barber Tom dismisses Owen's advice that they take him to the hospital by saying, "Hospital, schmospital." Owen says, "Yeah, that's the one."
