"On the first day, God said let there be... Mac."
— Mac
Each member of the gang gets a day where they can do whatever they want and the others have to participate willingly, and this is Mac's turn. He plans to use the day as a religious experience for the rest of the gang and enlists the help of his cousin from the country, but his plan backfires when they decide that they like Country Mac more than him.
This episode provides examples of the following tropes:
- The Ace: Country Mac is good at everything City Mac wants to be good at, and the Gang loves him. Eventually subverted, as the kind of person that the Gang would love and Mac aspires to be is by no means a good or intelligent person. He spends the whole day picking fights with random people and then dies by driving drunk.
- The Alcoholic: The gang notes at one point that Country Mac always has a beer in his hand, something which likely contributes to his motorcycle accident.
- Armored Closet Gay: Mac tries to be this, but it becomes more of a Transparent Closet when he gets an erection while lecturing about the evils of homosexuality, then forces the gang to grease up male bodybuilders.Charlie: It's so much more comfortable when someone's gay and open about it. I know we've never said this as a group, but...Dennis: ...Mac's gay.(General noises of agreement)note
- As the Good Book Says...: Mac repeatedly quotes from the Bible and models the day's activities after the seven days of God's creation in Genesis.
- Bad "Bad Acting": The gang trying to pretend that they don't know Mac when he's filming their reactions for his jumping off the bridge stunt.
- Badass Biker: Country Mac rides a motorcycle and is insanely badass, prompting the rest of the gang to state that they should all get motorcycles too. They change their minds after he falls off it and dies.
- Battle Strip: Country Mac rips his shirt off and uses it to strangle his opponent during the karate contest.
- The Berserker: Country Mac sees his cousin lose a karate contest, and he immediately attacks the winner by throwing a beer can at his head and strangling him with a T-shirt, while screaming.
- Big "NO!": Frank does this repeatedly after Mac announces that he wants them to oil up male bodybuilders.
- Bring My Brown Pants: Mac comments that he "may have had an accident in his pants" after the gang is threatened by a large man with a knife.
- Bystander Syndrome: Lampshaded when Country Mac tells Mac that he'd better hurry up and jump from the bridge before somebody tries to stop him.Mac: Trust me, nobody's gonna try and stop me.Passing driver: Jump, asshole!Mac: Yeah. See, in the big city, nobody cares whether you live or die.
- Call-Back
- Mac claims that Charlie made them all hunt for ghouls when it was his day.
- One of the day's activies involves filming another Project Badass video.
- Country Mac calls the guy who attacks him a "jabroni" and later says that he gave him an "ocular patdown".
- Cathartic Scream: Though the rest of the gang aren't allowed to complain about whatever Mac wants them to do, they are allowed one scream each into the "ceremonial screaming pillow".
- Comically Missing the Point: Mac quotes a verse from Genesis about God creating the sky as a solid barrier to separate seawater from rainwater. Mac finds this passage relevant to the day's activities because it has the word "water" in it.
- Country Cousin: Country Mac is Mac's cousin from the country.
- A Day in the Limelight: Unsurprisingly, the episode is very Mac-centric.
- Dropped a Bridge on Him: Country Mac abruptly falls off his motorcycle and dies while going extremely slowly.
- Everybody Must Get Stoned: Everybody except Mac ends up getting stoned when Country Mac passes around a joint at the planetarium. The next scene has them all eating vending machine snacks with bloodshot eyes.
- Foil: Country Mac serves as one for Mac; while the latter is an Armored Closet Gay Fundamentalist and Miles Gloriosus, Country Mac is religious without being preachy or judgmental, comfortable and open with his sexuality and genuinely badass without boasting about it.
- Foreshadowing:
- Mac announces that Country Mac is dead after he jumps from the bridge, foreshadowing his actual death at the end of the episode.
- Mac calls Country Mac's motorcycle riding "reckless." The end proves him right.
- The Friend Nobody Likes: Mac is this due to his constant denial of who he really is, especially in comparison to his cousin's more easygoing demeanor. It gets to the point where the rest of the gang seriously consider "switching him out" for Country Mac permanently.Dennis: All these years, I've been feeling like I hate karate, and like I hate Project Badass, and like I hate God... But like, I realized, you know what I really hate? Is Mac.
- Gilligan Cut: After Country Mac falls from his bike, the gang all make noises about how it was just a minor tumble and he's probably fine before we cut to his funeral.
- Heteronormative Crusader: Mac apparently spent five hours lecturing the gang about "the evils of homosexuality". He also claims at one point that AIDS is "God's punishment for the gays".
- Hypocritical Humor: Mac sanctimoniously refusing to smoke weed since it's not legal in Pennsylvania comes across this way given that he's a former drug dealer and all.
- Jerkass Has a Point: When the Gang starts to complain about Mac's plans, he points out that Charlie's day consisted of them searching for ghouls for ten hours straight and he didn't say a word.
- Last Disrespects: Frank flushes Country Mac's ashes down a toilet as his first act of Frank Day.
- Lonely Funeral: Country Mac's funeral is held at Paddy's, with the gang as the only people in attendance.
- Manly Gay: Unlike his cousin, Country Mac is both incredibly badass and openly gay.
- Meaningful Background Event: Country Mac can be seen falling into the river in the background as the gang bicker about what they should say on camera.
- Miles Gloriosus: The gang attempt to call Mac out for his constant bragging about his non-existent combat skills by signing him up for an actual karate contest. To his credit, he does manage to score a point (due to reflex), but gets his ass kicked soon after.
- Never Bring a Knife to a Fist Fight: Country Mac calmly disarms the guy who threatens the gang with a knife and tells him to walk away.Country Mac: If you're gonna bring a knife to a fight, you'd better be ready to use it, you jabroni.
- Never Speak Ill of the Dead: Averted; Mac uses his eulogy to preach about how Country Mac is burning in hell for being "queer", while the rest of the gang point out that there's nothing badass about riding a motorcycle without a helmet. Then Frank flushes his ashes down the toilet to mark the beginning of Frank Day.
- Noodle Incident:Mac: Charlie, when it was your day, did I complain about searching for goblins for ten hours straight?Charlie: Well, ghouls. And no, you didn't complain 'cause we found three. It was pretty sweet.
- Pet the Dog: The gang sans Mac are surprisingly accepting when Country Mac reveals that he's gay, noting how refreshing it is when somebody is open about their sexuality.
- Raging Stiffie: The gang notes that Mac has an erection the entire time he's lecturing them about homosexuality, and then again when he's greasing the bodybuilders.
- Real After All: The rest of the gang is surprised and impressed when Country Mac actually performs one of Mac's supposed "ocular patdowns" and discovers their assailant had a knife on his possession.Dennis: He just gave that guy an ocular patdown, and it actually worked.
- Reverse Psychology: It is not until Country Mac tells Mac that he does not have to fight in the Karate tournament does Mac decide to go ahead with it. Given how chill Country Mac is, this was likely unintentional.
- Shout-Out: The referee at the karate tournament calls Mac "Karate Kid".
- Sleeves Are for Wimps: As a visual gag throughout the episode, gang adopts Mac's signature look of cutting the sleeves off of his shirts.
- Spoof Aesop:Dennis: Well, guys, I think the real lesson here is that there's nothing badass about riding a motorcycle without a helmet.
- Status Quo Is God: The rest of the gang really like Country Mac for actually being everything Mac wishes he was and ask him to stay and join the gang for good: he accepts and rides off on his motorcycle, only to shortly fall over dead for seemingly no reason.
- Suicide Dare: As Mac prepares to jump from a bridge, Country Mac instructs him to jump quickly before anyone tries to stop Mac. Mac explains that no one in the city cares if you live or die, and he's interrupted by passersby encouraging him to jump and get it over with.
- This Is Gonna Suck: Dennis' reaction to seeing Country Mac for the first time and witnessing the two cousins making "karate" moves at each other. Ultimately subverted given how quickly him and the rest of the gang take a shine to Country Mac but he can hardly be blamed at the outset for having this reaction.Dennis: (under his breath) Holy shit there's two of them.
- Weight Woe: Dennis makes a comment about how munching on chips while stoned is going to "set him back carbs-wise".
- Wrong Genre Savvy: Lampshaded by the karate tournament referee when Mac bows to him before the match and he mockingly calls Mac "Karate Kid" before explaining the actual match procedure.
