"Can we just do the one thing we've never tried? Can we just do our jobs?"
— Dennis
Dennis tries to persuade the others to do their actual jobs when the bar sees a sudden influx of customers for Valentine's Day, but the rest of the gang are distracted by personal squabbles and a mysterious crate in the alleyway.
This episode provides examples of the following tropes:
- Awful Wedded Life: After Dennis describes Frank's tapeworm as an "an intestinal parasite, incapable of complex thought," Dee, the bar patron, chimes in "You just described my ex-husband."
- Aw, Look! They Really Do Love Each Other: When they finally get that something is wrong and Dennis actually sounds like he's going to cry admitting why he hates the holiday and he has big painful feelings, Frank reassures him the bar is fine, Dee looks like she's going to cry too, and Mac brings out the crate to give him his Valentine's gift.
- Bottle Episode: The entire episode takes place inside the bar.
- The Cameo: Burnie Burns has a very brief, non-speaking appearance as a customer at Paddy's Pub.
- Call-Back:
- Cricket asks Mac if he's gay for free or for pay.
- Mac says, regarding the crate in the alley, that it's not about the crate, but "the mystery of what's inside the crate".
- The Chessmaster: Charlie gets to showcase this side of his personality again when he tricks Frank (and Dee) into eating chocolates laced with tapeworm medication in order to get rid of "Jerry".
- Continuity Nod: Dennis orders Mac to go check IDs because of the bar's previous issues with underage drinking.
- Charlie huffs that Frank won't play Nightcrawlers with him anymore due to not wanting to "offend" Jerry.
- Mac refers to himself as gay. He also claims, to Charlie's obvious (though silent) disbelief, that he never gave any sign he was gay before coming out, a nod to his many hints throughout the series.
- Disproportionate Retribution: Dee responds to Charlie failing to return her Valentine's card by threatening the entire bar with white powder that she fully believes is anthrax.
- Drop-In Character: Cricket casually drops into the bar with a disturbing request (this time, asking if he can smoke PCP in the bathroom) for the second episode in a row.
- Green-Eyed Monster: Charlie is jealous of Frank's tapeworm, which he's christened "Jerry" and seems to have developed an attachment to. Dee also gets jealous when she discovers that Charlie has made a Valentine for Jerry while ignoring her own gift to him.
- It soon comes to light that the reason why Dennis hates Valentine's Day... is because he's mad that he never once got a Valentine's Day gift.
- Flanderization: Lampshaded as Frank and Dee discuss Dennis's increasing mental instability.Dee: I can't get a read on him these days, he's just always cranky and irritated.
Frank: Rage-filled. Rapey.
Dee: It's like as the years go by he just gets more and more irrational. - Leaning on the Fourth Wall: The creators have all said they get annoyed over fandom taking "Dennis is a sociopath with no feeling" jokes as gospel (awful, sadistic bully getting worse: yes. has zero feelings: no), so this episode is a bit meta when the Gang makes fun of Dennis for having no feelings and he sets them straight.
- Mystery Box: Mac announces at the beginning of the episode that he's discovered an unopened crate in the alley outside the bar, and attempts to get the rest of the gang excited about the mystery of its contents. The ending reveals that he knew what was inside the entire time: an RPG that he'd purchased off the dark web as a surprise Valentine's gift for Dennis.
- Noodle Incident: Dennis asks Dee if she remembers "the anthrax scare" but clarifies to the other Dee that he isn't talking about the 2001 anthrax attacks.
- O.O.C. Is Serious Business: The rest of the gang are convinced that Dennis must be up to something as it's so out of character for him to care about them actually doing their jobs. It turns out they're right, in a way: the real reason for Dennis suddenly throwing himself into work is that he hates Valentine's day because he's hurt that none of them ever got him a gift in previous years.
- One-Hour Work Week: The episode primarily focuses on how nobody in the bar actually works their job most of the time.
- The Oner: After the cold open and title sequence, the episode proper opens with a continuous tracking shot of the gang all attempting to fulfill their various roles in the bar: Mac checking IDs on the door; Charlie sweeping the floor; Dee waiting tables; Dennis tending bar; and Frank cooking the books in the office.
- One-Steve Limit: Averted with the bar's new regular who the guys have nicknamed "Dee", much to the real Dee's disgust.
- Only Sane Man: Dennis sees himself as this, as he's the only one trying to get the others to do their jobs while they're all distracted by everything else that's going on.
- Screw This, I'm Outta Here: A potential customer walks into the bar, overhears Frank ask Charlie if he wants to help get the tapeworm out, turns right around, and leaves Paddy's.
- Ship Tease:
- Dee gives Charlie a Valentine and is furious when he doesn't reciprocate, culminating in him singing her a "heart song" in which he states that he loves her.
- Mac gives Dennis an RPG as a Valentine's gift, a gesture which actually moves Dennis to tears.
- Status Quo Is God: By the end of the episode, the Gang has managed to drive away the rather substantial number of new Paddy's customers, including the new regular "Dee," through a combination of Too Much Information and Dee's anthrax theat.
- Strange Minds Think Alike: Both Mac and Dee independently come to the conclusion that Dennis actually wants them to work through their feelings when he tells them to do their jobs.
- Subverted Rhyme Every Occasion: Charlie struggles to think of suitable rhymes in his song for Dee, resulting in this.Charlie: Dee, you're sweeter than a bee..tle.
Dee: Just say bee.
Charlie: Bee, right, I didn't think of that. You're the honey that the bee makes. You're the sugar on the pound... carrot.
Dee: What's a pound carrot? Go with pound cake.
Charlie: Cake, right. You make life sweet, Dee. You make life sweet for... I. - Tin Man: Dennis admits that yes, he does have feelings, and the reason he hates Valentine's day so much is that none of the gang have ever gotten him a gift.
- Toilet Humour: Frank describes, in vivid detail, how he gave himself a tapeworm.
- Too Dumb to Live: Frank starts eating the "anthrax" before Dennis reveals that it's really just powdered sugar.
- Too Much Information: Frank goes into great detail telling Dee how he gave himself a tapeworm, much to her horror.Frank: I bought poop on the dark web and stuffed it up my butt to lose weight.
Dee: Jesus Christ, I— That's enough.
Frank: It took about four ounces of it.
Dee: That's enough! I don't wanna know anymore!
Frank: The tip of a teaspoon. How else.
Dee: Frank! Stop answering questions I'm not asking, okay?! - Valentine's Day Episode: The episode takes place on Valentine's Day and deals with the gang's interpersonal relationships.
