"I don't know if you've noticed, but women are on a little bit of a rampage right now and anyone could be taken down at any moment."
— Dennis
The gang must attend a sexual harassment seminar to get Paddy's removed from a list of bars that are sexually hostile toward women.
This episode provides examples of the following tropes:
- Abomination Accusation Attack: Once Dee finds out what constitutes as sexual harassment, she uses it to her advantage to shame her friends and clear the buffet table.
- All Abusers Are Male: Defied. Dee is under the impression this is true and spends the first half of the episode gloating about the deep water the men are in. Then once it's revealed Dee molested Charlie by forcing him into doing things he didn't want to during sex, she dismisses it as nothing and assumes the female instructor will back her up. Instead, the instructor is appalled and rightfully tells her that her gender does not matter and what she did was sexual assault.
- Bigger Is Better in Bed: To illustrate on how they learned nothing from the sexual-harassment seminar, the episode ends with Mac and Dee discussing whether Alan, the very tall male instructor, has a large dick. Mac confirms he does as he saw him in the bathroom.
- Blatant Lies:Charlie: We don't really have any history of misbehavior at Paddy's Pub.
- Call-Back
- Mac says that Paddy's was probably put on the shitty bar list by some girl who got D.E.N.N.I.S.ed.
- Mac offers to take his shirt off for the role playing exercise.
- "The Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy" plays while Dennis is giving his speech.
- One of the texts on Dennis's phone is from Amanda, the escape room organizer from "The Gang Escapes".
- Card-Carrying Villain: Unlike the rest of the gang, Dennis is fully aware that his behavior is wrong, and only wants them to be more careful with their own conduct so that they don't get caught and bring him down with them.Dennis: Women are right. I mean, men are monsters, we're constantly harassing them. I'm just saying we need to be more careful so we don't get accused.
Mac: And we should probably stop harassing them.
Dennis: Well, you know. I don't know, one step at a time. We don't want the whole system to collapse. - Censor Box: Used when Frank's robe falls open, exposing his penis.
- Cerebus Retcon: It's revealed that Charlie and Dee sleeping together, previously one of the more heartwarming moments of the series, was actually non-consensual on Charlie's end. This retcon was itself retconned by
writer Megan Ganz, who implied in a tweet
that the incident took place off camera. - Comically Missing the Point: When asked what's wrong during a role playing exercise in which two men engage in "locker room talk" about a female intern, Dee takes the opportunity to criticize the acting of the volunteers.
- Continuity Nod:
- Mac references The Nightman Cometh when he talks about the musical Charlie wrote about his molestation.
- The gang talks about the times they had sex with the Waitress.
- Charlie references the time he had sex with Dee.
- The Shitty Bar List spreadsheet lists, among many offenses, the casual use of the term "bang-maid" and the pub's glory hole. In addition, Sudz is one of the bars on the list.
- Country Matters: Mac yells "I got your cunt!" while lifting Dee into the air by her vagina.
- Crazy-Prepared: Turns out Dennis has taken several steps to make it appear that he received official consent from his conquests in case he is ever accused of sexual harassment by them.
- Double Standard: This episode discusses tropes like these.
- Double Standard Rape: Female on Male: Dee seems to believe that women are incapable of molesting or raping. Additionally, Dee molested Charlie by forcing him into doing things he didn't want during sex. When it's revealed, everyone is very quick to call her out on this, but it's ignored almost immediately the next scene.
- Double Standard: Rape, Male on Male: Dennis points out that Mac sexually harassing him is not funny at all, and he wishes he would stop.
- Do Wrong, Right: Dennis reveals that he was the one who set up the seminar in an attempt to teach the gang how not to get caught sexually harassing people and that in his case he makes sure to confirm consent with all the women he sleeps with - although it's implied he does so by sending himself the messages from their phones.
- False Rape Accusation: Dee takes advantage of the environment by doing things such as accusing the male attendees of groping her so they'll move away from her and leave the buffet table free for the taking.
- First-Name Ultimatum: Dee to Mac, after finding out that she could take him to court for sexual assault.Dee: Oh yeah, you sweatin'? You sweatin' a little bit, Ronald?
- Freeze-Frame Bonus: The list of bars women have complained about contains references to "bang-maids" and the Paddy's gloryhole. Additionally, "Bad Bill's Watering Hole," "Laughing Louie Comedy Lounge," and "Harvey's Bungalow" are probable references to Bill Cosby, Louis C.K., and Harvey Weinstein respectively.
- Freudian Excuse: Discussed. Charlie says that he's allowed to be a stalker because he was molested.
- Groin Attack: Mac hoists Dee into the air by her crotch during the role playing exercise. Dee thinks it's awesome, at least until she finds out it's sexual assault and she could press charges.
- Hypocritical Humor: Dennis says that the appearance of the example of an ugly man in his presentation isn't his fault or anyone else's... except said example is a photo of Cricket, whose disfigured appearance is every bit the fault of the Gang.
- Inadvertent Entrance Cue:Dennis: Who could possibly he happy right now?
Dee: [entering with popcorn and soda] Eyyyoooooo! Who's ready to party?! Time's up, time's up, time's up, time's up, times up! [laughs] - Innocently Insensitive: The male cast, except for Dennis, are unaware of what constitutes as sexual harassment and become incredibly uncomfortable once they find out. Mac, for example, sees no issue grabbing Dee by her crotch and her lifting her up in the air.
- Insane Troll Logic: Mac thinks there is a point system to the seminar because that's how "the Birds won the Superbowl." Even after it is explained to him that there is no point system, he still tries earning points for that same reason.
- Insult Misfire: When Dennis gives Charlie his "The Reason You Suck" Speech, the latter assumes it's directed at Frank (despite the specific "hopeless romantic" and "rifling through trash" callouts) and pats him on the back to reassure him.
- Internal Reveal: Dennis and Mac find out about Charlie and Dee sleeping together.
- Jerkass Has a Point: Dennis calls out Mac for constantly trying to get with him despite Dennis not being interested. Harsh as it was, Dennis isn't wrong in telling Mac that he doesn't have a right to keep sexually harassing him.
- Karma Houdini: Despite arguably being the worst of them all, Dennis is the only member of the gang who doesn't get publicly called out for his actions.
- Loophole Abuse: Frank tries to invoke the statute of limitations to avoid responsibility for his past crimes, until Dennis points out that some states are considering doing away with it.
- Manipulative Bastard: Dennis is this per usual, as The Reveal shows.
- Motive Rant: Dennis's speech slips into this when he reveals that he was the one who created the shitty bar list and organized the seminar in order to teach the rest of the gang a lesson.
- Muscles Are Meaningful: Mac is now physically strong enough to lift Dee up single-handed by the crotch. Dee for her part is more impressed than anything else.
- Never My Fault:
- Given a hypothetical scenario between a waitress, a crazy stalker, and an apathetic boss (a scenario which Charlie believes is about him), Charlie doesn't blame himself for how uncomfortable he makes the waitress feel.
- Dennis shows a photo of Cricket, saying "Is it this man's fault he looks this way? No, he was born this way." In other words, yet again, the gang refuse to understand just how much they ruined Cricket's life.
- Noodle Incident: Frank is ready to walk out of the seminar until Dennis points out that Nevada is considering reforming their statute of limitations when it comes to sexual harassment or assault. Frank did something terrible enough in Nevada that he decides to stay at the seminar and make some phone calls to a fixer.
- Only Sane Man: Dennis presents himself as this throughout the episode.
- Overly-Nervous Flop Sweat: Each member of the gang save for Dennis starts sweating profusely when it's their turn to be called out.
- Proof Dare: Dennis makes one after giving his presentation:Kate: You're a monster.
Dennis: Oh, yeah? Prove it. - "The Reason You Suck" Speech: Dennis delivers a pretty damning one to the rest of the gang, calling them out on the excuses they use to try and justify their behavior; namely Frank's wealth, Mac's sexuality, Charlie's perception of himself as a hopeless romantic and Dee's gender.
- The Reveal: Dennis was the one who created the list of bars and organized the sexual harassment seminar.
- Ripped from the Headlines: The episode draws heavily from the #MeToo and Time's Up campaigns against sexual harassment that exploded during the show's hiatus. Mac's "locker room talk" comment is a reference to Trump's defense of his remarks about grabbing women.
- Specifically, the Shitty Bar List is a Fictional Counterpart of the Shitty Media Men list. The disclaimer at the top of the spreadsheet is almost the exact same text, cut for space.
- The Shitty Bar List contains a number of Freeze-Frame Bonus references to high-profile men who were exposed for sexual misconduct, such as Bad Bill's Watering Hole, Laughing Louie Comedy Lounge, and Harvey's Bungalow.
- Specifically, the Shitty Bar List is a Fictional Counterpart of the Shitty Media Men list
- Running Gag:
- Dee asks whether it's considered sexual harassment when a woman is constantly called a bird by her male co-workers.
- Whatever it is that Uncle Jack may or may not have done to Charlie.
- Each member of the Gang gets uncomfortably hot when he or she is called out for inappropriate sexual behavior.
- Screw This, I'm Outta Here: Charlie does this when Mac asks him to back Mac up after Dee and Alan accuse Mac of sexual assault.
- Sexual Extortion: Frank admits to doing this numerous times during his days as a CEO.Frank: That's the way you did it! You hire some girl with no experience, you bang her, you promote her. It's a win-win situation for everybody. Except for the wives.
- Straw Feminist: Dee is at her worst at this in the beginning, exploiting the Time's Up campaign to get back at the guys and get perks for herself all while believing that being a woman excuses her of any of her own misdeeds.
- Straw Misogynist: Dennis's examples of "bad women" include Hillary Clinton (politician) and Susan B. Anthony (social reformer and women's rights activist), whom he places in the same category as Aileen Wuornos (serial killer) and Dee (bird).
- Visual Pun: Mac lifts Dee into the air by her crotch. In other words, he's literally grabbing her by the pussy.
- Wham Line:Charlie: I got molested by Dee!
- What, Exactly, Is His Job?: The gang struggles to define what exactly constitutes Mac's role at Paddy's. Dee says he's the doorman, while Charlie settles on "he's just our gay guy now."
