While helping to save manatees in Florida from a pair of rowdy hicks, Kim gets her pants destroyed by an alligator, and is forced to buy replacements at Smarty Mart, a large chain store that she hates but Ron loves. Once she buys the new pants, she heads back to Middleton to buy a pair from Club Banana (which, aside from the logo and being more expensive, are pretty much identical to the ones she bought at Smarty Mart). Just then, an odd-accented villain, calling himself Frugal Lucre, demands a dollar from every person on Earth or he'll destroy the Internet, then shuts down all electrical devices in the area, including the Kimmunicator.
Resolving to stop Lucre (and get Club Banana back online), Kim is able to get Wade, once his computer recovers, to analyze the video. Hearing an odd noise in the background, Wade isolates it and learns it's a Smarty Mart announcement, meaning Lucre is an employee of the store. Heading to the nearest Smarty Mart, Kim gains access to the manager's office and downloads a list of personnel, identifying Lucre as Francis Lerman. Heading to Philadelphia, Kim & Ron arrive at Lucre's house, but are captured and strung up in a net in his basement lair over a kiddie pool of snapping turtles.
Easily escaping the cheap trap, the heroes head to Smarty Mart to stop Lucre from activating his Internet-destroying virus via the UPC code of an expired can of Vienna sausages. While Ron searches for the can, Kim chases down Lucre, stopping him by putting an anti-theft tag on his employee vest, causing him to be stopped by the greeter. With the Internet saved, Kim receives a Smarty Mart circular as thanks and learns the store and its cheap prices aren't so bad...sort of.
This episode provides examples of:
- Attention Deficit... Ooh, Shiny!: After Kim gives Ron her old pants to return, he tells her he's focused, only to immediately be distracted by every single Smarty Mart sale.
- Basement-Dweller: Frugal Lucre lives in his mother's basement (hey, lairs are expensive!).
- Beard of Evil: Lucre has one, but it's fake, and actually falls off during his broadcast.
- Brand Names Are Better: Kim prefers Club Banana and disdains Smarty Mart, even when the clothing they sell are practically identical. She is somewhat more open-minded on the subject at the end of the episode, but hasn't entirely discarded her old viewpoint, mainly regarding clothes:Kim: Ron, they aren't exactly the same. Look! Smarty Mart boots come in black. Club Banana's are onyx.
- Buffy Speak: "But it's so discounty."
- Continuity Nod: The personnel manager has a Z-Boy figurine on her desk.
- Creator Cameo: Mark McCorkle and Bob Schooley cameo as the reckless speedboat men at the beginning of the episode.
- Department of Redundancy Department: How can Smarty Mart afford their prices? "Two words; volume, & volume."
- Do Not Adjust Your Set: Frugal Lucre's broadcast.
- Embarrassing First Name: As Ron put it, "Francis? No wonder the dude's twisted."
- Epic Fail: Frugal Lucre's plot nets him... $17.28. Someone didn't even send him a full dollar.
- Eye Scream: When caught in the personnel manager's office, Kim pretends she was looking for a lost contact lens, resulting in her pretending to put it in, poking her open eye in the process (complete with a tear).
- Face Palm: While Kim has become less uptight about brand-name shopping at the end, she's still insistent on sticking to Club Banana for her clothes. Ron reacts to this news with a facepalm.
- Failed a Spot Check: Kim and Ron both fail to notice that they're standing on a rope net, which gets them captured by Lucre.
- Felony Misdemeanor: In the end, Kim gets Lucre arrested by attaching an anti-theft tag to his vest as he's trying to escape the store. Apparently, Smarty Mart takes shoplifting very seriously.
- Mama's Boy: Lucre still lives with his mom (and hopes she'll bail him out at the end).
- Mid-Battle Tea Break: The first confrontation with Frugal Lucre is stalled by his mother coming down to serve drinks and offer snacks, since she thinks Team Possible are her son's friends visiting. None of them dissuade this misconception, though Lucre gets annoyed at the interruption.
- Near-Villain Victory: The customer who Ron took the expired can of sausages from was just about to pay at the register, which would've destroyed the Internet as per Lucre's plan when the can was scanned. And Lucre himself did manage to outrun Kim, and he would've gotten away if she hadn't pinned an anti-theft tag to his vest that caused the store doors to slam shut in his face when he tried to escape.
- Needle in a Stack of Needles: The Internet-destroying virus is incorporated into the barcode of a can of Vienna sausages. Ron searches Smarty Mart for that specific can while Kim chases Lucre.
- Noodle Incident: Kim once saved manatees in Florida, and saved the life of a street sweeper named Paulie by passing out 10,000 fliers about alternate side of the street parking awareness.
- Not-So-Harmless Villain: Despite his frugality, Lucre did manage to briefly shut down the Internet and kept Kim at bay as well.
- Only Sane Man: Ron is this in the episode, telling Kim that high-end fashion shouldn't be such a big deal to her. Probably best exemplified when they think the Kimmunicator is low on power and Kim still goes to buy new pants first before new batteries.Ron: (completely exasperated with Kim) You have pants! Ask for batteries!
- Skewed Priorities: Kim pretty much admits her reason for stopping Lucre is to get the Club Banana cash registers working again so she can shop.
- That Came Out Wrong:Kim: Cough up the sausages, Lucre!
Ron: Ew! Rephrase, please. - Wig, Dress, Accent: Frugal Lucre disguises himself with a bogus accent and stick-on beard and mustache to broadcast his threats.
- You Get What You Pay For: Frugal Lucre's version of a Shark Pool is a kiddie wading pool full of pet snapping turtles. They immediately retreat into their shells when Kim and Ron get loose from their bonds.
