Col. Potter is forced to take a remedial driving class, much to his displeasure, while Sgt. Rizzo is afraid to teach the colonel because he knows he can't treat him like the others in the class, even though the colonel insists on it. Elsewhere, B.J. gets a letter from Peg saying she's taken a job as hostess at a café to help pay off their second mortgage, and he's so upset about it that during the big poker game, he starts making reckless bets and playing with a zeal to beat everyone, which puts off everyone at the game, especially Hawkeye and Margaret.
Attention all personnel! Sgt. Rizzo is now going to teach you these tropes:
- Absurdly High-Stakes Game: B.J. ends up turning the game into this when he bets his wedding ring at one point.
- Accent Upon The Wrong Syllable: Rizzo pronounces "vehicle" as "vee-Hickle".
- Be Careful What You Wish For: At Klinger's urging, Potter takes the class rather than use his authority to get out of it. Potter proves to be a poor student and he needs a make-up test, with Klinger roped into helping him cram.
- Being Good Sucks: B.J. says he could've avoided the draft entirely with a signed medical deferment from a prominent doctor he knew. He says he opted to be a good guy instead, which left him stuck in Korea, his wife struggling to pay off the house's second mortgage, and their daughter being neglected.
- Call-Back: When Col. Potter insists Klinger help him with his "makeup" test (makeup written test), Klinger responds, "Sir, it's been a long time since I wore makeup."
- Censorship by Spelling: When Klinger is attempting to tutor Col. Potter on the written test, Potter warns him his number will be up if the next question has a number in it. So, Klinger's next question is, "Suppose you're traveling T-E-N miles per hour..."
- The Chains of Commanding: Played for Laughs - when Col. Potter insists to Rizzo he wants Rizzo to treat him as "one of the boys", Rizzo points out none of the others in the class has the power to bust him.
- Deadpan Snarker: Winchester - when B.J. asks if he wants to play another game, Winchester responds, "No, thank you. I think I'm going to try and find something a little more civilized...like a cockfight."
- F--: When the tests come back, Potter gets a 26. Rizzo tries to smooth it over by saying it's out of 30, but Potter ain't having that. It's particularly embarrassing since no one in the unit has ever failed one of the tests before.
- Hope Spot: Potter gets a 98 on the make-up test and is thrilled. Unfortunately, much to Rizzo's own displeasure, there's still the matter of the road test.
- Hypocrite: Potter's initial reaction was to use his authority to make the issue go away, but Klinger reminded him he never did so for anyone under his command that got into similar trouble. Potter begrudgingly admits that's true.
- I'm Not Doing That Again: In the tag, Potter has to leave to give a lecture at another unit. However, rather than take a jeep and risk another speeding ticket, he takes Sophie.
- Insistent Terminology: Again, Played for Laughs - when Col. Potter apologizes for being late to the driving class, Rizzo insists he's not late, he's "fashionable."
- Irony: B.J. is on a hot streak no matter what game he plays, but he's never been more miserable.
- Oh, Crap!: Rizzo over Potter being one of his students.
- Serious Business: B.J. goes on a gambling frenzy because Peg has big bills to pay back home. While the poker game gets reasonably high bets for their pay, B.J. is later playing for literal nickels and dimes at pinball as if it were high-stakes.
- Shout-Out:
- Col. Potter paraphrases Robert Frost in trying to get Klinger to do the laundry inventory slips ("You have promises to keep and piles to go before you sleep").
- As the poker game escalates, Mulcahy quips he saw something similar in a Joel McCrea movie (1934's Gambling Lady).
- Talk About the Weather: When he sees how badly Col. Potter did on the test, Rizzo immediately changes the subject and says, "How about this weather?", rather than give Col. Potter the bad news.
- Took a Level in Jerkass: B.J. is like this most of the episode, though he eventually snaps out of it.
- Touché: When Klinger tries to get out of doing the laundry inventory so he can join the poker game, Col. Potter reminds him not to be derelict in his duty. When Klinger throws that back at him when Col. Potter tries to get around having to take the driving class, the colonel admits, "Touché."
- Unsportsmanlike Gloating: The more poker hands that B.J. wins, the more insufferable he becomes. Most are content to bail out rather than have to continue listening to him gloat.
- What the Hell, Hero?: Both Hawkeye and then Margaret do this to B.J. because of his behavior.Margaret: Maybe you do have the most to lose, but that's only because you've got the most.
