You don't have romantic feelings, you. You just have animal urges.
The episode with the (possibly) murderous ex. First broadcast 29 September 1981
Del's ex-fiancée Pauline unexpectedly turns up at the Nag's Head, and he's surprised to hear that not only has she been married twice since, but both of her husbands have died sudden deaths. Rodney and Grandad think Pauline is bad news, but Del doesn't want to listen — and seems to be falling for her fatal charms once again.
Tropes:
- Actually Pretty Funny: Rodney and Grandad confess to Del that the phone call from Trigger about the police investigation into the death of Pauline's late husband was actually a wind up and that they persuaded Trigger to do it at their behest. Del finds the whole thing hilarious and immediately forgives his brother and grandfather for interfering in his life.
- Artistic License: Telephone speaking clocks cut off automatically after a minute or so.
- Bait-and-Switch: See Actually Pretty Funny above. At first, Del looks like he's going to kill Rodney and Grandad for interfering in his life, then bursts out laughing at their prank.
- Bitch in Sheep's Clothing: Played with; Pauline acts the loving girlfriend around Del, but barely even makes any effort to disguise her contempt for Rodney and Grandad. However, she isn't an outright Black Widow, which the latter two make her out to be in a successful effort to break her and Del up, but ultimately, that was just because they understandably view her as a Gold Digger.
- Foreshadowing: Grandad mentions to Rodney that Del used to donate to the church roof fund. John Sullivan would write a whole episode based on this idea ("The Miracle of Peckham") five years later.
- Jerkass: Pauline may not be a murderess, but she really is vile - selfish, rude, cold, smug and condescending.
- Jerkass Has a Point: That being said, Pauline makes it clear that coming to live with the Trotters does not mean she is to become a "skivvy" and do all the cooking and cleaning for Rodney and Grandad as well as for Del.
- Karma Houdini: Pauline is arguably one of the most detestable characters in the show and aside from Del breaking up with her, she's never given any kind of comeuppance.
- Kick the Dog: Pauline's treatment of Rodney and Grandad is pretty bad, but forbidding Rodney from entering what used to be his mother's room is something else.
- Running Gag: This episode is the first time one of Del's many former fiancées makes an appearance in the show. This would go on to become a regular occurrence.
- Woman Scorned: While the circumstances of Del's and Pauline's original break-up are left vague, here Pauline reacts to Del's dumping her and accusing her (falsely, unbeknownst to him) of having murdered her previous husbands by calling the speaking clock in America and leaving the call running for several days.
