After Rigby ends up in comatose after an allergic reaction from an egg-eating contest, Mordecai tries his best to win the prize for him.
"Eggscelent" contains examples of:
- Beware the Nice Ones: As mild-mannered as he is for the most part, Mordecai doesn't hesitate to punch Benson in the face for making light of Rigby's comatose state.
- Blaming the Victim: Benson openly scolds Mordecai while he was grieving Rigby's hospitalized state. This prompts Mordecai to lash out at him by punching him in the face.
- Brutal Honesty: Mordecai tells Benson point-blank he doesn't have any real friends and that everyone at the park only hangs out with him because he's their boss.
- Determinator: Mordecai does whatever he can to win the hat for Rigby, whether it involves getting nearly assaulted by the waiters or failing to complete the first round. He just keeps going.
- Didn't Think This Through: Rigby decided to compete in the contest, completely forgetting he was allergic to eggs.
- The Dog Bites Back: After putting up with Benson's behavior for the past few years, Mordecai finally stands up to him and punches him in the face for his insensitivity.
- Everyone Has Standards: Possibly. After Benson says he hopes Mordecai learned something from this, Skips and Muscle Man look at Benson in a disapprovingly manner.
- Foreshadowing: When Skips tells Mordecai about Jonathan Kimble and how he was obsessed with winning the Eggscellent Challenge, he says that one day Jonathan was shouting "I figured it out!" but nobody knows if he won because he was never seen again and all that was left of him was his notes on how to win the challenge. When Mordecai wins the challenge, it is discovered he needs to choose the correct hat or die, and he sees that Jonathan chose wrong, which was why he was never seen again.
- Good All Along: The employees at the restaurant constantly encourage Mordecai to not take the challenge and refuse to simply give him the hat to save Rigby. They later attack Mordecai when they see he is going to win the challenge and fight the rest of the Park Crew. However, it is revealed they were trying to protect Mordecai, since completing the challenge puts him in a life-or-death decision where he needs to choose the correct hat as a prize or die, and the last guy who won the challenge, Jonathan Kimble, chose the wrong one.
- Insane Troll Logic: Rigby thought if he ate the eggs really fast (even though it's 12 eggs), then his allergy might not kick in.
- Internal Deconstruction: This episode tears apart the normal formula of episodes by showing what happens when things aren't Played for Laughs:
- Rigby causing a problem by indulging some random whim. In any other episode, it would just result in hijinks that likely ends with Benson comedically yelling at him. Here, Rigby sends himself into a coma because he's allergic to eggs and can't come out of it without help.
- Mordecai being the more responsible one of the duo. He usually gets drawn into Rigby's shenanigans because he's just as onboard or he's Not So Above It All. Here, he really doesn't want to be involved and tries just Cutting the Knot to solve the problem but has to go along with a near-impossible task because Loophole Abuse isn't possible.
- Benson's Mean Boss behavior. Most of the time, the guy just yells at Mordecai and Rigby for screwing up with no real bad blood between either party. Here, Benson decides to harp on them about poor work ethic without considering Mordecai's feelings. Mordecai loses it and attacks Benson, pointing out that Rigby's faults didn't mean he deserved to be stuck in a coma. He also goes the extra mile and says Benson's lousy behavior is why he has no real friends, with the park crew only spending any time with him because he signs their paychecks.
- The Villain of the Week. Most episodes have the crew dealing with someone that is either just a Jerkass looking for trouble or someone functioning on a bizarre moral code that they unknowingly cross. Here the restaurant workers are actually reasonable and as helpful as they can be under the circumstance, really only roadblocked by the store's policies. The manager is understanding and sympathetic, only refusing to sell Mordecai the hat outright because store policy prevents him from doing so. When the workers try to stop Mordecai from completing the challenge it's because of a problem none of the park crew are aware of that will be life or death for Mordecai.
- Jerkass Has a Point: Deconstructed. Benson wasn't entirely wrong when chastising Mordecai for getting himself and Rigby into the mess they're in right now; the real problem was that it wasn't the best time to say such a thing at all. There's a time and place for everything.
- Jerkass Realization: Benson apologizes to Mordecai for the No Sympathy comment and admitted: "it was a stupid thing to say."
- Kick the Dog: Upon being told Rigby may never wake up again due to his allergic reaction, Benson has the nerve to tell Mordecai that he and Rigby could have avoided this by going back to work instead. Mordecai, understandably, doesn't take this very well.
- Mean Boss: Deconstructed and Played for Drama. Benson declares Rigby's predicament as a learning experience for not being at work like he and Mordecai were supposed to. Mordecai punches him in the face, tells him not everything has to do with work, and that Rigby didn't deserve to be in a coma. When Benson doesn't back down, Mordecai lays into him that he doesn't even have any real friends and his workers only spend time with him because he's their superior.
- No Sympathy: Benson's response to being told Rigby may be on the verge of death:Benson: Well, I hope you've learned something from all of this.
Mordecai: What?
Benson: Maybe if you've been working like you were supposed to, none of this would have happened.
(Mordecai decks Benson for the thoughtless comment) - Nothing Is Scarier: Mordecai discovers the skeleton of Johnathan Kimble, who died because he chose a golden crown over the Eggscellent hat. It's never told how this killed him, but if it was anything like the false grail, it wasn't pleasant.
- O.O.C. Is Serious Business: Mordecai punching Benson in his face, after he made an insensitive remark about a comatose Rigby, shows that the former did not take it well at all.
- Plot Allergy: Rigby being allergic to eggs drives the conflict for this episode.
- Rage Against the Mentor: Mordecai lashes out at Benson after the latter belittles Rigby for his comatose state, saying he has no real friends and the others only hang out with him because he signs their paychecks.
- "The Reason You Suck" Speech: Mordecai calls out Benson for being unsympathetic towards Rigby's coma, being more concerned with work. He also points out that Benson doesn't really have any friends and that his employees only hang out with him because he's their boss.Benson: Well, I hope you've learned something from all of this.
Mordecai: What?
Benson: Maybe if you were working like you were supposed to, none of this would have happened.
(Mordecai decks Benson for the insensitive comment)
Benson: Mordecai, what are you doing?!
Mordecai: What's your problem?! This has nothing to do with work. He just wanted the hat!
Benson: And look where it got him! Your friend over there is only going to get you into trouble.
Mordecai: (scoffs) Right, take advice from Benson about friends since you got so many of them.
Benson: I have friends.
Mordecai: No, you don't. Everyone only hangs out with you because you're our boss! Rigby only wanted to try and win a hat. He doesn't deserve to be in a coma because of it.
Benson: Where you going?
Mordecai: (bitterly) Back to the restaurant.
Benson: Why?!
Mordecai: Because I made a promise to Rigby, and I'm going to keep it. That's what friends do for each other.
(Mordecai leaves the room as everyone stands there, speechless) - Shout-Out: The climax suddenly swerves into referencing the Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, when finishing the challenge teleports Mordecai into a cave filled with hats. An aged knight informs him he has to choose the correct Eggscellent hat, and choosing poorly could be fatal.
- Shut Up, Hannibal!: Benson callously dismisses Rigby's comatose state, only for Mordecai to punch him in the face and give him "The Reason You Suck" Speech.
- Skewed Priorities: Played for Drama. Upon being told Rigby may be on the brink of death, Benson instead harps on the fact he and Mordecai weren't at work like they were supposed to. Mordecai, in response, not only punches him but lays into him for his callous behavior.
- Stating the Simple Solution: Mordecai suggests four times that it would be easier to just buy the hat than complete the Eggscellent Challenge. Unfortunately, this qualifies as Loophole Abuse so he has to do the challenge.
- Talk to the Fist: Mordecai decks Benson right after the latter makes a callous statement about Rigby's comatose state.
- Too Dumb to Live:
- Rigby tries to eat a giant omelette, despite being highly allergic to eggs. His excuse: "I thought if I ate really fast, maybe I wouldn’t notice".
- The test for the hat, which fully appears in the ads for it, is picking out the correct one among a group of obvious fakes. Jonathan Kimble was obsessed with the hat yet still chose poorly.
- Ungrateful Bastard: Downplayed. Although Rigby is sincerely thankful for his friends' support, he also has the nerve to suggest that they help him with the Raise the Steaks competition. They understandably don't budge.Rigby: I'll eat the steak if you eat the eggs.
- [Verb] This!: At the beginning of the episode, Mordecai and Rigby watch a show where a guy called Easton says this as his catchphrase before he flips over a vehicle: "Escape this, Manetti."Rigby: Dude, didn't he flip a car in the last episode?
Mordecai: He flips a car in every episode. (Imitating Easton) "Hey, bus full of grade schoolers, learn this." - We Are Not Going Through That Again: At the end, Rigby sees a promo for a Steak and eggs-eating competition as the winner receives a free T-shirt that says "RAISE THE STEAKS!" Rigby eagerly asks Mordecai to eat the eggs while he eats the steaks. Mordecai and everyone else decide to try and remove the Eggscellent Hat to see if he'll go back into a coma.
- Wham Line: "Oh no. We were only trying to help!"
