When the school gets cancelled for the day due to the teachers getting sick from eating Mr. Small's candles, Gumball and Darwin come home and find a woman answering the door, followed by Richard with make-up smeared on his face. At first, the duo suspects that Richard's cheating on Nicole—but the truth turns out to be much, much weirder.
Tropes:
- An Aesop: It's okay to cross-dress if it makes you happy.
- Ambiguous Syntax: Mr. Small left a note by the tray of red-and-white striped candles telling people to take one and enjoy. He really should've been clearer.
- Continuity Nod: In continuity with "The Wand", the note on the candles mentions that Mr. Small's given name is Steve.
- Disguised in Drag: Richard disguises himself as an elderly woman because he couldn't make friends with other men, and decided to go for a Gender-Bender Friendship with a group of old women.
- Foreshadowing: As "Samantha" approaches the other girls at the fountain, Clayton can be seen disguised as part of it.
- Flock of Wolves: Richard's group of elderly women are actually all men (gray construction man and Marvin) Disguised in Drag—except for one of them, who tries to take off her hair before realizing it's not a wig.
- Home-Early Surprise: Darwin and Gumball first encounter "Samantha" when they're sent home from school early on account of the staff being incapacitated.
- I Did What I Had to Do: Invoked by Richard saying he did what he did because he thinks society frowns on men being friends with mature women. When Angela says "Literally no one has a problem with that," Richard sheepishly realizes he didn't have to do it.
- Ignored Aesop: Richard and the other men realize that it's...not worth it to go back to being lonely men and learn the importance of keep pretending to be old ladies just to continue being friends (even though Gumball suggested not disguising at all to be friends). Gumball and Darwin give up on them.
- Intoxication Ensues: The episodes opens with the school's staff suffering wild hallucinations and being hospitalized from eating "candy" sticks Mr. Small brought. Needless to say, they weren't actually candy, but they weren't drugs either—they were actually candles.
- Mistaken for Cheating: Darwin and Gumball mistake Richard's alter-ego for a mistress. They confront him about it, and continue to think Richard is having an affair while he assumes they have an accurate view of his "secret life". They only realize the truth after Richard decides to reveal himself to his friends.
- Not a Mask: When Violet and Angela reveal that they are men in disguise (Marvin Finkelheimer and George, the grey-skinned construction worker, respectively), Maria follows suit, only to realize she was a woman to begin with.
- Open-Minded Parent: Inverted, with Gumball and Darwin being totally understanding of Richard's crossdressing and considering his friendship with the other women as beautiful.
- Prefers the Illusion: After being revealed as a Flock of Wolves, the men in the group continue to act like they're old ladies, even though Gumball insists they could just spend their time together out of disguise. After a bit, Gumball shrugs and figures if it makes them happy there's no problem.
- Significant Anagram: Richard's female alter-ego is "Samantha", which is pointed out to be an anagram for "Tha's a man".
- Sitcom Homage Episode: The scenes of the old women extensively homage The Golden Girls, complete with Laugh Track and footage that looks like it's on decayed tape.
- Small Role, Big Impact: Mr. Small isn't even in the episode, but still managed to kick off the plot by leaving some candles in the teacher's lounge, which the other faculty members mistook for candies, ate, and consequentially became intoxicated, leading the kids to be sent home, which led Gumball and Darwin to discovering Samantha.
- Unwitting Instigator of Doom: Mr. Small brought back some candles from a vacation, which he left in the teacher's lounge with a note to the faculty to "help yourself". However, the entire faculty mistook them for candy and ate them, getting them all extremely intoxicated.
