Jealous of how close Fran is to Max and the children, C.C. agrees to go to the zoo with the family. On the day of the trip, Max is sick, and C.C. has to take the children by herself.
This episode contains examples of:
- Adventurer Outfit: C.C. is such a City Mouse that she dresses this way for a trip to the zoo:Niles: Well, look who's Out of Africa.
- Badly Battered Babysitter: C.C. gets this when she takes the kids to the zoo, since they do not like her and go out of their way to be difficult.
- Big Brother Instinct: Both Maggie and Brighton are quick to go into this mode after C.C. upsets Gracie — Maggie immediately rushing to comfort her while Brighton smugly tells C.C. that he threw up in her purse.
- Child Hater: C.C. tries and fails to hide the fact that she's this trope:C.C.: Maxwell, I adore children. It's a natural thing, a female thing.
Niles: I hear some females eat their young. - First-Step Fixation: Upon discovering that Gracie has run away, Max starts to panic and announces he's calling the police to find her. Fran then puts Gracie on the phone, revealing she's safe and sound at her house. It takes a few seconds for Max to realize the significance of hearing Gracie's voice:Maxwell: I have to call the police!Gracie: Hi, Daddy.Maxwell: Grace, get off the phone! I have to call... [does a double take] Gracie, you're there?
- Global Warming: Gracie is worried about it. Fran helps allay her fears by packing a snorkel in her lunchbox.
- Impossibly Tacky Clothes: Fran normally has style and flair, but her bridesmaid gown makes her look, as she puts it, "like Pat Boone's mistress."
- Ironic Echo: C.C. tells Gracie that Fran only spends time with her because she's getting paid to do so; when Fran and Max call C.C. out for saying that, she tries to save face by claiming "I meant that in the nicest possible way." At the end of the episode, Fran threatens to spill C.C.'s blood if she ever hurts one of the kids again... then adds "And I mean that in the nicest possible way."
- Mama Bear: Fran puts C.C. in her place at the ending.Fran: Look, you're a lovely woman, and I wish you well. But if you ever hurt one of my kids again, they'll be wiping your blue blood off the walls. And I mean that in the nicest possible way.
- The Runaway: After the disastrous zoo trip, Gracie runs away to be with Fran:Fran: Who runs from Park Avenue to Flushing? Honey, you're running in the wrong direction.
- Twitchy Eye: C.C. starts having it when she sees how Fran gets along with the Sheffields.Fran: (to the Sheffield children) Now, everyone, say goodbye to Daddy...C.C.: "Daddy"? Did I miss the wedding? (her eye starts twitching)
