The first couple episodes had much more random discussion than did the ones that followed. "Pretzelkins" typifies it. The unifying theme is that Katz feels a bit of a malaise in his life. Julie thinks it's because he deals with unhappy people all day long; Stanley thinks he needs a little "you know." Katz asks Ben to drive Grandpa to the urologist, and "remind him to put his pants back on." Ben visits the office and rides the elevator with Laura, who tries hard not to see or hear him. Katz's family was poor when he was young, and his mom made "Clown": piece of American cheese, two peas for eyes, cherry tomato for nose, and celery for mouth. Katz tells his dad over the phone he doesn't want to play bingo, but he winds up doing it. If the first episode established that Ben is a loser, this episode establishes that Katz is, too, in his own way.

• Ray Romano: His wife calls him at Katz's office; 3 is the best age, when you can daydream about candy; Montreal Burger King employees are bi-lingual, whereas American ones "aren't even lingual"; impossible to watch Thanksgiving football games with the sound turned down; gets in the shower and forgets if he's washed his hair or not; male fantasies can have a cast of thousands, including people you don't want there.
• Wendy Liebman: Her mom calls Laura, wanting to know if Katz knows what she should get her for her birthday; Wendy got her germ-phobia from mom, who puts toilet paper on the seat before sitting down, even at relatives' houses, at the dinner table; she read the Bible -- "That guy can write."