WARNING: The following contains spoilers for The Adventure Zone: Graduation Ep. 32: By a Hair(cut), available now.
The Adventure Zone: Graduation has been preparing for a heist and the main characters have all found unique ways to contribute to the grand scheme. While the actual play podcast has never featured the most straightforward plot lines, things have gotten strange for the McElroys as their characters prepare. Last episode featured an all-important job interview and some drugged scones, but the most recent episode all hinged on Argo's haircut.
The stage for Argo's plot-critical haircut was set in the last episode when he decided he'd like to get his hands on a Heroic Oversight Guild badge. Argo talked up receptionist Bailey Kern, hoping to use his charisma to distract her or get her to hand over her badge. By complimenting her hair, Argo gets Bailey talking about hairstyles and eventually asks if she'd be willing to help cut his own locks.
The most recent episode, "By a Hair(cut)," picks up with Argo and Bailey finally heading off for a haircut. Argo describes his desired cut, an intricate blend of fade and shag, and the absolutely too-kind Bailey delivers. The family spends a good chunk of time discussing the merits of roleplaying a haircut and whether this has a place in D&D. In fact, Clint McElroy, who plays Argo, spends so much time in the zone that he almost forgets his end goal of using the haircut as a distraction to secure Bailey's badge.
Argo's plan ends up working due largely to the classic D&D deus ex machina -- the luck of the roll. Game Master Travis McElroy rolled a natural 20 on how well Bailey cut Argo's hair, earning him advantage on his next three charisma checks because his hair was so distractingly good-looking. When Argo went to switch out her real badge for the fake one he prepared, Clint also rolled high, ensuring that his sleight of hand went unnoticed -- at least for now.
The final success of Argo's gambit was the replica badge he crafted. When Clint proposed replacing Bailey's badge, he had not yet created a faux version in the game, leaving the family members some time to improv what exactly would make a good badge stand-in. After tossing up some duds, Griffin McElroy lands on the idea of using the campaign's iconic hot mint gum -- a disgusting sounding delicacy whose metallic wrappers and general box shape made it a perfect badge stand-in. Returning to hot mint gum is a great call back, made even better by Clint almost forgetting to steal the badge and leave the replacement in the first place.
The McElroy family has never followed the most straightforward path to their destination, and they take pride in chasing down the wildest of leads, which usually adds to the humor of their comedy actual-play podcast. Giving Argo the stage to use his heist preparation time to get a haircut fits perfectly into their mold, if not that of other shows. Justin McElroy even comments on the absurdity of it, saying that the McElroy family talks a lot about haircuts and bags of scones, "probably more than most people would want to hear about." While not many shows would have had the courage to spend two episodes on cutting Argo's hair, The Adventure Zone: Graduation is all the better for it.