Stan invites his Native American half-brother Rusty to Thanksgiving, taking every opportunity to show off his wealth and opulence. When Steve becomes too demanding, Stan decides to take his family to Rusty's in order to teach them humility... only to find that his half-brother is insanely wealthy.
Tropes:
- Art Shift: Stan telling the story of Squanto is done in the style of a Rankin/Bass holiday special.
- Big Damn Heroes: Hayley and Jeff find the rest of the family before they freeze to death in the middle of the desert.
- Brick Joke:
- After their helicopter crashes, the pilot (who has been sliced in half) crawls off to get help. After the family is saved by Hayley and Jeff, Stan is confronted by Rusty, as they're still on his land even after getting lost. At that point, the pilot returns, and Rusty is so startled that he shoots him.
- When the family is lost in the desert, we see a cow jumping over the moon, like the Nursery Rhyme. Then it drifts off into space. At the end of the episode, it falls back to Earth and lands on top of Jeff's van.
- Call-Back:
- Stan called Rusty back in "Meter Made."
- In "Finances with Wolves," Roger tried to adopt a wolf that he named Felicity.
- Didn't Think This Through: Stan attempts to steal Rusty's wealth and home by kidnapping him and his family in the middle of the night, putting them in the Smith house, and then redecorating it to make them believe it really is their home. Not only are Rusty and his family not fooled for a second due to how Stan's "redecoration" amounts to having a dream catcher, but there's nothing stopping Rusty from simply driving back home to take back his house since he is still the one with the security detail.
- Disowned Sibling: After Stan forced Rusty and his own family out of his house, Rusty threatens to kill his half-brother if he ever returns. And the ending further implies that he means it.
- Does This Remind You of Anything?: The caucasian Smith family (minus Hayley and Jeff) try to steal the land and wealth from Stan's Native American half-brother.
- Epic Fail:
- Stan lost his $20,000... by leaving it on the bus.
- Stan's attempt to fool Rusty by disguising his house only consists of a dream catcher. Rusty is not fooled one bit.
- Stan's temper tantrum knocks the pilot unconscious with the arm rest, causing the helicopter to crash. Miraculously, everyone on board survives, although the pilot himself is left bisected.
- Roger gets the family lost in the desert by thinking a balls-in-the-maze game is a compass.
- Five-Second Foreshadowing: When Rusty and his family come to visit for Thanksgiving, Stan wears a cashmere sweater so that he can literally rub his wealth in his face. The following year, when the Smiths come to Arizona, Rusty is wearing an identical sweater just before it's revealed that he's actually rich.
- A Fool and His New Money Are Soon Parted: Stan and Rusty's foul-mouthed grandfather offered them a choice between $20,000 in cash or several acres of empty land. Wanting the money, Stan tricked Rusty into accepting the land. When Rusty asks Stan what he did with his inheritance, Stan replies that he lost it — not in stocks or bonds (or something like that), but that he accidentally left it on the bus.
- Freeze-Frame Bonus: In the flashbacks, Roger's pet wolf Felicity has white tips on her tail and ears, whereas the alpha wolf does not.
- Get Out!: When Rusty returns to his house in Arizona, he says this to Stan in a cold-blooded tone before having him (and his family) escorted.
- Green-Eyed Monster: Stan becomes envious of Rusty the instant he seems his enormous mansion.
- Half the Man He Used to Be: The helicopter pilot survives the crash despite being gruesomely cut off at his torso.
- Hoist by His Own Petard: Stan tricked Rusty out of getting their grandpa's money, only to not only physically lose said money but then find out decades later that his brother's now filthy rich thanks to inheriting land that is loaded with copper deposits.
- Hope Spot: When the family is surrounded by wolves, Roger thinks one of them is a wolf he raised years earlier. Whether she is or isn't, they're all still attacked.
- Hypocrite: Stan tries to teach Steve humility by sending him to Rusty's "poor" household, but he throws a fit of jealousy upon finding out Rusty is actually incredibly rich.
- It's All About Me: Stan has a meltdown, saying that everything Rusty has should be his.Stan: That should all be mine! I deserve it! I want it all! It should be mine! Mine! MINE!
- Laser-Guided Karma: After selfishly trying to reclaim Rusty's home as their own, the Smiths become lost in the desert, getting mauled by wolves and covered in urine.
- Money Dumb: As it turns out, Stan lost his inheritance money from dying grandfather... because he accidentally left it on the bus.
- "Not So Different" Remark: Stan takes his family to Rusty's in an attempt to teach Steve to appreciate what he has. As it turns out, Rusty has been doing the same thing with his own son.
- Pet the Dog: While he does act like a brat, one of the presents Steve demands is a camera to take pictures of the family.
- A Plot in Deed: Stan's great-great grandfather won the deed to the land in Arizona in a kickball game. The episode revolves around Stan being jealous of Rusty's success because he thought $20,000 in cash had more face value than a plot of dusty land.
- Rage Breaking Point: Rusty's patience was already worn thin by Stan's behavior, but when Stan has him relocated to reclaim the home as his own, he finally has enough, escorting the Smiths from his premises and threatening to kill Stan if he ever returns.
- Rejected Apology: When Stan finally sees the error of his ways, he tries to apologize to Rusty, only for the latter to threaten him at gunpoint for still being on his land (despite being several miles away from the house).Stan: Rusty, you're here! I owe you a huge apology. We're brothers, and—
Rusty: (cocks his gun and then points it at Stan) I told you to get off my land.
Stan: What, this is still your land? How much land did you get?
Rusty: So-o-o-o-o-o-o-o much. - Retcon: In "Meter Made," Stan called his half-brother and mentioned that he lives on a lake in New Glarus, Wisconsin (which doesn't exist). Here, we meet Rusty, who is Native American and lives in Arizona. It was also stated that Stan and Rusty were estranged, as Stan said they would just remain that way until he found a "humorous enough reason to show up unannounced," whereas here it's shown that Stan has been regularly inviting his brother to Thanksgiving as a way of showing off his supposed wealth.
- Saw It in a Movie Once: Stan tries to use survival techniques he saw on Man vs. Wild, like urinating on his pants and then wearing them as a headband. These only end up making their situation worse.
- Secretly Wealthy: Because Rusty is Native American, Stan has always assumed that Rusty and his family were dirt poor and lived on a reservation. But when Stan and his family go to visit Rusty and his family, they're astonished to learn that Rusty and his family are extremely wealthy, earning a fortune every year in mineral rights, and live in a mansion that's carved into a mountain. Even better, until visiting Rusty's home, Stan had always thought the land was worthless and had tricked Rusty into letting him have the $20k, not realizing just how valuable the land was.
- Self-Serving Memory: After realizing that Rusty is rich, Stan becomes convinced that Rusty tricked him into taking the money and that their grandpa wanted them to share the land. However, the flashback shows that their grandpa clearly believed the land was worthless and was goading them into taking the money, which Stan tricked Rusty out of.
- Shout-Out: Glenn's high-tech game room is reminiscent of TRON.
- Sir Swears-a-Lot: In a flashback, Stan's grandfather is shown to be a foul-mouthed old man, as he called Stan and Rusty assholes while in the hospital.
- Spoiled Brat:
- Steve becomes this after Hayley moves out, demolishing Hayley's bedroom and demanding more stuff to fill the space. Stan calls him out on this.
- Stan himself becomes this when he discovers Rusty's wealth, feeling it should all be his and throwing a temper tantrum when he doesn't get his way.
- Spoiled Sweet: Rusty's son Glenn is shy and quiet, graciously showing Steve his off-the-hook "gaming space".
- Thanksgiving Episode: This is the first episode of the series to center around Thanksgiving.
- Tranquil Fury: Rusty and his family are exceptionally mad when they return to their home.Stan: Rusty!
Rusty: Get the hell out of my house. - Wham Shot: When Stan initially tries getting settled into what Rusty claims is the pump house for the fountains and pools for his, Stan questions his half-brother on where he lives — Rusty then points out his family's extravagant mansion that's built into a frickin' mountain.
- Worthless Yellow Rocks: The land was assumed to be worthless since it didn't have any gold. But after inheriting it from his grandfather, Rusty eventually discovered that the land was so rich in copper that he's been able to dig up tens of millions of dollars worth of ore every year for decades.
