Tired of the Recess Gang getting all the glory on the playground, Lawson assembles his own crew to take care of problems.
Tropes
- An Aesop: In the end, Lawson realizes that a kid needs friends more than glory.
- Call-Back: Lawson and his crew are shown to be solving problems that the Recess Gang had done in previous episodes, like arresting Earl Raymond from "The Barnaby Boys."
- The Chessmaster: Lawson becomes this so that he and his "crew" could be one step ahead of everything the Recess gang is about to do.
- Didn't Think This Through: Lawson's gang discover that consisting mostly of antagonistic kids severely reduces the amount of conflict on the playground that they united to solve in the first place.
- Distaff Counterpart: Menlo and Kurst the Worst serve as the counterpart for Gretchen and Mikey, respectively.
- Famous for Being First: Happens several times throughout the episode with Lawson and his crew always being one step ahead of TJ and his friends.
- Glory Hound: Lawson's motivation for forming his new crew.
- Lampshade Hanging: With no glory to be had in hours, Menlo points out that there's unlikely to be much more now that Lawson, Randall, Kurst, and Skeens are solving problems instead of causing them.
- Leaning on the Fourth Wall: Before the commercial break, T.J. says "Recess will never be the same". It could be referring to the show, but also to their own recess.
- Noodle Incident: In a montage of Lawson's crew solving all the problems on the playground, we see that they have reconciled Principal Prickley with his brother.
- Opening Shout-Out: Part 2 begins with Lawson and his crew replacing the Recess Six in the opening.
- The Power of Friendship:
- Disappointed to lose their standing and what they used to do, T.J. and friends begin to wonder if they were just glory hounds. Mikey points out they're best friends who enjoyed helping people. Instead of being miserable, the gang take comfort in being friends.
- Skeens, of all people, takes what the gang says about friendship to heart by defending Lazy Kid against Lawson and camping out with him as a show of support.
- Screw This, I'm Outta Here: Once Lawson's crew realize that they are not actually friends, but only concerned about getting glory, they all abandon him when faced with having to defuse a situation with the kindergarteners.
- Series Fauxnale: This was originally produced as the series finale, but the success of the film caused the show to be renewed for a sixth season.
- Similar Squad: Lawson forms a crew consisting of himself, Randall, Skeens, Kurst, Swinger Girl, and Menlo.
- Throw the Dog a Bone: Rather than kick him while he's down, T.J. commends Lawson for the good things his crew accomplished. Vince also suggests Lawson get back together with his actual friends.
- Token Good Teammate: Swinger Girl is the only member of Lawson's crew who doesn't taunt the Recess Six.
- Victory Is Boring: Lawson's new crew starts to unravel because they've solved so many problems and new ones are in short supply. Whereas T.J. and pals can deal with losing glory just by engaging in friendly games and discussions, Lawson's crew has nothing but the need for glory tying them together.
