When Penny starts rebelling, Trudy locks her out of the house, forcing her to stay at Suga Mama's for the week.
This episode has examples of…
- Abusive Parents:
- If how Suga Mama disciplining Penny is any indication of how she treated Oscar, it’s no wonder he ended up the way he did.
- Trudy falls into this too, by locking Penny out of the house for rebelling and neglecting her schoolwork/sneaking back home late at night, and leaving her to be stuck slaving away at Suga Mama's house.
- Artistic License – Law: Trudy locks Penny out of the house for her delinquency. Regardless of justification, in real life, locking, or even kicking a kid out of their own home is considered child abandonment in the US, and she would be in serious legal trouble for doing so. Oscar would also be held accountable for failure to stop Trudy.
- Disproportionate Retribution: Yes, Penny needed some discipline, but locking her out of the house at night just for missing her curfew and neglecting schoolwork goes way beyond that.
- The Dreaded: Everyone’s afraid of Suga Mama, and no one will dare mess with her.
- Good-Times Montage: In contrast with the one before where Penny was shown slaving away, we see Penny and Suga Mama getting along fabulously while Penny is caring for her.
- History with Celebrity: While riffling through Suga Mama's coat pockets, Penny finds a photo of Suga Mama fighting Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., followed by one of her fighting the Obamas.
- Jerkass Ball:
- Penny begins rebelling against just about everyone in this episode, be it coming home late, skipping homework, and refusing to listen to her parents. Her attitude gets her in trouble when Trudy punishes her by locking her out of the house and confining her to Suga Mama's house.
- Trudy for enacting the above, which many fans consider way too extreme of a punishment.
- Karma Houdini Warranty: Subverted. When Suga Mama ends up being injured, Penny swears to get back at her for how both she and Oscar were treated. Later on, however, Penny reveals she was only joking and wouldn't actually take advantage of her injured grandmother, avoiding a potential Cycle of Revenge.
- Leaning on the Fourth Wall: A "MISSING" poster of Sticky is shown outside the emergency center, alluding to his absence in this series.
- Let Me at Him!: Penny tells her parents off before storming off to her room, prompting anger from Trudy and Oscar to hold her back as she tries to run after her.
- Manchild: Bobby naturally as one of Penny's chores is cleaning his room despite being a grown man and later does it himself when bribed with nachos. Suga Mama even asks who'd take care of him while she's stuck recovering despite the fact he's old enough that he both could and should be able to look after himself.
- Mass "Oh, Crap!": Penny's classmates book it en masse when they realize Suga Mama was in the classroom while Dijonay was talking about putting her grandmother in her place.
- Oh, Crap!: Suga Mama has this reaction when Dr. Payne tells her she'll be invalid for a month and Penny (who she's been a Drill Sergeant Nasty to for the first half of the episode) promises to take care of her grandmother like "she did her and her daddy."Suga Mama: Don't leave me with this crazy girl! She's got revenge in her eyes.
- Pet the Dog: Even Oscar seems to think Trudy was going a little overboard by changing the locks on their daughter, giving Penny bus fare in order to reach Suga Mama's.
- Unexplained Recovery: Despite being shown as incapable of moving, Suga Mama is shown standing and walking on her own as she watches Trudy and Penny reconcile. Bobby outright calls it a miracle.
- What You Are in the Dark: Penny had the perfect opportunity to get revenge on Suga Mama for being so tough on her, but decided not to because she wasn't going to take advantage of her grandmother being injured.
