Philip wins the Urban Spirit Award, causing his parents to come over and a journalist to write an article about him. However, things go awry when Philip's parents tell Will some embarrassing stories about his uncle's childhood.
This episode provides examples of the following tropes:
- Actor Allusion: Phil quotes the title of "Parents Just Don't Understand" to a character played by Will Smith, who reacts appropriately.
- An Aesop: You should be proud of where you've gotten to, but never forget where you came from.
- Armor-Piercing Response: Phil condemns Will for the newspaper article, completely unaware his mother had entered. It's when he bemoans people knowing he's from Yamacraw that she starts talking.Hattie: But that is where you come from, Zeke!
- Aside Glance: Will in response to Phil saying, "Sometimes, parents just don't understand."
- Calling the Old Man Out: Inverted, with Hattie calling out her son Philip for talking negatively about his childhood when he had nothing to complain about.
- Distinction Without a Difference: Phil insists he's not ashamed of his upbringing; he just doesn't want to talk about those aspects of his life. Hattie says that's the same thing before storming out.
- Embarrassing Nickname: Philip hates his childhood nickname, "Zeke".
- Fake Ultimate Hero: In the banquet hall's bathroom, Phil acknowledges how his Self-Made Man image was to make himself look good for the press and unfairly omitted two parents that worked very hard to help him get to where he is now, as well as drops aspects of his youth that he's embarrassed by. He resolves to do better by changing his banquet speech so that it fully acknowledges his parents and his past.
- Going for the Big Scoop: Downplayed; the journalist sent to cover Philip and his family only eats up Will telling her about Hattie's stories because the rehearsed answers Philip had the rest of the family give were, to her, as relevant as a resume.
- Granny Classic: Philip's mother devotes most of her time to cooking delicious meals, even getting up very early in the morning to cook breakfast.
- Jerkass Realization: After Hattie calls him out, Phil is ashamed of himself for his ingratitude towards his parents.
- Right Behind Me: Hattie walks into the kitchen as Phil is berating Will for revealing his humble upbringings and blasts him for being ashamed of them.
- Shame Accusation: Philip gets angry at Will for telling a reporter the stories Hattie, Philip's mother, told about "Zeke's" youth, such as the time he ran inside a segregated bathroom, and how his pet pig, Melvin, helped him to become the first non-White winner of the youth farmer award at the county fair. Just as Philip is scolding Will about making public some memories he considers embarrassing, Hattie then scolds Philip for being ashamed if his past.
- Skinny Dipping: Philip used to do this frequently with Melvin, and grew up during a time when this was very much Truth in Television.
- Surprisingly Mundane Reason: After Will overhears the reporter that interviewed the Banks family she was killing the story because they're too boring, Will tells her the stories that Hattie told him that made Phillip seem like he was a Civil Rights leader, such as being the first Black president of the Junior Farmer's association in his county, and the protest he inspired when he used a segregated bathroom. However Phillip clarifies that he became the first Black president of the association because no one else ran that year, and he had drunk so much lemonade earlier that day that he didn't bother to read the signs, he just had to go to the bathroom. Even so, Will still compares him to Rosa Parks, who was just trying to get home after a hard day at work.
- This Is Unforgivable!: Phil dreads the thought of his mother never forgiving him for his behavior.
- Ungrateful Bastard: Hattie condemns Phil for being ashamed of his humble upbringing, saying hard work meant he was never lacking in meals or clothing. Phil later admits to Will how, as hard as his youth could be, he had it much easier than others he knew because of his parents.
- You Are Better Than You Think You Are: Hattie tells Will such stories as how Phil was the first black President of the Young Farmers' Association and his refusal to leave a whites-only restroom. Phil considers such stories embarrassing, as being a young farmer doesn't line up with the rich image he crafted for himself and being in that restroom was just because he really had to go. Will, however, is impressed by these stories and says that Phil should take pride in these actions.Will: The truth sounds really good to me.
