Recap / The Fresh Prince Of Bel Air S 1 E 20 Nice Lady

When Geoffrey's old employer Lord Fowler and his daughter Lady Penelope come to visit the Banks house, Will agrees to escort Penelope to the opera to prove himself responsible enough to drive to a Ziggy Marley concert in Nevada. However, he later learns that Penelope has other plans.

Tropes

• Arson, Murder, and Jaywalking: A variant of this plays out between Will and Geoffrey after Penelope goes missing. Geoffrey worries that her disappearance will disgrace him in front of Lord Fowler and the Bankses and result in him being fired and having no chance of finding a job again; Will then turns the situation toward himself by saying this incident will cause him to not be able to go to the concert.
• Bad Guy Bar: The Meat Hook in L.A. is the roughest bar in the city, which is exactly why Penelope wants to go there. Violence is as commonplace as dancing to the point that the bouncer is little more than a Butt-Monkey.
• Break the Haughty: The Godzilla-like man that Penelope gets with at the bar is initially cold and violent (as Will can attest to), but is left a sobbing wreck when Penelope leaves him and steals his Harley.
• British Stuffiness: Lord Fowler takes this trope up to eleven, much to the chagrin of the Banks family. Lady Penelope seems to act this way as well, but drops the act as soon as her father isn't around.
• Classical Music Is Boring: Lord Fowler haughtily declares "A night at the opera. I can't imagine anything more boring!" in response to Lady Penelope's claim that she sent Will home because she could tell he wasn't enjoying it.
• Earn Your Happy Ending: While Will's genuine attempt to be responsible goes awry, Lady Penelope lies and makes it sound like the night went off without a hitch and even though Uncle Phil knows it was a lie, he decides it's better to trust Will to go to the concert than have to listen to what really happened.
• Gilligan Cut: Done with a touch of Hypocritical Humor as Geoffrey lambasts Lady Penelope for lying after Will tells him about what she did, only to tell a lie in the very next shot about going to visit his malaria-stricken cousin as a cover for him and Will to go find her.
• Grew a Spine: Subverted. After initially being afraid of the rough and rowdy patrons of the Meat Hook, Will stands up to a Godzilla-like man after being confronted for being around Penelope. Will then finds the courage to tell the man off and, seemingly successful, gives a triumphant Aside Glance...only to then be pulled away by the man.
• Hidden Depths: Geoffrey reveals that he was quite skilled at Greco-Roman wrestling when he was younger and uses it go attack a guy twice his size. And to say nothing of Penelope, as noted in the very next trope.
• Living a Double Life: Lady Penelope at first seems to be a sweet girl who has just as much British Stuffiness as her father, but as soon as he's gone, she lets her wild side out and goes to the most risque clubs she can find.
• Looking Busy: To escape from Lord Fowler's incessant rambling the Bankses try multiple mundane excuses like feeling sick or having trouble sleeping. The other members of the family quickly put a stop to these attempts because if they have to suffer, everyone else has to suffer with them.
• Nap-Inducing Speak: Following dinner, the Bankses struggle to stay awake listening to Lord Fowler's constant rambling.
• Old Windbag: Lord Fowler loves to talk, with his favorite subject being British maritime laws and their history.
• Pint-Size Powerhouse: Geoffrey takes on Lady Penelope's date at the Meat Hook, a massive man who Will compares to Godzilla, and overpowers him. Granted, the guy was in tears over Penelope abandoning him and didn't seem to be in any mood for fighting.
• Screw This, I'm Outta Here: At the end of the episode, Uncle Phil looks like he believes everything that Will looking after Lady Penelope went smoothly. When he goes to address Will on this, Will's response, after enduring Lord Fowler, understandably scares him off.
  Phillip: Just one thing, Will, out of curiosity. Since that explanation that Lady Penelope rattled off was obviously a complete crock, what really did happen tonight?
  Will: *sighs* Well... You should sit down. It's going to be a long story, Uncle Phil.
  Phillip: *nervously starts backing away* Oh, no. No, no, no. Never mind. Enjoy the concert!
• Sticky Fingers: Penelope not only steals the Bankses' car to go to the Meat Hook, but later steals the Harley of the guy she flirts with while there.
• That Came Out Wrong: When Will tries to assure Penelope's Godzilla-like suitor that he's not trying to dance with her, he says that he just wants to take her home. He immediately realizes how a statement like that would be construed and violence follows not too long after.
• Unexpected Successor: Brought up in a humorous manner as Geoffrey reveals that Lady Penelope would be in line for the British throne...if the 895 people ahead of her were to all die.