Original air date: 9/14/1992
Will returns home from spending the summer in Philadelphia and has about 2 weeks left before he starts his final year at Bel-Air Academy. But he returns with a new look and a new beeper, which doesn't sit well with Philip. It angers Philip even more when Ashley starts to pick up Will's habits. Philip and Will argue about these matters, which results in Will walking out and leaving home.
Tropes:
- Cue the Flying Pigs: Ashley asks Philip if she could have a beeper just like Will does. He tells her: "Yeah, when Jesse Jackson gets a job."
- Divide and Conquer: With his cousins backing him up, Will argues that not being Phil's son means that Phil can't tell him what to do about his look and so forth. Phil concedes the point before saying that Hilary, Carlton, and Ashley are his kids and that he can punish them however he wants in response to Will's continued defiance. As Phil and Vivian expected, the united front against them quickly collapses.
- Gave Up Too Soon: Subverted. Will tries to prove to the cop that the car simply sets off its alarm if someone gets too close and doesn't leave in 10 seconds. After feebly trying to set it off, he's resigned to his fate and lets the cop arrest him. While the cop is hauling him away, the car gives off the warning again. Given that Will and the cop are on good terms when Will returns home, what we can gather is that while offscreen, they were still in earshot, vindicating Will's claim.
- Reasonable Authority Figure: The cop who arrests Will only does so because he has good reason to believe he is in the process of breaking into the car. When he realizes the car simply has a function that set off the alarm if someone got too close, he lets Will off the hook and gives him a ride home, knowing his family must be worried sick. Once home, he clearly takes Uncle Phil's side in the manner of Will storming off but is still friendly to Will when he leaves.
