The Gang decides to make Lethal Weapon 7 when they discover the local library pulled their previous films, but they have trouble making a film that caters to modern sensibilities.
Tropes:
- Allegorical Character: Discussed, while trying to make a new villain, Dennis explains why they chose Karen White. According to Dennis, entitled white women are the only group they can vilify for their movie but the gang finds her too "cunty" for their movie and decide to switch Karen with a flood to avoid controversy. Instead, they now find the character unlikable and eventually make "Don Cheadle" the director, who turns the film into a documentary about white saviors.
- Ambiguously Brown: The gang are confused when Artemis alludes to herself as a diversity hire of a woman of color, explaining that (like the actress) she's Iranian.
- Bait-and-Switch: In the Cold Opening, when the Gang tries to convince Frank to move on from the fact that the library removed Lethal Weapons 5 and 6, it looks like they are trying to persuade him to be the bigger person...Nope! They decide to make Lethal Weapon 7.
- Blatant Lies: During one of his dates with young women, Dennis claims to be 26 despite clearly being much older. To underscore this, the scene is filmed in bright sunlight, which makes the wrinkles on his face appear more pronounced.
- The Bus Came Back: Both Pepper Jack and "Donovan McNabb" return after extended absences.
- Continuity Nod:
- Dennis mentions that Pepper Jack stole his Fraggle Rock thermos.
- In a Freeze-Frame Bonus, the bathroom still has the "Animal Shithouse" sign on it.
- Hate Sink: The Gang finds one of the proposed villains, a racist Karen, to be too unpleasant to work as a villain.
- Here We Go Again!: After the Gang's attempt to make Lethal Weapon 7 gets turned into a documentary about white saviors by "Don Cheadle", they decide to make Lethal Weapon 8 with Mac campaigning to play Murtaugh again.
- Jerkass Has a Point: Dee tells Mac that not being racist is just basic human decency and he shouldn't expect to be praised for it.
- Leaning on the Fourth Wall: The library removing the Gang's Lethal Weapon sequels due to concerns about the use of Blackface is clearly meant to parallel several of the show's episodes (including the episodes where they make the Lethal Weapon sequels) being removed from streaming sites for that exact reason.
- Limited Social Circle: Discussed when it's pointed out by Dennis that the Gang knows very few people of color outside of pimps, prostitutes, and other "people of the bridges and the streets."
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Only the Creator Does It Right: Hinted at when at the end, the Gang decides to make an eighth film. Mac, who played Murtaugh in their previous films, asks to play Murtaugh again, after being disappointed in their choices in this film. - Paper-Thin Disguise: Very few people at the screening of White Saviors notice that "Don Cheadle" barely looks like the real guy.
- Realism-Induced Horror: After seeing Dee's "Karen White" character threatening Riggs and Murtaugh, the rest of the Gang decides the character hits too close to reality and is too frightening for the film.
- Role-Ending Misdemeanor: Discussed. Mac states that film directors like Woody Allen and Roman Polański suffered from this, as they stopped making films due to "one mistake" each, but Dennis corrects him and points out that they continued to work for years after their "one mistake," which was really more of a "violent sexual crime." Bill Cosby is also mentioned in the same discussion.
- Take That!:
- The American film industry gets mocked for their habit of condoning misconduct by actors and creators (such as racism and sexual assault) until public backlash becomes too great, at which point they finally step in and act as though they're progressive and forward-thinking for doing so.
- The American film industry's pervasive cynical, performative PR grabs with heavily tokenized "diverse" casting choices and superficially progressive plotlines and characterizations is also relentlessly mocked. The Gang's choice to hand the film over to "Don Cheadle" and his subsequent retool of the film into a documentary on the Gang's sheer bigotry, ignorance, arrogance, and narcissism serves as the logical conclusion of this.
- Mac dramatically announcing that he will be stepping back from playing Murtaugh in Lethal Weapon 7 and then expecting praise for doing so is clearly meant to mock white actors who voiced non-white characters doing the same thing after the 2020 Black Lives Matter protests, even though they had no qualms about their roles before the protests occurred.
- Through his many bad dates, Dennis states that white Millennial and Zoomer "activists" are really a bunch of Know Nothing Know It Alls who care more about creating the appearance of supporting their respective causes (caring for marginalized groups on the left and fighting socialism on the right) than actually making personal sacrifices and efforts to do so. He also concludes that the best way to appear aware and knowledgeable is by simply regurgitating their talking points and arguments.
- The character, Karen White, is a direct jab at entitled white women who are demanding, entitled, and racist. Charlie, Dennis, Frank, and Mac express discomfort with the role and outright call the character a "cunt".
- The "Karen White" character is also another jab at political correctness because Dennis states that the only acceptable demographic to villainise is "entitled white woman".
- Terrible Interviewees Montage: Dennis reveals he went through three bad dates in the third part, which gave him the inspiration for his idea of handing the creative control for Lethal Weapons 7 over to "Don Cheadle".
- The Loins Sleep Tonight: Frank insists on including himself in a sex scene as with their previous Lethal Weapons but, as the woman he hired points out, his "dick doesn't work."
- Wants a Prize for Basic Decency: Mac makes a big deal out of his decision to step aside from the Murtaugh role and expects the others to lavish praise on this decision.Mac: I'm doing something anti-racist, and I think I deserve praise for that, do I not?
Dee: You don't get praise for telling people you're not racist.
Mac: Then why am I doing it? - What the Hell Is That Accent?: Dee's accent begins to go all over the place during her performance, which causes the others to comment on how terrible it is.
