After being called a "banana" (an Asian who acts too American — "yellow on the outside, white on the inside"), Kahn forces his family to reconnect with their Laotian roots — which puts a damper on Hank's plans to build a pool in Kahn's yard and irritates Connie and Minh, who are happier living the fat, pop-culture-obsessed American life.
Tropes:
- All for Nothing: When Kahn turns his pool into a Laotian reflecting pool, Bobby bemoans that his CPR training (which included going to school on a Saturday) has been rendered meaningless. Thankfully, when the pool is turned back to normal in the end, all that goes away.
- Be Yourself: Kahn gets a pool as a way to impress Ted Wassanasong, only to have Ted criticize him for being too Americanized and call him a "banana" (yellow outside, white inside), even though Ted himself has gone out of his own way with Americanizing himself. Afterwards, Kahn goes to extremes in making his family reconnect to their Laotian roots, e.g. turning their new pool into a reflecting pond and only eating Laotian dishes. However, when he's talked into joining a guerilla squad planning to overthrow the communist government, Kahn remembers he left Laos because he wanted to escape people telling him how to live, so he tells Ted off and embraces his American lifestyle again.Minh: Why you let Ted Wassanasong tell you what to do, what to like, what to think? Isn't that why we fled the communists in Laos? And the homeowners' association in Orange County?Kahn: Well, yeah, but...Minh: Kahn, don't you want to hear beautiful strains of Brahms come off Connie's violin? To eat yourself silly on baby back ribs and then fall backwards in your sparkling swimming pool like those iced tea ads you love so much?
- Big "WHAT?!": Bobby gets this when Peggy signs him up for a 2-week CPR course since it has more advanced methods like how to use CPR on an infant and elder, with Peggy believing that Cotton may visit.
- Broken Pedestal: Kahn idolized Ted Wassanasong up to this point in the series (at least in the sense he wanted to be as successful as him), but this episode made Kahn lose respect for him.
- Calling the Old Man Out: Well, "old man" meaning "personal idol" in this case, but Kahn eventually shuts down Ted's judgment of his lifestyle with this line:Kahn: It's like this. If you want someone to play a round of golf, give me call. If you want someone to feel guilty about the way they choose to live, call someone else!
- Explain, Explain... Oh, Crap!: When Kahn explains Ted's plan to go to Laos and try to take over the capital, he trails off and soon realizes that with the number of forces in Laos, he's going on a suicide mission.Khan: Well, we get on cargo plane and fly to Laos. If we are not blown apart by anti-aircraft fire, we parachute into mountains. If we not shot on way down, or die on impact, we march into capital. And then, well, we probably all be shot or run over with tank. Some of us may get taken prisoner. And then most likely they torture us or reeducate us and then... put us in their army.
- Straw Hypocrite: This side of Ted Wassanasong's characterization is on full display. He convinces Kahn to give up his material possessions and participate in a local Laotian militia, claiming it is the only way he can be a real Laotian. In reality, Ted only wants the militia so he can make them parade down Main Street on a "Laotian Pride Week" he's trying to get the city to start. He only wants the holiday so he, as a Laotian, can gain a sizable boost in social status. Kahn eventually wises up to this, calling him out on it and re-embracing his American lifestyle at the end.
