Abandoned War Child: The whole premise of the episode. Mr. Gaines has his half-Vietnamese daughter coming to live with his family in America. Gaines' son, Brad, doesn't take the news very well.
Bill... Bill... Junk... Bill...: When Mr. Gaines returns to his house, he shuffles through the mail and it goes this way: "bills..., bills..., junk mail..."
Half-Breed Discrimination: Nguyen is mistreated throughout the episode due to being Vietnamese by virtually everyone save for her father and stepmother. Nguyen says that she faced the same discrimination back in Vietnam because of being half-Vietnamese.
Heel–Face Turn: After Brad and Larry spend much of the episode making Nguyen miserable, Jonathan tells the boys a story about how much Larry's deceased father cared about the native kids he encountered while in Vietnam, calling them his "adopted children". Seeing the error of their ways, the boys head to Brad's house and apologize to Mr. Gaines, only to subsequently learn that Nguyen has run away; they later track her down at a local Vietnamese restaurant and offer the girl a heartfelt apology, which persuades her to come home.
Jerkass: Brad's friend Larry definitely qualifies; he and their other friends are constantly bullying Nguyen, then he gets into a fight with Brad after intentionally tripping the latter during a soccer game (which ultimately causes Larry to be kicked off the team). Larry's mother Jeanette also qualifies, given her own prejudices against Vietnamese people (due to her late husband, Larry Sr, having been killed in Vietnam).
Missing Mom: Nguyen's mother died shortly before the events of the episode took place, and she comes to live with her father, stepmother and half-brother in California.
N-Word Privileges: They don't use the dreaded n-word, but two teenaged bullies use the word "gook" – to insult Jonathan and Mark as they aid a Vietnamese teenager who is struggling to deal with prejudices and racism in her community, and the slur is also used towards the young woman by several of her tormentors.
Pay Evil unto Evil: In the final act, when two bullies insult Jonathan by calling him a "gook lover," Jonathan gives them a hard stare ... and they wind up crashing their bikes into each other. The two teenagers are dazed and confused as to what just happened and try to get at Jonathan. Mark, meanwhile, chuckles as Jonathan suggests that he maybe was too hard on them ... until Mark says, "I don't think He's (The Boss) going to mind at all" as Jonathan gives it to them again. The bullies finally get the hint and hightail it out of there.
With Us or Against Us: Brad's friends tells him either he's with them or with his sister Nguyen. Brad immediately says he's with them and publicly rejects Nguyen.
