"Guys, my mom has lung cancer!"
— Charlie
Charlie's mom reveals that she has lung cancer and needs money to the tune of forty-six thousand dollars for a "miracle cure". Meanwhile, Frank and Dee become convinced that Barbara is still alive and has money hidden in her grave, and Dennis struggles with not having feelings.
This episode provides examples of the following tropes:
- Be Careful What You Wish For: Dennis spends the entire episode wishing that he could feel something. When he sees his mother's rotted corpse, he's reduced to hysterical sobbing and screaming that he feels too much.
- Belief Makes You Stupid: Dennis gives a whole speech about this to the churchgoers at the fundraiser for Charlie's mother.Dennis: I wanna talk about faith. It's not about whether something is true, or based in fact, or reality, or the laws of physics or nature, or even basic common sense. It's about whether or not we're dumb enough to believe in it that matters.
- Call-Back: Dennis is having trouble feeling again.
- Continuity Nod:
- Mac says that he and Charlie are equally responsible for Bonnie's cancer since it was both of their ideas for their mothers to move in together.
- When Frank and Dee are digging up the grave of Barbara's dog they run into Mr. Juarez, the man whose family they had to give the mansion to as compensation for destroying their house. It turns out that they've since had to move out since they couldn't afford the property tax, and he now works there as the gardener.
- When Charlie asks how Bonnie could make up something as serious as having terminal cancer, she admits that she learned it from him.
- Continuity Snarl:
- Mac claims he's never seen The Cosby Show because his parents wouldn't allow him, while "The Gang Gets Invincible" had him recognize "Donovan McNabb" as an actor from the show.
- Mr. Juarez self-identifies as such, even though the end of "The Gang Gets Extreme: Home Makeover Edition", it was revealed the Gang had no idea what the family's name was, and they were—true to character—just guessing a random "Mexican" name. (The creator commentary admits this was a goof.)
- Cooldown Hug: Mac and Dennis both give one of these to a somewhat perturbed Charlie when he loses his temper in the church.
- Department of Redundancy Department: "Dr. Jinx" asks Mac if he's been with "any hoes, ladies of the night, or prostitutes."
- Disproportionate Retribution: Frank manipulated Dee into digging up her dead mother as revenge for her implying that he's losing his mind.
- Dr. Feelgood: "Dr. Jinx", who lives in a garage with a bunch of plants and who Mrs. Mac claims can cure cancer for the fee of forty-six thousand dollars. It's revealed at the end of the episode that he's actually the church gardener.
- Erudite Stoner: When Charlie tells Artemis not to smoke in front of his mother, she responds that it's "not tobacco".
- Five-Second Foreshadowing: After reading Charlie's portion of her speech, Charlie's mom announces she has a confession. Mac's mom immediately responds:Mac's Mom: Don't do it, bitch!
- Grave Robbing: Dee and Frank dig up Barbara's grave, believing her to have faked her death and buried her fortune there. It's eventually revealed that she is very much dead and the whole thing was made up by Frank to get revenge on Dee.
- Hypocritical Humor: Dee commenting on how sad it is that gullible older people are so often scammed out of their money when she's doing that exact same thing to Frank.
- "L" Is for "Dyslexia": The portions of Bonnie's speech that were written by Charlie are a garbled mess.Bonnie: (reading) Give me money. Money me. Money now. Me a money needing a lot now.
- Lack of Empathy: Dennis's reaction on hearing that Charlie's mom has cancer.Dennis: (without affect) Oh... God. You know, how... jeez, that's terrible.
Charlie: What the hell was that, dude? That didn't sound very genuine.
Dennis: No. Sorry, what was I supposed to do?
Charlie: What are you doing? Are you kidding me, are you screwing with me right now?
Dennis: No. I'm sorry, I think the cancer thing, for whatever reason, it's just not... you know, it's not grabbing me right now.
Charlie: Not grabbing you? MY MOM IS DYING! - Manchild: The episode opens with Charlie and Mac bringing their laundry over to their mothers' house.
- Obfuscating Insanity: Frank spends much of the episode acting as though he's losing his mind in order to get revenge on Dee, though the ending implies that at least some of his senility is genuine.
- Phony Psychic: "Psychic John" appears to be one of these, telling Dee that there's a windfall of cash headed her way but claiming he needs a few more sessions with her — charging a hundred bucks each — to get all the details clear. The thing is, Frank also paid him off as part of his prank to get back at Dee for saying he was losing it.
- Playing Sick: Bonnie pretends to have cancer in order to raise enough money to repair the church statue that she and Mrs. Mac backed into with their car.
- Politically Incorrect Villain: Mac says that a black man is "pretty much the last thing he thinks of" when he thinks of a doctor and admits that his parents would never let him watch The Cosby Show growing up.
- Running Gag: Pretty much everything is a con and everyone is trying to con each other. Dee is being conned by a Phony Psychic, Frank is being conned by Dee taking advantage of his mental state, Charlie, Mac and Dennis deal with a homeopathic doctor and church. Then Frank cons them by convincing them to dig up his ex-wife's grave.
- Scatterbrained Senior: Dee accuses Frank of being one, pointing out that he's lost four pairs of shoes in the last month. This is what sets off Frank to begin his cruel prank on her.
- Security Cling: Dennis to Dee, when confronted with the corpse of their mother.
- Sequel Episode: To "Charlie Has Cancer".
- Sherlock Scan: Psychic John gives one of these to Frank, though it's later revealed to be part of the scam.
- Shout-Out: Charlie's mom tells him "I learned everything by watching you
" when he asks where she got the idea of faking cancer from. - Surprisingly Realistic Outcome: The Mexican family who ended up with the family mansion after the gang destroyed their home ended up unable to afford property taxes, and after moving out the father took a job as the landscaper for the home. This is an oft cited problem with gifting homes to those who are not financially stable, property taxes alone can be more than renting.
- Tin Man: Dennis spends the entire episode claiming that he can't feel anything and trying to knock some emotion loose.
- Villainous Breakdown: Dennis after seeing his mother's corpse at the end of the episode.Dennis: Mommy! Mommy! (sobbing) My mommy! My mommy's a skeleton! I feel too much! I FEEL TOO MUCH!!
