Stan befriends a Mormon boy and his family, but Stan feels that the Mormon boy's beliefs are very odd.
"All About Mormons" contains examples of:
- Actually Pretty Funny. When Gary introduces himself to Cartman, Cartman introduces himself as "Eura Fag". Gary laughs and tells Cartman he's cool, much to Cartman's annoyance.
- An Aesop: If someone is an otherwise good person, you shouldn't hold their beliefs against them.
- Anachronism Stew: During Joseph Smith's lifetime, the term "Native American" referred to white U.S. nativists, not American "Indians".
- Bait-and-Switch: During the narration of the Smith story, an upbeat tune plays in the background, with a choral "Dum, dum, dum, dum, dum" following the lyrical lines of the song that tell Smith's claims. When Lucy Harris appears in the sub-story and points out the flaws, the chorus changes to "Smart, smart, smart, smart, smart", and it becomes clear that the voices are actually singing "Dumb, dumb, dumb, dumb, dumb" in regards to Smith's stories and the townspeople believing them.
- Child Prodigy: One of the jokes during the dinner and family time was that most of the kids excelled at various activities, with the toddler being a shockingly good clog dancer.
- Decon-Recon Switch: Most of the episode mocks the story of Joseph Smith and Mormonism's founding (with the implication that Smith made it all up just to make money). However, the episode ends with Gary telling Stan that even if Smith did make it all up, Mormonism still promotes good values and his family is happy, loving and functional thanks to them following and believing in the teachings.
- Dramatic Irony: None of the characters are aware of it but the audience knows that in the South Park universe Mormonism is the correct religion and followers of all other faiths are sent to Hell.
- Easy Evangelism: Double Subverted. Both Stan and Randy are told the John Smith story by the Harrisons; while Stan isn't convinced and eventually rants about the implausibility of the story, Randy instantly converts to Mormonism and forces his family to do the same.
- Hair of Gold, Heart of Gold: Gary and his family are all blonde and are also all shown to be very nice and polite.
- Hard Truth Aesop: If a religion based on crazy stories encourages people to treat each other with respect and maintain good family values, then the asshole is the one ranting about how fake it is for the sake of being right. The lessons and virtues a religion teaches are more important that whether its myths and canon are true.
- Hit Me, Dammit!: Stan volunteers to beat up Gary when the others accuse him of being a wimp, but when he confronts the new kid, Stan can't find it in him to hurt such a Nice Guy. Gary, not wanting Stan to be ridiculed by his peers, invites him to beat him up, but it results in Gary inviting Stan for dinner.
- Indy Ploy: The way Joseph Smith behaves, it’s quite likely that he’s running a con job and making it up as he goes along. However, since Mormonism is actually true in the South Park universe, (or at least, the only religion that won’t get its followers sent to Hell) it’s possible that he was right without knowing it.
- Insane Troll Logic: Gary's father tells the Marshes the story of Joseph Smith as if he thinks it proves the truthfulness of Mormonism. As Stan points out, the story lends more credibility to the idea that he was actually a con man who made everything up to enrich himself rather than a true prophet of God.
- Insult Backfire: When Gary asks Cartman his name, Cartman responds with a pun invoking a homosexual slur. Gary just laughs it off, thinking it to be just a joke.
- Irony: Randy accuses the Mormon family of trying convert Stan to their religion and criticizes them, but Randy gets talked into converting to Mormonism.
- Jerkass Ball:
- Stan holds this big time, treating Gary with disdain just because he's a Mormon and even going as far as calling Gary's beliefs stupid to his face. In the end, Gary calls Stan out on this.
- Kyle is also among those alienating Gary at the beginning of the episode.
- Jerkass Has a Point: Deconstructed. While Stan isn't wrong about how illogical the story of Joseph Smith is, his hostile attitude when confronting the Harrisons about it is entirely uncalled for given how kind they were to him throughout the episode. As such, he just comes across as an intolerant, immature jerk.
- Kick the Dog: Stan insulting the Harrisons and their religion for their shaky beliefs, especially since the family has been nothing but kind to the kid. While the rest of the family immediately brush it off, Gary does not.
- New Kid Stigma: Gary is immediately disliked by all the boys in school when he shows up (though his overly cheerful attitude and the praise he received from Mr. Garrison for his intelligence certainly didn't help). They only earn his respect when he tells Stan off at the end of the episode.
- Only Sane Man:
- In the story of Joseph Smith, Lucy Harris is the only one who realizes it's more than likely that Smith is making it all up. This is enforced when she asks questions about the Plot Holes, the Background Music to her says Smart to everyone else's Dumb.
- Subverted with Stan. While Stan isn't incorrect to call the ideas of Mormons dumb, he comes across more as an intolerant, know-it-all jerk to Gary, who just wanted to be his friend.
- Outgrown Such Silly Superstitions: Deconstructed. While Mormonism is depicted as having silly beliefs, Stan's own hostility to the Mormon family is treated as downright despicable and unacceptable.
- Phrase Catcher: Whenever Smith explains why he can't show proof of something, the person or people listening to him respond with an awestruck "wooow!"
- Precision F-Strike: Gary tells Stan to suck his balls for how he acted. Cartman is very impressed.
- "The Reason You Suck" Speech: Gary, of all people, lets Stan know exactly how he feels about the way he acted at the end of the episode.Gary: Listen, I just wanted to let you know you don't have to worry about me trying to be your friend anymore.
Stan: I don't?
Gary: Look, maybe us Mormons do believe in crazy stories that make absolutely no sense, and maybe Joseph Smith did make it all up. But I have a great life and a great family, and I have the Book of Mormon to thank for that. The truth is, I don't care if Joseph Smith made it all up, because what the church teaches now is loving your family, being nice and helping people. And even though people in this town might think that's stupid, I still choose to believe in it. All I ever did was try to be your friend, Stan. But you're so high and mighty, you couldn't look past my religion and just be my friend back. You've got a lot of growing up to do, buddy. Suck my balls.
[The boys look at Gary in silence and stunned.]
Cartman: Wow, that kid is really cool! - Take That!: Zigzagged. The episode makes it pretty clear that they find the foundation of Mormonism, which is built on a ridiculous story of a man implied to be conning a rich man, to be very dumb. At the same time, however, the practitioners of the faith are portrayed as being unfalteringly kind and living in a happy, stable family. If anything, this episode is more of a knock against people who unfairly judge others for their beliefs, as Stan's rant against the Harrisons is shown to be unsympathetic and mean-spirited.
- Villain Respect: Cartman starts to find Gary cool after the aforementioned speech towards Stan.
