Will Smith looking sad in The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air
By
Guy Howie
Published 53 minutes ago
After joining ScreenRant in January 2025, Guy became a Senior Features Writer in March of the same year, and now specializes in features about classic TV shows. With several years' experience writing for and editing TV, film and music publications, his areas of expertise include a wide range of genres, from comedies, animated series, and crime dramas, to Westerns and political thrillers.
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The first three episodes of Bel-Air’s fourth season feature some major developments in the fictional version of Will Smith’s life, but the resolution of one tragic storyline from The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air stands out. The season’s third episode, “What Are You Doing for Thanksgiving?”, might just have redeemed Will’s fictional father for good.
In this episode, we see Will invite his father, Lou, to Thanksgiving dinner with the Banks family. What happens next seems to be the note on which Lou’s time in the series will end, given that season 4 is Bel-Air’s last.
Will’s father coming for Thanksgiving dinner is one of the best changes the show has made to The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air’s original storylines. It effectively combines the plots of two Fresh Prince episodes – “Talking Turkey” and “Papa's Got a Brand New Excuse” – into a single story, while turning the ending of the latter episode into a happy one.
Will’s Storyline With His Father Just Got A Happy Ending In Bel-Air
Lou (Marlon Wayans), Will's dad in Bel-Air Season 3 Episode 6Image via Peacock
Bel-Air spun the return of Will’s dad into a more expansive storyline than we ever saw in The Fresh Prince already, in its third season episode “Baggage”. But this time, Lou’s time with Will is a more definitive resolution of their troubled relationship, which delivers the happy ending we’ve all wanted for over 30 years.
“What Are You Doing for Thanksgiving?” begins with Lou coming to collect Will following his trial for vandalizing a car. Will is pleased that his father has come to support him in this difficult moment, which is more than Lou ever did for him in The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air. As a result, Will invites him over for Thanksgiving dinner.
What follows is more akin to the Fresh Prince episode “Papa's Got a Brand New Excuse”, until Will and Lou finally reconcile, and agree that the connection they’ve built over the past year is permanent. Lou even gives Will some fatherly advice about playing basketball, which he takes on board, before they end the scene playing the piano together.
Bel-Air’s Lou Ending Still Honors The Fresh Prince Original
Will and Lou in The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air.
Despite its happy ending, Bel-Air’s character arc for Lou still honors what’s surely the saddest episode of The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, which features one of the real Will Smith’s finest performances as an actor. “What Are You Doing for Thanksgiving?” includes the key elements of “Papa's Got a Brand New Excuse”, including Lou’s decision to leave Will behind again.
There are also the confrontations that Lou has with Aunt Viv and Uncle Phil, which are more drawn out and nuanced than their Fresh Prince counterparts, but no less heated. What’s more, there’s the moment when Lou has to tell Will that he’s effectively deserting him again, to return to Philadelphia.
Lou Returning To Philly In This Way Feels Like The Right Ending For The Character
The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air version of this moment hurts to watch no matter how many times you’ve seen it before. Lou’s callous disregard for his own son, and Will’s young heart breaking onscreen, is too much to bear.
But because Bel-Air strikes a contrasting tone overall from the show it’s based on, it handles the same situation very differently. Firstly, we’ve already seen Lou and Will begin to repair their relationship following some hard conversations in season 3 of the series. Secondly, Lou explains his reason for leaving Will again properly and sensitively.
What’s more, it really feels like they have a genuine connection, and that they’re going to stay in touch for good. When Lou speaks to Will about his future plans as a father to a son, it’s exactly the ending we’ve always wanted for them.
Although Will being apart from his dad again isn’t ideal, this ending is worlds away from the tragedy of their broken relationship in The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air. It feels realistic that Lou would need to return to Philly for work, but it’s also fitting that he bows out of Bel-Air on a truly positive note.
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Like Follow Followed Bel-Air TV-MA Drama
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Release Date
February 13, 2022
Network
Peacock
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Jabari Banks
Will Smith
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Adrian Holmes
Phillip Banks
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Like Follow Followed The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air TV-PG Comedy
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Release Date
1990 - 1996-00-00
Cast
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Will Smith
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James Avery
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Bel-Air
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Fresh Prince of Bel-Air
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Which has the better for Will and his dad: The Fresh Prince or Bel-Air?
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53 minutes ago
The Fresh Prince's Lou ending is more powerful, but Bel-Air's is more realistic.
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